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Reprints From The Professional Skier

Winter 1998 - "Upper Levels Await Three- And Four-Trackers" by Kathy Chandler

This article is reprinted from The Professional Skier. All copyrights apply. Please see our copyright and disclaimer notice page.

As we rode the lift servicing green trails and a few intermediate runs, a skier with one leg came zipping down below us, much to the amazement of everyone on the lift. My skiing partner exclaimed, "Those amputee skiers are such an inspiration. I have trouble getting down the slopes on two skis!" Farther up we saw a four-track skier with outriggers, tentatively maneuvering down an intermediate trail. My partner remarked that he would like some of those "crutches" to help him down. What he couldn't see was that the adaptive skier wore full leg braces and couldn't even stand independently without canes.

Sometimes the lack of knowledge about adaptive skiers' disabilities leads one to admire their courage or pity them. As an adaptive instructor who has worked with people with disabilities for many years, I know that these skiers aren't looking for admiration or pity from anyone. Like other skiers, they just want to have fun and get better each time they go out. That's why, rather than merely watch these two skiers make their way down the run, I began to imagine other possibilities: How can we get these skiers to ski all over the mountain, even in the bumps and steeps of the back bowls? How can we develop their skills to an extent that will enable them to join their skiing friends regardless of terrain selection? (And if their friends can't cut it in the hard stuff, well, maybe the disabled skiers can make some new friends while they're gliding through the bumps.)

Three- and four-track skiers generally plateau at the intermediate level, just like many two-track skiers, i.e., the "typical" alpine crowd. They also contract the common "intermediate disease," the main symptom of which is a statement such as "I know how to do this; I don't need any more lessons." They take lessons, or ski with a coach, until they get to that level where they manage to get down most terrain. Then they go skiing with their friends and families, happy to be able to ski most groomed slopes, but ultimately frustrated by an inability to tackle all the skiers can take on anything the mountain terrain and snow conditions they may encounter.

As ski teaching professionals, is it our fault that they and their two-track skiing friends lose interest in learning? Well, yes, it may be. Part of our daily challenge as ski instructors is to learn and develop new upper-level techniques and drills that will help our students refine their skiing skills, create sharper edge angles, handle the forces while turning with increased speed, or work to round out their turns in a GS course. By improving their proficiency along these lines, upper-level three- and four-track might throw their way.

Skier Profile

A guiding principle behind an upper-level lesson for a three- and four-track skier is to elicit an image of ideal form, i.e., the same slightly countered position and functional degree of hip angulation exhibited by the perfect two-track skier. Most three-track skiers, although they have or can use only one leg, can stand tall and centered over the ski and move fore, aft, and laterally. Because of this, their movement patterns strongly resemble those of two-track skiers. Likewise, a bilateral BK (below the knee) amputee who skis four-track with a prosthesis will be able to perform leg rotation from the hip, stand centered, and move laterally and fore and aft.

On the other hand, there are a variety of four-track skiers - from people with full leg braces to those with severe cerebral palsy - whose disabilities restrict their range of motion, strength, and flexibility. It may be necessary to use excessive cants or wedges under the toes or heels to help the four-track skier stand centered on the ski. Natural movement, fore, aft, and laterally, may come from the shoulders and head if the legs and hips are totally involved in the disability. This would require that you closely examine how to help the skier attain that countered position and hip angulation, if possible. Because of the variety of disabilities, the level of involvement, and the student's athleticism, teaching three- and four-track is very individualized.

One of the most important factors in the success of all skiers is proper alignment. Alignment is especially important for three- and four-track skiers, due to limitations imposed by their disability. They do not have the strength to muscle through turns and use natural forces, and the fatigue that can develop should be a red flag that signals a need to check the student's setup. Proper alignment is paramount at the higher levels, so make sure that you set up your three- and four-track skiers in a way that takes full advantage of whatever physical strength and mobility they have. For instance, a three-track skier may need a cant to ensure that he or she can stand on a flat ski. A four-track skier may benefit from a bungee cord that connects the tips of the skis because he or she does not have the strength in the abductor or adductor muscles to keep the skis aligned in all conditions and in differing terrain.

Skill-Based Exercises

Now that you've taken steps to ensure appropriate stance, hip angulation, and alignment, you'll want to help your upper-level student learn the movement patterns that can help him or her reach an even higher level of proficiency. Here are some common "tried and true" exercise lines that instructors use to help intermediate skiers build the skills needed to progress beyond their plateau. For each exercise line, let's examine the similarities and differences for two-, three-, and four-track skiers.

Garlands

In this case, garlands are performed on groomed blue terrain to explore the skills needed to guide the ski through turns, using muscular and skeletal ability. Garlands can be used to reinforce the movement patterns necessary to initiate the turn or to finish the turn. Have your student start in the fall line, begin a turn, and then turn back into the fall line and start a turn in the same direction, never fully completing either turn.

Two-track - These skiers use a turning movement in their feet and legs as they guide the inside ski to lead the outside ski through each turn.

Three-track - These skiers also can steer the foot and leg in either direction using the outriggers, if necessary, to enhance the turning movement.

Four-track - These skiers may not be able to turn their feet and legs independently of the rest of their body. They may use their hips, shoulders, and head to accomplish this rotary movement. Teaching these students to move their hips laterally will help them initiate the turn more fluidly.

