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Friday, September 25, 2009

Friday Morning Time-Waster: Tight Turns



Skier and helmet-cam videographer Cody Townsend was coy about the location of this amazing slot, but Steve Romeo of TetonAT identified it: the Terminal Cancer Couloir in Nevada's Ruby Mountains. Skiing Magazine posted the same clip and did a little interview with Townsend.

Q. Can you...give us some tips on how to ski a narrow shot like this?

A. When it comes to skiing a couloir fast, i.e. no mountaineer jump turning, the key is to get a little bit of slide out of the end of your turn. If you full carve slalom turn it, you'll be going out-of-control fast in a matter of moments. The little "slarve" (sliding-carve, aka McConkey Turn) at the end of your turn helps control your speed but it still allows you to keep your tips down the fall line. My last piece of advice: Be in very good shape. It was such a tiring climb and ski that my legs felt like Jet Li had used them for kicking practice once this thing was done.

3 comments:

randosteve said...

That puppy is on my 'hit list'. Better work on my 'slarve' turns so I can send it like Cody!

Anonymous said...

Awesome line! How steep is it? Hard to say from the video.

Sarah G said...

this is so sick! I agree with the guy above. cant tell how steep it is. was it really hard to ski going so fast in such a light space?