Back from Hood. Lots of data to process. Some notes.

I'll finish up on mirror neurons from the last post, but before I do, some words about the past two weeks. I've been up at Mt. Hood for the past ten days or so, and it's been a long while since I've skied there. For some reason, after I graduated past the development team, we were always going off to New Zealand or S. America. Certainly cost is an issue, but gosh, you can get an awful lot done at Hood with the proper chemical broadcasting apparatus....

Gone are the glacially slow double chairs that begin to turn at 6:30 or so every morning for coaches and staff, 7:00 for everyone else. Detachable quads have taken their place (yes, this is NEW to me...) Also gone are any traces that skiers are the only snowsports participants who want to partake of Oregon's delicious summer snow. Truth... there's a lot of snowboarders up there... lots of camps with buses emblazoned with Nike, Rebok, etc... big names, for a big sport with big money; a great sport to "be seen" in. Very exciting times continue for boarders and their ilk, but the whole counter-culture appeal thing seems long gone. To me, the leading edge of fashion is something that hits you and gets your attention, without giving rise to nausea. There are so many baggy snowpants, dreads, and Dirk Diggler sunglasses now that, gasp, I really don't even see them any more... they're not on my radar. They've also installed several hand tows in and around the parks, so really, the boarding culture is seen but not felt in the lift lines. I like having them there... Their focus on creativity is actually something I think that's undervalued in the sport of alpine ski racing. No doubt this opinion of mine will come out as my posting continues. Hopefully you'll agree in time.

Regardless of how you feel about those who don't slide around on skis, the things that those in x-sports do remain quite spectacular, at least to me. The sport appears to have matured to the point where those who are in it to make a fashion statement only will soon be looking for the next thing that grabs people's attention with clothing, as opposed to miraculous body control and such. When that happens (e.g. form following function rather than the other way around) I'll be even more of a fan.

One thing that hasn't changed at Hood is the snow. Although I haven't been there in over two decades, there seemed to be no sign of global warming. Granted, the end of June is a fabulous time to partake of Hood, but, generally the snowpack this summer season seemed deep enough to last for a good long while.

Salted snow. As I mentioned in a previous post, Hood has a rather unique snow composition, at least to the uninitiated. On a typical 60+ degree day with the sun high in the sky, you can expect a couple of runs in the morning that will either be frozen or will have a nice thin layer of melt on top of mature corn. It's very fun and easy to ski. The thickness of that layer rapidly deepens however, especially towards the bottom of the mountain, and soon it's pretty apparent that the best natural conditions are retreating "up" the mountain as the morning wears on. Most decent ski racers can, will, and should, tune into the conditions in which they find themselves training. Hood is no different... generally salted summer snow firms up OK, but will consistently peel away even with higher edge angles as the athletes challenge the lateral adhesion capacity of this type of snow. The result is a generally later and lower exit beneath the gate that can be pretty frustrating to the uninitiated, especially on the pitch of the upper half of the Palmer lift where most of the training lanes are. As the speeds increase, and exits get lower, most athletes will simply increase their edge angle for better grip (as would usually be effective with mid-winter ice conditions). This doesn't really work as well on summer salted snow. Apparently this hasn't changed.

So what, exactly, can one do? I mean, someone has to figure this snow out and win the race, as it were, and I would in any event assert that the whole point of our sport is to meet the variables present in the sport as they are, as opposed to how we wish they were. Indeed, this ideal is true for most sports.

I often analogize the Formula One race car approach for this type of situation. When Michael Schumacher has a hot surface, he's going to get more drift, all things being equal, out of the same amount of wheel turn. Professional that he is, no doubt he adjusts not only his line but his timing to accomodate this situation. Racers need to nurture this instinct, and trust it, before they tip out of the starting gate when the clock is on and it really matters.

Four Days 'til Mt. Hood skiing. There's bound to be new equipment for sale out there!

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.