Reigniting the Passion

Skiing was my passion. When I lived in Toronto I would travel 7-12 hours most weekends to get to the bigger hills in Quebec and Vermont. On those weekends that I stayed in Ontario I battled the crowds on the small local hills, making the runs more challenging by boot skiing, skiing backwards, and doing 360s on the snow. I rearranged my life so I could move to Whistler and ski big mountains every week.

Then something unexpected happened. I fell out of love with skiing. It happened gradually. I had a few less than stellar winters – a knee injury shortened one season and the next season I only got out a handful of times as I spent the winter going through chemo and radiation for breast cancer. When I returned to skiing the following year, my left leg had a knee injury and my right foot had plantar fasciitis.

I still enjoyed getting up on the mountain on a good day with friends or enthusiastic guests but I became a fair-weather skier and was wary of powder and steeps. I could no longer push myself. I felt broken. 

But I started training again and went out with my training group each week. I kept teaching and was excited to see my guests progress and get excited about their skiing. Gradually I rebuilt my confidence. Slowly I got better. Finally injury-free this summer, I was able to push hard with my off season training and get fit, strong, and lighter for this winter. 

It’s still early in the winter but a switch has gone off in my brain. I am excited to ski every weekend no matter the forecast. I am skiing faster and trying harder than I have in years. I am excited to have more terrain open so I can challenge myself. I am returning to writing about skiing for the first time in almost 7 years. My goal for this year is simple: to find the fun in skiing and get out on the mountain every week to celebrate my recovery and good health. I can’t wait!

Railing It

When shaped skis made their debut skiers quickly discovered how much fun it was to lay them over and ride the side cut. The skis made it easy to ski reasonably well with little effort. However, skiers were no longer working the ski, they were instead just “railing it”.

In the last couple of years the term “railing it” has come to mean something much more positive. Rather than the park and ride – getting on your edges and hanging out until your ski comes around -“railing it” now refers to working the ski in order to leave two clean arcs in the snow from the top of the turn all the way through the transition to the next turn. While the old way of railing it left you at the mercy of the radius of your ski, with the new way of railing it you control the size of your turn.

What makes railing it different than an ordinary intermediate parallel turn is that you are controlling the amount you steer without pivoting per se. How then do you dictate the radius of your turn? By building enough energy to bend your ski.

Easy enough said but how do you do that? To initiate edging early you need to balance over your new outside ski immediately after you finish your last turn. A good way to practice this is to skate ski on an easy run or trail and then link the skate ski push into the beginning of your new turn. Start your turn by inclining your ankles, knees, then hip all before the fall line. Railed turns are large turns so the hip joint quickly follows the ankles and knees at the top of the turn leaving some room for the smaller joints (ankles and knees) to further move inside to add some “oomph” at the end of the turn. With all of the lower joints inclining into the turn, remember to keep the upper body angulated to the outside of the turn/down the hill to allow you to balance over your outside ski.

To rail it you need to build up speed to bend your skis so go on terrain where you feel comfortable going fast - minimum terrain + maximum speed. Think about leaving two clean lines on the snow. On a day where it’s easy to see your tracks, you can see how well you did by simply looking back up the hill once you’ve stopped.

Now, words I never thought I’d hear a ski instructor say, get out there and rail it!

Losing It

One benefit of improving your skiing is the feeling of control that develops. To achieve that secure feeling we often seek runs, terrain, and conditions with which we are comfortable and then ski them at a comfortable speed. I’d like to challenge that conventional way of thinking by positing that the only way you can truly know that you are in balance is to lose and regain it. One amazingly fluid and exciting skier I had the pleasure to ski with recently likened her skiing to a series of linked recoveries. She goes for it when she skis and if she gets out of balance she corrects mid-stream with a double pole plant or repositioning of the body. To watch her you would never think she is out of balance. My best runs of the day were when I really went for it – it is amazing how quickly you are able to recover from any imbalances when you are active in your skiing. When trying this, keeping the turn shape smaller as it keeps you moving. To be clear I’m not advocating being unsafe. You have to be mindful of other people on the hill. But the next time you are out skiing, look for opportunities to ski off-piste, on rollers or side angles, and pick up the speed skiing on the edge of your comfort zone. You may be surprised to see what you are capable of.

Striving for Balance

Finding balance in skiing can be as elusive as finding it in life. It is especially challenging at the beginning of the ski season. Yet balance is the foundation of good skiing.

A wise man (okay, a race coach) once said balance is any position you are in if you have not fallen. While a little tongue in cheek, the point he was making is that balance in skiing is achieved by being in a constant state of motion. As a skier makes their way down the hill the platform under their skis is constantly changing due to incline, snow texture, bumps, depressions, and so on. If you are static (i.e., not in the process of either bending or extending your legs) you will get the sensation of the terrain skiing you rather than the other way around.

Here are some simple drills I find helpful to get in balance, particularly at the beginning of the season.

1) “Shmeered turns”. Try not to carve your first day or two back on snow. Instead focus on using lots of movement in your hips, knees, and ankles to make round turns down the hill. With carving skis, one can easily apply an edge while being out of balance but it is impossible to execute round turns out of balance.
2) Feel your feet in your boots. Where are you feeling pressure on your feet (shins, heels, inside, outside)? Where in the turn are you feeling it? Try feeling as though your feet are flat on the bottoms of your boots – as though you are balanced on the binding – throughout the turn.
3) Try skiing with your toes up throughout the turn. This forces you to balance over the ball of your foot.
4) For more advanced skiers use inside ski turns where you start each turn skiing only on your inside ski, adding your outside ski after you turn out of the fall line.
5) Also for advanced skiers, use delay turns where you pivot into the fall line, take the time to balance over your skis, then pick up the edge to complete the turn.

