Ski Biomechanics & technique improvement.

TECHNICAL IMPROVEMENT ON ALLTRACKS COURSES

Everyone coming on one of the ALLTRACKS ski or snowboard courses wants to have fun and we know sometimes there is nothing better than blasting down the mountain with you best friends without a care. However, people choose our courses so that they receive expert tuiiton in order to make them better skiers and snowboarders.

We're lucky to have some of the best coaches working for us, all of whom are Canadian ski or snowboard exam conductors. Through their competitive skiing and teaching experience, our CSIA coaches have developed a really user friendly and effective way to develop ALLTRACKS clients' skills. Our guides on the backcountry modules have a different set of skills, focused on educating you about safe backcountry travel and operating beyond the gates.

BIOMECHANICS & SKIING

Biomechanics is the application of mechanical laws to living structures. Although this sounds complicated for anyone who didn't study Physics at Imperial College, it helps explain efficient movement for all sports, including sking & snowboarding. Like most things, it becomes a lot clearer when taking part in practical exercises.

The 7 Biomechanical Principles:

1. STABILITY: This can be increased by 2 ways. Either by lowering the centre of gravity and/or widening the base of support. On the other hand, whilst a narrower stance is less stable, it can aid agility and quickness.
2. MAXIMUM FORCE: To produce or resist maximum force, as many joints as possible must be involved with all muscles working together.
3. VELOCITY: All joints are required to produce maximum velocity. A skier needs to use the ankle, knee and hip joints together. However, the hip must be inside the turn for the other joints to be effective.
4. IMPULSE: This is force multiplied by time, and increasing the impulse increases velocity. Impulse can add life and rebound into skiing, but adding to much can cause disturbance to the glide of the ski.
5. DIRECTION: Movement happens in the direction opposite to the applied force. For example, if you wish to accelerate, you apply force at the top of your carving arc to contribute to the direction down the hill. If a skier wishes to traverse following the turn, more force should be applied mid way though the arc. Finally, a skier wishing to slow down or control speed will apply force at the end of the turn, effectivley providing direction back up the hill.
6. ANGULAR MOTION: This is produced by applying force some distance from an axis (torque). Skis act as lever arms creating torques on the body. Upper and lower body seperation is a way of resisting the torques so that a skier can stay balanced. Less effort is required to resist twisting forces if handsare held out wide, By spreading the mass of the arms out, a skier is rotationally stabilized.
7. ANGULAR MOMENTUM: If a skier is spinning on the ground and loses contact with the snow, the spinning will continue. Stopping this momentum with a pole plant lets the legs redirect between runs independently of the upper body.

TIME FOR A BEER? dON'T WORRY WE DO APRES SKI TOO!