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Video Review

by Ed Kane

Breakthrough on Skis III – The New Skis – By Lito Tejada Flores. This new 53- minute video is the third in the series produced by Lito in the last few years. Packed in the VCR box is a small booklet that summarizes the content and presents a few additional tips. As with his earlier videos, “Expert Skiing Simplified” and “Bumps & Powder Simplified” these are directed toward an audience made up of students rather than instructors. Because of this it lacks some of the technical and visual content of “Skiing and the Art of Carving” (Ellen Post Foster’s book and video). It does offer some appeal, in terms of footage of some very good skiers and some interesting sequences of the public who come to us for lessons. Content wise, it is pretty comprehensive and presents some interesting concepts that should spark some lively discussions around the ‘ole technical campfires after a long day of teaching or clinicing. It is available for rental from the office or it can be ordered directly from Western Eye. Box 1008, Sedona AZ, 86339 or by phone at 1-800-333-5178 for $29.95 plus $5.00 for shipping.

 The film is broken into 8 sections, each of which is outlined below. The filming and editing are quite good and there is some very good stop and slow motion shots to help emphasize some of the narration. The first section deals with the new shaped skis, what makes them work and, interestingly enough, shows how they can be misused to keep them from working. The next one is titled “Confidence not to Turn” deals with using the ski to start and guide the turn rather than relying on a strong pivoting or rotary movements. There is some excellent footage here of very strong skiers getting maximum performance from these skis.

 The focus of the third section is “Inside Tips” or the role of the inside foot in initiating and developing the turn. Here Lito stresses a total weight transfer at the start of the turn by lifting the inside ski. It would probably be more productive if he stressed a more gradual transfer that starts sometime before the direction change and the maintenance of ski snow contact throughout. This would aid in his next section where he stresses the value of “Perfect Balance”. In this portion he spends some time on proper stance balancing and canting to align the skier and his/her equipment to get top performance.

 The next two sections illustrate some of the key movements critical to getting expected performance from shaped skis. These are entitled “On the Edge” and “Feet First”. The portion on edging suggests that if the inside foot movement mirrors the action of the outside foot in edging and guiding the skis, the result will be a much stronger’ controlled turn. The skiing sequences shown here are very good and should spark discussion on these complimentary movements. (I prefer to think in terms of leg movements, but such is artists’ license.) This is followed by a portion that maintains that the action of the feet will result in the formation of angles and will enhance the ability to strongly edge the skis throughout the turn. While in principle, I can agree with the concept, I think it would be more meaningful if the focus were on the legs, which are easier for the student to see and mimic.

 The film is concluded by three sections: “To Carve or not to Carve” which addresses short radius turns and the role of carving and skidding in these turns. The emphasis here being early edge engagement at the beginning of the turn; “Bump and Beyond” which emphasizes the value of the quickness of shaped skis in skiing bumps, resulting in more control and a higher degree of confidence; and “Finding Your Own Style - Self Expression on Skis” which contains some great footage of some excellent skiers in their favorite conditions. These include Harold Harb, Kim McDonald, Jerry Berg, and Tido himself.