Slow-mo ski instruction?

Recently, I was speaking with a good friend of mine who had been a life-long ski industry worker, from the ski school to the executive suite, consultant, product tester and personal coach.

He was telling me about his new focus of “rolling into a turn” instead of stemming or wedging into it. I know the story very well and it sure works perfectly on paper or on books, but the missing ingredient the instructor community always seem to forget is speed.

I have tried to say it countless time, speed and momentum are the cement or the “magic stuff” that “gels” any good ski instruction technique. Absent speed, nothing happens.

Wedge or sudden weight transfer have a key role to play in specific circumstances and terrain and, of course, at slow speed.

Carving or any modern racing technique works with a huge amount of speed and momentum that often are beyond the reach of most recreational skiers.

If not through intense mileage, such skiers can only be taught these feelings and techniques through slow and progressive drills that always are boring because they must be practiced on flatter, boring terrain for long periods of time.

This is why no one has the patience, the time or even the money to go through them, and only a select few end up mastering these elusive techniques.