It's been almost twenty-two years since I've been to Hood. I think the last time I was there it was a USST fundamentals camp, one of the first that I'd ever been to of that kind. I think it was July of 1988, give or take. We did a lot of interesting stuff there and, lo and behold, I still have some video on VHS. Anyway, I dusted it off.. (the tape AND the memories) here's what I saw:
First, what's with the uniforms? Turquoise & orange?! I guess we were sponsored by Howard Johnson's that year. It looks like I was on green Rossignol 3S's 205's. Big legs, lots of pink day-glow, no pole plant. I recall that I had switched to new boots that spring; Trappeur's (sp?) masquerading as the newly minted Rossignol boot brand. I had been on Raichle for my entire national development and world cup career up until that point, and was only one of two in the world doing tech events on them at that time. Much later, after I had broken my body a bit in those new boots, I remembered my grandfather's quote... "you should boogie with the one that you brought you to the dance..." or something like that. I've used it often since when asked by athletes whether they should switch their gear.
While I am not opposed to switching equipment per se.. indeed, early summer at Hood is precisely the time to do it for most athletes looking for positive change, you should be aware of the following: There has, is, and probably always will be at Hood, courtesy of a lot of manufacturers, reason and opportunity to switch from one's current "dancing partner" as it were, to one with snazzy new sexy graphics and a very smooth sales pitch to boot. My advice: Make equipment changes with great skepticism. At Hood you are likely to find skis that are not only perfectly tuned, but perfectly tuned for summer salted snow. Unfortunately, you likely won't see that type of snow again when you are racing the next season. Ever. At least not until the following spring when the sun gets higher in the sky and temps are consistently above freezing both during the day and the night.
Similarly, a lot of skis that sell well at Hood or during demo days do so because they feel good. Like marketing fine wine (e.g. advertise "dry" and sell "sweet"), many skis, particularly junior ones, are designed with an unrealistically short sidecut radius for a given speed. Why? Substituting sidecut for not being able to generate early edge angle is the easiest way to get the ski to come back into the fall line after transition. Not only will your skis feel like they're stable and underneath you at the top of the turn, most racers interpret that hook at the bottom of the turn as an assurance that they're completing their turns and in control. Don't be fooled. You've traded speed for control. Bear in mind that a well matched GS race ski should always relase down the fall line as much as the racer can tolerate for their age and ability, and will require establishing some higher edge angles above the gate. My experience with junior racers is that they often outgrow their sidecuts long before they outgrow the length of their skis. If you've ever tried to run a GS at speed on slalom skis, you know exactly what I'm talking about. When in doubt, verify your good feelings with an objective measurement.
Which means you must time it and video it. Chronos is the final arbiter of whether our kinesthetic sense of speed out there on the hill is valid, and while I have a few times in my career overridden the clock's sage advice (at my peril.. but that'll be the subject of another post), the data you receive from video and timing tends to be irrefutable. By all means, enjoy the sensations from a new pair of skis much the way you enjoy the sensations of a first date, but do not believe how "good" it feels until you have a fair head to head comparison against your equipment that brought you to where you are now. I just read that... it is not intended to be dating advice.
wow.
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