Stance

Stance

 

This is the most important aspect of skiing. We teach stance static, but while skiing we are always in motion. We are always moving through stance.

What is a good stance while skiing?

· Weight centered just behind the balls of your feet.

· Ankles flexed and soft

· Knees flexed and soft

· Hips vertical and forward so you are past the balls of feet. If you were standing like this you would fall forward. This is one of the keys of efficient skiing. Is your tail bone tucked under? It should be.

· Core engaged. Your legs and arms are moving you forward; your core has to stay stable so you have some where to work from. Think of sucking in your belly button back and up.

· Your torso will have the same angle as your lower leg while moving through stance.

Beginner drills to find stance.

· Jump up and down, when you land with flexed ankles and knees you will be in stance.

· Slouch, you are a teenager with a slacker attitude.

· Think of a sport you do and relate that to your stance.  All sports have a stance you work from.

Intermediate stance drills.

We come through stance when we land on our gliding ski as it is being driven forward. In teaching beginners we talk of stance on both feet. Let’s work toward stance on one foot as it is landing while skiing.

1. Start with range of motion in ankle and knee while standing. Have partner watch to see what range is what number.

·         Ankles and knees with slight bend becomes 1.

·         Ankles and knees with max bend become 5. Remember to stay in proper stance.

·         In the middle are 3.

·         A little to either side of 3 becomes 2 and 4.

2. Ski double poll working between 2 and 3slowly with partner watching to check for this.

3. Ski double poll working between 3 and 4 slowly with partner watching to check for this.

4. Ski slight downhill working between 2 and 4 slowly on own. This will help to work on fluid and soft stance.

5. Ski landing on gliding ski to see where you are at on scale of 1 to 5 to see you land. Have partner watch for this.

6. Work on landing at different positions to see how this affects your skiing. Does a lower stance allow for a better drive through?
 

Advanced stance drills.
 

 Let's look at where we are at in the front to back of our weight is on our skis.

Drill

In position 1(see above)

• lean back so you are over you heal and front part of foot is lifted.
• Lean forward so heal is lifted and you are over your toes.
• Now come back a little so you are on the ball of your foot, no weight on the heal and toes of your foot.

This is the idea place from where you should be skiing from.

Let's take this a step farther

Drill

Repeat drill above but do it in position 1-5. See how being lower in your stance affects where you are at front to back.

Drill

Let's take  this idea to moving on our skis.

• Double poll or find a small hill that allows us to glide along playing with the drill above. See how this affects the feel of your skis.
• While skating or diagonal stride where are you landing on your new ski?
• While loading the old ski to transfer weight to the new ski, where is your weight at?

If you spend some time playing with this idea, you should find that you are centered over your skis. This will give you greater control over your skis.

 

My First Trail Run

Warning, this is an addictive sport. Mike, our WAC president, last year ran more races in one year than I have trail running.

Years ago I used to help out with the basic climbing class. One of the instructors, Richard Corry, had talked about this 50k trail run, Cle Elum ridge.  (http://cleelumridge.blogspot.com/) he did. I did not think too much about it at the time. I have always been a runner. I have played around running on trails for something different. Some of my past climbing partners might accuse me of running while we were packing in or out of some destination. I think I was walking, I guess that is up to interruption.

One day I was talking to Richard and he asked me if I had considered running a 50k. My answer was, 31 miles? That is a long way to run.  He asked me two questions that lead my life in a new direction.

1. (Richard) How far do I hike when I am out climbing some peak? (Me) Low 20+ miles.

2. (Richard) How much weight do I carry? (Me) Around 50 lbs. for alpine rock climbs on the approach.

He said that if I had five lbs. on my back how far could I go? There are aid stations about every six mile with food and water.  I had to think about this. It seemed reasonable that I could cover the 50k distance.  I gave this some thought. I talked to another friend that had run this race. She told me about Seattle Running Company, now Fleet Feet. (http://www.fleetfeetseattle.com/)   I decided to take this on as a new challenge. I went to the store, bought some shoes chatted with the experienced staff and went on some of their training runs.  Found a marathon training schedule on line. I modified this schedule to fit the 50k distance.

It is race day and it is raining out. Richard and Andrea are there. Richard is watching their child and Andrea gets to run this year. One thing about trail races, they are like an extended family reunion. Everyone seems to know everyone else. Everyone is standing around the starting line chatting. The time comes and someone says GO. Everyone slowly moves forward, keeps chatting and down the trail we go. I am thinking, wow that was low key. In the couple other road events I have done, people would be long gone. Here I guess with 50k to go what is the rush.  