Sideslip

You may introduce sideslips on blue/black terrain to help the student understand and feel the effects of increasing and decreasing edge angles in various snow conditions and on different kinds of terrain. The strength of the edging movement depends on how the skier aligns his or her center of mass over the skis. He or she makes fine-tuning adjustments with the ankles, knees, and hips. Have your student start with his or her skis perpendicular to the fall line and then release the edges - by rolling the knees or extending whatever joint is closest to the snow-to slide down the fall line in a vertical column. You can outline the vertical column through which the skier will slide by drawing two vertical lines in the snow with your poles, or by placing bamboo poles in the snow, set a little more than a ski length apart.

Two-track - These skiers use their hips, knees, and ankles to increase and decrease the edge angles while doing a vertical sideslip.

Three-track - These skiers are also able to use their hip, knee, and ankle to progressively edge the ski. They can do this from either side, moving the center of mass down the hill.

Four-track - These skiers need to use more hip and upper-body motion to refine the edge angles to keep the center of mass moving down the hill, centered over the skis. Any modifications to the setup, such as excessive canting, will hinder the success of this movement but may provide clues into the accuracy of the setup and alignment.

Pressure-Control In The Bumps

Pressure-control movements can be used in small moguls initially to explore flexion and extension. Have your student perform a straight run across a small mogul field. Now have the student try the same maneuver with a small turn up the hill after the last bump. Working in the same or similar-sized moguls, now have the student make a turn on top of and down the back side of the last bump. Slowly progress in this way until the student exhibits the flexion and extension necessary to make a series of turns in the bumps.

Two-track - These skiers can achieve absorption and extension by using their ankles, knees, and legs.

Three-track - These skiers are also able to absorb and extend by using the ankle, knee, and leg.

Four-track - These skiers may have little or no ability to flex their ankles or knees. Absorption comes from their hips and waist, making this exercise difficult for a four-track skier.

Upper-Level Drills

As instructors, it is our job to take what we know and create opportunities for our students to continue to develop the technical skills required in any situation in which they may find themselves. The following upper-level drills may prove beneficial when helping your students become all-mountain skiers.

GS Turns

Using conventional gates, set up a giant slalom course that encourages round, consistent turns. Now set some helper gates (i.e., gates that are a different color or smaller than the others) above the turning gates to let your students know where you want them to start each turn. The helper gate will cue the tactic of turning around the gate rather than skiing straight at it and washing out at the end. Skiers can work with gravity much better if they move into the turn earlier, creating a rounded arc with each turn. Coaches understand that most disabled skiers at the upper levels do not have the strength to use the forces that are generated until they learn to start the new turn earlier. If, at the end of a turn, the skier rotates his or her upper body in the direction of the skis, rather than move the center of mass down the hill, the hip moves outward, the shoulder moves in, the skis wash, and it becomes extremely hard to move into the next turn.

Skiing With Poles (Without Outriggers)

For three-track skiers who are too dependent on their outriggers, try having them ski without them. This will help the skier develop lateral balance, with the hip in and the upper body and shoulders out. You can first introduce this statically, with the skier standing with the ski across the fall line: Stand below the student and try to pull him or her down the hill, while the student resists by moving the hip into the hill, flexing the knee and ankle, and leaning the shoulders and upper body down the hill. The skier needs to understand and feel how correct body alignment affects each phase of the turn as well as how the shoulder affects the movement of the ski. Help the student understand that he or she can create a stronger edge angle by picking up the inside shoulder in the middle of the turn, thereby causing the hip to automatically move laterally inside.

Pressure-Control Options

Pressure-control movements are complex, and many instructors need to develop a better understanding of the various ways to manage pressure. For several years, skiers learned to unweight the ski to initiate the turn. This required a movement across the skis or an extension down the hill, which was achieved by using the legs to move the upper body over the skis. To help those skiers who may have trouble using their legs to move their body down the hill, adaptive instructors need to have their students explore other methods for managing the pressure buildup during the turn. With the new easy-turning ski designs and today's groomed slopes, most skiers can guide the skis without first unweighting them. To help your student explore pressure control, take the individual to a hill with small moguls and encourage him or her to use the terrain to absorb (i.e., push the skis underneath) in the initiation of the turn and extend as he or she moves through the turn. Or ask your student to use his or her abdominal muscles to pull the skis up to initiate an edge change, i.e., move the weight from the old turning edge(s) of the ski to the new one. This represents the major pressure-control mechanism at the turn initiation. The skier is still flexing and extending, but he or she is now using terrain and/or upper-body musculature to make the turn.

Conclusion

There are many ways to help three- and four-track skiers continue to improve. Use the upper-level exercises and drills that you know and rely on to improve your own skiing. Modify them if you have to, and when you come up with something that works, share it. Be creative - this approach can be exciting for you, and it will help three- and four-track skiers reach the next level of skiing proficiency. Adaptive skiing is the epitome of a quote by Henry David Thoreau: "If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."

Kathy Chandler is Level III alpine and adaptive instructor and is a senior adaptive examiner in Eastern Division. She is also the director of adaptive programs at New Hampshire's Waterville Valley Ski Resort.

References

Burke Guild, Pat, and Stephen Garger. Marching to Different Drummers (Alexandria, Va.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1985).

Disabled Sports/USA. Adaptive Skiing II, IntermediatelAdvanced 3- and 4-track Skiers, videocassette. (Truckee, Calif.: Disabled Sports/ USA, 1995).

Nagel, Geoff. "How to Handle the Pressures of Turn Initiation." The Professional Skier (winter 1996).