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The telemark turn can be one of the
most graceful combinations of balance and movement on snow. It
can be one of the most frustrating acts of controlled recovery
as well. To achieve the gracefulness of the turn one must learn
to stand in balance on a moving platform. The skier should start
by focusing on a balanced stance. Then the skier should work
on maintaining this balanced relationship while moving and turning
down the mountain in control. While moving through a turn our
body is subject to forces of: acceleration, gravity, friction,
centripetal and centrifugal.
Stance is our connection to the ski.
When our stance is out of balance our connection becomes forced,
tiresome and can lead to injury. To begin our understanding of
stance lets work from the feet up while standing on flat surface.
Stand with your feet about hips width, that is, you should be
able to place a fist between your boots while they are next to
each other. Slowly slide your feet back and forth, as one foot
goes forward the other goes back at the same rate. When the lead
foot goes forward, maintain pressure over the entire sole surface.
Having some forward flex in the ankle will help achieve this.
Forward ankle flex keeps your patella over the distal end of
the second metatarsal. To much ankle flex will cause the heel
to rise off the ski and to little will create excessive pressure
on the tail of the ski and increase stress on knee ligaments.
As the rear foot slides back the heel comes up off the ski and
the boot should flex at the distal end of the metatarsals.
To maintain fore/aft balance over the
skis, your hips should stay centered between your two points
of contact with the skis. This centered stance allows you to
jump to a maximum height vertically using both legs. How for
apart your feet should slide is an often debated topic. It is
this separation along the length of the skis that gives us our
foundation of support. Just lifting a heel up off the ski with
no movement aft compromises our fore/aft balance making us feel
tippy. Too much separation along the length of the ski will compromise
balance, hip and knee angulations. The trailing lower leg should
not go beyond parallel with the ski; and the thigh of the trailing
leg should go almost parallel with the torso. This gives us an
effective range of about half a boot space to a full boot space
between the heel of the front foot and the toe of the rear foot.
The upper body should be relaxed with a slight forward roll of
the shoulders. The torso should remain upright keeping the zipper
line of your jacket vertical and the shoulders kept parallel
to the snow surface.
The hands are relaxed, level and in
front of the torso. You should be able to swing the poles with
a wrist flick. This brings the torso to a near parallel relationship
with leading lower leg. As we slide our skis back and forth our
torso develops a slight countered relationship with the legs
(e.g. left knee moves forward and right shoulder rotates forward
simultaneously with it).
Let’s review stance:
Feet about hips width apart, pressure on the whole sole of lead
foot,
Forward ankle flex in lead ankle by keeping patella over second
metatarsal,
Toe of trailing foot is between one half to a full boot length
behind lead heel,
Pressure is down through ball of the foot,
Trailing leg is at maximum parallel with trailing ski,
Thigh of trailing leg is at maximum in line with torso,
Hips centered between feet,
Torso is upright with slightly rounded shoulders, yet parallel
with lead lower leg,
Torso develops a slight countered relationship with the lower
body,
Shoulders are level and the zipper line remains near vertical,
Start balance adjustments in the ankle.
Now we understand the variable elements
of stance, let’s learn the dance. Sliding our feet back
and forth on flat terrain, develop a slight vertical extension
reaching the tallest position as the feet pass each other and
a slight compression as the feet move apart and we have the telemark
stance. The tallest and lowest positions are merely points along
the curve. Do not become static at any point along the curve;
keep a constant flow of movement. Additionally, as our feet pass
each other and we are at our tallest position; our torso is squared
to our lower body. Conversely, as our feet reach maximum separation
we are at our lowest position and our torso has its extreme countered
relation with the lower body. Explore this whole body motion
with fast, slow and medium speed lead changes. Remember don’t
go to low. Imagine a nerdy person walking along (not zesty),
verses a Cat with style and a strut (zesty). Ok let’s get
moving and learn how to guide the skis where we want them to
go down the mountain.
