Phil Smith, director of Snoworks Ski Courses discusses the art of free skiing.
Photo: Phil, Smith enjoying the freedom of off-piste skiing.

free
1. Not imprisoned or enslaved, being at liberty.
2. Not controlled by obligation or the will of another.
3. Not affected or restricted by a given condition or circumstance.
4. Not subject to external restraint.
5. Not literal or exact.
6. Unguarded in expression or manner.
7. Given, made, or done of ones own accord.
8. Not fixed in position, capable of relatively unrestricted motion.
9. Not bound, fastened or attached.

Maybe it’s just who we are and the trait of humans that we need rules. Rules that govern everything we do even to the extent of how we ski!

Of course there always have to be some rules otherwise we would be in danger of harming others and ourselves hence why the skiers code of conduct was developed.

But take the Skiers Code aside and other rules that help keep us and others safe in the mountains, how many skiers actually ‘free ski’?

The need to be governed by rules even in ‘how’ we ski is highlighted when people come on our ski courses for the first time and I ask them their goals.
“I need to learn to ski correctly”
“I get down anything but don’t do it right”
“I need to be told what I’m doing wrong”

Where does this yearning for doing it the ‘right way’ come from?

Looking at the great sports stars and world champions they all have one thing in common. They do it ‘their’ way not the ‘right’ way.

In skiing we have the likes of Ingemar Stenmark, Franz Klammer, Alberta Tomba, Hermann Maier, Janica Kostelic, Bode Miller, Lindsey Vonn, Mikaela Shiffrin and of course the great Ted Ligety who recently single-handedly redefined giant slalom skiing creating some of the biggest winning margins seen since the famous Ingemar Stenmark whose record of 86 World Cup wins still stands today. Both Mikeala Shiffrin and Bode Miller have publicly put their success down to literally ‘free skiing’ when they were younger.

Great sport stars don’t try to do it ‘right’. They have freedom. Maybe it comes from an inner confidence they have. To be free is difficult and if you’re not one of the best your looking for answers. How do you become the best? And the search for becoming the best creates restrictions that then inhibit you from becoming the best. It’s a vicious circle.

When I was young and learning to surf youngsters used to watch and copy the best so the sport never really changed. But these days surfers, skateboarders, BMX bikers, snowboarders and ‘freestyle’ skiers are creating their own rules. It’s exciting to watch and forever changing and adapting.

Maybe the perception of doing it ‘right’ starts right from the grass routes of skiing and the people you watch and listen to when you are learning to ski. The instructors.

So it begs the questions. Are instructors free?

I was involved in our National Ski Teaching Association for many years all the way to the very top. At the time I thought I was doing the ‘right’ thing. Training ski instructors to ski a particular way. I believed that ‘our’ technical model was the best and to be good everyone should adhere to it. Why let aspirant ski teachers be free when I believed their freedom was incorrect! Skiing ‘our’ way was much better.

The need for coaches to train people to perform the national way is apparent in many sports and is often a characteristic of a nation.

Part of a ski instructors examination is ‘free skiing’. But one could say it is hardly free. You need to ski at a particular speed, stand a particular way over your skis. You need to use technique as expected, make particular shaped turns and link your movements in a particular manner.

Once at a particular level ‘freedom’ is encouraged but it’s normally only reserved for the highest level. Prior to that there are rules to obey. You have to earn your right to be free.

Maybe this is a good thing. Learning the nuts and bolts first. Doing the basics correctly then adapting them in a ‘free’ manner but I can’t help feeling that there maybe something lost in translation which is then passed down to skiers learning to ski at the grass routes.

One way of helping you to be free but be effective is to understand input and output.

Input is what we do with our body, output is the result. Many skiers learn how to move and the output is the result of their movements.  But you can turn this completely on its head. Focus on the output instead and let your movements be the result of this.

This is what the great performers do and is why they are free to move and make their own rules. Take Ted Ligety as an example. His objective is to go faster down a giant slalom course then everyone else. He has a freedom in mind, body and spirit. Unhindered by perceptions. His ‘output’ to go as fast as he can allows his movements to be unhindered and free. The observers see his movements and try to copy them working then on the inputs themselves rather than the outputs. So reinforcing the inability to be free. Copying Ted Ligetys movements but not his freedom.

So how does this help you? Firstly understand there is no ‘right’ way of doing something. Sure you need rules but these rules need to be rules about safety and safety comes from having control over your speed and line, your output.

So the first step to freedom is to change the focus from ‘how do we ski’ to ‘how do I control my speed and line’. Change your skiing from ‘input’ to ‘output’ focussed.

This doesn’t mean to say that inputs are not important. They are but they’re a means to an end rather than the end.

