tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7037030002547566426.post-38262920750735542382008-03-26T23:29:00.004-04:002008-03-27T09:02:58.127-04:00<object height="355" width="425">The family and I are in Denver for a couple of weeks. It's a vacation for most of us. I'm mostly working, though I got a few days to ski Copper Mountain. Fantastic runs and real diversity in skill levels available. One of the nice things is how they've <a href="http://www.coppercolorado.com/mountain/trail_map/statictrailmap.htm">divided the mountain by experience</a>, so that the experts can roam the eastern slopes and the beginners can feel at home on the western and the rest can meander about the center runs. You don't have to worry about accidentally getting yourself into trouble.<br /><br />As it had been three years since our last ski trip, it took me both days, however, just to get back into the groove. We had taken lessons in the <a href="http://www.harbskisystems.com/lessonindex.htm">PMTS system</a>, developed by Harald Harb, at Sol Vista on that prior trip. It was a fantastic experience, and I needed to regain the feel of the turns and timing: when to switch the stance foot, rotate the free foot, and lift the ski heel. But I also needed to remember not to panic when staring down a sheer drop straight into a mob of lift queues at the bottom of the slope. One turn after another does the trick.<br /><br />I'll leave you with a video of Harald Harb doing some medium turns. There are some more impressive videos with moguls and the like, but this is the kind of stuff I was trying to emulate. Look at how he keeps his skis perfectly parallel the entire run. Wow! Here's the book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Anyone-Can-Be-Expert-Skier/dp/1578261775">Anyone can be an Expert Skier</a>; highly recommended!!<br /><br /><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/4oN3RDdHJ8w&amp;hl=en"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/4oN3RDdHJ8w&amp;hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="355" width="425"></embed></object><br /><br />By the way... where does one go to ski from Youngstown??Tylerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15451752884081337668noreply@blogger.com