Report From the 1999 PSIA-C Mini-Academy at Afton Alps
A Presentation by Dave Merriam

by Dave Cook, PSIA-C Education Staff Member

This year’s written report from the 1999 PSIA-C Mini-Academy at Afton Alps will highlight the on-hill presentation given by Dave Merriam. Dave is the Ski School Director at Stowe, Vermont and is one of the coaches for the PSIA Alpine Demonstration Team. This was Dave’s first visit to our Mini-Academy, so he was new to many of us. The other D-Team coaches were Megan Harvey and Scott Mathers, both returning to renew friendships.

Dave’s group was full of seasoned veterans of PSIA-C and most were repeat attendees of the Mini-Academy. The skiing and enthusiasm level was high. We learned as much from each other as we did from Dave.

As I write this report, it is difficult to do so without some personal embellishment. I hope that Dave and the readership will forgive me for this.

This report will provide much information detailing Dave’s presentation. Though most of the day’s topics flowed together, they can be divided into mini-progressions. I will surround each mini-progression with a “††” at the start and a “……” at the end. This way you might isolate each one to present to your students. Remember, it is rare that you can repeat the tasks as written and get the same results. You will likely have to monitor your students progress and alter the sequence to reflect their performance and understanding.

It is also important to remember that we spent considerable time repeating the tasks that are described below. The description may make it sound like we just spent a few minutes per task, rather than several runs or hours.

One Ski Balancing Tasks
††After a few warm-up runs, introductions and general goal setting, Dave had us each leave one of our skis at the top of a green slope. For the next several hours, we only had this one ski. Our first task was a “one ski traverse”, holding the edge while staying in good balance. Developing a working/moving definition of good balance was ours to discover. We repeated this task in both directions over several runs, changing the ski to the other foot in the middle of each run.

Many in the group locked up their ankle joints and braced against their boots for support to hold this one ski traverse. Balancing actions were then visible in the arms and upper body. Dave asked us to loosen or “wake up” the feet and ankles for balancing adjustments, and to let them flex and move to provide the fine balancing adjustments. This quieted the upper body and arms. We learned that if you lock up the ankle, it is not available for adjustments in balance and we become upper body or arm active to compensate.

Dave concluded this traversing session, which lasted about half an hour, stating that we want primary balancing adjustments close to the snow. This allows the upper body to compliment and react to the lower body/ankle balancing adjustments, and helps us avoid making primary balancing adjustments with the upper body or arms…

††Next, Dave turned up the intensity with our one-ski tasks by asking us to “hop in the traverse”. This challenging task brought up several questions. As we flexed and extended, did we stay in balance or were we balanced against our equipment? Were we staying in balance as we stretched and flexed our legs during the hop? Did we regain balance when we landed with our arms, the other leg (the leg with no ski attached), or the support leg? Any deficiencies in our ability to balance on one leg became painfully obvious with this exercise.

For the next step we partnered up and had our partner watch and report if they saw the entire ski leave and land on the snow equally, or if the tip or tail hopped higher. To be centered over our feet, the ski had to be hopped from the snow equally. This was very difficult for many in the group initially, but a lot of practice and feedback improved our efforts considerably.

Dave was developing a theme that would carry through the day of balancing against our equipment or within your body. He next had us link one ski turns in the fall line. If you settled back at the finish, you have to hop to start and get forward for the new turn…

Hard On the Foot, Soft On the Tongue
††Statically with only one ski on, Dave asked us to stand tall and slightly flexed—and feel the pressure with our weight “hard” on the bottom of the foot. He then had us flex a little more, still staying “hard” on the foot but “soft” against the tongue of our boot. Many skiers are “hard” on the tongues of the boots—they balance on or against their equipment, versus being “hard” on the foot and balancing within their feet. Dave repeated: “Hard on the feet and soft on the tongues” throughout the two days…

††We returned to linking turns on one ski, varying the radius, intensity and changing the foot as we pleased. We did this for about an hour, running laps around Dave as he stood on the hill, giving each of us personal feedback. He asked us to try placing the lifted, ski-less foot slightly behind the one with the ski. As that foot goes back the upper body balances forward. Many in the group were holding the lifted foot forward and the upper body was leaning back against the rear cuff of the boot.

When we watched the group ski from below, we wanted to see the lifted boot’s toes pointing down, with the upper body being ahead of the feet or moving towards the future turn. If we saw the sole of the boot, the toe was pointing up while the upper body was back or behind, and staying in the past turn.

