New School Twist on an Old School Task

BY DAVE BECKWITH, PSIA-NW DCL, SNOWSPORTS DIRECTOR, THE SUMMIT AT SNOQUALMIE

Are you ready to take your park and pipe experience to the next level this season? As ski instructors we tend to master tasks that keep us tied to the ground, but many of these old school tasks are easily transferable into making your park and pipe experience a little spicier. If you’re looking to take your game to a new level by throwing in a little flare, here’s an easy way to get there.

Remember Johnny Moseley’s ground breaking 360 mute grab Olympic moment? Sure you do. It was one of the coolest things in skiing in a long while. We’ll work towards adding a little grab a la Mr. Moseley by first beginning with a relatively easy task that’s been around a while.

Start by skiing a series of medium radius javelin turns. Early in the shaping phase of a turn, pick up your inside ski and cross the tip over your outside ski. Basically, if you were standing on a giant clock your outside ski would be pointed at 12 while your inside ski would be pointed at about 2. You can also practice this at home out of your gear.

Once you’re comfortable with this task, it’s simple to add a grab. As you continue to ski a series of javelin turns, simply reach down with your downhill hand and try to grab the instep of your inside boot. Try to hold on through the entire shaping phase of your turn. As you become more comfortable with this, try to reach further down until you are finally grabbing the outside edge of your inside ski.

This progression to develop a grab will allow you to flex in the necessary manner (ankles, knees, and hips) allowing you to maintain your balance since you still have a solid platform under your outside ski. This will be important for maintaining balance when you get in the air.

Next, find a jump, jib, or hit you’re comfortable with and practice a few straight airs while “Pulling up the landing gear”. Flex your ankles, knees, and hips while maintaining your balance in the air. This will allow you the range of motion needed for a successful grab. Remember to extend to be able to absorb the landing.

Finally, put it all together. As you pop off the jump, pull up the landing gear, execute your in-air javelin maneuver with a grab, then realign/extend yourself for successful landing. You should be able to comfortably execute your first grab!

By taking an old school task (the javelin turn), we can utilize movement patterns that we are comfortable with and transfer these skills to new school tricks that will add a bit of new fun to our skiing. Get out there and try it! We’ll work on the 360 later………