So this video is for those skiers that lack a bit of confidence, or lose a bit of confidence
when they delv off the runs into tougher terrain.
Hi, My name is Tom Gellie, Ex Australian demo team member and founder of bigpictureskiing.com.
Today I’d like to help you in building confidence in tougher terrain.
So, in this video I am going to try and give you some actionable tips and things to focus
on, so on your next trip you are going to feel far more confident and able to tackle
that tougher terrain.
So, before we get into the tips, we need to know, what is tough terrain?
The main things are that there are obstacles and variable snow.
Today, there is very variable snow, there are punchy sections where I'm pushing all
the way through.
There are icy sections, there is beautiful wind blown powder, there are bumps, there
are dips.
All those things they make it more difficult for me to do my edging and turning of the
skis.
So, I need to know that's going on, before we can get into the tactics that you can use
to get through those things much easier.
So, tip 1 is change your attitude, don't change your technique.
This is because I commonly see skiers when they come in here and are trying to venture
into tough terrain, their confidence drops, they go back, and all this makes it more difficult
to tackle the terrain and make the skis turn.
So, to give you an analogy, if you are off running on a smooth path that then veers off
into a mountain trail with roots and logs and stones and steps, you wouldnt change your
running technique, you would just heighten your senses and awareness.
The same thing, you wouldn't run and then stop at every obstacle, you'd try to keep
your flow moving through those things, that comes down to the way you approach the run,
how you think about it.
What makes our skis turn and give us flow on the piste is no different off the piste,
the same edging, turning all those things are happening here, so there is not that much
of a difference with the technique coming into this tougher terrain.
So this is a great area on the hill, there's a slightly more challenging piece of terrain,
next to a nice, easy groomed bit I skied this morning.
So look for this terrain on your own resort, as this is a perfect training ground for working
on changing your attitude, but not changing your technique.
So I want to emphasize that it's easier said than done, but it's a really important point.
If you can focus on what makes you ski well on the piste, that's going to keep your mind
focused on the outcomes, as opposed to the worries which will start freezing you up.
So easier said than done, I understand that, but if you can really get this tip of really
being confident with your attitude and focusing on the technique, you're going to get through
this a lot easier.
Tip 2 of today's lesson is visual training and terrain reading.
So people will often lose their confidence because they don't know where to turn and
why.
So, if i give you an analogy, so if you're in a crowded place, what do you automatically
do?
You look for the gaps in the crowd, because the gaps give you freedom to move between
the crowd.
Conversely, if you tried to bully your way and push through a group, that's much harder
work.
So on this tougher terrain, I'm going to try and show you some places that make it easier,
and so you can choose a line like you are choosing your path through the crowd.
So in a nutshell, the places you want to turn are these high points, these features that
allow you to free up the tips, and especially the tails of your skis.
So look for those in your visual training and terrain reading, and try and link them
up into one smooth run.
I wanted to stop here, because this is a good example of where to not try and start a turn.
I'm in between two high points.
This, and behind me are high points, so my skis are kind of like flexed in, tip and tails
and very stuck, so to free my tails up is difficult, they are going to want to catch
on the back of this bump.
If i just move and waited till i found a higher point like this, i now get the effect of like
a seesaw, where i can now easily get my tails free to turn, so very much a timing thing,
this is a good example of where to not start a turn, you can ski here, but your focus is
on the high points to get a seesaw effect and get your tails free for an easy start.
So i'm going to try and focus on some more high points in the terrain down here and they
are going to free me up and also make it a lot more fun, it's like a videogame, i'm trying
to link up the points that make it easier, but also it feels really fun to hit.
Okay, so starting off, i'm going to ski right into this high point to free me up, make it
fun.
Another high point, that's freed my tails up, got to be quick in here, another high
point, looking,looking, looking.
Any little high point can help me finish my turn and free my tails to start the next turn,
it's a matter of linking these points and using your eyes to find them.
So at the end of the day, if you are still having a tough time in the tougher terrain,
I'd recommend going back to basics and focusing on a key skiing skill.
So for instance, fore;aft balance is one of the most obvious ones I would recommend going
and working on.
There's plenty of videos out there to help you with this topic.
If you happen to have carv, then you can look at all the data, like i've been skiing today
and its collected all the metrics on the different skiing skills, so i'm going to choose the
weakest ones and do some drills back on some easier terrain, some smoother terrain, to
improve that score, because i'll know my technique is going to be better and i can take that
back in to the tougher terrain, because tip number one, don't change your technique, change
your attitude.
So to recap, remember - change your attitude, don't change your technique.
Do some terrain reading and visual training so you know what line, where you want to go
and why.
And then third, it's always important to go back and make sure you work on your basic
ski skills, get those right and everything is going to be much easier.
So these tips, I still use them, I was using them today filming this video, everytime I
rocked up to some terrain that was a little uneven, there was some tough snow, I haven't
skied there before, straight away my mind automatically went to the things we've talked
about.
So if you can focus on these, it's really going to open up the whole mountain to you,
it's going to take some practise, but it's going to be awesome and you're going to be
rocking it in no time.
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So i hope you have a good day out on the slopes, thanks , see you next time.