Learning from the young (continued)

Another learning element that comes from observing racers is the deliberate choice, or the happy medium, between smooth gliding and aggression while racing. Younger and female skiers generally seem to do better with the former while their older and male counterparts tend to pick the opposite approach. It's clear however that too much force goes against fine gliding and that a happy medium can be hard to strike.

Of course, snow conditions can influence these strategies in a big way. On very hard snow, some aggressive action is often necessary, at the very least to control speed while the reverse is absolutely true on softer runs.

At any rate the soft versus hard approach remains a continuous subject for debate. I'm clearly in favor of the former, but that's an opinion dictated more by my style and my athletic abilities than by some absolute proof!

Learning from young racers...

Each year, I "relapse" into volunteering for a consecutive four-day December junior race series in Park City. The weather is generally brutal (the first two mornings began at -1 and -4 respectively) and the days end up being too long as the field of racer is close to 250, but I find some compensation in watching these skis racers ranging in age from 13 to 18, and as years go by, I can see the technical progress made by that field of racers. Many of them are really at the top of their game and are able to maximizing an equipment in constant evolution.

I can tell who might be the next Vonn or Ligety and while I was thinking this, I took the short time of a break yesterday, between the two slalom runs, to go skiing, in order to keep warm, I rode one lift up with Bill Ligety, Ted's own dad who told me that during these same races, many years ago, as Ted Ligety did miserably, it finally downed on his son that he should take his training much more seriously. Evidently, that realization has since paid off and it made my day to think that my very small contribution is put to active use in creating new champions...

A (bad) ski dream

Yesterday was another day for me of volunteering at the Eric Hayes junior ski races at the Park City Mountain Resorts, and as logic would have it, I had a dream about skiing that night. Some would call it a nightmare, but I'd prefer to call it just a dream because I still believe that “skiing” and “nightmare” are totally incompatible. So there I was, spring skiing in some unknown locale in the Rocky Mountain West and approaching a transition in the slope at a fairly high rate of speed, when suddenly I found myself at the edge of a cliff and had no other option but going with the flow.

I soon realized that I was flying some 2,000 feet over ground. Since the flight was played in slow motion, I tried to position my skis properly and all along was looking for a steep landing spot that would somehow soften the blow, but the terrain was turning around, going the wrong way on purpose, it seemed, and I couldn't do much about it. When I finally hit the ground, the screen went blank, in total silence, and a few moments later I woke up. I was alive alright, but I had failed to witness the glowing tunnel that people claim they see in near-death experience situations. This is perhaps because I'm a heathen or there isn't such at thing after all...

When skiing smoothly is a “must do”

As time goes on, energy dwindles. There's no denying this fact of life for us who are over sixty. Recently, I was bragging about the importance of “smooth skiing.” In fact, it was only speaking for myself, because as I'm aging and with reduced physical strength, I better be extra efficient when I'm on my boards. Yesterday was just another example of that searing truth.

I was having lots of fun skiing in Deer Valley under Lady Morgan's lift through 6 new inches of powder when a bush caught my skis and brought me down. No harm done, but this trivial incident did cost me a lot in terms of extricating myself from an awkward spot and getting back on my feet! In short, it gave me a renewed sense of appreciation for gliding smoothly, that is without falling, having to brush off and get back up every other run!

Belief, Faith and Passion (continued)

After I posted yesterday's blog, I thought a little bit longer at what I had written and it dawned on me that we're all different and respond to different stimuli. For those of us who are in situations of anxiety, a bit apprehensive or simply never too sure, faith comes in quite handy and gives that extra support that proves indispensable to carry on. Then, there another large block of people who are busy living their lives, working, raising their families and are happy to subscribe to certain sets of beliefs that work well for them. These may vary over time or could stay with them during their entire lifetime, and if they work for fine, more power to them.

Then the remaining group of individuals are where you'll find those that are intense, compulsive, never self-satisfied and also consumed with their own brand of passion. As they keep on pushing their own envelope, these characters generally create their proper set of beliefs that too evolve and often are never the same at any given moment. It is, I guess, different strokes for different folks. If you dissent with my view, please, speak up!

