Narrow stance and tip wear

If I were going to classify myself as any kind of skier I would say that I'm a powder skier more than anything else and I have to say that I do not put my skis close together in deep snow. I could see that maybe making sense on the east coast in some very narrow trees that a set of tight wiggling turns are the best option but other than that it's not necessary. In big mountain steep terrain with fresh snow I even widen my stance so I can better deal with hitting rocks that might throw me. In exposed technical terrain being tossed off your feet isn't really an acceptable option.

Carving turns on skis is just like carving on a mountain bike. If your feet are glued together and you lean over to bend your ski your center of weight will no longer be directly over your edges. If you hit anything less than easy perfect snow you are going to lose that bite on the snow and you will slide out. Bike tires and those knobs for cornering are just like that too, if you lean over without keeping your weight over that contact point you fall over. Like I said before, I don't want to see everyone skiing exactly alike and some personal style is cool but properly bending the ski is pretty much the best sensation ever so I'm siding with coach and Matt on this one.

Let's see what kind of grade Coach and Matt give me on my analysts!

Nice turns, btw.  Way to rip it!

Looking at a couple screen grabs....



I can see where your tip wear comes into play, as the skis are close enough together that the inside of the tips can hit.  Widening the stance would certainly eliminate that.  However, more importantly it would give you a more balanced stance and a more stable base.  Skis wider apart would pull your hips farther away from the hill, putting your hips more over your skis, forcing you to gain more edge angle through more angulation at the knees.  You'll get better edge angle (you can tip the skis more) and more even pressure on the edges of both skis, which will allow the skis to carve more.  Here is your exit line, bottom right by your smoke.  



A wider, stronger, more balanced stance will give you a better chance at leaving a nice set of rails in your wake.

Nice position here on the transition!



But in this shot we see the telltale unweighting that is a hallmark of the technique we grew up on.



A wider, more modern stance that allows the ski to carve more would facilitate more of a knee roll into the next turn, and rather than skis losing contact or pressure on the unweighting you could continue the rails right into the next turn.  Why would any of that matter?  Well, at points during that great run, through the classic weighting and unweighting, you lose contact with the snow, which requires you to reset the edge on your next turn.  That is less efficient than allowing the edges to remain in contact with the snow and carve from one turn to the next.  Less work setting the edges is less energy expended!

Like I said, those were great turns, but in trying to really carve more those are the things I think about, because I still make many a turn just like yours.  Good stuff!

How'd I do Coach, Matt?

JTG4eva! wrote

Let's see what kind of grade Coach and Matt give me on my analysts!

Nice turns, btw.  Way to rip it!

Thanks!

Did you do that whole post from your smartphone...? Impressive!

Also, in responding to your earlier post...I'm 30, hence the 27 year # of skiing since 3yo.  That puts me at 1989 stepping into real skis...I think I had some plastic ones from Caldor prior to that for local sled hills.  My dad will have to remember that for me.  Anyways, using '89 as the start point...I'm old enough to have experienced the straight ski days, but also young enough that I experienced the transition to modern skis during the time I became a teenager, leading into the mogul then twin tip style skis as a young adult (i.e. K2 Outlaws then Dynastar Troublemakers, 6th Sense), then into the fatties and mid-wide modern stuff in more recent years (i.e. Mantra, Volkl ONE, my AT setup).  Never really had "shaped skis" in the sense of the real pronounced shaped stuff in early-mid 2000s.  Went through a period as well where I was snowboarding more, prob like 80/20 to skiing.  That's flipped around these days, I ride the board here and there to mix it up.

My narrow style is definitely a product of copying my dad (Jon951) from a young age and being trained by him.  He's 58, and started skiing in the early 70s.  He still skis pretty narrow, despite owning some wider skis these days.  My two brothers ski this way too.

JTG - do you have a lot of tip wear on your skis?  I feel like I'm going to really be looking at other ppl's skis this weekend haha

Thanks for the screenshots and analysis, I think you did a pretty good job - we'll see what the pros have to say...

