Wow, the weather can certainly change in the mountains. At 8am the temp was -9* with brilliant sunshine. By 11am, the temps started to warm up. I even took my hat off for a run. The afternoon on the other hand… Can you say blizzard. The snow came in, the winds kicked up. The snow was awesome.
Breck was packed. My message to the Mgmt… It is not such a cool thing to have more than 20,000 on the mountain.
Upper level line up was packed. Lots of quality skiers looking to challenge themselves on the mountain. 18 – level 8 and above skiers. Bravo. We made a split between 3 ski groups: Ski to die, ski to live, and improve at skiing.
I took the Ski to Live group. “Where do you ski on your day off”, was the theme for the day. We decided to go up high. The sky was filled with brilliant sunshine. We skied High Anxiety, Boundary Chutes, Toilet Bowl, Whale’s Tale, Vertigo, Ore Bucket all before lunch. We spoke of a few subtle tweaks to our skiing. Maintaining a powerful core, while letting our legs and arms have a powerful, yet flexible activated feel.
After lunch, the weather came in. I cannot remember a day is changed so much. 30 mph winds, snowing, etc. We decided the Trees… head for the trees. E-chair was the call. Inferno, Tom’s Baby, and Mineshaft. We played in the bumps. So many people rush their turns in the bumps. We did it too, but a very refined level 😉
Note to skiers – “Ski a slow line fast.”
We looked for the smooth line. Using the bumps on the “outside” of the rut line to ski on. This is more of a Ridge to Bridges style. It takes commitment and trust, but the rewards are a smoother line.
We also explored the idea of the “Air Carve”. Another commitment move, but again the skier is rewarded with a smoother line and cool looking move.
After that we headed back to P8. A little break which included a brief discussion of dorsiflexion starting with the lifting of the big toe on the inside foot. There were some certain Ah haas to be had.
It was still snowing at 6pm. Bring on Sunday.
to your sliding success,
Jon
MST SUNDAY.
A SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 AM MST
SUNDAY.
STRONG WINDS AND LIGHT SNOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS
TONIGHT. WIND SPEEDS OF 25 TO 40 MPH WILL BE COMMON ABOVE
TIMBERLINE WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 70 MPH. NEW SNOW ACCUMULATIONS
WILL RANGE BETWEEN 2 AND 5 INCHES.
Hi Jon, What a great day we had! I am still thinking about the big toe and the difference it has made in my skiing- more accurate turns especially in steeper terrain. Thanks again. Val
Val,
I am glad you had the chance to take a look at the post. You are skiing very well. Great energy and accuracy. Let’s ski again soon.
Jon