There are millions of exercises and drills (inputs) that you can continually practice and develop to help your skiing and all the great sport stars still do this. But the difference is once all the drills and exercises are done they focus on the job in hand, the ‘output’ and this becomes the goal.

So how does this help skiing at the grass routes? Understand that the inputs are not the goal, they are a means to an end. The output is the goal.

_________________

The Snoworks philosophy of developing ‘freedom’ runs through all the Snoworks Courses from courses for adventurous intermediates to experts incluing; All-Terrain, Off-Piste and Backcountry to Pro Courses for instructors including; Gap, Instructor Training, Eurotest & Test Technique Training.

Click for next Snoworks Courses

For the third summer on a trot all the ski lifts in Tignes this summer for mountain biking are FREE.

You can come out and ski in the morning on the glacier and then swap your skis for a mountain bike and away you go. Over the years Tignes has been developing it’s mountain bike routes and this summer this is what you can expect.

• 150km of trails
• 2 greens, 10 blues, 5 reds, 3 blacks, 1 double Black.
• 7 endurance rides.
• 5 Ski lifts including: Palafour, Tuffs, Olympic Express, Borsat, Solaise.
• Free shuttle service: Tignes Brevieres to Tignes.

For the adventurous you have the bike airbag and waterjump in Tignes Le Lac plus the bike park and pump track.

This summer we’ll be running Race Carve Courses for adventurous intermediates upwards and Pro Eurotest Training.

Click for summer course dates

Looking for something to do in the summer? Fancy something different to lying on a beach with a pina colada! Well Tignes has it all. Skiing on the glacier in the morning and then after the lifts stop the adventure begins.

This summer a selection of lifts in Tignes and Val D’Isere will be totally free for mountain biking combined with an endless choice of activities will make Tignes one of this summer’s top destinations.

Last year Tignes took the award of ‘France’s sportiest village’. This year the investment continues with a new sports centre, currently being built for completion this coming autumn, and the recently built Lagoon offering a top of the range swimming pool and health centre.

The Lake has a host of water activities and a short trip down to the Isere river for the adventurous with level 4 rapids and a choice of canoeing, river rafting or hydrospeed.

What else?  Tennis, volleyball, football, fitness, water jumps, airbags, golf, climbing to name a few.

This summer Snoworks will be running Race Carve plus Pro Eurotest Training from early morning to early afternoon. Then the adventure begins.

Click here for a listing of all the courses coming up.

Click a photo below for a look at a few of the afternoon activities.

Phil Smith, Director of Snoworks talks about Snoworks Race Carve courses this autumn and how you can literally take your skiing to another level.

It’s the most talked about thing in skiing, ‘sidecut radius’ but what is it and how can you use it?

Sidecut radius is the shape of the ski. Wide at the tip, narrow in the middle and wide at the tail. Put it flat on the ground, draw around the edge and the curve will give you a part of a circle – The ‘Sidecut Radius’.

So next comes the fun bit – ski down the mountain stick the ski on its edge and hey presto the ski takes you around a curve. Wow, how easy is that, it’s like cranking over a Ducati Desmosedici RR. Get it right, the edges bite and the skis accelerate leaving a mist of melted snow in your trail. Goodbye Citreon 2CV, hello Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. For those that don’t know, the Bugatti is the fastest road car ever produced with a top speed of 267mph and 0 to 60 in 2.4 seconds. Now that’s fast.

So lets get down to the nitty gritty. Carving is about skiing fast. Yep it’s an adrenalin filled roller coaster! But and it’s a big BUT summed up by the great Perelli saying – Power Is Nothing Without Control. That’s where we come in – Power harnessed with control.

First thing, it’s no good just sticking a ski on its edge and hoping for the best – you’ll end up like Denzil Wahington in Unstoppable. You need to know how to control carving, how to lose or gain speed, how to control direction. So to begin with lets go back to that sidecut radius.

The sidecut radius is just the shape of the ski, stick the ski on its edge and it creates a different curve and this curve dictates where you go, it’s called the ‘Carved Turn Radius’. So for those numberjacks amongst us here comes the formula, if you’re not into numbers just skip the next bit.

Carved Turn Radius = Sidecut Radius x Cos(Edge Angle)

So what does this mean? It means your skis can make millions of different sized ‘carved turns’ simply by adjusting the angle of the ski against the snow. For example, a ski of a sidecut radius of 15 metres can make any size carved turn from 14 metres radius curve with a 20 degree edge angle to a 5 metre radius curve with a 70 degree edge angle and everything between.

Edge angle – the angle the ski makes with the snow.

So all you need to do is learn to adjust the edge angle and before you can say Jack Robinson you’ll have the speed of the Renault-powered RB8 Red Bull Formula 1 car and with a Snoworks Race Carve Course the control of Sebastian Vettel.

