STEIN ERICKSENS Classical Style from RIDE IN HARMONY™
|
From a letter to Chuck English at Deer Valley,
Because, Deer Valley is interwoven with the Stein virago, I thought
you might enjoy hearing this, and his connection to the evolution of
RIDE IN HARMONY(TM). It's origin and precedence.
Stein left a legacy of memories and life lessons over the years with people whose paths he had crossed. A lady, whom I rented from, and who had known him well, had said Stein wanted to develop a brand of
skiing with his methods, but though he established ski schools
successfully, his method didn't take off.
We don't claim any connection or endorsement from Stein, in fact the opposite. We endorse his timeless method. Cut to the Sun Deck Restaurant on Aspen Mountain, and there are two
large banners hanging there. One has a picture of Stein rounding a
gate, the other is of Dick Durrance, in his famous Dipsey Doodle. The pictures were taken by Marge or Dick Durrance. His son Dave , btw, is on the patent with me, for a telemark release mechanism.
I had seen a picture in the Mountain Gazette of an image of God on
the Sistene Chapel superimposed on a surfboard. One of the secondary
images, not the one reaching toward Adam. There was a similarity in the
body to the photo of Stein.
Back at the Aspen Meadows Townhome, where I rented from Merrill, I
told her of the resemblance I saw between the image of God on the
Sistene Chapel, and the photo of Stein. We didn't spend a lot of time
discussing things, as I was a renter, and our daily lives didn't overlap
much, but when we did, it wasn't trivial.
She said, "Gaaawd?"
"I can't tell you how these things work, I'm just telling you what I saw." I said.
At some point after that, I had the opportunity to ask a major in Art
History, graduating from the University of North Carolina, to send me some of those images from the
Sistene Chapel. She did with the explanation that the position was
contrapossto. It has a twist. That makes it interesting to view as you
walk around it from every perspective, in a sculpture, like a Rodin.
I wanted the image as an icon for the
online lesson, with the twist through the body, and the hand pointing.
I
didn't know why the method of pointing worked, and thought I may never
understand, but people could ski with that one motion, and the body
would follow automatically. From that point on, I was talking about
contrapossto. Joubert, the French writer, had written about it too, in his Encyclopaedia of
Skiing, but that was, well...enclyclopaedic, and this reduced motion to
one movement.
Michaelangelo painted the figure on the ceiling of the Sistene Chapel during the Renaissance, in Italy. Renaissance means "New Birth". It was the New Birth, rediscovery, of Greek and Roman art and statuary. What the
Greek and Romans, were modeling were the athletes of the first Olympics, reborn during the Renaissance, and in the skiing of Stein Eriksen.
Respectfully,
Cary Thompson
|
ADDRESS SLIP CATCH INJURYS
An update, Mikaela Schriffrin had a knee injury, though not to the ACL, from which she recovered, and went on to win the next two fis, World CUp Races. It did not need surgery, just rest and rehab. Not captured on camera, we can't really comment, except to reprint her own description. We apologise for not getting the source that the quote came from, but it can probably be found online, easily enough. Sports injuries happen, and they can be from a number of factors. So applying good technique may help reduce their severity.
"She said she was making a right-footed turn when she hit a patch of icy snow. Her right ski slipped and then her knee buckled, before hitting some grippy snow that caused her to hyperextend her knee and skid into the protective netting." Mikaela's description as reported. That sounds like the ski slipped, then caught. "Slip Catch".
|
|
Cary Thompson Mikaela Schriffrin Ted Ligety
|
|
HANGING WITH TED AND MICHAELA
|
At the National Ski Areas Association convertion in San Francisco, I got to spend a few minutes with Mikaela Schriffrin and Ted Ligety, reigning slalom and giant slalom Olympic Alpine Gold Medalists. That was interesting, because I was aware of Michaelas emphasis on keeping the hands forward in her skiing. That is part and parcel of RIDE IN HARMONY™ as well. She said that her mother emphasized that, to keep from getting an ACL injury.