For some we saw the sole of the boot, then the toe in repeated succession. These skiers were rocking forward and back with jerky turning movements. With others we only saw the sole of the boot, and they had difficulty making any turns. The most accomplished one-ski turners had the toe of the lifted boot always pointing down, balancing hard on their foot and soft against their tongues, and were able to link turns smoothly with varying radius and intensity. Most of us got to this point with Dave’s coaching…

Screwing the Skis Edges Into the Snow
††Finally we placed both skis on. As we skied shorter radius turns on a moderate blue run, Dave asked us to focus on increasing the use of the inside ski, and get our minds in our feet. He wanted us to increase our awareness of the inside ski on/in the snow, and remember to be hard on the foot and supple on the tongue. When we are heavy on the tongues we tend to push our tails out in a turn. When we are soft on the tongues, we can guide our tips in to the turn.

Dave stated that skiing short turns with this focus, he feels like he is actually screwing the skis edges into the snow. Tip the ski and screw it in. Some approached this with heavy pressure down against the tongues of the boots and the tails washed out. They stripped the head of the screw. Others approached it with gentle tongue pressure; being heavy on the edge/foot as they turned the tips of the ski, screwing the edges into the snow with a high edge angle and gentle pressure. That ended our morning session…

Developing a Strong Inside Half
†† We began our afternoon session with the goal of developing a strong inside half of our body. On our alpine gear we simulated telemark parallel turns—pushing the outside ski ahead, keeping the inside leg under the upper body in medium radius parallel turns on an easy slope. With these turns the inside leg is in balance with the inside half of the upper body. The movement used to release the inside ski is the same movement you make to engage the next edge.

In a normal (non-telemark) parallel turn, if you increase the normal tip lead, the inside ski gets too far ahead and it is out of balance with the inside half of the upper body. It is desirable to develop some tension to pull or keep the inside leg back and under the inside half of the upper body. Then when you release the edge of the inside ski and redistribute weight to it in the developing new turn, it is done with one movement.

Dave had us then make normal parallel turns with shin contact on both feet all of the time during our turns. He reminded us that this was hard on the foot but light on the tongues/shins. After some practice he asked us to slightly pull the inside ski back, reducing the tip lead thus keeping the inside ski/foot in balance underneath the inside half of the upper body.

The transition from one turn to the other was becoming very smooth and quick. When the tip lead was greater, there was a tendency for our upper body to be behind the inside ski at the end of the turn. Then when we start to redistribute weight to that ski, as it becomes the new outside ski of the new developing turn, we often have to make a forward and vertical move to get in balance over that ski. A separate lateral move follows to the inside of the new turn. The skier ends up with two movements, one to release the edges and a separate move to engage the new edges.

Reducing the tip lead with a stronger inside half of the body keeps the inside ski underneath the upper body. Then at the end of the turn there is one simultaneous and connected movement to redistribute weight to the new outside ski as the edges are released and re-engaged. This exact theme would be rediscovered, visited and reinforced on the second day while using ski boards…

Short Radius Lane Change
††On a steeper, but consistent slope, Dave asked us to make a series of four short radius turns, then a medium radius turn to four more short radius turns. Repeating this we were making a “lane change” with the medium radius turns. The short radius turns were in the same lane/fall line. He asked us to just do the task and not think about or analyze it. It was important to keep the same rhythm, counting: “one, two, three, four, fiiiiiiiiiive,” or a Morse Code cadence as: “dot, dot, dot, dot, daaaaaaaaaash, dot, dot, dot, dot, daaaaaaaaaash, dot, dot, dot, dot, daaaaaaaaaash.”

Dave asked us if we moved with the sweeping turn or if we locked back and made the first short turn by pushing the skis onto their edges. He asked us to get more of a belly in the sweeping turn, and stay countered so we would stay with it long enough to carry our momentum across instead of down the hill. If done correctly, the shape of the upper half of the first short turn develops faster. The group repeated the lane change tasks often, trying to incorporate a smooth transition from the short to the medium to the short turns. The task greatly reinforced what he had developed in the one-ski sessions with staying hard on the feet but soft on both tongues, and developing a strong inside half of the upper body by showing less of a tip lead...

Ski Boards
††The entire group was fitted with ski boards (blades) for the majority of the second day. (For many it was their first time, and for those who had experience with the ski boards, our comfort was further challenged.) If you have never had the chance to try these playful shaped short skis. I recommend you do so. They are a blast and their potential for personal learning is great! Leave your poles at home for this.

You will first encounter the “wiggle”. They just want to wiggle back and forth when you try to turn them or when going straight. Sometimes it is both skis and often it is just the inside ski. Our regular skis do not do this because they are too long (stable). What do you have to adjust to make the wiggle disappear?

Dave mentioned that our traditional skis cannot influence the turn shape with edge angle until the angle is greater than 45o. The ski boards influence the turn shape with a smaller edge angle. Dave asked: “With the ski blades, how far can you adjust it over early in the arc?”