Of course if it was that easy you wouldn’t need a Snoworks Course. Rome wasn’t built in a day but you can begin your journey to adrenalin fuelled skiing.

The Race Carve Course combines high octane skiing in and out of the gates. Working on skills and drills that will give you the accuracy of Howard Hill with the mindset of Yoda.

Snoworks Race Carve Courses are this summer on June 29th and July 6th 2013.
Click here for details

I love this quote. I first heard it when watching Kung Fu Panda. Master Oogway shares his words of wisdom to Po who is too pre-occupied with the future and the past and thus unable to fulfill his true potential as the Dragon Warrior.

It brings to mind exactly what happens with many skiers. Either focusing on the future (what’s going to happen) or focusing on the past (what has happened) rather than the present (what is happening).

To be a great ‘All-Mountain Skier’ you need to be focusing on the present, what is happening. The environment in all-mountain skiing is constantly changing every second, every milli-second, every nano-second. The snow, the terrain, the angle of the slope, the shape of the slope, every single snow crystal.

Just as an exercise to find out the difference between each snow crystal I googled the question ‘are two snow flakes ever the same?’ and this was the response.

The number of possible ways of making a complex snowflake is staggeringly large.  To see just how much so, consider a simpler question — how many ways can you arrange 15 books on your bookshelf?  Well, there’s 15 choices for the first book, 14 for the second, 13 for the third, etc.  Multiply it out and there are over a trillion ways to arrange just 15 books.  With a hundred books, the number of possible arrangements goes up to just under 10¹⁵⁸ (that’s a 1 followed by 158 zeros). Now when you look at a complex snow crystal, you can often pick out a hundred separate features if you look closely.  Since all those features could have grown differently, or ended up in slightly different places, the maths is similar to that with the books.  Thus the number of ways to make a complex snow crystal is absolutely huge. And thus it’s unlikely that any two complex snow crystals, out of all those made over the entire history of the planet, have ever looked completely alike.
www.snowcrystals.com

Thus every nano-second you are skiing, the environment is constantly changing. To adapt to this constantly changing environment you need to be focused on the ‘now’, what is happening to you, not what is going to happen or what has happened to you.

The other week I put together all the falls I had caught on video just for fun (no one was hurt). At the end of the week we gave some awards to the best falls. As I was compiling the video footage I noticed that every single fall had been caused by the focus moving from the ‘now’ to the ‘future’. A skier coming across the slope, a snowboarder sitting on the piste, myself holding the video camera 200 metres down the slope, a bump 20 metres ahead, etc etc.

Focus can be likened to a spotlight at the theater. The centre of the spotlight is the brightest and the further you move away from the centre the less bright it becomes. Your focus is exactly the same, the centre of your focus (where you direct it) is always the brightest. The centre of your foucs needs to be on the ‘now’ when skiing complex changing environments. This doesn’t mean to say you are not aware of other things happening around you or what’s going to happen in the future. Other skiers, terrain, hazards etc. The skill is in using your focus appropriately. Try this exercise. Balance your ski pole using one finger. It takes your full focus to achieve this. Without changing your focus, ask a friend standing 10 metres away to hold up one or two hands above their head and you will be able to tell him/her how many arms they are raising without moving your focus away from balancing the pole. Now ask them with one hand or two to now change the number of fingers they have raised. You will not be able to tell them this correctly unless you move your focus from the pole to the fingers being held aloft. As soon as you attempt to do this you will be unable to balance the pole (unless you are able to switch focus very quickly which is another skill not covered here). What this means is when you are skiing complex environments and are totally focused on the now you will also be able to be aware of other things. Other skiers for example (but you can’t tell whether their male or female). Rocks (but you can’t tell whether the rocks have moss on them). Snow canons (but you can’t tell which way they are pointing or the make of them).

This is the key to focusing. The most important aspects need to be the brightest and the less important the less bright. Exactly the same as a spotlight in the theater is used.

Going back to the video of the falls it was obvious that every fall was caused by the focus changing from the ‘now’ to the future and other factors, the snowboarder, skier, bumps 20 metres ahead, me holding the video camera etc etc.

You will begin to recognise that every time you loose control on your skis in complex environments it can probably be attributed to a loss of focus or a distraction taking you either away from the present to the future or away from the present to the past. The past being where a loss of balance becomes the centre of your focus rather then the recovering. A mistake becoming the centre of your focus rather then rectifying the mistake.

If you can remember the quote from master Oogway and apply it,  you will begin to recognise any loss of control can probably be attributed to a loss of focus on the ‘now’.

Snoworks teaches the art of ‘focusing’ on all our courses. Click here for a full listing of all the courses coming up.