The race goes on and I finish. I got to see places I never would have gone hiking or climbing. It rained almost the entire run. I was very wet but was still warm. I got to run through some cold streams and lots of mud puddles. It was a satisfying thing to finish my first 50k. I hobbled over to my car, changed and took a short nap. They had a dinner for us there at the finish line and awards ceremony.  People asked me how it went. For two weeks after it swore I would never do that again. I will live to eat those words a few times in my life.  One month later I am thinking of this 50 mile run called White river in July the following year.

Slush

Remember when you were a kid and the snow was starting to melt? It would turn into slush. The perfect stuff kids like to jump in. It would spray everywhere with each step. The good kids remembered to put their boots on to keep their shoes and socks dry. Now the other kids, I think they grew up to be trail runners. This was the theme of my run on Sat. I knew it would probably rain on me. It had been raining for most of the week. The trails would be muddy. The temps were cool bring snow to the upper parts of the Tiger Mt. The day starts off dry and the trail in good shape. I might get lucky on today’s run. I move easily through the new fallen snow when I get to it. At the top of Tiger three there are a group of hikers that have come from Tiger 2. Good I have a broken trail through the snow. Off down the hill I go, over Tiger two and on to Tiger one. There are still tracks in front of me as I run toward East peak. The snow is in good shape and the mud is still ok. I meet the two runners that set the track as I work my way up East peak. Their track stopped at the road section. I keep going to the summit. So far the temps are keeping the snow dry enough to me to be comfortable. Down and on to Middle peak. Descending Middle peak things start to change. The snow is turning to slush. The snow bombs start coming off the trees. Every step I take I am splashing my other foot. Cold water is going in taking place of the warmed up water there.  I make the turn toward South peak and start to wonder what I am doing here? Should I skip South peak today? I look at my watch and see that if I turn around now that I will be out there for enough time to get the workout in I was looking for. This is starting to not be fun; I back track the route I have run. The valley between East and Tiger one is a major slush fest. I run into two trail running friends of my on the way up toward Tiger one. The temperature has gone up since I have started today. The nice snow is now slush, slush and more slush. As I get to the top of Tiger Three things turn better. I can get my feet warmed up on the downhill run back to the car. Today’s run was a lesson in perseverance. I am glad I went out and experienced nature in all it has to offer. It makes the sunny dry trail days so much nicer.

Night Skiing

I have thought of skiing the Mt Catherin loop after lesson for weeks. On Sat the weather was great. It was a sunny day with good snow conditions. I finished up with a clinic and put all my gear in my car. I grabbed my head lamp and put it my coat. With my water bottle and one gel pack I was off for a workout. It was 4:20 when I left the parking lot.  I figured I would just go up to Windy pass. While skiing up toward Windy Pass I saw Phil. He said the groomer had just gone around the Mt Catherin loop and encouraged me to do it. That is all it took for me to make the commitment. While skiing toward the second switch back I saw what I though was a large dog. I figured there was someone else skiing. I did not see any ski tracks going uphill. The animal saw me. I minute latter a second animal comes along. They were a hundred yards in front of me.  I figured out they were coyotes. I am glad man is on top of the food chain. It was me, them and a lot of nothing else. I enjoy being out on my own traveling through the wilderness. Skiing out there in the silence watching the light fade is a special thing for me. There are track set in the snow for my skis to follow. I have been skiing for many years. I do not need to see to ski in conditions like this. What I can see is the trees on each side of me. I should say I can see the difference between the trees and the packed trail under me. My feet give me the feedback on what is happening under them as the trail angle changes. At Windy Pass and it is still light enough to see. The trail rolls up and down here. I get views of all the cars going home on I-90 from a day of skiing. In a half mile I start in to a long downhill. I am holding back on my speed as I cannot see the trail below my skis. I am feeling good and the world is sliding away under my feet. After a while the trail goes through the trees. I can see only the shadows of the trees beside me and the stars above me. I cannot see what is up and down. I figure it is time to put my headlamp on so I can see what is going on. There is one last climb to do. I had done this climb while helping with the run Cascade Crest. It brought back memories as I was working my way to the top.  Grand Junction is where the trails meet and I start the downhill run back to my car. I found it interesting skiing down Creek Run with my little headlamp. I should get a brighter head lamp. I picked up the fresh groomer track at the access road cut off. Skiing got a lot easier at that point. I was at my car two hours after I started. What a great loop that was. I loved all the silence, stars and everything nature gave me for those two hours on my own.

Stormy Aug 2010

Stormy Trail Race
Aug 7,8 2010
http://stormytrailrace.ca/
Stormy is trail race run in the mountains of BC in the town of Squamish BC. I entered the 100 mile race event. I had an idea on what to expect as this was my second 100 mile running race. Stormy has 12,000 ft of elevation gain and loss over the course. Most of the course was on mt bike trails with small parts of paved roads and larger uphill sections on dirt roads.


