Technical off-piste ski videos: Post your favorites

[Philpug]

Alright Alright I'll bite! You are absolutely correct in that I'm not skiing bumps at the "highest level" and I will never claim to be. But here's where you and PSIA are absolutely missing the point. As opposed to competition racing or bump skiing free skiing is about personal expression, not being efficient 100% of the time. I personally enjoy playing with momentum and the forces you can create. I like to break traditional rules at one point or another in the turn to get rebound or juice the tails into the air or tweak the outside ski in front of me. All these moves are rooted in basic fundamentals then tweaking them. It's not efficient, you can't get away with it all the time, nor would it win any competitions, but it's a little style I like to add. It's important to know the rules and it's important to know how to break them. I would like to see ski instruction go further in teaching fundamentals+. That said i'm not technically perfect and am always thinking about things in my skiing. Here's a video from years ago going slow and working on a little more flow and fundamental skiing, still not amazing bump skiing by any means always plenty to work on!

Thank you for joining the conversation @Marcus Caston. As an old hot dogger myself, and talking to others too, there is very little "free" or "style" in what we called freestyle of late. As I said in your video with Jonny, I love your "style" skiing bumps and your free form. I believe we have met but I look forward to spending some more time chatting with you and the "expression" you bring to the sport.

 

[Tricia]

But here's where you and PSIA are absolutely missing the point. As opposed to competition racing or bump skiing free skiing is about personal expression, not being efficient 100% of the time. I personally enjoy playing with momentum and the forces you can create. I like to break traditional rules at one point or another in the turn to get rebound or juice the tails into the air or tweak the outside ski in front of me. All these moves are rooted in basic fundamentals then tweaking them. It's not efficient, you can't get away with it all the time, nor would it win any competitions, but it's a little style I like to add. It's important to know the rules and it's important to know how to break them. I would like to see ski instruction go further in teaching fundamentals+. That said i'm not technically perfect and am always thinking about things in my skiing.

Several years ago we were skiing with a bunch of really high level instructors, including a couple Demo Team members. When you saw them ski down, you couldn't tell who was who until they got close enough to actually see their features. Every move was perfect and precise.

On the other hand, there were some others in our group who were also highly skilled, some of whom were instructors, who were skiing the same line but with a little more flavor. Every one had a smile on their face, so evidently everyone was having fun.

That moment inspired me to start a thread -
If your skiing style could be described as an ice cream flavor, what would it be?
I like vanilla bean ice cream, but Cherry Garcia is pretty awesome!

 

[Mothertucker]

So, @Marcus Caston, how tall are you?

 

[Philpug]

So, @Marcus Caston, how tall are you?

Reminds me of...

 

[Marcus Caston]

So, @Marcus Caston, how tall are you?

Maybe 5'7" on my tip toes

 

[4ster]

Alright Alright I'll bite! You are absolutely correct in that I'm not skiing bumps at the "highest level" and I will never claim to be. But here's where you and PSIA are absolutely missing the point. As opposed to competition racing or bump skiing free skiing is about personal expression, not being efficient 100% of the time. I personally enjoy playing with momentum and the forces you can create. I like to break traditional rules at one point or another in the turn to get rebound or juice the tails into the air or tweak the outside ski in front of me. All these moves are rooted in basic fundamentals then tweaking them. It's not efficient, you can't get away with it all the time, nor would it win any competitions, but it's a little style I like to add. It's important to know the rules and it's important to know how to break them. I would like to see ski instruction go further in teaching fundamentals+. That said i'm not technically perfect and am always thinking about things in my skiing. Here's a video from years ago going slow and working on a little more flow and fundamental skiing, still not amazing bump skiing by any means always plenty to work on!

I have total respect for your skiing Mr. Caston & luv the concept of the "Return of the Turn". I truly hope that the skiing masses take notice. Everyone in the Squaw video is killing it in their own way. I like all their skiing but yours more so. I think yours is the kind of skiing I aspired to in my youth & it is still inspirational.

Here is part of what I wrote in a PM with one of the other posters in this thread:
"I spent about 15 days skiing Squaw late last spring & always tried to finish my day with a few runs on Chtue 75 (the run in the bump video) & other West Face KT runs. I’m not sure that some of the posters can appreciate how fast Caston is skiing, how steep that slope is or how truly huge & gnarly the bumps are!."