NOTE: In dangerous environments you need to use your focus accordingly. There are times when hazards are more important than your performance and the hazards and safety must take priority. Safety, enjoyment, skiing in that order as we always say.

For any ‘Matrix’ fans out there you’ll immediately recognise the above quote. The quote is from a young boy early in the film when Neo enters the Matrix. The boy is holding a metal spoon, then the spoon bends in front of him to Neo’s surprise.

The boy responds. “Do not try to bend the spoon — that’s impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth: there is no spoon”

For those who have not seen the Matrix then this will seem like utter nonsense! So a bit about the film – The film is about a future where reality perceived by humans is actually a computer generated world created by machines to pacify and subdue the human population, while their bodies (held in a state of deep sleep) generate electrical activity to be used as an energy source by the machines. Some humans have escaped the machines and are set on freeing the human population from the ‘dream world’ created by the machines and into reality. The human ‘rebels’ are able to enter the computer dream world  with the aim of freeing the humans. As the rebels understand the rules of the computer generated dream world they are able to use the rules to empower themselves to achieve the most amazing feats whilst inside the computer generated world.

So back to the “There is no spoon” quote and it’s relevance to this blog. I like to think that if you know the rules of skiing then anything goes (well almost anything). My quote I use to empower skiers is “There is no slope”.

So what exactly does this mean and how can it empower you to greater skiing performance than you’ve ever imagined. Firstly you need to understand the relationship between you, your skis, the snow and the mountain. All your control comes from the relationship between the two surfaces in contact with each other. In our case as skiers, the ski edges and the snow. In racket sports, the strings and the ball. In golf, the club head and the golf ball. In motor sports the rubber of the tyres and the surface of the road or track.

Once you understand that the control comes from the relationship between the two surfaces you will then realise that this never changes. Your ski edges are the same and the snow is the same (more of this later on). So if you can ski a blue run in control then what changes?

Imagine if your blue run is suddenly tilted to a greater angle (say the equivalent of a red run). Your ski edges have not changed and the snow that you’re skiing on has not changed. So what has changed? Just the effect of a steeper slope on your mind. If the same slope (your blue run) is then tilted to an even greater angle (say the equivalent of a black run) then what has changed? Not your ski edges and not the snow. Just the effects of the greater angle on your mind. This scenario can keep going. The same slope being tilted at a greater and greater angle. The only limit being where the slope angle becomes impossible to ski.

All you need to be able to do is what we call ‘flatten the slope’ in your mind. Imagine this computer generated world (as in the Matrix) where you are able to flatten the slope to whatever angle you wish. This may seem ridiculous but it’s what all the great skiers do. We are able to flatten the slope in our minds. A black run is not a black run. It’s just snow and edges.

Lets take this another step further. Imagine again this same blue run that you can ski in control (your blue run) and this time instead of someone lifting the same slope to create a greater slope angle imagine someone has got underneath the slope and pushed up from below to create bumps. The snow is still exactly the same snow as before and your ski edges certainly have not changed. So again what has changed? Just the effects of the new shape of the slope (the bumps) on your mind. Once again you need to ‘flatten the slope’ and again it’s what all the great skiers are able to do. This scenario can go on and on with someone pushing up from below to change the shape of your ‘blue run’. The more the shape of your blue run changes the more the effect this has on your mind. Just remember it’s the same snow and the same edges. The more ‘your blue run’ changes in shape and steepness the greater interference this has on your mind. Are you able to ignore all the interference coming your way and create a reality where all that matters is the relationship between your ski edges and the snow? This may again seem ridiculous but it’s what we do. We are able to flatten the slope in our minds. A mogul run is not a mogul run. It’s just snow and edges.

So there you have it. “There is no slope”. – seems rediculous? Try it. The next time you go out see if you can block out all interference and just concentrate on the snow and your edges and see what you are able to achieve. Maybe the matrix is not as far fetched as we believed!

Snoworks specialises in creating a scenario where the main focus is the relationship beteen your ski edges and your contact point with the mountain. For more information on this see the following blogs:

The Proof Is In The Pudding

So You Want To Improve Your All-Mountain Skiing

Running Down Sand Dunes

Blowing Myths On Speed Control

Are you an ‘Open’ or ‘Closed’ skier?

And is this the key to why ski schools may have literally got it all wrong…?

Could this be at the core of why thousands, perhaps millions, of skiers around the world develop learning plateaus, unable to progress no matter how many times they sign up for ski school?

I’ve introduced this topic before in the article ‘Open Your Mind’ (April 2010 read here) featured in our Live to Ski Guide. IT’S AT THE HEART OF THE SNOWORKS SKIING & SKI TEACHING PHILOSOPHY.

