Pushing my limits

[soyboy80]

I've plateaued a bit with skiing and I'm looking for some trips next year to push my limits, and due to some nice circumstances I'll have a little money to play around with next year. I'm looking for some advice on where I should spend my time (and money) in order to see the most improvement in my skiing and I see a couple of different things I can do:

(1) Inbounds ski clinics in the US, like the JH steep and deep program, or the ski clinic run out of big sky. Would have loved to do the gordy camps but seems like they're done

(2) "Steep ski camps international" run out of La Grave in France, with more of a ski mountaineering focus

(3) Few days to 1 week cat or heli trip somewhere

Goals for the trip are: learn to ski super steep stuff confidently and at speed (50 - 65 degree stuff), straight line some chutes and up my hucking game from the dumb 5ft rocks I'm comfortable with now.

I get about 50 days/year around Tahoe and I have a bit of mountaineering and BC experience already.

What are your thoughts on what trips/experiences are best to push your limits, learn good technique, and ski some sick lines.

[PNW-skier78]

Where is your limit at right now and what is your home mountain? What your current ability level is highly impacts what you need to do to improve.

If you are wanting to get the best bang for your buck avoid doing something like a heli/cat trip. Those trips have to cater to the worst skier in the group and there is no guarantee you will get to ski the terrain you want. Also when you are trying to improve you need to get in a lot of reps and that won't happen on a cat/heli trip.

I found an instructor I liked a lot at a steeps clinic that helped me out a lot. One thing she emphasized is to practice skiing in shitty snow. Especially practice skiing difficult terrain in shitty snow. If you get your technique where you handle shitty snow comfortably, you will rip the shit out of it on a good day.

[Skistack]

A week at JH, Alta or Snowbird with private instruction would be money well spent. Call up their ski schools and tell them what you’re after.


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[snowaddict91]

One thing she emphasized is to practice skiing in shitty snow. Especially practice skiing difficult terrain in shitty snow. If you get your technique where you handle shitty snow comfortably, you will rip the shit out of it on a good day.

This is true. I find that if I really focus on my technique and fundamentals in techy terrain on bad days, it helps immensely when the snow is good.

I've also thought of doing one of these camps, will follow this thread along for advice.

[skifishbum]

id bbi it
them fuckos will push your limits

[Foggy_Goggles]

Goals for the trip are: learn to ski super steep stuff confidently and at speed (50 - 65 degree stuff)

The first thing I suggest you do in purchase an inclinometer for change your name to Pierre or Anselme.

Second, be honest with yourself about your current skills. Many skiers these days have a poor technical foundation. Really good skiers have really good fundamentals.

Third, backcountry and mountaineering no not equal freeride. Figure out what your objective is and focus on that.

[Timberridge]

Move to the east for two years, buy a pair of unrockered skis and ski every hard trail on the hill. You'll get instant feedback if you're doing anything wrong. The hero snow out west won't help you progress. I have a pair of 191cm unrockered Mantras you can borrow.

[jonesy]

Internet has tons of technical drills to refine your foundation of basic movements. Video of your skiing is humbling and a way to isolate your counter productive movements. Skiing steeps and variable conditions only help when you have a strong foundation first.

[AK47bp]

Push it to the limit

https://youtu.be/3-3Yok5D3Aw

[glademaster]

This thread is soy as fuck.

[Vitamin I]

I've plateaued a bit....

To cure that, sometimes all you need is to mix up your ski partners. If you try skiing with new friends that you don't usually ski with, that might re-spark your motivation to keep progressing and working on new skills, whether self-taught or accepting tips from others.

Goals for the trip are: learn to ski super steep stuff confidently and at speed (50 - 65 degree stuff), straight line some chutes and up my hucking game from the dumb 5ft rocks I'm comfortable with now.

I get about 50 days/year around Tahoe...

I'm not an instructor, but if you want to ski Squaw with me next year, I will give you some structure to actually "work" on your goals at Squaw, instead of just following your heart all day for unstructured fun on the mountain. My main approach is just start small, and work your way up in small increments...5ft rock, then 8ft, then 12, 15, 20, etc. Heck, there's even a Squallywood book that makes it easy to know where to go to step it up incrementally. Sometimes my friends quit skiing at 2pm, then I continue skiing solo to "work" on my progression from 2pm-4pm. (NOTE: I don't think I can teach you to ski at speed at 65-degrees and then stop on a dime...but maybe you can work on trying to stick slow pedal hop turns on it, or straight-line it.)

