Fundamental?

[Uke]

Manage the trajectory of the com to direct it where you want to go.

uke

 

[LiquidFeet]

Manage the feet to direct the CoM where you want it to go.

 

[Jamt]

Start the turn before the fall line.
Balance on the outside at will.
End the turn facing down.
Accelerate up or down, always.

 

[Dakine]

Rock back
Step
Go the other way....

 

[Tom Holtmann]

Start the turn before the fall line.
Balance on the outside at will.
End the turn facing down.
Accelerate up or down, always.

Do you mean extension or flexion movements when you say up or down? If not what are you referring to?

 

[JESinstr]

Balance THROUGH the arch

 

[Jamt]

Do you mean extension or flexion movements when you say up or down? If not what are you referring to?

No, just that you should be accelerating up and down.
Accelerating up can be done by extending, edging, or just waiting for the turn forces to change direction, even while flexing.
Similarly accelerating down can even be done while extending the legs out to the side. Etc.

The basic reason that you want to be accelerating up is that it causes the skis to be pressed into the snow, which is good during the turning phase. And if you are accelerating up you also need to be accelerating down, which is best done during transition when the skis are flat and don't need pressure.

 

[LiquidFeet]

Jamt, I think I now understand what you mean by "accelerating up or down, always." It's left be a bit mystified, and embarrassed I never got that PhD in physics so I might readily understand acceleration in 3 dimensions and translate it into flexing and extending without confusion.

So what I now think you mean is this:
Accelerating up is directing more pressure to the skis, or "the ski" if we want to focus just on the outside one.
Accelerating down is relieving pressure on the skis, or the outside ski (aka lifting up the feet/knees).

Have I finally got that right?

 

[Mike King]

Stab it with the jabberdooey and mash on it.

 

[mister moose]

On marginal days, go out and try a few runs, it's usually better than expected.

 

[Mike King]

Jamt, I think I now understand what you mean by "accelerating up or down, always." It's left be a bit mystified, and embarrassed I never got that PhD in physics so I might readily understand acceleration in 3 dimensions and translate it into flexing and extending without confusion.

So what I now think you mean is this:
Accelerating up is directing more pressure to the skis, or "the ski" if we want to focus just on the outside one.
Accelerating down is relieving pressure on the skis, or the outside ski (aka lifting up the feet/knees).

Have I finally got that right?

I suspect he means to be in motion, not static.

Mike

 

[slowrider]

Vertical separation is your friend.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

On marginal days, go out and try a few runs, it's usually better than expected.

A dear departed friend used to say, "If you don't ski the bad days, you don't deserve to ski the good ones."

RIP Patricia Ganter

 

[Jamt]

Jamt, I think I now understand what you mean by "accelerating up or down, always." It's left be a bit mystified, and embarrassed I never got that PhD in physics so I might readily understand acceleration in 3 dimensions and translate it into flexing and extending without confusion.

So what I now think you mean is this:
Accelerating up is directing more pressure to the skis, or "the ski" if we want to focus just on the outside one.
Accelerating down is relieving pressure on the skis, or the outside ski (aka lifting up the feet/knees).

Have I finally got that right?

Kind of, but its often counter intuitive. For example if you think "now I'm really going to press the skis into the snow hard" and you do it by extending. Chances are that you interrupt the edging process and destroy the upwards acceleration later in the turn. (sometimes for a very short turn phase it can work though)
If you instead think, "I must be patient so that I don't pressure the skis too much before I have established enough edge angles", chances are that the rest of the turn will have a lot of upwards acceleration and great turning forces.
For example it is very common that people establish a certain amount of angulation, and then "stand" more or less static on the skis for a while, instead of increasing the angulation until the pressure naturally comes (and even further than that). One mental que that works for some is to "lift" the feet sideways and up by angulating.
All this is very difficult and even WC level skiers are sometimes stuck in a static position. It is an "estimation game" which is quite hard when you have red and blue plastic in the way.

I suspect he means to be in motion, not static.

Mike

Yes, if you are constantly in motion it is pretty hard not to accelerate in some direction.

 

[Jamt]

A dear departed friend used to say, "If you don't ski the bad days, you don't deserve to ski the good ones."

RIP Patricia Ganter

I don't understand. There are no bad days!

 

[Mike King]

Here's one from @Bob Barnes: there is no bad snow, just good snow and snow that is good for you!

 

[Mike King]

Manage the trajectory of the com to direct it where you want to go.

uke

It's a nice thought, but don't you think it is a bit impractical? The CoM is not a body part and it changes position depending on joint positions -- it can be, and often is, outside of the body!

 

[Seldomski]

"Ski more like me, less like you!"

-Austrian Ski Instructor

 

[Uke]

Mike,

No more impractical than 'Managing the relationship between the com and the bos...'. I could say 'Push the body where I want it to go.' but I think my original statement is more accurate.

uke

 

[LiquidFeet]

Push?