So this time I’ve gone into it in more detail…

What are Open and Closed sports?
Closed sports are where the environment does not change such as running in lanes, swimming in lanes, javelin throwing, discuss, hammer etc.. Open sports are where the environment is constantly changing such as football, rugby, tennis, sailing, surfing etc..

Is Skiing Open or Closed?
Skiing is probably one of the most ‘Open’ and dynamic sports there is, yet somewhat alarmingly, the industry has built its understanding and foundations of skiing and teaching skiing on ‘closed sports’ methodology. It’s why there are so many different systems and ways of learning to ski and why so many skiers who travel to different resorts and countries in their skiing life are left confused, bewildered and despairing at the inconsistencies of how skiing is taught and why so many just don’t bother pursuing skiing tuition beyond the so-called ‘basics’.

For many skiers, the perception of ski school is only useful for gaining control over your skis for the pistes and groomed runs, where the environment is indeed less open, along with perhaps a broad understanding of mountain safety… oh, and how to get up lifts of course. But if the basics have been taught in ‘closed’ environment terms, then that’s it… you’re trapped for life. Unless, that is, you recognise this is how you’ve been taught and break free, starting the journey on a more long term and sustainable ‘open’ ski learning methodology…

Are you a closed skier?
Statements such as these below demonstrate a closed approach to skiing. Do you find yourself saying any (or all!) of these?… Are you a ‘VARIABLES VICTIM’?

- I’m ok providing it doesn’t get icy
- I can ski powder but when it begins to get varied I struggle
- I’m ok providing it doesn’t get steep
- Other skiers put me off
- I can’t control my speed
- I end up skiing too fast and lose control
- I’m ok providing the bumps are nicely spread out
- I struggle in bad visibility
- I struggle in slush
- I struggle on narrow paths
- I struggle when it gets crowded
- Trees put me off

Each statement has a variable attached to it – slope steepness, hazards, visibility, snow texture, other skiers or speed. If any of these statements ring true with you, then it’s time to go open, because having learned the closed method of skiing, you will always be a victim of skiing variables!

To clarify the difference between open and closed, it’s useful to understand the difference between why we have been taught to learn these methods.

When learning closed skills for closed sports, the movements tend to involve repetitive patterns; there’s a start and finish, like throwing a javelin – where the movement pattern can be described accurately.

When learning open skills for open sports there’s NO start or finish to the movement patterns, they have to be continually adapted to the changing environment.

Despite still being widely taught by many ski instructors and schools – knowing what we know about skiing in open environments, leaves ‘movement pattern learning’ obsolete.

A simply analogy I constantly use, would be trying to describe (and then teach!) the movement patterns of running through a crowded bar carrying a tray of drinks! To accurately describe what is happening and how to copy it is impossible – the probability of the same thing happening again exactly is like winning the lottery twice.

Set movement patterns would only work if you ran through the bar where each time everyone and everything always stayed in the same place. But of course, this would never happen: more people may have arrived, creating more obstacles; and furniture may have moved, the floor may be more slippery, etc., etc.. The variables are infinite.

This is why we don’t teach ‘set movement patterns’ anymore for all-terrain skiing.

Do any of these sound familiar?:

- Don’t lean back
- Face downhill
- Stand up, sink down
- Push into the front of the boots
- Don’t skid
- Get a rhythm
- Bounce up and down
- Equally weight your skis
- Keep more weight on the outside ski
- Plant your pole and stand up
- There are three phases to making a turn

All the above are statements which describe ‘closed techniques’. There is no consideration to the variables. By practicing any of the above, you will simply end up at a plateau when performance doesn’t match the variable. It’s a viscious circle.

So how do I go open?

Instead of set movement techniques, we teach our clients a toolbox of skiing skills – which the subconscious understands how and when to employ instinctively, adjusting to the terrain automatically without having to rely on repetitive conscious thought trying (and failing) to keep up with the changing environment.

Some of the skills we teach include:

Edge control
Pressure control
Rotary control
Speed control
Controlling Line
Balancing
Concentration
Decision making

Focus when skiing open environments is then on the output, ‘controlling your descent’ and the skills learnt are used at a subconscious level completely mixed together in an infinitely variable blend. Like running through the crowded bar analogy above.

By shifting your focus and concentration from the myths of making set movement patterns and onto developing and perfecting skills, you will instantly begin to understand the reality of the changing environment and how you should react accordingly. Skills learning allows you to be able to develop your skiing and take it much further, much faster than you (and all those skiers still ‘closed’) may ever know.

Skills-learning gives you total independence, connecting you with the ski against snow, snow structure, snow depth, terrain, steepness and speed to name but a few skiing variables.

