I have been having a pretty good ski week. The trading portfolio is up 1.8% for 2009 (market down 1%), so I am somewhat pleased there too.
My Prepaid Legal/ID Theft Shield business continues to grow as we move into 2009.
Enjoy this as you read… Moby – Whispering Wind
On Wednesday I made it on the hill from 2-4pm to ski with a good friend Ken B. We were very surprised by the amount of snow. The morning report called for 5″, but the actual amount was 12″+.
The locals found out about it and the gig was up. Thursday, even with the slow opening of lifts, was crowded. The wind tightened up the snow and drifted it in many places. It made for tough skiing in spots, but very fun. I told a few people that, “It took lots of effort to make it look effortless”
Fortunately I had good group of Level 9 skiers and we worked our way around Peak 8. I am a little discouraged to see how fast the mountain was hammered. If you didn’t catch the first 15 minutes, there were no fresh tracks to be had.
That said, we still had a good time and skied hard.
On Friday, my day to ski with the babes (the 8M group). We will be skiing together for 7 weeks and we are laying the foundation for some big improvement on the hill. We were greeted with a snow report of 1″, however we found about 10″+ of extremely light and dry powder.
Our main skill focus of the day was: Pressure Control Movements
We used a few exercises to drive home the point.
1) The “I am the Mountain” drill having two individuals maintain pressure between the palms of the hands. The Mountain (person #1) moves the hand, The skier (person #2) responds by moving their arm to maintain a constant pressure between the hands. If done properly there is not pressure change, therefore very little impact or pressure on the joints.
2) Traversing the mogul field keeping our head relatively level, and maintaining consistent contact between the ski and snow. As we came down the mountain we were looking to be pro-active, rather than reactionary with our pressure control. Anticipating the terrain.
3) We did a side slip drill to feel centered over our arch as we came to a stop. We are changing our movement pattern from a push (extension reflex) to finish our turn, to an absorption movement pattern. Having the legs flex as they impact the mogul. This will allow us a smooth transition from turn to turn.
Here are a few photos of the day
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| Babes Day 1, 09 |
Next week we will add leg rotation movements to the mix.
Saturday was very busy on the mountain. It was the first day of “Bombers” (6-12 yr old skiers) for the season. Over the past few years, the parents have taken to lessons. Although our level 8 group was rather large we were able to get around the mountain well. We found a few nice powder stashes in Sidewider and Avis’s Alley. The front bowl was filled with creamy windblown snow, and Peak 10 showed us a good time as well.
A few topics covered included:
1) Hands and arms parallel to the pitch of the slope
2) spine and lower leg shaft perpendicular to the slope of the hill
3) hip width stance in deeper and softer snow
4) Sideslip and flex into the arch at the end of the turn. (not the heel)