Whenever I teach a group of teenage students from a co-ed school, it’s almost always the same result. Boys being boys, they have a good go from the start. Combined with the impatience of youth means they don’t usually pay much attention to instructions. Yet they are soon able to go at relatively fast speeds down easy slopes. And why not? They are having fun. Skiing fast is one of the major thrills of the sport.
Teenage girls on the other hand, are usually attentive students happy to go at a slower pace in the beginning. As a result, they almost always surpass the boys by the end of the week. They would be going down steeper runs (and therefore going faster) with control while the boys are still ‘blazing’ down beginner slopes and not always in control. If you’re a big fan of rollercoasters and you’ve got the motivation to learn something correctly (rather than just having a go and winging it), there’s a high chance you’ll love technical skiing.
The rewards of technical skiing is the confidence to ski any natural terrain on the mountain at whatever speed you’re comfortable with. You’re in control and making efficient movements so you’ll be expending a lot less energy than someone who isn’t technically trained. You’ll also make skiing look easy and effortless which then makes you look good on the slopes.
I didn’t grow up smashing blue and red gates training to be a racer. Neither am I a freestyler spending time in the park or pipe pulling cork 7s or inverted backflips. I started skiing a little too late for both ie. I didn’t have the confidence of youth (the balls) to do it. But I still wanted to ski and ski well at that. I wanted to ski any terrain I came across and have control and confidence whilst doing it. Be it steeps, trees, powder, crud, slush, groomers or bumps. Even ice. I wouldn’t consider myself a recreational skier. I do go hard and get some pace beneath my skis. The challenge for myself is going faster, steeper or ‘bumpier’ and seeing if I’m in control and more importantly, still having fun. Always chasing the ‘perfect turn’, I am a technical skier. |