I think you ski to close to other people.

lots of traversing terrain, kept waiting to see a slope - want my time back.

What do I think of your skiing?  I think you're a hazard.

 

You're a disaster waiting to happen if you regularly ski that close to people.  The slope is wide, use it.

 

Also, I noticed in one spot, before I stopped watching, that you stopped and then began skiing again, apparently without looking uphill for traffic.

 

 

Looks a tad backseat..

If you came anywhere that close to me at 2:25 you would either have a pole or elbow to the face. Douche bag move, you had all the room in the world on either side.

Not being a video person I don't know the technical aspects of the camera, but if it's chest mounted and you turned your head to the left to check for oncoming traffic I would expect that the camera would turn a bit, which it didn't, at least just before you pushed off.  If you did look then I'm wrong. Only you can tell if you did or not, though since this video was taken at the beginning of the season I suspect you may not remember details like that.  I wouldn't.

I'm sure your as nice person Ryan BUT! The guy walking..........if he would of adjust the board he was caring it would of hit you in the head.  Friends or not it is unacceptable to ski that close to anyone ever. Show some respect to others.

typical intermediate. 

What do I think of your skiing? I really can't tell you anything except you move your outside hand in a manner that looks like you rotate your body and Your Tactics Are Idiotic.

  Do you ski Breck often  ? What color is your coat ?  I think people would like to recognize you and protect themselves accordingly,

 

 The guy above^^^^^^^^, find his picture and do us all a favor and don't ski anywhere near him,he's had enough of careless skiers who don't respect the safety of others . 

 

 

Your skiing. If your chest is most often pointed at your knees ,where is your butt ?    Consider a more erect stance, get your hips in front.

Gapercam!

 

Your skiing doesn't suck as much as your taste in music.

Ryan,  Welcome to Epicski!  From the above posts you can tell you will get honest if not brutal opinions here one Epicski.  Looks like it was a great day to ski and the snow was soft!  I will offer some constructive criticism below if you are interested.  If you truly want to improve your skiing, you will find lot's of helpful resources here at Epicski where many passionate skiers hang out.

 

The first thing I noticed was your poles straps were not being used.  Learn how to use them properly.  Place your hands up through the strap and come down with your hands so that the strap anchor comes between your thumbs and fore fingers.  This way when you plant your pole your strap creates a platform so you do not have to grip your pole tightly.

 

Your hands are very close together which hinders balance and rotational stability.  Think tight rope walker.  A wider stance with your hands will help your balance and upper body stability.  As noted above you are rotating your shoulders a bit for your turning power.  

 

Your hands are palms down which makes for your very ineffective pole plants.  Your poles are not handle bars, hold them a bit more vertical.  Learn how to make a "blocking" pole plant if you want to be able to ski tighter turns in the trees and steep.  This requires you to plant your poles with an open palm meaning your palms face down hill when the pole is planted and your elbows are closer to your ribs than your hands which helps "block" the torso from twisting and allows the feet to turn more affectively.

 

 

Certainly there are other issues we can help you with and a different POV video would make this easier.  Good luck and may your next turn be better than your last!

Nice post, Bud.

Check Ryan's post history for a different pov...

East coast skiers may have far more comfort levels with this much closeness than Rocky Mountain skiers. Frankly, I think the camera makes these "fly by"s look much worse than they really were. We should cut Ryan some slack because at least he did not goose that person who was bending over.

 

Ryan has already received feedback on skiing in the backseat here on Epic. From the camera angle here we can deduce that the toe/knees/nose are not in alignment. We can see a lot of instability in the ski tips. Nothing has changed from last year Ryan.

 

In addition to comments already made, I'd like to see less shopping for turns in the powder and more steady rhythm. Pole swings should be continuous vs  holding the pole out front waiting to stab the snow snake. On the harder snow, I'd like to see more separation of the skis to enable development of higher edge angles.

 

Please note though that priority one is getting your weight centered. As fun as powder and skis are now, you will progress much faster if you  do some development work on easy groomers. What you are doing now is reinforcing movement patterns that are going to greatly slow your ability to progress to more challenging terrain.

I think you're actual skiing is not in fast-forward.

 

But seriously, why ski so close to people in situations where clearly it was not necessary?

 

here's a tip.

 

Hold your pole straps in your hand. so you are grabbing the grip of the pole, with the strap between the grip and your hand.

 

Just so I have this right...  You post a video and ask for feedback.  You get feedback.  At which point you tell us that our feedback is wrong.  Why bother post the video?  Or were we just supposed to say WOW!  YOU ARE AWESOME DUDE!  GNARLY!

It takes courage to post a ski video,especially here. A skier should not let their ego blur the reality of their limitations of skill. It slows your learning curve.

Wadya wanna hear?  Can't tell fer sure from the video angle, but seems you're waaay back.  Looking at your shadow, seems you're more into style than 'having fun'.  Relax & go w/ the flow.  Take more of a bite out of it.  More spontaneity & feel and less style. You'll have more 'fun' by feeling & responding to the hill w/out the swishy stuff.  Don't mean to be mean, but you asked......

