by Nick McDonald
Can you teach an old dog new tricks? I sure hope so! I am amazed how much I still have to learn and how fortunate I am to be surrounded by the talented group of individuals that make up the PSIA-NW Technical Team.
The Team gets together at various times of the year for training and workshop sessions. We just wrapped up our midwinter training at Stevens Pass on January 6th. Yes, I did say midwinter. For the Team, early season training starts in October, when we met indoors at Mission Ridge October 9th – 11th, 2009 to get ready for the upcoming season. Our midwinter training, typically the first Monday and Tuesday in January, is on snow and focused towards the teaching, technical and skiing goals of the team for the division, and themselves.
For the past two years the on snow training has immediately followed the new Immersion Event and the guest coaches from that program have been able to stay and work with the team during this training session. This year we were fortunate to have Michael Rogan of the PSIA National Team with us.
What are the long term technical and skiing goals of the team? There are three: balance, balance and, oh yeah, balance! Balance at the beginning of the turn, balance at the middle of the turn and balance at the end of the turn, then “rinse and repeat.” There are actually a few more goals but they all center around the concept of balance (and stance) as it relates to “good skiing.”
What did we work on at Stevens Pass? Our specific topic for the two days was to explore the similarities, and more importantly the differences, of situational stance (and balance). Kate Morrell and I spent many hours on the phone and face-to-face discussing the tendencies of different skiing situations, the people who excel in those situations and the preferences they have towards their stance. We surmised from our experiences talking with people over the years that if you ask someone what a good functional stance is, they would most likely imagine where they prefer to ski and the turns they prefer to make, and naturally come up with an answer based on these preferences, their skiing background and their individual skiing strengths.
As a team we have gone through the exercise of defining a good stance. We found we had to make compromises during the defining process related to the way to make statements that fit the majority of skiing situations. At this last training, we were out to find the differences between skiing situations therefore being able to be more specific about what works and is more efficient.
The plan was to take two different skiing scenarios, participate in a clinic on each scenario by two different team members who excel in those scenarios and compare and contrast the clinics. Since we had Michael Rogan at our disposal we were going to use him for sure. Michael’s skiing scenario was off-piste fall-line skiing. The other clinician, Kate Morrell, was asked to lead a clinic on Giant Slalom turns on hard snow. To put it simply, both of these clinicians excel at the given skiing situation they were leading.
We spent day one with Michael where he ran us through the paces of tuning our balance so we could ski the mung, defined as 12-hour old, 14 inch, 27 degree snow, topped with 3 hours of 36 degree rain! We skied this off the top of Kehr’s Chair, previously known as Big Chief. It was now 33 degrees and misting. He had us skiing this terrain with a variety of pole-use-tasks like poles behind our back, one pole in the outside hand, one pole in the inside hand, one pole switching hands in the turn transition. He had us take one ski off and pass one pole around our body as we made turns. Did we fall? Yes. How many times? I lost count! I came to see him as Sgt. Michael Rogan, “Sir, yes Sir! May I have another #$%&-kicking exercise to show me how much I need to work on my balance, sir!”
What did I find through all these seemingly torturous activities? One: I had to stay over my feet, meaning aligning my Center of Mass (CM) with the line of action relative to my skis. Two: Make movements to attain and maintain shin contact. Three: I was most successful when my balance point averaged around the middle of my foot.
The next day the stars aligned for Kate, with clear skies and 17 degrees … and yes, to say it was firm was an understatement. If you have ever been on a clinic with Kate you’ll become well acquainted with your traversing skills. We went across the hill on both skis, uphill ski, downhill ski, back and forth, and back and forth, and back again. The results were amazing. I was able to tune-in to where Kate wanted me to balance and how to align my CM relative to my skis and understand why.
We made turns on the outside ski, “box turns” and then we traversed some more with additional coaching from Linda Cowan. Linda had us pick up our uphill ski, turn it over and across our downhill ski in front of the boot and behind the boot (just think it through, you can imagine it). What do you do after that? That’s right, traverse some more! With some garland action, balance with more weight on the downhill ski, move more balance to the uphill ski, extend into the turn then back to the downhill ski. Focus on your stance, your direction and your movements. I have never wanted to ski like a girl more, especially these two.
Kate did allow us to put the elements of the exercises into real skiing. What did I find through this day’s adventure with Kate and Linda? My balance point moved forward to be successful. A measure of success being measured as, when following Kate, she did not ski away from me like a jet (Kate) launching off an aircraft carrier (me).
What did I discover over the two days of training? One: Stance and balance are on a sliding scale relative to a given skiing situation. By adjusting and tweaking my balance and stance I have become more versatile and challenged my core beliefs and ideals so they can be broader and stronger. Two: Versatility is important; by improving my performance of the exercises these clinicians led me through I know more about the “depends” when someone give me “it depends” answer to a ski related question.
Some who have read this far may be saying, “Your findings are not breakthroughs. You didn’t need to go through two days of training to come up with those simple conclusions.” Indeed, it’s not rocket science and yes, I knew all this before, but not so well. Going through the process, especially with my teammates, has given me a much deeper understanding of situational stance/balance than simply discussing it or being told “it depends.”
[ Editor’s Note: In this issue see: Teaching Through Sciencing: Guiding the Ownership of Information by Linda Cowan ].After ten plus years of skiing (the plus being twenty-eight), I still find myself needing to enhance my balancing skills. Will it ever end? NO. But that’s OK, I have enjoyed getting better at skiing ever since my first day on skis way back when, and it keeps getting better.
If you were ever wondering if there are “magical words” or “secret moves” to becoming a better skier and teacher I hope this sheds some light on the process. The Technical Team members and coaching staff continue to develop our skiing skills, technical skills and teaching skills, so we can develop methods and means to help you develop your skills.
The two days of training with the team at Stevens Pass was invaluable, and I wish it had been a week longer. Continuing to train is an important part of growth and development. Take advantage of every opportunity.
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