Classic coastal maine snow

Today was classic coastal maine conditions. Frankly, I thought it was amazing what Pineland can do with a solid block of ice-glued, compacted snow. Since we were confined to the one small loop though, we skied the crushed stuff off pretty quickly. But this can also happen in a race, especially if you are late in the running order or the sex that starts second or there is lots of course preview (e.g. WMCC and states), so getting comfortable on this is an important tool for your tool box. In training, when coming into a sharp, downhill corner, if you feel you must shave some speed, then snowplow before the turn, so that you can practice your turn properly - that is with quick steps. Try not to slide (if you have to you have to). The next run through snowplow a little less.

On technique days (when we're not doing hard-easy laps like today) it is better to simply yo-yo the turn. Do it. Stop. Turn around. Ski back up. Repeat. Repeat again and again. Each time try to improve your mechanics including the optimal path through the turn, quicker steps, better body position (low and with  your upper body and outside arm turned in the direction of the turn), less entry snow plow etc. Try to remember to go from outside to inside on the turns, which means an S turn like the top of the loop today requires that you move from the inside of the 2nd turn to the outside before moving back to the inside (draw it!).