We arrived on Friday evening camping out at the campgrounds by the start of the race. It was raining on Saturday morning when we woke up. Rain was forecasted all day. With a 10:00 start time all the runners had time to gather under the tents and work out the per race jitters. The temperature was warm enough with the rain that I could wear a tee shirt and shorts. I carried my jacket and stocking cap for the chance that I might get cold. There were 25 people running the 100 mile event.

A little before 10:00 we were all lined up at the start ready to go. No one wanted to be in front so I ended up in the first few. At 10:00 we all took of at a reasonable pace. I was running in second place. I have never run this course before and wondered if this was a good idea. I am running third place after a few miles. The first two people are out of site and treating this like a real race. I am running with Alex with the pack behind us. We miss a turn and everyone follows us for an extra one hundred yards. I hear a whistle as I stop realizing something is wrong. We all turn around and go back to the left turn I missed. I am passing people in the pack getting myself back toward the front. Aid station one comes up and I see familiar faces working this station. This would be one of my favorite stations (Good Food). I fill up and am off. As I approach Alice Lake I see a large party going on with lots of tents keeping everyone dry. They happen to be right on the race course. It took a bit of thinking to realize this. Your mind can play tricks on you during a 100 mile run. Not usually after 6 miles. Past Alice Lake, left down the road and into the woods. I come out the woods and almost go past the second aid station. The course goes right the aid station was on the left. I did not even look that way. Fill up and move on. Up hill walking, single track and some fun down hill running takes me to aid station three. I see two more people I know working this station. Fill up and move on for some more single track and one interesting down hill mt bike trail. I might be crazy for running 100 miles. These people who ride this trail and farther out there than I am. I come into the last little down hill a little to fast having a little too much fun. Luckily I stay on my feet as I approach the aid station four (this is the old aid station one). Grab some ravioli’s, soup, pb & j and other good food as I start walking down the road. Right turn after bridge, down trail, left up to aid station four. More good food and up the road I go. Down some fun single track back to aid station four that is now aid station five. Fuel up and off to Power House (aid station 7 and 9). At PH I fill up and start up the nine mile hill road. It is two climbs with down hill running after each section. There is a water stop in the middle of this section which I use. It takes me 1:45 to get to aid station 8. Load up and more up hill walking before a great down hill running section that leads to more interesting down hill mt bike trail. Once back at PH and loaded up I get some easier trail that takes me to the last aid station (10) before the start/finish 50 mile mark. My glasses are quite dirty and seeing is not as sharp as I would like. I get help from the guy running aid station 10 to clean my glasses. I have nothing clean or dry on me. I get to the S/F in 10:30. I saw Laurie, changed my shirt and filled back up on supplies. It has stopped raining now. It is still light as I leave there hoping to make as many miles as I can before it gets dark. It is dark when I get into aid station one with my head lamp going strong. They have the lights on and more good food for me. As I approach Alice Lake I see many lights. These are from a group playing around in the dark. I have to do a mind check here. I see the three people in front of me coming up the road as I am running down toward more fun in the woods at night. Each aid station I pass now I know is one more thing checked off toward the finish of this race. More soup, pb & j and I are walking up the road. The dark slows me down as I can not see as well. Coming into aid station three there is a tree across the trail. This is new scene the first time through. They conform that they heard the tree fall. At aid station three, they have extra Nuun for me. I am thankful as I did not bring enough for this event. This next section is a slow part for me in the dark. Finally I am at aid stations four. More good food and walking down the road. I do the loop between aid station five and six. I am out of it a little now. Keeping the mind sharp at three in the morning and having run 70 miles is tough. I get through PH and I can walk the road as I eat with out my head lamp. Last big hill to climb before the finish. It is light when I get to aid station eight. The people are sleeping there as I approach. One wakes and I tell her I am fine and just to relax. Back to PH and life is getting good. Seven more miles and I am done. There are yellow balloons leading into the last aid station. I have to do another mind check to realize that they are real. I run across the finish line 24:34 after starting. I sit down, have some food and cheer the other people coming in. In a little while it is time for a shower and a nap. After my nap I hang out at the finish and mingle with the crowd. Laurie goes and gets me some chi at the local Starbucks. Nothing ever tasted so good. There is some great chicken bbq for us to eat. I get a prize for coming in third in my age group and the awards ceremony. As you can tell from this, I do not need sleep just good food to keep going.

Capital Peak Race

Capital Peak Race
April 25, 2009

http://www.capitolpeakultras.com/CP50mile.htm

For me running this run comes to close to the end of ski season. We had late snows this year in March and April. With the late snow, I was not doing the hill work I should have been doing. (I do not enjoy running down hill on snowy trails) I had come down with a cold two weeks before the run. This is how I was going into my first 50 mile trail run for the season.