Learning to ski ‘open’ may sound rather scientific and intense. At the very beginning, this may be true because of the terminology you’ll hear, like ‘Edge Control’ Pressure Control’ and ‘Rotary Control’. But after just a few hours, words will become meanings and feelings and then the penny will begin to drop as the mind and body opens into a whole new skiing universe.

Learning open skiing comes with a warning though: you’ll just wish you’d discovered it ten years ago, as you’ll find yourself pondering the time wasted on techniques that should now be forgotten on the mountain, but remembered fondly as times gone by and put up on the mantelpiece.

Hope to share more of our secrets with you soon!

Phil

Skills-learning for open environments is the Snoworks philosophy. Join Phil and other Snoworks-trained instructors to teach you the ‘open’ skills needed for effective skiing.

Our most popular course, All-Terrain, is an ideal way to learn and perfect the art of ‘open’ skiing. All-Terrain courses are run in the autumn and winter at UK Snowdomes, Tignes, Three Valleys and Hintertux. Click for details.

Also see our FAQ Ski Course v Ski School

We can all walk and we can all run and we can all speed up, slow down and change direction whilst walking or running. We can also all walk downhill, run downhill, speed up, slow down and change direction. As a child you learnt to walk, run and change direction and now you just do it as adults, you don’t need to think HOW! All you need is a good pair of trainers or a good pair of hiking boots with good grip on the sole.

Now supposing some smart Alec decides to replace the sole of your running or walking shoes with something quite slippery so you could no longer use the sole as they slip all the time. You like the feeling of this slipping but you need some control so this smart Alec decides to stick some rubber grip on the inside of your feet so you can slip on the sole and grip with the inside of your foot when needed.

Great you can now walk, run and change direction as you did before, slipping on the soles and gripping with the inside of each foot.

Now lets go back to the surface and instead of the surface being hard ground lets replace it with something that ‘gives’ a bit more, something like sand. Now you can walk, run and change direction down a sand dune but instead of using the sole of each foot as it’s slippery, you now use the inside of each foot. Every time you use the inside of your foot the sand moves and ‘gives’.

You’re loving this running down sand on the inside of your feet and you love the way the sand gives. It’s a great feeling but the walking up each time is a bit of a bore so you stick a chairlift in and sell ‘running down sand dune holidays’ and call it ‘sand running’. It takes off as everyone can do it. The same smart Alec decides that if we used something more slippery than sand like snow, which still ‘gives’ a bit so you can still grip with the inside of your feet to control your descent it would be even more fun and even more popular. Now the same bright spark decides to extend the length of your running shoes, turn up the front, make them a bit wider, maintain a similar shape to your foot, narrower in the middle and wide at the front, keep the soles slippy and the edges grippy and call this new invention ‘skiing’. It’s great, really takes off and the best thing – you don’t have to learn anything new as you learnt to walk, run and change direction as a child, the only difference is you’ve got bigger feet with slippery soles and grippy insides and you do it on snow!

The moral of this story is you all learnt the skills of skiing when you learnt to walk, run, speed up, slow down and change direction as a 2 year old kid.

Snoworks runs Ski Courses where you can use all the skills you learnt as a kid to ski the mountain.
Check out our full list of courses by clicking here.

Phil Smith, Director of Snoworks Ski Courses explains why so many intermediate skiers could be missing out on so much more.

Everyday when I’m out on the slopes teaching I look around and see countless intermediate skiers that have the potential to do so much more with their skiing. Maybe what I’m seeing is what they want to do, maybe it’s what intermediate skiers think intermediate skiers do, maybe they don’t know what is possible and could be missing out on so much more with just a little bit of help and advice.

I have the impression that the traditional method of booking a skiing holiday may be back to front. To give you an example, it goes something like this:
1. Research a resort based on price, accommodation, availability, airport.
2. Book a ski holiday.
3. Once out there possibly look for some kind of tuition. This is often booked on the bus on the way to the resort or on arrival in the resort.
4. If not committed to tuition then maybe take a private lesson or two during the week.
5. If not too bothered about ski school maybe take some ski hosting.
6. Open the curtains and look at the weather.
7. Sunny – great let’s go skiing.
8. Snowing and cloudy – mmmmm maybe a longer breakfast and see what the weathers doing later.
9. Stick to well pisted runs – blues and reds, maybe try an occasional black if it does not look too difficult and the snow is good.

So what could you be doing instead? Lets turn the above around and follow it in the other direction.
1. Ski most places on the mountain with confidence. Happily tackle any marked runs and be taken to amazing places and have the confidence to ski them.
2. It’s snowing and cloudy – great, get a quick breakfast and head out as soon as possible to get the best snow and go to the best places knowing that you’ll be able to ski them with confidence. There’s nothing like going skiing when it’s snowing, the slopes are deserted (I wonder why!) with fresh snow everywhere!
3. Open the curtains and go yeeehaaa whatever the weather.

