A Revelation and Ski Breaks

I've always had a bit of a niggling problem with my boot/ski setup. I have never seemed to have complete control over my skis (especially left), and although I've adapted and grown stronger, every now and again an edge will catch or a ski won't turn and it will be annoying. Another minor problem is that the outside of my feet would start to get sore after skiing hard for some time. I thought this was odd but put it down to bad technique.

I've been putting it down to being too agressive, or the skis being too soft or sharp (?!), but having checked with instructors they suggested both that I 'edge less' AND that I 'angulate more', which is normally contradictory since angulation leads to edging. However, after wearing my boots behind the desk after a ski-break, I realised something was quite wrong. My legs were natural, however I was standing on the inside edges of my boots. Then I rolled my feet outwards to put the sole flat on the ground, and my legs were then unnaturally bow-legged and uncomfortable. If that's what my boots are like on flat ground, it must be what my skis are like on the snow, and therefore the inside edge is always going to be engaged! Also, to make the skis flat, I would have to be putting more pressure on the outside of my feet, therefore making them sore!

When I returned to my room I borrowed an Allen key and adjusted the cant on my boots (the angle of the cuff of the boot left-and-right) to the opposite end. I then did my boots up and went to the flat ground of the bathroom. A revelation! My soles were flat on the ground and my legs were natural also. I took the opportunity to move one of the buckles on the boot to give better ankle support. I also realised that I'd forgotten to put my $100 footbeds back in the new liners, so fixed that too...

I took them on a test ride during a ski break and noticed a major difference straight away! My instructor friend Alex took my out-of-bounds to Side Door and Back Door, two unofficial but very popular routes from the top of Wawa chair down to the bottom of Wolverine (I had avalanche gear on, though, for caution's sake...). Normally, windy bumpy narrow terrain with trees is a bit of a problem because my edges would always catch and I would go too fast. But this time there was much more control and speed control was so much easier. And it was a good run too, with 8cm of fresh snow overnight and still fresh pockets to be explored. We went up Jackrabbit, and coming down the long schuss, I found out new characteristics of my setup. On the flat, the skis were very twitchy and required more concentration to keep from yawing uncontrolled. Also, I seemed to be floating better than before. This is both because the edge was no longer engaged, since that would add better stability but reduce efficiency (because the track is deeper).



The hike from the top of Wawa. That's Standish in the background- we didn't walk that far! On the right, that's me with the Wild West in the background near the bottom of Back Door (or is it Side Door?)

But all too soon I had to be back at work. A couple more hours of helping guests and sorting out lessons (no, if you want to guarentee Matt, you need a private lesson! We can only request him!). I got out from the desk at about 4:15- this gave me 15 minutes before last lift! I threw on my jacket and ran to Standish, to go straight down Headwall from the top to the base of Divide which would take me to the top of Lookout mountain. I wanted to try my boots out even more!

I was pretty much the last person up Divide and took some photos at the top (left photo- it was a gorgeous day with low cloudbase and moderate instability, with plenty of cumulus...), before skiing all the way to the top. Shortly before swiping out, we'd had a typical April shower so there was a light dusting on top of everything, I was kicking up snow all the way down to Jackrabbit. I practiced moguls, steeps, powder and parallel (which were all much easier), as well as carving, schussing, and 1-ski skiing (which were all a bit harder than usual). After a couple of runs up Jackrabbit (which is the only lift open till 5:00), I cruised all the way down the ski-out and caught up with the shower that had passed through half an hour earlier. This was at the base (right photo) and I took the gondola back to the top in time for dinner...

Big improvement. Can't wait for Lake Louise tomorrow (as long as the snow is better than the last time I visited...)