Todd, Its a great thread! I posted there of course. You can only learn and absorb so much at any given time.
back to poles, the use of poles (which includes the creation of momentum of the body to the next turn/direction) is absolutely mandatory if you want to ski diffcult or steep terrain. I also never leaned to use poles and had to go back the basics once I started to ski off piste and bumps. THey keep you moving forward (or forwardagonally) and become invaluable for balance and recovery when you get knocked off balance or need to make abrupt turns or stops. If I had to pick one of the most valuable tools it would be the use of poles. Even if you don't tip both feet together, if you can move with your poles correctly, you can ski more technical terrain than being able to use the feet but no understanding how to use our poles. Try to ski bumps without pole plants (this includes the movement of the body) or powder for that matter, forgets steeps it won't happen! Up your game istantly. The pole plants are continuous, you are always "reaching" for the next turn, they keep you body moving in the new direction, The "reach" is usually nothing more than an extension of the pole downhill, I am a little more agressive with the plants than JC method but the faster you ski the more they need to be in front as by the time you are reaching and planting, your body is moving over the plant. BTW- don't ski around your pole plants, you ski through them.
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