Scared on the Slopes

Skiing can be an intimidating sport, even if you get in over your head. Today while skiing down a blue which began to ice up I came across two people who seemed to not be sharing the same enjoyment as I had with the faster conditions. Here's a shot of them I captured with my GoPro.

The person in the white seemed composed and knew what to do when the going gets tough. The person in the blue, though, was only making the situation worse.
          Let's start with the obvious. Unless you are jousting (which shouldn't be done on skis, ever) sticking your pole in front of you is dangerous and hurts your ability to turn. While this defensive move will make you feel a bit protected, the only thing you're really protected from is small animals. There weren't any around. You could fall onto the pole or impale someone skiing around you.
          The next issue I see is that this person had no shin-tongue contact. The person in the white had the contact in his boots. This contact you have between your shin and the front of your boot is crucial in maintaining control of your skis. When your weight is forward there is less lateral movement of your skis. The person in the blue has their weight back with no shin-tongue contact.
          This brings me to my third issue I have with this skier. Her skis are crossed. With her weight back she crossed her skis because she had no lateral control of her skis. Crossing your skis is bad because you can't turn.
         The person in the white is able to maintain their form and slide down the intimidating hill safely. If you find yourself in over your head, no matter the difficulty of the hill, its best to slide down perpendicular to the hill and tilt yourself and your skis into the hill. Pizza/snowplow, crossed skis, poor weight distribution, and flailing your poles out in defense will never get you down the hill safely, gracefully, or happily. With that all said, it is important to ski where you are comfortable and able.
         
          I had an awesome day skiing a total of 12,127 vertical feet. It snowed about 7" during the day which made fantastic powder conditions. Stay tuned for more updates throughout the week of skiing tips, critiques, and information.

Rocker Skis

It is November, a few days before Thanksgiving. I would give almost anything to grab my skis and head for my local ski resort. Unfortunately, it is November and they don't have any snow so unless I can ski on grass and rocks I'm out of luck. Now would be an awesome time to educate everyone, and myself, on some awesome gear!

Last year I skid on Dynastar Outland XT 80s. Dynastar's all mountain rocker skis. They were awesome! Rockered skis are a newer technology in skis.
 Ski profile design is broken up into three groups. Camber, Rocker, and Flat. Camber skis are the most traditional type of ski where the middle of the ski is curved upward like an umbrella. It allows for even pressure on the tip and tail of the ski for better edging. Flat skis are best described by their name. Flat. The center section of the ski is flat on the snow, if you set it on a table you wouldn't see any light shining through between the table and ski. Rocker skis are exactly opposite of Camber. The ski is shaped like a "u." Much like water skis, it is designed to float on top of powder, slush, and any other rough terrain you come across. Rocker skis, I would argue, are as revolutionary as parabolic skis. The ski is pre bent, this helps the initiation of your turn so much. In order to initiate your turn all you have to do is roll your ankles to engage the edges. Rocker also helps in the terrain parks as well. With the 'less catchy' tendency of rocker skis, you can start turns sooner and off-axis landings are more forgiving.  The Outland XT 80's are low camber, high rocker skis. This helps initiation of a turn as well as edge grab. Last year my skis delaminated the paint layer from the "traditional wood fiber basalt" core layer. I exchanged them and they sent me this years model for free. Their customer service has made me a big Dynastar supporter. I would recommend the skis to anyone, any skill level, and I can't wait to get on my new ones this year! The skis were light and could smoothly cruse through anything. Last year's poor conditions was a test to how well the model could or could not sail through the slush, sugary, icy snow and the Outland XT 80's did it with ease.

Outland XT webpage:
http://www.dynastar.com/US/US/outland-80-xt_DA2KS02_product_dynastar-skis-men-all-mountain.html

Other Rockered Skis:

I was able to demo last year's model. They were about as maneuverable as the Outlands but felt heavier.
Atomic: http://www.atomic.com/en-US/Products/Alpine/Ski/All%20Mountain/NOMAD_SMOKE_TI/AA0024248.aspx?filter=-2%3a230

I have not skid these but I know many people who love Rossignols
Rossignol: http://www.rossignol.com/index.php?_lang=US&_cnt=US&function=showProd&insidefile=productDetails.html&oid=CAT1011:4o5ldqdjxc6f&alias=alpine-men-skis

#ThinkSnow #WinterIsComing

Pray for snow
-SkiBumb13

Dynastar in no way paid me for this post, I am just very impressed with their skis and customer service. 
Photo courtesy of theskimonster.com  

2012-2013 Winter Welcome!

Welcome!

I decided to start this blog at the start of this winter to showcase the 2012/2013 ski season. As a ski instructor, I spend a lot of time on the slopes and in return see all kinds of frozen farcical functioning. From silly students, to bonehead boarders I'll try to capture quotes, pictures, and video of their shenanigans. Who knows, maybe you'll see yourself on here!

Stay tuned for some updates prior to the start of the 2012/2013 season!



Pray for snow!
-SkiBumb13

#ThinkSnow #WinterIsComing