More importantly
4. Have booked the on-snow training well in advance. Have researched the instructors, the ski school, have had great recommendations and are confident that these are the people you want to teach you.
5. Finally, once all the on-snow tuition has been decided – the most suitable course – the most suitable week. Then look for a tour operator that has packages that will take you to the place where you’ve organized the tuition. Make sure they can organize the package for the week you need to go as the on-snow ski tuition is the most important aspect of the holiday and could make or break your holiday.
6. Lastly book a skiing holiday knowing that the on-snow experience is all taken care of.

So if the on-snow experience becomes the most important aspect of the holiday then who should you go skiing with?

There are of course many options as always and Snoworks is one of these and I’ll breifly explain why.
First and foremost it’s about our philosophy. We love skiing – and skiing is about going places. Being able to travel around the mountain and have the confidence that whatever comes your way you can ski it. Now if you’re an intermediate skier that means having the confidence to tackle all ‘marked’ runs. Greens, blues, reds and blacks. Certainly all reds whatever the conditions and possibly even some easier blacks. More difficult blacks will come after a few courses. Whe’re all about skiing and getting around the mountain.

But maybe you’ve already had this desire but something is just not happening. It’s not as easy as it should be.
That’s where the next part of the Snoworks philosophy comes in. At Snoworks we are not worried about ‘what’ you look like or ‘how’ you ski. We want to give you the control and confidence to ski places that you would normally not be able to. This means our teaching is what we call ‘output focussed’ rather than ‘input focussed’ and ‘measured’ as opposed to ‘judged’.

To very briefly explain the difference.
‘Input focussed’ is concerned with ‘how’ you ski and is what we call ‘judged’ performance. Are you standing correctly? Do you plant your pole before you turn? Do you ski parallel? Are you feet the correct distance appart. Are your shoulders positioned correctly? Do you have the appropriate weight on each ski? Are you pushing into your ski boots correctly? Of course when practising ‘judged’ sports it depends on who the judges are and this can vary from country to country from instructor to instructor. So the client is possibly left confused and bewildered as to what to do. Unless they stick with the same ‘judge’ of course and then it’s the same all the time which is great.

‘Output focussed’ is concerned with ‘control’ and is what we call ‘measured’ performance. What speed do you wish to go at? Can you slow down? Speed up? Travel at whatever speed you wish? Can you dictate where you go? Change direction? Of course as we know measured performance is measured so it doesn’t matter who’s teaching you and you can switch around instructors who specialize in ‘measured’ performance quite happily as measured is measured and it’s the same wherevever you go and whomever you’re with.

These two are very different. Some ski schools and instructors are very much into the ‘input’ focused and ‘judged’ method of teaching skiing and some are into the ‘output focused’ and ‘measured’ way of teaching skiing like ourselves and some move between the two. You can decide what kind of teaching you’ve been exposed to in the past and with some research what kind of ski teaching you’d like to be exposed to in the future.

At Snoworks we’re very much into ‘output’ focussed and ‘measured’ performance, so if you’ve not been exposed to this before have a read of many of our other blogs and see what you think.

So that’s it! Are you making the most of your on-snow experience? If you think you aren’t and would like to, why not give us a call at Snoworks Ski Courses. Or maybe you know someone who you think would benefit from coming on a Snoworks Ski Course.

We have a Snoworks Ski Courses coming up for intermediate skiers on April 15th & 22^nd. All you need is the ability to ski Blues and Easy Reds and we could take you in a whole new direction. There are also some great package prices at the moment for the last two weeks of the season.

NEXT SKI COURSES FOR INTERMEDIATES
April 15 Tignes.
Package price including flight, transfer and accommodation Only £399
Ski Course £280 Minimum level Reds and Easy Blacks
April 22 Tignes.
Package price including flight, transfer and accommodation Only £445
Ski Course £280 Minimum level BLUES AND EASY REDS

Click here for details.
Read The Proof Is In The Pudding

Words by Phil Smith, Director of Snoworks Ski Courses.
Photo: Emma Carrick-Anderson 4 x Olympic ski racer. Very skilful or very technical?

Maybe it’s just semantics but the more I teach the greater confusion appears to exist between these words technique and skill or skills or so it appears.

For many of our guests coming on a Snoworks Course for the first time their perception is that they need to improve their ‘technique’  to become a more competent skier.  But what is technique and is it appropriate to all-mountain skiing? Or should you be looking at developing skill or skills? Or are they all exactly the same?

Firstly lets look at the definition of all two words ‘technique’ and ‘skill’.

