ilya.s

Thanks for your reply! I'm planning to stay in Whistler. What is the Spring Late Season Pass good for? It is valid April 24 - May 22.

Hi, how are the conditions on Whistler during April/May? Are the runs still suitable for carving? Has anyone tried the glacier in June/July? Do they have groomed runs on the glacier? I'm considering moving to Vancouver to extend the season and was wondering whether or not this was a good idea.

Frozzen & Eric Brammer, thanks a lot for all of the suggestions! I have improved quite a lot, and was able to take second place at a local giant slalom competition. :) Good instruction is extremely important.

From Carver's Almanac:

I hope I understand the racing technique correctly, please correct me if I'm wrong: 1. There's no weight shifting as in bomber (angulated) style - the pressure is mostly equal on both feet throughout the whole turn? 2. There's only a slight amount of angulation (just keeping shoulders parallel to the slope), not angulating with the whole body (unlike in toeside problem) 3. Making the transition by sucking the board in, and then pushing the board away as soon as I transition to the next edge to avoid falling down? What are the main differences from the extremecarving push/pull style? It seems to be quite similar to me... Is it just avoiding over-rotation to the inside of the turn, and making edge transitions much earlier? Here's a video of me practicing (trying to go for the racing style, not bomber), please let me know any noticeable mistakes:

Thanks a lot for the detailed explanation! I indeed tried today riding using the not-overly-rotated non-angulated push-pull style and indeed edge transitions became much faster, almost instantaneous. I've been riding bomber (angulated style) for a couple of years now, and switching techniques is not that easy, but I will persist. :) What exactly do you mean by flat-base thrust pumping? I've never heard of this term before...

This makes a lot more sense to me now, thanks! And Marc Cirigliano's videos are really good instruction. So what is the reason for racers using counter-rotated style unlike over-rotated style in carving? I find that over-rotated style makes heelside turns much easier.

What is the proper technique when racing? Angulated style (bomber), or push-pull? From what I've seen on the Olympics they seem to not be using much angulation. What is the reason behind this? Also unlike in carving their torso seems not to be facing the long axis of the board, it is facing the direction of the bindings. Is there any particular reason for this? Can I race facing the long axis of the board? Are there any resources/online courses/books that might help with racing training? All the information out there seems to be related to ski racing. Thanks.