Now, if I put my ski teacher hat on I'd say that I could help you with that right pole plant. .

If you ever get up to Snowbasin look me up, as long as you promise to wait for me at the bottom!

 

[KevinF]

Here's a video from years ago going slow and working on a little more flow and fundamental skiing, still not amazing bump skiing by any means always plenty to work on!

My goal is to look even remotely that amazing for one turn.

 

[Mike King]

@Marcus Caston , thanks for posting! I only wish I could ski that line you did as well as you did. I hope I didn't insult you with my comments.

I did have the opportunity to ski with @Dan Egan several years ago. He is definitely not in the PSIA, or current FIS, camp either. His style of skiing bumps has some elements of similarity to your skiing: to slow down, he'd bend the ski on the back side of the bump as he landed. We all thought he spent more time in the air than he did on the snow. Skiing Franklin Dump at Aspen, we'd all take bets on whether he was going to clobber his noggin on the same tree limb each time through, as he repeatedly flirted with it.

Clearly you have mastery of the technique of skiing; you wouldn't be where you are if you didn't. And I'm not one to suggest that everyone should ski the same way, or that there is a single right way to ski. Some blends of the five fundamentals result in more performance from the ski, and more performance from the ski often yields more opportunities to do something spectacular.

I also applaud you for your Return of the Turn segment. Few people today ski moguls, and even fewer ski them the way that they were skied before FIS.

Finally, to your point of breaking the rules, I couldn't agree more. Expert skiing is about versatility. Can you ski on the inside ski? Can you adjust your line with upper body rotation? do you have the ability move in any direction in the turn? The wilder the terrain, the more adaptable you are going to need to be. You need all the tricks in the playbook, not just the ones that PSIA (or CSIA, FIS, or whomever) emphasizes.

Again, thanks for posting,

Mike

 

[Mike King]

BTW, nice skiing in that video.

Mike

 

[karlo]

@Marcus Caston thank you for posting! I love your skiing. I can't wait for the movie release.

(omg, that was Marcus Caston)

 

[Tricia]

@Mike King, its funny you should make the comparison to @Dan Egan. Phil and I were talking about the highly skilled, yet unconventional style of @Marcus Caston and Dan.
Good times!

 

[silverback]

This one is kind of fun. The Alta locals have amazing commitment.

 

[jmeb]

This one is kind of fun. The Alta locals have amazing commitment.

Fun hucks and line choices. But not impressive technical skiing. Even I can ski like that.

 

[markojp]

FIFY

I'd rather see it with a few FIS or WC athletes... or the Projected Productions crew. Most interesting would be collective insight into the level of technical training and physical conditioning it takes to ski like this. I don't think most have a clue on either front.

Eric is a brick... full contact mma style stuff and commensurate workouts. I thought the topic of their vid could be exactly 'fun' as someone above suggested. It'd be cool to see Eric and Marcus 'play' together. Marcus, thanks for posting! Believe me, I'll be refering kids I work with to your vids... and Eric's as well... and Lorraine's.... and Ingrid's.... and Lindsey's... and Drew's... and Mikaela's.

 

[karlo]

"I wonder if those people are skiing, or they just happen to have a pair of skis on." Glen Plake, 11:45

Love how Marcus Caston's movie remakes the riders-on-the-field segment.

 

[Muleski]

Fun Instagram pic posted today of Marcus playing around:

 

[VON]

Dunno if this one's been posted yet, but marcus caston decimating snowbird in-bounds always gets me hyped


Anybody have any more like this?

 

[Muleski]

Dunno if this one's been posted yet, but marcus caston decimating snowbird in-bounds always gets me hyped

Yep, great video. Probably why it has been posted twice already on this thread.

On a related note, Return of the Turn, Groomers drops tomorrow. Marcus skis with his friend, WC skier Robby Kelley.

Looking forward to it.

 

[karlo]

great video. Probably why it has been posted twice already on this thread

And, I still like it.

 

[Muleski]

And, I still like it.

As do I, and evidently others.
Big Marcus fan.