With the lexicon of PSIA we will explore
the mechanics of our Rotational, Edging and Pressure skills.
Pick up one foot and slowly rotate the foot back and forth. Isolate
the torso and thigh so that all the rotation is coming from the
knee down. This is foot steering and mainly used on gentle slopes
at slower speeds where the feet stay more directly under the
hips or to subtly fine tune larger radius faster turns. Now try
placing one foot behind the other so that this ski lies perpendicular
to the ski you are standing on. Keep your hips and torso pointed
forwards in the direction of the ski tip of the leg you are standing
on. Now rotate your leg forward through an arc bringing it perpendicular
to the front of your ski, yet, now pointing the opposite direction.
Focus on getting the rotation to come from the hip socket where
the head of the femur connects in the acetabulum of the pelvis
and not from rotating the hips and torso. This simple exercise
will tell a lot about your flexibility or lack there of. This
movement is used when letting the feet get out away from under
the hips while adding shape to the turn and making more of a
carved turn. The upper body all the while remains relaxed and
stable.
While balancing on one foot make subtle
adjustments with the ankle rather than gross movements with the
torso to maintain balance. Your eyes are looking down the hill
scanning the terrain and looking at the bottom of the next turn.
Your shoulders are rounded, parallel to the surface of the snow
and the inside shoulder slightly leads the torso through the
turn to develop the countered stance. If you over rotate the
torso in the direction of the turn it is very easy to let your
hips come out of the turn path your skis are making, causing
the skis to flatten and skid.
As with the inside shoulder, the inside
hand leads the turn. Practice the mechanics of Rotation. Start
with a slow speed straight run down the falline. Lead change
your feet with a balanced zesty strut for each turn. As your
feet pass each other begin to foot steer both feet at the same
time and in the same direction. Keep steering both feet in the
direction of the turn out of the falline, until you reach your
maximum separation. Now steer both feet back towards the falline
while bringing them back together and repeat to the other side.
This is more of a pivot type turn where the feet stay under the
hips and in the falline through the direction change. The inside
leg and outside leg steering happens at the same rate thus maintaining
a parallel relationship of the skis throughout the turn.
The outside ski is the one which rotates
from the hip socket as in the exercise mentioned earlier. This
is similar to the mechanics of kicking a football through the
goal post. The inside ski also rotates through an arc that is
initiated from hip rotation. However, it is more like redirecting
a soccer ball, with a forward sweeping arc of the foot. Pivot
style turns are effective while skiing a bump line and in narrow
couloirs. As velocity increases so does our momentum. To stay
in balance through the turn we need to move the hips and torso
inside the turning path our skis travel. This is where the feet
move out away from our hips through the falline. These Shaped
style turns are effective for higher speeds, carving and big
mountain turns.
Let’s review rotation:
Foot steering, from the knee down through the ankle, pivot turns
Leg steering, from the hip socket guiding the whole leg through
an arc, shaped turns,
Inside vs. outside leg steering, outside leg to kick the football
as we move to maximum separation and inside leg to redirect the
soccer ball as our feet come back together,
Counter rotation of the upper body relative to the lower body,
similar to wringing the water out of a rag and helps facilitate
turn completion.
The process of rolling a ski from being
flat, with the whole base in contact with the snow, onto the
skis side edge is called Edging. If a ski is flat, relative to
the snow surface, it will drift down the falline, seeking the
path of least resistance, due to gravity. When a ski is guided
onto its edge it will begin to track in the direction it is steered.
The skis can also provide some braking friction while steered
into a converging relationship, a wedge, or parallel skid with
the skis perpendicular to the direction of travel, as in a hockey
stop. Edging can result from angulating: the ankles, knees, hip
or whole body, into the turn.
Rolling your ankles in the boot can
produce several degrees of separation between the snow surface
and the base of the ski (edged, unedged, edged, unedge). Knee
angulation can produce more edging then just rolling your feet
into the turn, but excessive knee angulation compromises leg
flexion and extension and makes the knee more vulnerable to injury.