Drove down to the start on Friday night and hung out with the other people there. My car made a good place to sleep in for the night. Up at 5:00 and the start the race at 6:00. I started out running with Glen for awhile. He was holding a good pace I liked. There are two aid stations on the lower 19 mile loop that bring you back to the start/finish. There is some mud, clear cuts and nice forest you run through. I was feeling good so far, yo-yoing with different runner as the miles rolled along. Leaving the 19 mile start finish the trail starts its climb up to Capital peak. The running is again nice trail through clear cuts and forest. At the Capital peak aid station you do a 2.5 mile loop up to the peak. At the Capital peak aid station the 55k runners head back to the start/finish for the end of their day. The 50 mile runners work there way over to the wedekind aid station at mile 31. I picked up some soup as I headed that direction. This is a nice run through the forest with a lot of down hill running, I really enjoy it. Once at wedekind aid station I pick up another cup of soup as I headed out on the out and back. I found that soup that day really hit the spot. This was a six mile out and six mile back leg. I did not liking parts of this as I was running at times on an old road and too much down hill to get to the turn around. The turn around came none to soon and off I went on tired legs back up out of this valley. The good part was it was only 12.5 miles back to the finish. Stopped in at wedekind and picked up some more soup. It is down hill for the most part to the finish from wedekind. The trail is clear cuts and nice forest. As I was getting closer I thought I might be able to break the 10 hour mark. I ran a little faster to see if I was possible. It is so much fun to run down a good trail in the woods, I loved it. You forget about all else and enjoy the moment. The 10 hour mark came and went and I crossed the finish line in 10:04. The weather was cool and perfect for running. I wore shorts, long sleeve top and gloves. Once at the finish I hung out, ate and socialized with the other runner. I can not think of a better way to spend the day.

Trail Running in the Grand Canyon. Oct 09

Trail Running in the Grand Canyon. Oct 09

Four of us started at the South Kaibab trail head at 4:15 am for our descent into the GC. At the trail head was two vans full of people getting ready to cross the GC to the North rim. Down we go jogging along staring at the ground in the beam of our head lamp. As we descend the three other pull away. I see rock on one side and nothing on the other. After a bit, they are waiting as I catch up. I let them know that my night vision is not very good and not to worry, I will be along. As we run again I am eating there dust so I do not mind them being a little faster. I see their head lamps ahead as I run down the trail. The only other thing that changes as I descend is, once I am close to the bottom, I hear the river. I can not see it until I am on the Black bridge that crosses to the North side. The sky is starting to get lighter now and before I know it I am at Phantom ranch. I meet the group again, refill water. We are now running on the North Kaibab trail toward the North rim. It is light enough for running with out our head lamp. We pass through box canyon, a steep wall canyon with five bridges across the creek. We come to Cottonwood camp ground next. Most of the gang fills up water; I grab my pb&j and start walking with Seattle Dave. The other catches up after awhile as the terrain opens up. We are slowly climbing toward the N rim. Roaring springs is the next water stop. Mike takes the lead from here as we follow along. We are in the switch backs now as we rise upward. This starts the section of walking for us from here on out. Phoenix Dave and I pull ahead and work our way upward. One last water stop two miles before the N rim. I like this section the best. We arrive at the N rim at 10:15. Take a photo and start the long run back down to Phantom ranch. We are retracing the route we came up. I run most of the descent to PR arriving at 1:00. This is great trail running. There are great views and perfect trail conditions. I pass many people hiking in this section. There are a few groups of rim 2 rim runners and hikers. Highlights of this N Kaibab trail were, I was running along and caught up with a mule deer on the trail. He started running in front of me for a little while. It was incredible to run through layers of different type of rock. You realize how deep the GC is after going from the top to bottom and back up. I eat my last pb&j as I walk out of PR. The temp in the shade is 86. Running over the silver bridge leads me to the S side of the canyon and up the Bright Angel trail. I have to wait once over the bridge for two groups of people on burros. The burros leave a lovely odor on the trail. I hit a sandy beach like section of trail that I am able to run. The trail is in rough condition due to the burro traffic. I walk most of the trail from here on out to the S rim. The trail follows Bright Angel creek. This is very convenient as I can dip my hat in the creek for an easy cool off. My stomach is giving me some problems as I ascend. I think it is the heat. I am able to force a gel down as a walk along. I know my body needs the fuel to get up this hill. At Indian Garden there is a rest/water stop. I get one more gel down with lots of fresh water. It is 4.5 miles to the top from here. There are two more rest/water stops at 1.5 miles distances till the top. This section of trail is like hiking Mt Si. There are lots of people. This is the second most visited national park, what did I expect. I make the top out at 4:40. I get a hamburger while I chat with other waiting at the rim. Mike and the two Dave are on top a little while latter. What a great experience for my first visit to the Grand Canyon.