Technique: Is the method, procedure or way something is done.
Skill: Is the ability, coming from one’s knowledge, practice, aptitude, etc, to do something well.

For us at Snoworks the two are very different and this is how we see it. Technique is used to describe an output – the way something has been done. It often refers to a set movement pattern. However developing skills or skill is completely different. Even skills and skill have different meanings.

Skills are things which are used to develop skill. In skiing we have thousands of so called skills which we can use to help develop skill. Slipping skills, skidding skills, jumping skills, edging skills, pressure control skills, pushing skills, balancing skills, recovering skills, concentration or focusing skills, rotary skills, speed control skills, tactical skills, route finding skills, decision making skills, skills for developing self motivation, keeping warm skills, selecting approriate skis skills, ski maintenance skills, skills for developing mobility, speed of movements, range of movements, skills for creating skills, skills for developing the ability to learn. Where do I stop? The list of skills we have available is endless and we can just keep creating them. The only limit to the amount of skills we have is the limit to our creativity.

Simply put, skills can be thought of as exercises or drills whereas skill is the ability to do something well. We say ‘he or she is a skillful skier’. The skier skied those bumps skillfully. That jump was executed with great skill.

Maybe this still sounds the same? So lets put it a different way. Technique is often is used to describe a movement that is repetitive. Throwing a javelin, high jump – the technique of Frosbury Flop, front crawl, breast stroke, a triple toe loop in figure skating. In skiing the ‘parallel turn’, stem turn, snowplough turn. Techniques are often given names, whereas skills are exercises or drills and skill as we’ve already said is how well you do something.

Where does this leave us and why have I suggested that if skiers have the perception that they need to improve their technique thay may well be ‘held back’ in the learning when it comes to all-mountain skiing.

It comes back to one of  our favourite subjects at Snoworks – Open and Closed Sports. Sports that are ‘closed’, closed meaning where the environment does not change and very little external factors effect the performance have movement patterns that are repetitive and these repetitive movement patterns are often referred to as ‘techniques’. The technique of executing a perfect triple toe loop for example. In skiing the technique of the ‘parallel turn’.

Sports that are ‘open’, open meaning where the environment is constantly changing and external factors constantly effect the performance have no repetitive movement patterns. The movements are constantly changing in relation to the constantly changing external factors.

At Snoworks we specialise in ‘All-Mountain’ skiing. All-Mountain skiing is very open. The performance is constantly effected by external factors so no movement pattern is ever the same.

Still sound the same? Let me explain from our point of view at Snoworks. When someone comes on a Snoworks course and their perception is they need to develop their ‘technique’ they are often referring to a repetitive movement pattern and ask questions like “how far apart should my feet be?” “which way should my shoulders face?” “how much weight should I have on my outside ski?” “How much should I extend at the start of a turn?” “where should I initiate my turn when skiing bumps?” “In powder should I ski with my feet closer together?”

You can see from an ‘open’ point of view this could hold them back as they are referring to ‘techniques’ for ‘closed’ sports.

When we begin to develop skills and skilful performance it can throw a complete spanner in the works and at first can seem totally confusing. At Snoworks we are developing skills for the open environment where nothing is ever the same. So we may throw in a few drills or exercise as decribed earlier then go skiing. And when we go skiing we work on skiing skilfully – adjusting our skiing to the ever changing environment.

Let me give an example of what we see in skiing and use football as an example. In football players develop skills in training- dribbling skills, passing skills, tackling skills, ball control skills. The skill of ‘keepy ups’ for example. However during a match they play football and are constantly adjusting their play to suit the ever changiing environment. You don’t see a player playing football whilst practising a previous exercise they were doing in training!

However in skiing we constantly see skiers skiing doing exactly the above. Skiing whilst practicing something they learnt as a drill or exercise, facing downhill, standing up and sinking down, pushing into the front of their ski boots, angulating etc. They are practicing things which are ‘CLOSED’, set movemnet patterns for a ‘closed’ environment. In an open environment you cannot do that. In an open environment nothing is ever the same so by skiing trying to reproduce a fixed or repetitive movement pattern, a ‘technique’, will ‘hold you back’.

So what should you do when you ski? The answer to this is ski. Just ski.

Sounds simple but it’s pretty difficult when you’ve spent years working on your technique for a ‘closed’ environment and been taught this. Fixed movement patterns have no place in the ‘open’ world of all-mountain skiing.

So how can you move forwards if you think you’re caught in the ‘technique for closed sports’ syndrome? Firstly don’t aim to develop a ‘technique’. Think instead of developing drills and skills and then when you ski, just ski, adjusting to the ever changing environment.

Make sense or still appears to all be the same. We’ll be interested in your comments below.

The Snoworks Team.