Day 3 - 26/2/14 - moguls, crazy turns and the central theme
This morning was spent predominantly skiing moguls and short turns. Lots and lots of moguls along the side of the 'M25' underneath the Chaux Express. The snow was quite soft, the sun was out, and the main focus was to just keep turning the skis around and getting the tips of the skis engaged and pressed into the snow as you go over each mogul. With this focus I actually skied some ok rhythmical turns.
After lunch we looked at long turns and bring the hip around on top of the skis. Then it was time for some agility and balance work, Swedish, Norwegian, Charleston, Tic-tacs and more variations of 'crazy turns' were tried.
On the flatter sections of piste in the afternoon we examined the central theme and progression into plough parallel turns. This was a great session for me as I could really link the progression here to the piste performance strands of carving and short turns etc... and I think I now have a much better understanding of the basics of skiing.
Day 4 - 27/2/14 - Variables and Moguls
The morning was spent skiing laps by the side of Lac des Vaux in the chopped up powder. Our main focus points were a smooth turn transition, looking at how we use our muscles - eccentric contractions, and keeping momentum going from turn to turn. We even had a few laps with no poles which was all psychological. A quick morning break and a chance for some feedback before a late lunch. Skiing over the 'normal' lunch hours 12-1 was great, no queues, empty slopes and lovely light snow.
This afternoon we skied bumps. A few laps underneath the La Chaux Express from the top to the bottom. The aims were to ski round turns with skis in contact with the snow keeping a good rhythm and line. No 'shopping' was allowed. The top steepest section was meant to be a challenge, the middle section at our level and the last section easy for the level. So naturally we also did some bumps skiing without poles too, right from the top! This was harder than the variables skiing without poles, but good fun and excellent training for mind and body.
The pistes today were insanely busy, people skiing everywhere and all the pistes had turned into mogul fields too. Definitely a day for skiing off piste.
Day 5 - 28/2/14 - Longs and Moguls
The last day of the course and we were all looking and feeling pretty knackered this morning. So of course we headed down Chassoure Tortin for a warm up bumps run on our way to Siviez. The snow was lovely and soft with the moguls getting smaller the further down you skied.
We headed to the Les Chottes area to do some carving practice on flatter terrain. This was great for me as I needed to fine tune alot of the movements and feelings on something that wasn't steep and busy. Most of the morning was spent skiing on one ski, lifting up the new outside ski and placing it on it's new edge around a meter uphill of you at the start of each turn. Once we had acquired this feeling the task was to put it into practice while turning 'normally' both on the slopes here and on the steeper slopes later in the day.
After lunch it was time for some moguls. We took our weary legs down numerous mogul runs looking to get a smooth rounded turn, with the same 'upwards' leg movement as this morning. While having quick feet, lots of flexing and extending, and keeping those tips down.
A quick review and we all had a restful weekend to look forward to before exams begin next week.
Overview of the week
This past week of training with BASI trainer Peter K has taught me lots about skiing, the progression and links between the various 'strands' of skiing and more. Not only do I feel my performance has improved I know that I now have the tools to be able to pass my technical exam, but the true challenge will be to use them well and 'just do it'.
Check my blog out next week to see what success I've had whether it's a pass or fail.
 |
| Fresh snow on the 27th Feb, just in time for some off piste training |
Day 4 - 27/2/14 - Variables and Moguls
The morning was spent skiing laps by the side of Lac des Vaux in the chopped up powder. Our main focus points were a smooth turn transition, looking at how we use our muscles - eccentric contractions, and keeping momentum going from turn to turn. We even had a few laps with no poles which was all psychological. A quick morning break and a chance for some feedback before a late lunch. Skiing over the 'normal' lunch hours 12-1 was great, no queues, empty slopes and lovely light snow.
This afternoon we skied bumps. A few laps underneath the La Chaux Express from the top to the bottom. The aims were to ski round turns with skis in contact with the snow keeping a good rhythm and line. No 'shopping' was allowed. The top steepest section was meant to be a challenge, the middle section at our level and the last section easy for the level. So naturally we also did some bumps skiing without poles too, right from the top! This was harder than the variables skiing without poles, but good fun and excellent training for mind and body.
The pistes today were insanely busy, people skiing everywhere and all the pistes had turned into mogul fields too. Definitely a day for skiing off piste.
 |
| Creblet col |
Day 5 - 28/2/14 - Longs and Moguls
The last day of the course and we were all looking and feeling pretty knackered this morning. So of course we headed down Chassoure Tortin for a warm up bumps run on our way to Siviez. The snow was lovely and soft with the moguls getting smaller the further down you skied.
We headed to the Les Chottes area to do some carving practice on flatter terrain. This was great for me as I needed to fine tune alot of the movements and feelings on something that wasn't steep and busy. Most of the morning was spent skiing on one ski, lifting up the new outside ski and placing it on it's new edge around a meter uphill of you at the start of each turn. Once we had acquired this feeling the task was to put it into practice while turning 'normally' both on the slopes here and on the steeper slopes later in the day.
After lunch it was time for some moguls. We took our weary legs down numerous mogul runs looking to get a smooth rounded turn, with the same 'upwards' leg movement as this morning. While having quick feet, lots of flexing and extending, and keeping those tips down.
A quick review and we all had a restful weekend to look forward to before exams begin next week.
Overview of the week
This past week of training with BASI trainer Peter K has taught me lots about skiing, the progression and links between the various 'strands' of skiing and more. Not only do I feel my performance has improved I know that I now have the tools to be able to pass my technical exam, but the true challenge will be to use them well and 'just do it'.
 |
| The Nike logo, and our catchphrase of the week |
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