That is part of the RIDE IN HARMONY™ method for skiing for the same reason, though originally, we just noticed that people skied well, with a minimum of effort by just pointing, moving the Turn-side™ hand up and forward. This was the zen deduction of the pole swing, carried through the turn, that rolled the ski onto the new edge. There was better balance and it kept the body from twisting inward to put a strain in the leg.
Lindsey Vonn, winingest woman skier of all time, on the World Cup, has locked up the Globe for Downhill, this year, though an injury to her left leg has ended her season.
More intuitive binding releases may help, if developed in the future.
|
Junior skier, Julie Ristine |
Lindsey from file photos:
|
START an ACL AWARENESS PROGRAM
AT YOUR SKI AREA, CLUB or among your friends
|
ACL Awareness Compliant™
The teaching method and practices of RIDE IN HARMONY™, are consistent with information about avoiding the most common major injuries to the knee, and we have evolved some of our own common sense strategies, to boot. Oh yeah, that's one of them. Get the right boot, and learn your boot size in "ski talk", so you know whether you are getting a boot in your size or not.
The ski season is just around the corner, so here are a couple reminders, and where to get help.
What causes an ACL injury?
- An inward twist or rotation of the outside femur, at the knee, that is excessive or sudden. Sometimes it's in a turn, a fall, or upon landing from a jump.
- What USUALLY starts the excessive internal twist? The Turn-side™ hand, the one inside the arc of the turn with which you make a pole swing, drops back and in, and the hip falls behind the ankle. While the outside foot is relatively stationary, trapped, or posted in one place, the ski and body twist against each other.
- Is this a simplified or comprehensive description? It highlights major factors that can be addressed on short notice, like when you rent a ski, but it applies in about seventy percent of the ACL ruptures, the most common major ski injury.
- Does it cover all of the circumstances affecting an ACL injury, and it's prevention. No. But the ones it does will continue to be relevant as long as you ski and ride.
- Is this a gender issue? Yes. Women have two to ten times the ACL injuries in sports that men do. But men have them too.
Let's keep the first list short:
ACL Checklist:
1. Know your foot size and get the proper boot. The boot should be the same size, or smaller than your foot, fitting like a glove, comfortably, to steer the ski when your foot moves. Some shops will give the guest a boot in a larger size than normal, and ask "how does that feel?" If it doesn't hurt, the guest, not knowing wat to look for, will say "fine". But the real question, to enhance the skiing experience, is, "does it fit. Will it turn the ski when you turn your foot?
Ski Boots are sized in a system called Mondopoint, from Europe, with two numbers. Most of the sizes in Mondopoint can be understood by adding the two numbers together. So a size 8 in a regular shoe, is a marked as 26. 2+6=8 so size26 in a ski boot is equal to size 8 in a regular shoe. Getting a larger boot than your foot size can be like installing loose steering on a car.
2. Turnside™ hand up and forward, RIH style. The First three lessons, train you to move the hands forward. That untwinds the body, and tips the ski on edge. That, and the right equipment set up, keep you in the center of a functional range of motion.
3. Two footed foot movements. Lesson 4. Tail of the Dolphin Learn to move your both feet independently, in unison, without being locked together.Learn at your own pace on slopes you are comfortable skiing and riding, then work up. Support from both feet is stronger than just one. The IOC, or International Olympic Cimmittee, also recommends two footed movements to reduce ACL injuries.
4. Simple alignment: You want both feet to roll onto and off of edge at the same time, for support and control, so extra credit if you can get your boot fitter to adjust your cuff, if a rental, or you have effective foot beds that support both feet in a neutral position. This is a "prophylactic arrest of inward rotation" of the femur or knee. Ask the pro in your ski shop who they recommend to adjust your stance with a footbed in your boot, often a pedorthist. Especially if your knees touch before your ankles do when you draw them together, you may not be getting the support that you need from the edge of both skis at the same time.
There is more but this is a start.