Belief, Faith and... Passion

Yesterday, I was watching and interview of Great Britain's former prime minister Gordon Brown promoting his new book (what else can he do!) and insisting that leadership was made up of belief and determination. I'm not sure I really like that, because other people beliefs isn't something I always trust. If it's justified and proven, so much the better, but experience has showed me that beliefs vary vastly with individuals and can't always be counted on or taken at face value.

In other words, my set of beliefs may work for me, but not for you, or they may just be flat wrong. By the way, I also find that faith is pretty much interchangeable with belief, from a quality standpoint, but is often even less reliable. So with that in mind, which moral compass should we trust? I'd tend to answer with “passion.” This, to me, is the genuine article and if that live energy inhabits your body and your spirit, you really can trust it. It's your lifeblood and the by-product of your deep-running instinct. Folks who followed their bliss have always given way to their passion. That's right, more than anything else in my life, I believe in and trust my passions.

Smitten with the Lady

For many years, I've held the opinion that Deer Valley's most challenging skiing was found around Bald Mountain, and accessible through the Wasatch, Sultan and Mayflower lifts. I liked that terrain and have spent hours exploring and discovering this entire side of the mountain. My paradigm only began to shift when Empire arrived on the scene and the Daly Chutes - which I covered extensively last season in this blog – opened up some new horizons and seriously cranked up the “inclinometer.” More recently however, I have spent a greater amount of “quality time” skiing around the Lady Morgan Express Chair and I am beginning to renege on my previous loves while furthering my appreciation for the very high performance skiing Deer Valley has to offer. That's right, there's so much to love about Lady Morgan.

To begin with, that chair is rocket-fast. In about three and a half minute it whisks you to the top of the hill and if you are willing and able to ski as hard as is humanly possible, you might get a full ten laps within the hour. But raw power is only one small part of the story. Variety of options is actually what makes that section of the mountain quite unique. If your friends or significant other aren't nearly as good as you on skis, they have the choice, from the top of that same lift, to go their merry way on a green run and meet you again at the bottom without any angst and might even have to wait for you at the bottom! All they need to do is comfortably follow “Pearl” and “Webster” and may even elect to make an unscheduled stopover at the Empire Lodge, that stands right on their path, and indulge on a snack, an early lunch or a warm cocoa while you wrestle with the mountain. This one is the easiest way.

The next choice is “Magnet” and while impressive at the top, this one-diamond run is quite manageable as it's often groomed, and since it's still a good distance away from the lift, it's not quite as steep as “Argus,” the next main run, also a one-diamond, which depending on conditions, is often my favorite way down the mountain. This run is steep and relentless. On it, it's hard to fake anything as it demands your undivided attention and good legs if you don't want to stop every six turns. On a new powder day, I'll stay on this run for the duration; when snow is a few days old, I generally cut over to “Hillside,” on skier's left that brings me right under the chair and keeps me out of the short section of Webster and its slower skiers. It's clear that for the best among us, staying close to the lift is where the most fun resides at Lady Morgan's.

Then further to the skier's left from the top of the chair, there is the double-diamond “Centennial” and its wonderful tree skiing, surprising relief and changing terrain. From the day Lady Morgan opened up in December of 2007, that run was already packed with excitement. This season, more glading has made this section of the mountain a tree-skier's paradise. Just enough evergreens to make the experience intense, but the extra spacing brings much more wiggle room and adds loads of fun to the package. This pretty much sums up the marked runs.

Then there are all the possible combinations between all these runs and this is precisely where Lady Morgan unleashes her irresistible attraction. Cliffs, steeps, trees, all can be mixed to create a smorgasbord of fantastic skiing in a very compact setting. I personally love to stay under the lift and negotiate the steep chutes that are half-way down the hill from the skier's left and continue all the way down under the towers. Most skiers can spend a full day venturing into a brand new line as long as they remain in shape for the challenge. That's right, at the end, what always counts is your legs ability to withstand the punishment, but always keep in mind that Empire Lodge and its soothing rewards stands vigil just a few turns away!