My El Capos I don't think too much.  The new Marksman...one does, but I attribute that to user error by my brother (we swapped equipment for a bit the first day I had them), who thought bulletproof moguls on Wilderness two weekends ago (things firmed up QUICK) on 106mm skis and tech bindings was a good idea.  It wasn't.  Major, comical, biff'age.

So you've got more than a few years on me, and your dad has a decade on me......but he taught you well in classic 70's/80's style.  My uncle was the one who taught my brothers and I, same deal.

"http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Craig_scandal">http://https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Craig_scandal



Careful if your stance is too wide.  It could sink your whole career.

These skis are 14 years old, my rock skis...88mm I think



My Mantras...98mm


Ones...116mm

Yeah this is way too narrow. Also in the 4th photo Mike makes a big up and over move to start the new turn becuase he settled aft earlier in the turn.  This is very inefficient and will cause Mike to tire out much faster.  You are only 30 now but when you are 40+ you will be wiped out quickly with this skiing.  You really need to take a lesson.  I doing the race Dad thing the next couple weekends so I won't be teaching at WF until Pres Weekend.   I'll be a Gore this weekend and I could take a few runs with ya Saturday if your buying beers afterwards .  Send me a pm if you are going to be at Gore.

I always suggest Bill Fischer for my clients if I'm not available.  We ski together a lot and have very similair teaching styles and think about skiing the same.  He is a great guy too.  Can't go wrong with him.

Seems to me you have two choices, learn to ski the new skis as they were designed to ski or switch to a mono ski

PeeTex wrote

Seems to me you have two choices, learn to ski the new skis as they were designed to ski or switch to a mono ski

Anyone have a monoski and a one piece for sale?

Your rock skis.....you must have a right and a left ski?  There seems to be pronounced wear on the inside tips and little on the outside.

D.B. Cooper wrote

Your rock skis.....you must have a right and a left ski?  There seems to be pronounced wear on the inside tips and little on the outside.

Yeh the wear has made me ski them L and R, just figured I'd let it keep going on the one side.  Those skis have ALOT of days on them...been through a lot...many core shots, fractured femur, many hucks...

Took a closer look last night.  Not as pronounced as yours, but I do have some inside tip wear.

Is it wrong to switch skis halfway thru day?
I know the graphics don't match, but as long they are symmetrical what difference does it make?

Yeah, in the past I've never worried much about right/left.  My new rig has an asymmetrical sidecut.....

My prophet  90's in their 3rd season are worse than your rock skis lol!  I like to ski bumps and noodle on the trail edges (aka grind the spine) and they're a tad too long for me at 186 in that terrain. I learned to ski in the 70's and constantly reminding myself "cowboy stance", at this point I'm not sure if it will ever become muscle memory.

...I blame myself....(Mike's dad here)

 Here's the old fart skiing thru same place...

https://instagram.com/p/BDHjCtaA28-/

That looked good to me.  And you bred a ski buddy, so nothing to catch any blame for.  From your avatar it looks like you created several ski buddies!

Thanks...

Have one more ski "bud" not pictured in avitar. WF bred skier. He's in school missing most the ski fun, but making up for it in other areas... BTW..he also skis a bit tight, lol.

Put lots into spinning up 3 boys, time, energy, lots of driving from NJ to Gore and WF on the regular.

All  three started skiing at 3 to 3 1/2 yrs old. Time and energy well spent. It's a blast getting all three of them out  these days. Will be honest..the three of them blow the doors off me as it should be. Can't say I'm doing all that bad these days considering my age and ski mileage.

My wife and I look back and almost can't  believe we were able to keep the momentum going to this day. She's also in the mix, skiing as an advanced intermediate. Hooks with us from time to time, but likes to do her own thing most of the time. Bottom line: It all works, we keep on truckin', and we're all still smiling!