All,
Unfortunately we will not have had a chance to train slalom before Saturday's GDHL race, unless you are able to make the Friday training with Dan Hadley.
I've attached a CSCF description of different kinds of gates in slalom. Note however, that we don't set the outside pole in an "open" gate, i.e. one that is set more or less perpendicular to the fall line. We do normally set both poles in closed gates, which are used in a flush or hairpin. You can legally go through a gate from either direction, as long as you cross the imaginary line connecting the two poles, but one way is normally much faster and puts you in a better position for the gate that follows. During the World Cup slalom in Adelboden last weekend, at least two racers were able to avoid hiking by skiing the "wrong" way through a hairpin, having missed the entrance to the "right" way, and then managed to ski a very high line out of the hairpin to make the next gate.
One of the things that troubles people about skiing slalom is cross blocking the gates. Here are some thoughts:
– You cross block with your outside or downhill hand, as your inside hand and torso should be well inside the gate. That is, you use your right hand when turning left and vice versa.
– Don't reach your cross blocking hand farther across your body than the center of your chest. That is, if your inside hand and torso are not well inside the gate, don't reach for the gate to cross block. Just put your hand up in the right place and if the gate isn't going to hit it, don't worry about cross blocking. If you reach, it may make a nice noise, but it will put you out of position to make the next turn.– When skiing a hairpin (i.e. two closed gates in succession), you should change hands for cross blocking after the first gate. When skiing a flush (i.e. three closed gates in succession), block with the correct hand for the first gate, then use the same hand for the second and third gates. If you see a royal flush (i.e. four closed gates, which is quite uncommon), you can either block the first three gates with the same hand and change for the fourth or change after the first and block the last three gates with the same hand. With this approach, you will have your hands in the right position coming out of the group of gates and be ready to turn and block the next open gate.
Here again is the link I included in last week's message for the video of Ted Ligety skiing slalom.
Good luck on the weekend!
JWM