The preparation of race courses versus the development of ski structure.
Richard Berry looks at the controversial issue dominating the skiing
world at the moment
This may seem a very limited subject or excessively technical, but
all skiers experience changes in snow conditions and become excited
by the improving technology of ski development.
The greatest improvement in recent years is the curvature of
skis that make it so much easier to control the skis.
You would not be surprised to know that this has been the
result of many hours and years of experiment and development of skis
for the World Cup competitor.
What is interesting to see is that the technique of skiing is less
important now than it used to be.
In the early years of ski racing each generation of
competitor created a change in style that was translated into new
techniques which started with Christiania through parallel counter
rotation then Avolamont which developed in what is universally
accepted as the way to ski today, carving.
I have been through all of these changes and am delighted to be able
to enjoy the carving at the age of 66.
But this is not to ignore the development that has taken
place since the sixties when Jean Claude Killy took the gold medals
at the Grenoble Olympics.
His achievement was a landmark in skiing where one man won
all the gold medals in each discipline of Alpine skiing and never
likely to be repeated.
As beginners and experts alike all need to control the extent to
which they can grip the surface of the snow.
This changes constantly from gradient to altitude, humidity
and texture of the snow.
Hitting a patch of ice when we least expect it can mean at
least a moment out of control to a serious accident.
It is difficult to understand how one day skiing can be so
perfect and the next so impossible.
Most put this down to lack of competence but in reality this
is more than 50% due to changing conditions, the snow may seem the
same but it changes constantly.
This is most obvious when there is a new fall of snow but
snow changes all the time because of the weather.
Increase or decrease in temperature is the main factor but
the combination of all weather conditions produce the majority of
changes in snow conditions.
We are therefore constantly subject to weather conditions.
This is where preparation of the piste comes in and the
pisten dienste now comes into the equation from the experience
gained in preparing race courses.
The modern ski area has developed from the preparation of ski racing
courses. When I started
racing we still often had to climb up the course on skis, setting
the course as we went.
The sixties saw very little piste preparation and even fewer had
machines to groom the piste let alone the average ski run.
Today things are very different, very few ski areas exist
without piste machines and seriously technical security systems.
This means that the average piste is groomed regularly and
the better the conditions are made the more successful the ski area.
However there is a limit, machines can only improve
conditions to a limited extent the machines have to work with the
meteorological conditions and understanding of the individual ski
area as to how the prevailing weather conditions affect their area.
Ignoring the obvious changes where avalanche conditions can
be created there are more subtle changes within and outside the
controlled ski area. A
rise of a few degrees can make the lower slopes into a pea soup of
slush. The wind in the
upper slopes can turn the otherwise perfect piste conditions into an
ice rink.
So assuming we can improve what the weather gives us, the surface of
the snow is all important to how easily we can negotiate the slope.
The ski on the other hand is designed to take the greatest
advantage of the good conditions.
In fact the modern carving ski performs best on ice at least
icy conditions are reasonably constant and if one’s edges are sharp
enough one can ski constantly with the same degree of force applied
to the edges.
Conversely with softer conditions reaction to the changing surface
reduces the stability of descent and the ability of the skier to
maintain a constant speed.
When skis could not grip the surface the expertise of the
skier limited the degree of side slip.
With the carving ski side slip is a result of not being able
to hold the course.
Generally there is difficulty controlling the consistency of the
piste preparation and so have the race organisers.
Still there has been no objection to the injection of water
which I think is one of the main problems of the modern World Cup
race courses. The
injection of water is a problem because it is not evenly distributed
throughout the race line and the changing conditions between top and
bottom of the course are difficult to factor into this method of
snow preparation. My
original practice in 1974 was to spray water onto the ground behind
the piste machine before it went in to the rotovator thus combining
the water with the snow evenly and over the whole area of the race
course. This could
obviously be varied in the quantity of water applied between top and
bottom if necessary.
What we have now is areas of pure ice and areas of soft snow where
insufficient injection of water has taken place.
The change in the regulations regarding skis may be necessary as
well because courses have become tighter with the intention of
reducing speed and if the skis become more capable of gripping the
ground by changing the structure of the ski then there is a greater
likelihood of accidents occurring.
I think racers input is important as in “Athletes Chairman
Albrecht speaks out on ski changes
http://www.skiracing.com/?q=node/10390”
but most of the people who are making the decisions are past racers
and therefore know the consequences if a bad decision is made.
So finally we have a position where the preparation of the slope
determines the degree to which the carving turn can be used.
At the same time the degree of curvature of the ski makes a
difference to the skiing technique.
Therefore these two factors have given the sport a new
impetus and probably ensure that it remains one of the most popular
sports in the world.
