Another extra warm day at Breckenridge. Temps in the 50s and partly overcast. Today I had nine level 3 students from ages 8-10. Most from Kansas, a few from Tennessee, Florida, and Alabama. SPRING BREAK week continues at Breckenridge and the crowds are picking up once again. Monday & Tuesday should be the busiest days this week. Our lesson began with a review of some fundamentals. Although a few students had been in ski school the previous day, several had not skied in several years. I always start all my lessons, from level 1 to level 9, with an explanation and demonstration of a solid Athletic stance. Skis hip width apart; ankles, knees, and hips all flexed; hands at the side or out in front; and head up and looking in the direction of travel (generally down the hill). One secret that good skiiers know: the athletic stance for skiing is NOT static - the body is constantly in motion and adjusting for turn size, turn speed, slope angle, snow conditions, etc.
We progressed to the gliding wedge as a good solid platform for beginning skiers along with what is needed for turning. Two keys include flattening the inside ski, and steering or guiding that flattened ski in the direction of the new turn. As Bob Barnes says - right ski to go right, left ski to go left.
This technique naturally leads to a 'matching' of the skis into a parallel position at the end of the turn.
In the afternoon we starting the idea of an edged ski vs. a flat ski. An edged ski (ankles and knees have 'rolled over' to put the ski up on one of it's edges) is going to 'bite' into the snow whereas a flat ski will slide sideways. This can be shown in many different situations, for example, when 'duck walking' up the hill, the edged ski will bite/grip the snow and allow the skier to walk up a slope without slipping backwards. The edge/flat/edge technique is also applied when standing with skis across hill and letting 'em slip sideways.
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