He had a short safety discussion on how our movement patterns are changing due to the different shapes of our arcs with different equipment. There is more movement across the hill and less down the hill with snowboarders and highly shaped skis. It is easy to exchange dental work with another person as we meet in the middle of the slope.

It was pointed out that the skis would wiggle at the top of the turn if they were steered before they are edged. If the turn is started with the tail being pushed out, you get rewarded with the wiggle. Dave asked us to reduce the scissors tip lead and keep the inside leg underneath the upper body—balanced and active. For many in the group, this helped them get rid of the inside ski wiggle! He encouraged us to experiment with a greater increase in the edge angle of both skis earlier in the turn. We spent over two hours on varying terrain with these skis, and they reinforced the movements we were making on the first day.

Later, we went back to our traditional long skis and Dave asked what felt different. “A strong inside leg, edging and holding,” was one comment. Other comments included: “It feels like I am screwing both ski tips into the arc!” “ I can feel the entire length of my ski.” “I moved to the inside and the skis wanted to go straight.” Dave asked us to move more forward and less laterally with our traditional skis. After some practice, I personally felt that the turn entry was cleaner and quicker…

Movements that Create Pressure Versus Pressuring Movements
††Dave got us into a discussion about using movements that create pressure versus using pressuring movements. He suggested that rather than trying to press down against our equipment, we try to increase the edge angle to change direction, which increases the pressure we feel. We thought about and did this as we became more comfortable with our traditional skis…

Odds and Ends
Earlier that day, Dave had given us the “Unofficial Guide to Good Skiing” to be used as a reference for movements that make up good skiing. This has been published in previous issues of our newsletter. Dave also mentioned that in an hour lesson it is important to present less of what you know and to “chew on it”. I other words, to develop the focus thoroughly by changing the rhythm, pitch and intensity of the same thought/movement. This will help to solidify the learning and not confuse the student. He also talked about managing fear, doubt and judgment to an acceptable level. With the more experienced learner, managing doubt and judgment has to be actively pursued, especially with instructors.

One Ski Board and One Traditional Ski
††After lunch we wore one ski board, and one traditional ski for a few very interesting and somewhat confusing runs. We were asked to switch skis after several runs to further stir up the mix. We gathered together after about an hour and these were the comments and conclusions from the group members:

“I felt like I was screwing both skis edges into the snow with increase edge angle and light on the pressure.”

“I feel like I ski both sides of a long ski—balanced and edged!”

“With one of each type of ski on, it reinforces how much more I need to increase the edge early in the turn, but be soft on the boot tongues.”

“The switch is difficult”

“The more you do it, switching back and forth, the more symmetrical you feel.”

“I am seeing more movement and flow in the group verses park and ride.”

“With the regular ski, you have a long edge and you increase the rotary and pressure more. With the ski board, it is primarily the edge.”

“I had more even pressure on the boot shins and let the turn develop the pressure rather than me trying to apply the pressure.”

The comment that we all felt summarized best of what we felt and observed was: “I feel like I ski both sides of a long ski!” We discussed and tried to ski that thought for several more runs with a traditional ski on one foot and the ski board on the other. You could feel both sides of the long ski edge and slice through the arc whether it was the inside or the outside ski. We went back to our traditional equipment and after several runs captured what we had discovered during the day with the ski boards…

Summary
Dave repeated themes he had developed earlier, ones that were further cemented with the ski boards. We learned that with our traditional equipment we can be out of balance and still turn, because we balance or brace against our regular equipment. With the shorter and more reactive ski boards we learn how to be in balance without balancing against our equipment, and we become hard on the feet and soft on the tongues. We use edging movements to create pressure against the skis, and edge both skis in the arc with weight redistribution rather than total weight transfer. The edging effort is earlier in the turn and with more effort from the inside leg than most of use were used to.

Dave continued to use a teaching style that incorporated a lot of individual practice with regrouping to share experiences and thoughts. During this regrouping he would add his observations and suggestions to guide our performance, then we were off again for our own practice. He would place himself at the side of the run while we circled past him, which was an effective group management tool.

Dave wanted to make sure that each of us went away with a good idea of what we were doing well and gave each participant suggestions to further advance their performance. Everyone left energized and excited to finish the season with the guidance we received from Dave and others in the group.

The Mini-Academy, Race Camp, Children’s Symposium and Women’s Symposium always fill each year. Participants are encouraged to sign up at least four to six weeks in advance. If there is a larger than normal demand, it gives us time to open an additional group. If you wait to sign up, we may be forced to cancel a group since the coaches are flown in from all over the United States. Please sign up early! These are great events!

I wish to extend special thanks to Mark Weinberger for his gracious editorial comments.