Hip angulation is the most versatile and the most powerful stance
to edge your skis in a turn. Try standing with your feet together
and hoola-hoop around in a circle. Keep the hip level and the
legs long; focus on where the femur goes into the hip socket.
When we are skiing the legs behave like
a conical pendulum swinging side to side from the hip socket,
almost tracing out a figure eight under your hips, while the
upper body remains vertical. As the feet move out away from the
hips the skis naturally move on to their edges. By banking the
whole body into the turn we can powerfully leverage the skis
on edge, but at a cost to our balance. Explore the range of edging
through each joint in the lower body and the whole body. Gently
roll your feet going from big toe - flat - to little toe in conjunction
with lead change.
As before, when we practiced lead changes
in a straight run then added some steering of both feet timed
with the lead change lets begin to equally blend in some edging
with both skis. This is a progressive movement. When the boots
pass each other the skis are flat; as we move towards the maximum
boot separation we progressively guide both skis on edge. In
Pivot style turns, the skis are rolled onto edge at the end of
the turn as the legs are extended down the falline. In a Shaped
style turn the skis are also progressively edged as the legs
are extended laterally out, away from the body into the falline.
Today’s shaped side cut the skis become more responsive
to any degree of edging. By rolling the skis on edge the skis
will naturally track an arc across the hill.
A Downhill race ski will track a turn
with radius of about 40 meters. While a Slalom race ski will
track a turn radius with as little as 12 meters. If you place
a shaped ski on its edge on a flat surface so that only the tip
and tail are contacting the flat surface you will see the greatest
amount of separation between the flat surface and the edge at
the waist (ski center). This is the side cut. More side cut means
a smaller turning radius.
Edging Review:
Edging the skis relative to the snow surface come from angulating
the body. Angulation can come from ankles, knees, hips and whole
body,
Pivot style turns the feet stay under the hips as the skis are
steered through the falline. Edging occurs as the feet and legs
are extended away from the hips down the falline.
Shape style turns the feet are guided away from the hips before
the skis enter the falline. Edging occurs as the feet and legs
are guided away from the hips before the falline.
Pressure is a force distributed over
a surface, (P = F x A). While standing still ons kis our body
weight provides a force downward. This force is distributed over
the snow through the surface area of our skis. Today’s FAT
skis have a lot of surface area which provides more float in
soft snow. To even out this force, so the skis lie flat on the
snow; skis have a concave shape which is called “camber”.
Skis were created to help provide transportation over snow and
even peat bogs. A ski with no camber sags under the weight of
the skier. This greatly reduces the glide of a ski. Preloading
the ski with camber helps the ski lie flat on the snow when combined
with your body weight. Cross country Classical skis have dual
cambers. This second camber area is under foot and provides an
area for placing a gripping kick wax. This area is in contact
with the snow only when the entire body weight is directed down
through one ski. The additional camber provides a gliding surface
when the ski is not fully weighted. Cross country Skating skis,
like Classical skis, also have a great deal of camber, compared
to telemark and alpine skis.
Skiers can distribute their body weight
equally over both skis or transfer their body weight laterally,
from one ski to another. These are the two extremes; having 50
percent of your weight over a ski to having 100 percent of your
weight over the ski. Additionally, Skiers can leverage their
body mass along the length of the ski through the boot-binding-ski
interface. Alpine skier’s have a fixed heel binding system
making it easy to leverage forward to generate ski tip pressure.
Telemark skiers have a free heel binding system, so if you leverage
forward, you will fall over. However, if you couple forward ankle
flex with angulation of the ski into the turn, you can develop
some tip pressure. These are simple ways to effect pressure at
the ski snow interface. Extending from a flexed position can
further increase pressure at the ski snow interface during the
extension phase. Visualize standing crouched on a scale. Now
extend up quickly. The faster the extension the greater the effect
of increasing pressure. Explore this range of lateral, fore/aft
and flexion/extension movements to effect pressure along the
ski snow interface. Side slipping down the falline without drifting
laterally and doing 360 rotations while keeping the skis on snow
and parallel are great exercises to focus on pressure skills.
