Where to go?

[AdrenalineRush]

couple questions for anyone who cares to help.

1) anyone know what steamboats like right now? were heading skiing somewhere this weekend, but not sure of reliable snow reports.

2) heading to crested butte for xmas, whats it like? any detail will help

and finally
3) any freestyle skiiers out there?

[COUNT]

I skied with Team Summit Freestyle for the last 5 years competing in all mogul events and aerials. I spent a year on Devo before I moved up to RMF where I competed in almost every competition (probably 90-100 comps over the years if you include Devo, Rocky, Divisionals, Junior Nationals, and non-USSA scored events). I won't be training or competing full time this year but will definately make a few stops on the circuit. I'd love to talk freestyle (haven't seemed to be able to find many buzzards that follow freestyle closely) if you've got any questions.

I've heard Steamboat is still pretty marginal for cover and terrain but haven't been there yet this season, myself.

If you like steep terrain, you will love Crested Butte.

COUNT

[vaultman14]

cb should be good over break thats when we get our dumps hit me up if you want someone to ride with
josh
303 9073124

[AdrenalineRush]

any particularly good runs up there?
or places to avoid?

[COUNT]

You changed your post before I could reply. Still wanna talk about freestyle?

COUNT

[AdrenalineRush]

yeah... im actually thinking of turning it into a physics project.
so any tips/info/hints, whatever will help

[double-a-ron]

this is a joke right?


-aaron

[COUNT]

Hmm...where to start talking about freestyle? There is just so much to say. If you're looking at getting into it, I would highly recommend it. It was the best thing that ever happened to me. It's a really supportive community (somewhat unlike what I experienced when I raced competitively) and just about everyone knows everyone. You would want to choose what area of freestyle you are interested in but I would recommend getting into the mogul skiing side of things because that is what will do the most to make you a better all around skier. You do a lot of mogul training and jumping but we also did a lot of freeskiing as a team and really had fun out there. The best way to get into it is to find a ski team and join it. If you just want to try it out pretty much all teams will let you ski with them for a few days if you contact the coach. There are also some great ski camps at A-Basin in April and May for you to get some exposure to the sport and some coaching. I recommend A-Basin Carson Camps with Chris Carson in April and the Team Summit May Camps also known as Camp Babic.

Physics: I know of a number of physics projects that have been done, attempted, and suggested. But a few highlights are as follows:

Studying the trajectories of skiers hitting the jumps in mogul courses(what works, what doesn't, and how "popping" off the jump affects the trajectory).

Looking at the differences between the sliding and carving turn theories in mogul skiing.

Talking about how slight changes in body position (and therefore center of mass) affects the rotation of jumpers on different axes (best to look at aerialists and new school jumpers for this).

I always found it fascinating that the pace-set (time calculated by pitch and length that determines how many speed points a mogul skier gets) says that for full points a mogul skier should have an average speed of 9.8 m/s (that's the same as the speed you reach in the first second of a freefall) down the entire course.

Some cool and helpful websites:

USSA-http://www.ussa.org/
USSA Freestyle-http://www.ussa.org/PublishingFolder/232.htm
Rocky Mountain Freestyle-http://www.rockymountainfreestyle.com/
Cool Freestyle Clips-http://www.marcohofstetter.ch/worldcupvideo/
World Cup Footage (as soon as it happens)-http://www.skidebosses.com/

Hope this helps. Feel free to shoot me any questions, maybe that would help give me some direction in what to talk about.

COUNT

[AdrenalineRush]

wow, you are amazing. thank you so much.

why do moguls make you a better all around skiier? just more work? or is there something specific?

[COUNT]

Why does mogul skiing make you better skier compared to the other competitive disciplines of racing and freestyle? Well, first off, realize that I certainly do have a bias (and I may catch a little flack for this, too). In racing, you learn to carve your ski and go fast while maintaining control. In the other disciplines of freestyle (aerials, halfpipe, slopestyle, etc.) you will become a great jumper but that is it. In mogul skiing, you will learn to turn using multiple turn concepts. You start by learning to ski the bumps using sliding turns but then as you progress, you will begin to carve more and more in the bumps like a racer does in slalom course (check out Toby Dawson and Luke Westerlund for the most complex and technically clean carving turns in the world; Hannah Kearney and Michelle Roark for sliding turns). As an all around skier, I think it is important to have both of these turns in your bag of tricks for skiing steep and technical terrain.

In mogul skiing, every course has two jumps. You have to be able to ski the bumps fast, get clean entry to the air, do your trick, and have a clean landing back in the moguls, then do it all one more time. In the other disciplines of freestyle, you are given a smooth take-off with a long consistent landing. You learn to jump really well but you don't get the same skills you do jumping in the moguls and having to land without so much as a bobble of the head or hands. When you can land a jump going 10m/s and take on that first mogul without even thinking about it, you can take on just about anything any mountain will throw at you.

I think the biggest reason so many of the best skiers come out of freestyle is that mogul skiing requires you to have the full package. You have to be a good skier in adverse conditions, it teaches you really good skills in recovery from mistakes, it makes you great jumper, and even more importantly, a great lander . Check out any World Cup or Olympic footage and I think you will see exactly what I mean.

If this doesn't get you excited, I don't know what will:
http://www.skidebosses.com/2004/vide...8/cm08_34H.wmv

COUNT