As everyone here knows I tend to work pretty hard on my skiing and I have driven myslef to become a better skier every year. So far I have been able to make marked changes in my skiing each year since I started in December of 2002. As everyone here also knows I am a big fan of PMTS and I have modeled my skiing in this fashion, but what I have learned this year about off piste skiing is not exclsusive to PMTS skiers. This realy is the key to good off piste skiing.
What I was noticing was that my techniue and form was excellent on piste but when I found myslef in steeps or large bumps it would often disappear. I kept on going back to easier terrain to work on my technique and then coming back to steeper terrain to see if it would hokd up. Sometimes it would and sometimes it would not. I could not figure out why sometimes I skied well and sometimes I did not until one day when the lightbulb went on.
So here it is and it is very simple, good off piste skiing requires one thing above all else (which means that it is necessary compenent but not necessarily a sufficient compnent for those that have taken logic) and this is proper for aft balance. I know it sounds so simple but it is much easier said than done. What most people (including me unntil this season) do in steep off piste terrain is they cut their first turn, get way back during it because they are feraful and uncertain and then the skis run out from under them. Because of this they are going much faster than they want to and when they try to turn or even pivot, they have so much weight on their tails that the ski will not turn. So they are left with the bleed off traverse where the go sideways until they bleed off enough speed so they can stop recenter and then attempt the next turn. Now I know that I am not the only that has experienced this and I see it all the time on the mountain when I look at skiers. When you are back on your skis, the tails will not come around!! On groomers you can actually get back and force the skis to come around but not off piste in crud, chop and powder. Having said that when your weight is forward your speed in each turn is slower, and you can turn when every you want because the tails will come around because there is not any weight on them. To some degree rockered skis try to eliminate this issue because you can pivot a rockered tail even when it is loaded with weight. No wonder so many intermediate skiers love them.
Now it is not easy to stay forwrad in really steep off piste terrain. But I have found that if you force yourself to stay forwrad and if you pull your feet back in every transition, it is amazing what occurs. The steeps have become fun and easy for me. In bumps, you have no shot of skiing them if you don't get forward in each transition. When you get this right in bumps they also become fun and easy.
I know that with real diligence and effort I have made huge strides with this one key or focus. I pass it along and hopefully others will benefit from this as well.
you have a good start but in the trickiest most dynamic turns turn in off piste situations a purposeful aft transtion that you end up in the front of your boot prior to the fall line is usually one of the better move you can make. It ironically keeps you our of the backseat in the fall line and lets you generate alot higher edge angle while in the fall line. Ala the Korean Demo team.
On the rocker ski thing, have you ever actually skied a rocked ski? You statement shows a real lack of understanding and leads me to believe you never have. On a rockered ski leaning back to much usually spells disaster as there is no tail to catch you. All of my non race skis;skis have some sort of tail rocker on them. Leaning back on one usually means wheeling out, generally you try to drive the tip as much as you can since A. it probably wont sink B. the tail is scary.
but yeah have you ever actually skied on a rockered ski or are you just talking about something you have NEVER tried?
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