Review Pressure skills:
Lateral movements effect how much pressure is distributed over
each ski,
Fore/aft movements effect how much pressure is distributed along
each ski,
Extension and flexion movements also effect how pressure is distributed
over and along each ski,
Let’s learn to dance in zesty style,
with the mountain, by putting it altogether. Start with developing
your home base mechanical skills. Practice the following exercises
on a groomed easy blue run. Link together medium radius open
telemark turns, about fifteen meters in radius. First, focus
on developing continuous flow through the turn. That means you
are always moving, upper/ lower body separation is either increasing
or decreasing constantly through the turn. Flexing into and extending
out of the telemark stance is continuous not position to position.
Lead change and steering are done in unison. Now, focus on the
transition. I call this phase of the turn “The Triple Point”.
Here we have a lead change, edge change and weight transfer from
the old dominate outside ski to the new dominate outside ski.
The upper body is relaxed with a vertical zipper line shoulders
parallel with the snow surface, hands forward and level, inside
hand slightly leading as the counter rotation develops to a climax
at the completion phase of the turn.
Add a pole swing, coming mostly from
a wrist flick to further enhance whole body movement through
the turn. The swing should match turn shape to synchronize the
body flow from turn to turn with the size of the turn. At the
Triple Point, we are tallest above the snow surface so it is
easiest to have a pole touch during this phase of our home base
turns. Now play with shaping your turns. Progressively blend
in increased edge of both skis with hip angulation and fine tune
it with knee and ankle angulation. Be patient; let the edge angle
increase as you steer into and out of the falline. As the direction
is completed begin to un-edge or flatten the skis as your hips
and torso start to move towards the inside of the next turn.
Furthermore, blend in weight transfer to the outside ski before
the falline combined with an extension of the outside leg out
from the hips through the falline, like kicking a football and
sweeping the soccer ball with inside leg as the turn is completed.
These are the mechanics that make an open telemark become a dynamic
telemark.
There are too many words here to talk
descriptively through a turn. If you are a verbal learner develop
key words that describe several actions (e.g. dive, drive and
deliver). If you are a visual learner see the positions you want
to move through as you turn. This is like running photo frames
through the minds projector. The cognitive learner can say the
key words in sync with the photo frames while analyzing the force
angles from the ski-snow interface with the corresponding body
position.
Explore the relation between quicker
and slower movements to the turn size. Rule of thumb being quicker
movements shorter turn radius slower movements lead to longer
radius turns. In short radius shaped and pivot style turns the
pole touch is more pronounced and before the transition Triple
Point. This helps to stabilize the upper body. In longer radius
higher speed turns the hands drive forward with barely a wrist
flick and slight touch after the Triple Point. From the home
base with the hips centered between the feet, move about an inch
forward for aggressive GS race turns to an inch back of center
for variable snow like in bumps or powder. When you understand
how the element skills can interact synergistically to create
either a skidded or carved medium radius turn you will have the
foundation to adapt to all types of terrain and snow conditions.
Jimmy Ludlow, a physicist by trade, is
an active world cup telemark racer, USSCA Level II coach, PSIA
Nordic Demonstration Team member, Telemark and Track examiner
for the PSIA Intermountain region, Instructor at Alta ski area
and designs performance ski accessories for the Salt Lake City
based company Alden Ski Innovation. He also teaches telemark,
track, alpine and adaptive skiing at Alta,
Utah.
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Jimmy's sponsors include Rossi, Crispi,
Briko, Rotefella, Karbon and The North Face. |
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Previous Lowddown With Ludlow
Feature, "Zen & The Art of Ski
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