The snow guns were on at the Club on Friday. The early bird discount on GDHL and training programs ends on 15 November. With some luck, we might be skiing in three weeks. Things are starting to get serious!

Many of you are aware of Glenn Blaylock's completion of his Alpine Canada Performance Level coach training, not to mention his competitive success. I'm pleased to share Glenn's description of turning technique. Glenn cites this video as a good example of what we can aspire to.

Here's another video clip of the same skier, showing both front and back views.

Here's Glenn's description of the steps to a successful turn:

Start with an athletic stance, with your skis shoulder width apart. When making shorter turns, your skis can be closer together to allow more mobility. (My two cents is that shoulder width seems to be about the width of your foot wider than your normal walking stance.)
You should feel shin pressure in both boots at all times throughout the turn including the transition to the new ski.
Start the new turn by flexing and rolling the ankle of the new ski forward in the direction of the new turn. If you just roll your ankles without this ankle flex, there is a good chance you will be forced backwards.
Extend the outside leg by pushing your foot against the new outside ski at the top of the new turn. This action will bend the ski and create centrifugal force. Focus on applying 100% pressure on the new ski. While the flexing and rolling of ankles and pushing your foot against the new ski are important parts of the turn, this is really one movement.
A millisecond after you have started pressuring the new ski, roll the inside knee over and down towards the snow. There is an important sequence here. You need to start the ankle flex first to engage the new ski before rolling the inside knee, otherwise you may fall over.
Your ski tips need to be nearly level to allow the inside knee to roll over towards the snow. If your ski tips aren't nearly level, pull back the inside ski as you roll the inside knee. The steeper the hill, the harder you need to pull back the inside ski.
Both hands need to be in front to allow you to move your core forward over your skis as the skis move under you during the transition. A good pole plant on steeper pitches will help you keep forward. Don’t let your inside arm fall back. A good turn is made waist down and ruined waist up.
Focus on making complete turns when free skiing. On steep pitches, ensure your skis come across the hill under you. Work on breaking the “Escarpment Curse,” which is letting your speed increase down the pitch and recovering by gliding on the flats. This causes many racers to scrub their speed in the second gate off the pitch, as they are not really in control. As a drill, when skiing steeps make complete turns (try a wide slalom turn or tight GS) and maintain consistent speed down the pitch and onto the flats.

There’s a lot here to remember, so when skiing or training try to concentrate on one movement each run. Of course, what makes skiing so much fun and so challenging, is that execution depends on many factors, including snow conditions, visibility, pitch, speed and equipment.

In this video, Ted Ligety describes how he puts 100% pressure on the outside ski and starts the new turn with his knees.

Here's another video of Reilly McGlashan. Focus on each component of the turn.

Finally, click here for some video of Edith Rozsa talking about skiing the steeps. It's a good method of breaking the Escarpment Curse.

Happy mental training, until the Club opens! Thanks to Glenn.

James Mathers