Contact us for an ACL AWARENESS program at your ski area for employees and guests.
cary@rideinharmony.com
Phone 970.274.0365
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Patented use of gravity
Ride In Harmony™ Founder, Cary Thompson , has been issued a patent with 19 claims by the US Patent and Trademark Office, for telemark bindings. Dave Durrance of the legendary ski family is named on the patent, as well, for his work assembling the first prototype. The Kam-Holdz™ binding, operating like a shoulder or hip joint, features a partial release system which pivots back into place with a gravity assist, following recovery from a fall.
Welcome the security of the release of the ski in a fall, and stay with it for enhanced performance because of its ergonomic location at the center the ski or board.
When you become comfortable as an Alpine skier, you may want to experience the "Unbearable lightness of skiing", which is Telemark, and the patented "return to center force" of KAM-HOLDZ™ Technology, (with apologies to Milan Kundera).
|
This is some placeholder text... Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
This is a link to some related web page......
|
 Many of our guests have been attracted by the ACL friendly component of our teaching method. |
|
VISIT OUR WEBSITE:
Think of our website as having 3 Rivers To One Ocean
|
IN THIS ISSUE
Kbbbbbbb b
Michaela Schriffrin
Michaela Schriffrin and Ted Ligety
KAM-HOLDZ™ Technology -Patented use of Gravity
The Residence Hotel - Aspen, a Luxury Boutique Hotel
Outski Your Son At 65 - Testimonial
ACL Awareness Compliant™ - Take care of your knees
|
OUTSKI YOUR SON AT 65
|
|
Cary,
My son took me up to Telluride for my sixty fifth over the MLK long weekend. He hasn't skied for awhile, but this year he got back into it.
He hasn't seen me ski since I was Harmonized (and Shenderized) .
Being my son, he tells me to lead out on the first run. I do, put the throttle on, and wait for him at the bottom. I must admit I did some smooth skiing on that run.
So, being my son, he ups the ante, and we move on to something tougher. Same thing.
After two or three more times of this, he gets serious and we head over to Revelation Bowl. A lot of people look, but not that many people ski it. I did! Dropped right in!
Then it's time for the Plunge. He's yelling there's too many bumps, but I'm off. There was lots of loose snow and the bumps were spaced so I ran it top to bottom. No breaks.
With that he gave up and told me to show him how to do it.
We headed over to an easy blue. He had watched your video and I gave him the Shender lecture (it's short and to the point) about the importance of the uphill hand. Then I had him follow me down while I did the exaggerated hand/arm turns that Steve used with me at Snowmass,
One run. One run! The it was back to the blacks. He'd get nervous on the steep headwalls and switch hands, but he'd practice on the catwalks. We ran all the blacks at speed. As he said: 'the feet follow the hands.'
The next day it was back to the Plunge and Bushwacker, going back and forth to each run.
You can really see how the old way doesn't work on these steep runs. People get behind on each turn, because they're pulling their shoulder away from the direction of the turn as they start and then can't catch up. Two or three turns and they shoot up hill to save themselves. A lot of people standing catching their breath on the Plunge. With your technique, you bring your hand around, the shoulders square up to the fall line and the skis are right where they're supposed to be. You don't think about them! And.....at the end of the day you're not tired. Everybody else is!
Skiing steep runs, again and again, with power and control, at my age is gift.
I'm working on my son for that trip ... for some serious advanced lessons.
Mike Parr
|
|
|
|
|
It makes sense that the easiest way to learn to ski and ride, is also the safest, and consistent with safe practices.
They are not just what your body can be made to do, but what it does with the least effort, because they are natural.
But are they generally taught in ski schools? Not always. That's where RIDE IN HARMONY (TM) and its SHAPED TEACHING (TM) method come in.
en.wikipedia.org
The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of the four major ligaments of the human knee.
|
|
|
The Residence Hotel, Aspen
|
Ride in Harmony,llc
Supplier Member
P.O. Box 1509
Glenwood Springs, Co, USA
970.274.0365
©2000-2016 Cary Thompson
(all rights reserved)
|
|
|
|
|