After working on it and getting on top of your game at your home mountain, you'll be in better position to choose which exotic trip you want next.

.

[soyboy80]

answering some questions asked up thread:

1) Home mountain is squaw & alpine, split time evenly between the two of them.

2) Runs that are just beyond my range: keyhole/idiots delight at alpine, The level 4+ difficulty squallywood lines (have done a few l3s), or the squallywood lines that require airs more than 5ft, which is almost all of them lol. Below this level, i feel confident and things seem "easy", but at this level, I feel like im going to shit my pants and die.

3) I learned to ski out east, have plenty of experience on 30 degree ice rinks.

Thanks for the input so far. Sounds like a few days of regular old lessons at squaw/alpine would help refine my base technique, and a steep clinic somewhere would help me push myself further. Anyone have any advice on a specific clinic they attended that they thought was awesome?

[Name Redacted]

(3) Few days to 1 week cat or heli trip somewhere.

As fun as it would be, this ain't the answer. A guide's job is not really to push the limits of his clients in steep terrain. Lowest common denominator of the group will set the pace.

[Dantheman]

Goals for the trip are: learn to ski super steep stuff confidently and at speed (50 - 65 degree stuff)

LOFL

[XXX-er]

come north where yer dollar goes further, if you have a DUI maybe not

http://capow.ca/

maybe these guys ?

[singlecross]

Find a race program and run gates. Seriously. A 15meter slalom ski on hardback with gates in the snow will expose your weaknesses and tighten your shit up real fast.

[Ski220]

Definitely go to a "Steep Skiing Camp" . It will blow you away. Looks like they run camps in Chamonix and La Grave. When I went to La Grave in '98 I stayed at "la Chaumine" - the skiers lodge" where they also based out of although I believe they utilize a town hotel now. I also stayed at the Hotel Edelweiss. There is so much skiing in the region you should plan on staying longer then just the week. I suppose that there is still a large expat community in La Grave. Hook up with some of them when the camp concludes. Within a short drive there are Alpe d'Huez, Briancon and Montegenevra with endless off piste possibilities.

Caution alert:. You seem young and ambitious. Stay safe over there. People die, even the experienced ones.

[skizix]

Goals for the trip are: learn to ski super steep stuff confidently and at speed (50 - 65 degree stuff)...

If you're going to ski 65 degrees at speed, I suggest you practice your tomahawk. WTF?

Anyhow, my advice: ski a bunch of tight trees, and find some ski partners who are better than you - nothing makes you better faster, than trying to keep up with better skiers.

[buttahflake]

You guys are so easily trolled, I mean really, it’s just embarrassing.

[californiagrown]

One thing she emphasized is to practice skiing in shitty snow. Especially practice skiing difficult terrain in shitty snow. If you get your technique where you handle shitty snow comfortably, you will rip the shit out of it on a good day.

Bingo. Don't cost you nuthin', and you can hotlap because there arent lift lines on shit snow days. Plus, itll get your legs in really good shape... if you don't blow a knee first haha.

[singlecross]

You guys are so easily trolled, I mean really, it’s just embarrassing.

I was just trying to start a racer vs. nonracer, East vs. west, whomever vs. whatever good ol' rock fight that would devolve into a shitshow. Whose trolling who?

Go on now

[PNWbrit]

You're probably just going to have to wait for the new techtalk landscape.

[soyboy80]

not trolling tbh, looking for advice and have got some good stuff already (EX: don't do cat/heli trip, they have a diff purpose than pushing limits)

I mean, yea not many people are straightlining 60 degree runs, but "at speed" on 60 degree slopes to me means linking turns, not just doing jump turns to get down.

[Fritz]

The first thing I suggest you do in purchase an inclinometer for change your name to Pierre or Anselme.

This.

[JackSkier]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIfhbMVN3fY&t=380s

Watch this and you will see what 60 degree looks like. Vivian Bruchez, one of the world's top steep skiers, says it's the absolute limit of what is possible to ski, and it is definitely not done at speed.