Hi Ryan,

Thanks for sharing your video. Helmet and chest cam videos are not really ideal for getting feed back on your skiing. If you are interested in feedback, maybe next season you could have someone take some video of you in different terrain and post it as you did before.

I think many are wondering what your goal for posting is. On one hand you post with the question: What do you think of my skiing? Yet, when you get responses, you rebuff the feedback. You have received some good feedback the past couple of years from the likes of Bud Heishman, TheRusty, Bob Barnes, JASP, TetonPwdr, and more… then you respond with thanks, I don't want to, I don't see the point, etc. These are seasoned pros that teach skiing to all levels for a living and many have made it their career. Sure you can put them on ignore. Or if you are truly interested, you can engage them and learn what their points are. They like nothing more than a curious, motivated student, seeking to understand and willing to engage in a thoughtful discussion.

You have asked some questions, and stated some beliefs and fallacies in your postings that could be explored - if you are interested and open to learning. For example:

"How can I be in the back seat if I am actively applying pressure with my shins in my ski boots?"
"Good mogul skiers feel their knees come up towards their chest while skiing."
"I do not see the gain from "learning" wide arching turns on groomers all day"
"I already know edge control."
Descending terrain categorized as expert terrain equates to expert skills.

Are you open and interested? Or just looking for affirmation of how great your skiing is?

Have a great summer!

Best regards,

Chris

Hey Ryan!  

 

Pretty cool video.  The perspective from your chest mounted camera is interesting to evaluate from but still show quite a lot.

 

Try using the whole ski.  From the video it appears that the tips or forward pat of the ski is not engaging the snow.  Especially on the parts of the video where you are on hard pack.  And it really showed when you accelerated through the bump section.  This is a fairly common problem for a person on twin-tip skis.

 

Watch some video of the pro freestyle skiers.  Especially those in the pipe.  As the come through the flat or transition area they are using the whole ski, not just the tails.  Even as they climb the side they stay centered and balanced on their skis. Same for when they land a good one.

 

The fundamental of remaining centered with good fore and aft balance on skis applies to ALL skiers, be they technical skiers, racers, freestylists or backcountry skiers.  Learning and applying this will help combat fatigue and improve your ability to maintain consistent speed and directional control in all conditions.  I personally know some really good freestyle skiers that like to show a slack or backseat posture at times as a style thing but when they need to really move and perform they are centered and balanced on their skis. 

 

As an exercise try side slipping down an beginner-intermediate slope while staying consistently in the fall line. Make adjustment to your stance and position on your skis until you can easily side slip down the fall line without traversing to one side or the other.  And don't forget to seek guidance from a certified instructor.  They are pros and are always willing to help.

 

Stay safe, have fun and learn something along the way!   - Marty

A few notes...

 

1. American on Peak 9 at Breck is not really steep.  It's a legit single black diamond, sure.

 

2. There are definitely skiers here who will ski that terrain better on any size skis you want.  So what?  Chill out.

 

3. Chest mounts make it look like everyone is in the back seat, so to be honest I don't think anyone can really judge that from this video, although I'm no instructor.  The only thing you can really tell from a POV cam is that you need to have your hands further apart and out a bit more.

 

4. I love the top sheets on those Shoguns.

You push the boot tounge forward and it pushes you back.

 

Maybe think of engaging the front half of the ski on the snow, instead of engaging you shins on the boot..

 

I ski a little back-seat too; old habits die hard.  At least it's faster than skiing too far forward .

 

As to how close your were to the guy walking, it looks like you now realize there are two criteria: you not hitting them, and you being polite.  Being polite takes more room for some folk, and making sure you don't hit anyone takes more room for other folk.  Skiing that close to someone when there is plenty of room to go farther around is impolite, even if you were sure not to hit him, but you know that now.

"Being polite" is also different at resorts with more acreage/crowds than lose with less acreage/crowds. They don't call early season skiing "the white ribbon of death" just because everyone is impolite. I think we've beaten this one to death.

The pressure you are applying with your shins is not reaching the tips of the skis. Do you agree that your skis "wander" in relation to each other a lot? There are 3 main joints that control fore/aft pressure: ankles, knees and hips. You move your shins with ankle movement. Knee and hip movements can offset the effective increase in tip pressure caused by ankle movements.

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks for being honest. I would not expect you to be able to see until after you've been shown. The difference between groomers and off-piste/bumps should be more about small adjustments than entirely different movements (there is one exception - bump skiers use absorption movements much more than groomed run skiers). It's easier to learn movements on groomers than it is in powder and bumps. You don't have to spend all day on the groomers. Ideally you'd work on a movement on a groomer and then immediately take it off piste to test the movement. The better you are able to execute high performance turns on the groomers, the more fun you will have off-piste. If you're having enough fun off-piste now, then - no worries - carry on.