Tracks

One of my favorite toys as a kid was a slot car racetrack. I remember it was made by Matchbox and came with two cars- a Corvette and a Porsche. I could spent hours racing those cars around and around, trying to see how fast I could get the cars to go through the corner without the back end sliding out, with the only control being with the speed controller.

I bring this up as while skiing the other day I felt like I was the slot car in a well-designed track and I realized that one of the things I was enjoying was trying to stay locked into the track as a whizzed around corners and down rolling hills. It was a battle not only with physics but also with my mind, as there would be times where I wasn’t quite sure I’d make the turn, or felt that the drop in the trail would generate too much speed- so I would have to talk myself into holding on for the ride.

As I was having my fun I watched other skiers step out of the tracks on some of the hills so they could snowplow, or would take one foot out to scrub speed as they went into a corner. While I understood the desire for control I wondered if they realized how much fun it would be to go full bore and let the tracks guide their destiny.

With that in mind, here are a few tricks to staying in the tracks on fast corners and on descents. The first key is to make sure you have a good solid stance. Obviously your feet are going to be spread apart a set amount (due to the tracks) but where are you standing fore and aft on your skis? You want to be standing fairly neutral so that you can easily shift your weight front or back without having to fight back to the neutral position first. The next thing is to make sure you have your knees nice and supple with a bit of a bend. Keep in mind we are talking about bending at the knees- not at the waist!

If you watch people ski downhill you will see a number of people who will hinge at the waist and have their legs straight, they feel like they are bending their knees as their upper body is closer to the ground, but the result is a very unbalanced position.

Now with our weight even front and back, knees are bent and supple, let’s focus on our hands- up in front like we are carrying a tray, and then finally our head- chin up and looking down the trail. It is amazing how the body follows the head- if you look down your weight will go forward- so look out on the trail and you will find your balance much easier to find.

With the body position set the next thing we need to do is work with our mind. If we are looking at a descent (one that we know- it is important to know there is a run out), we need to be sure that we will only enjoy a short burst of speed and then friction and a leveling of the terrain will take care of all of our Jimmy Johnson speed. Also make sure there aren’t any obstacles in the track, tree limbs, ice chunks, or most likely other skiers. If all is clear give it a go. As you speed up keep thinking about supple knees, hands in front, and looking down the trail. The speed will increase rapidly, but just hang on as it will scrub off once the trail levels out (hence the importance of knowing the trail). Once you’ve slowed down feel free to smile (if you aren’t already) and give a hoot- that’s what this is all about!

I do want to reiterate- only do this on shorter hills where you know the run out. If you’ve just skied some trail for the first time and have been climbing for an hour it may not be the best form to try and straight run the descent unless you are very comfortable with speed AND getting out of the tracks at speed. That only comes with practice, and that practice will come with a few wrecks that will turn into stories for back at the touring center. Be safe and have fun with the descents.

When it comes to corners everything we just talked about holds true, but again, use your eyes to look around the corner. As you look through the turn you will find your hands and body try to follow, you should find your weight shift to your outside ski and again just hang on. Practice on tighter and tighter turns with more and more speed. Before you know it you will be racing around just like a slot car.