Above all, be patient. Your balance will return with some mileage. This is the time of the season to focus on the fundamentals. With strong balance as your base you will be able to take on new ski challenges throughout the season.

On a personal note, I have made a huge leap forward in achieving some balance in my life. I have made the permanent move to Whistler where I will run my media consulting business while skiing and instructing as much as I can. :)

Guided Mileage

Skiing is a mileage game. The more you ski the more opportunities you have to experience different conditions and terrain and improve your ability to ski them. Yet so often I hear people say that they ski and ski and don’t seem to improve. My response is to ask what they are working on. Nine times out of 10 they have no response. Unless you know what you are trying to improve, how do you expect to get better?

To help you figure out what you need, take a lesson. And don’t let the learning end when the lesson is over. Make notes of the tips the instructor gave you, the terrain you skied, and any drills or tactics the instructor had you use. When you free ski replicate elements of the lesson that worked for you. Have a focus for each run. Know what you are working to improve and what tactics you can use to get better. Rather than just repeating the way you always ski over and over again, guided mileage helps you make the changes necessary to improve.

Buckle Up

The most important part of your ski equipment is your boots. For people starting out who can’t afford to buy everything at once I advise buying boots and renting skis. Your boots are what transfer all your muscular efforts into your skis. Changing boots will affect your skiing more than changing skis.

Yet I am constantly surprised at the number of skiers who suffer through ill-fitting boots, who have to crank down the buckles to get anything out of them, or whose feet are always cold. Boots can be blown out. Buckles can be moved. Shells can be shaved down. Very few people are lucky enough to have factory-made boots fit them perfectly at the store. This is why ski shops include boot fitting as part of the cost of the boot. This includes not only the initial fitting but any adjustments required once you start skiing them and they pack out.

Don’t forget the bottom of your feet. I’d highly recommend foot beds if you are a regular skier. Foot beds support the arches of your feet allowing for better power transfer and feet that aren’t sore at the end of the day. The ones that come with boots are one size fit all. Super feet are a cheaper alternative though I swear by my custom foot beds. They last for years and can be moved from ski boot to ski boot.

I am often asked how a boot should fit. My answer: snug but comfortable. You want your foot firmly housed in the boot with no room to move but you don’t want it to pinch or hurt. You should be able to ski comfortably with your boots unbuckled. In fact, I often keep the bottom couple of buckles undone for my first one or two runs of the day until my feet get used to them again.

The most important buckle on your boots isn’t actually a buckle at all but the power strap – the Velcro strap at the top of your boots. This should be done up as tightly as you can so that the tongue of your boot is firmly against your shin with no space between. Otherwise people ski too far forward in their boots trying to seek the tongue and find that control.

The single best thing I’ve learned this year is to do up my power strap over the tongue but UNDER the shell of the boot. If your boot will accommodate you doing this, do it. It will get the tongue of the boot firmly against your shin. Plus it will upright the boot slightly allowing you to stand more comfortably in your boots and ski in a more stacked position using your skeleton rather than your muscles making you less tired at the end of the day.

Once you get your boots fitted perfectly, there is a lot you can do once you take them home to take care of them. Always keep them buckled. Thoroughly dry them out each time you use them by either removing the liners or using a boot drier. Do NOT leave the carefully adjusted shells by the fire or there is nothing a boot fitter can do to help you!

Ice Ice Baby

I once had a trainer tell me he loved the ice. He said that it gave him external feedback as to whether he was balanced on his skis. While I certainly wouldn’t go as far as to say I enjoy skiing on ice, there are ways to it less painful.

First, it’s important to determine if what you are skiing is, in fact, ice. Sometimes skiers refer to hard pack as ice. It isn’t. Hard pack is snow that is packed down so hard that there is no loose snow on it. It is white. Ice is when you can see your reflection. Ice sparkles in the sunlight. Neither are particularly fun to ski but at least with hard pack, you can carve through it. Well tuned skis certainly help.

One strategy with ice is avoidance. Some runs will always be icier than others. These are usually those that funnel through a lot of traffic. For the same reason, icy spots are generally found in the middle of runs. These spots can be avoided by skiing as close to the side of the run as you are comfortable. Steeper pitchers are often icy because of skiers and boarders of lower abilities who push the snow to the bottom side slipping rather than carving the run.

If a patch of ice is unavoidable I think of skiing it “lightly”. While the natural reaction is to try and dig in, if it is truly ice and not hard pack you will not win that battle. It is better to get over it as quickly as possible while trying not to allow it to disrupt your rhythm. Concentrate on this good rhythm and on continuous movement (bending and extending) in your legs as ice often causes one to freeze up (pardon the pun).

The better balanced you are over your skis, the less ice will throw you. So on icy days, as on any other days, focus on balancing over your feet with your feet flat in your boots .

Like any new situation, skiing ice gets easier with practice so try not to give up and quit early on an icy day. You may never love it like my trainer but you will get more comfortable with it. And if all else fails you can exact your revenge on ice by consuming it in your après ski cocktail!