Insane! Candide Thovex must have the best fore-aft balance in the universe! You MUST see this!
So what I find most interesting is how this talented freestyle/park/bump skier addresses the terrain - and - it appears faction skis are made of good stuff!
1) Note he puts an inside hand/arm behind him, way beyond the "BRIEFCASE" position I've come to love and have been berated about.
2) He stays square over his skis for strength and power over insane terrain, rotating upper torso and hips for each turn to follow his skis (also something I've become a big fan of - no more countering for me) .
3) Lots of Gelandesprung - I should be doing that more when terrain is crappy.
Crush wrote:
1) Note he puts an inside hand/arm behind him, way beyond the "BRIEFCASE" position I've come to love and have been berated about.
 What do you suppose that is doing for him?  What does it do for you?  I’m puzzled.
one has to presume that hand position is helping him, otherwise he wouldn’t do it. Â
Denis wrote:
Crush wrote:
1) Note he puts an inside hand/arm behind him, way beyond the "BRIEFCASE" position I've come to love and have been berated about.
 What do you suppose that is doing for him?  What does it do for you?  I’m puzzled.
one has to presume that hand position is helping him, otherwise he wouldn’t do it. Â
great question!! I do believe that due to massive friction from terrain it might be helpful to have a counter-balance behind you that you can make use of at speed. It might come in handy for those sticky days of transitioning from ski-able to crappy junk snow like we get everywhere we all ski at some point. I'm bold at breaking rules so next season I'll let you know if it works or not. Or maybe when it is tight and you are straight-lining it helps you to prevent getting your arm ripped off :-D
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Crush wrote:
1) Note he puts an inside hand/arm behind him, way beyond the "BRIEFCASE" position I've come to love and have been berated about.
2) He stays square over his skis for strength and power over insane terrain, rotating upper torso and hips for each turn to follow his skis (also something I've become a big fan of - no more countering for me) .
Tell more about the briefcase and no more counter??
camp wrote:
Crush wrote:
1) Note he puts an inside hand/arm behind him, way beyond the "BRIEFCASE" position I've come to love and have been berated about.
2) He stays square over his skis for strength and power over insane terrain, rotating upper torso and hips for each turn to follow his skis (also something I've become a big fan of - no more countering for me) .
Tell more about the briefcase and no more counter??
 What? Someone here actually asks me about skiing instead of beating me up? Glad to explain -
The inside hand "briefcase" position is something that PSIA instructors would clobber you on because it is bad form for old-school thinking. Your hands should be always ahead of your toes and "driving" which is groovy nonsense talk that does not explain anything; I credit my great race coach back in the day saying ignore such talk.
The position looks like you are carrying a brief case in your inside hand like next to your hip. In the old days you had to NEVER put any weight inside of your turn or all that NEVER put pressure on your inside ski or else you will die. And ALWAYS face downhill with your torso and "keep it moving downhill" whatever that stupid saying means (goes with "bend zee knees and drive the knees - how do I do that?)
I have tried to explain here how trying to move more of your weight inside of your turn can bring you much joy - shot down sometimes but hey this is what I saw working ... full body inclination etc yada yada. All I know is it gives me a big smile. EXCEPTION: very steep no-fall skiing in narrow chutes - you need to revert to old-school and counter ( also called a blocking position ) just watch old ski films and the skiers will keep their upper torso pointed straight down the fall-line, un-weight skis and maybe even do hops turns which works really good. Advantage is: your body acts like a rubber band that is twisted up so when you release your lower body snaps around in like 1 second and sets you up for the next turn. Keeping it out of the fall line lets you get a lot of braking action that will help you not break any bones lol.
"briefcase" position might look like this - the skier is following the skis around in a "square" position with hips, shoulder and also your feet aligned and no real separation between the torso and lower body (i.e. NOT like doing Chubby Checker's "The Twist") - CAUTION don't initiate your turns with your upper body! This is where the old-school advice comes from. This has to be a smooth integrated movement with the whole body that takes much practice . Also, this skier is at the end of the turn - to initiate the next one he'll rise up (release edges and for a small time ride a flat ski) , turn his head and eyes and look at where he wants the next turn to end. Pull the inside ski back, move that "briefcase" arm smoothly forward and the skis will start to initiate the next turn. Torso will follow and point down the fall line at some point and then the whole body will commit to the turn as your new inside hand drops to "briefcase" position and end like the below - a motion continuum:
I sometimes -well - most of the time say things wrong because I am not (according to my failed attempt to be a ski instructor) a thinker-watcher I'm a feeler(75%) -doer(25%) ... conation not cognation - divaskitips.blogspot.com
. What I was trying to say is not this (except steep skiing)
but this:
Or even this (totally breaking the old-school - I'm getting there slowly):
I hope that helps
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