Is Your Alignment Holding You Back (part two)?

Two days ago, I loaded the car with eight pairs of skis and 500 pounds of alignment gear, and drove along The Alpine Way with a similar feeling to when I left Fernie Alpine Resort some five months earlier.

Looking up, there were thick, dark snow-filled clouds rolling in. And sure enough, Perisher Blue received 40 cm of fresh, light dry snow across the resort. Just after, I rolled out of Fernie this April, it dumped over 90 cm in a couple of days.

Although both resorts looked after us this year with enough of the white stuff, I couldn't help suspect that maybe Mother Nature was mocking me, even just a little.

So, as I drove back to Melbourne I figured the best way to ensure we never miss another powder day, is to run Harb Ski Camps 52 weeks of the year!

This month's alignment article is an extreme example of what it takes to motive someone to seek out our alignment help.

Now I don't suggest for a moment you spiral fracture your femur like US Ski Instructor Mike Simmons did. Just a phone call or and email will suffice!

It took a spiral fracture of my femur to pass my Exam! By Mike Simmons

My saga began 12 years ago at a small mountain in North Carolina where I attended a ski-instructor camp and was hired for weekend teaching.

I was great at the "snow-plow" which I learned had been changed to the "wedge".

I was determined to get better with my own teaching and skiing and started attending as many PSIA clinics as my wallet could afford.

Sometimes I would ski brilliantly, and then the next time I could not repeat my performance.

This became increasingly frustrating, coupled with the fact that what was being taught in the clinics was constantly changing.

It started with lots of emphasis on "rotary", then up and down movements, then stepping off the uphill ski, then "projecting your weight down the hill", then inside leg steering, then using four edges, then shaped skis, and now we are supposed to ski in a wider stance.

I can't tell you how many hours I spent trying to throw my weight down the hill.

It was a very elusive concept.

I was told that my performance was adequate to go for the level II exam which I embarked on. I passed the written and teaching with no problem, but I failed at the skiing.

I was told by the examiners that they thought I had an alignment problem and that I needed to learn how to flex my ankles more.

They suggested I put a heel wedge under my footbed. So I did and went home and practiced flexing my ankles in front of a mirror.

Next try at the exam, same result. I needed to flex my ankles more and they suspected an alignment problem. I showed the examiner my heel wedge and he suggested a larger one.

I bought a larger wedge, practiced flexing my ankles more and went back for another try.

You guessed it, the same result. I was told I moved up and down like the trees instead of projecting my weight down the hill.

They suspected an alignment issue and that I needed to do exercises to promote ankle flexion.

"Perhaps you should take up jumping rope," one examiner said.

I went home and had my wife watch me flex my ankles, first in socks, and then with my boots on. She thought I was flexing my ankles. I then went back to the ski slope and tried some more to flex my ankles and "project my body down the hill"

It continued to elude me.

That March, on a very icy day, I was making a turn to the left into some very large bumps that were as hard as concrete.

I had a pre-release of a binding and quickly became airborne.

I started to bounce from one bump to the next, resulting in a spiral fracture of my right femur.

Unfortunately, I was not put in traction and lost about 1.5 inches of length off my leg.

I had been so frustrated with my exam experience that I had set up an appointment to visit Harald Harb's alignment center at Winter Park, Colorado, late the same month. www.harbskisystems.com

Needless to say, I had to cancel my appointment.

When I healed from my injury it was apparent that I really needed help to overcome the short leg deficiency if I was to ever ski again.

That December, with a rod still in my leg, I made a new appointment with Harald. By now he had moved to Aspen.

When I arrived at Aspen, Harald was unavailable, so he assigned Diana to my cause.

Under Diana's care, I discovered that not only did I have a short leg, I was knock- kneed, a pronator, and was wearing the worst possible boots for my anatomy.

The increased wedges that were put under by footbeds had greatly exacerbated my difficulty to ski. I was so far out of alignment, it was a miracle that I could even ski to a Level I.

After changing boots, getting new footbeds for the pronation, and compensating under the bindings for the alignment and short leg it was time to see how if felt on snow.

The immediate sensation was nothing short of incredible.

For the first time in over 25 years of skiing I could really feel my edges!

Prior to this, sometimes I would have edges, and sometimes not.

I could never find a consistent pattern to feel them. Then it was time to try and undo my wedge entry turns and dependency on the big toe to initiate my turns.

After so many years, I had learned too well. It took a lot of diligence on Diana's part to erase that from my memory pattern.

We are still working on it.

Needless to say, this was the answer to finally passing the Level II PSIA exam.

It took proper alignment and learning PMTS to bring my skiing up to the level I was so desperately trying to achieve.

Had I not fractured my leg, I would still be chasing that elusive goal!

By Mike Simmons an accredited instructor at Sugar Mountain, NC. This article was taken from a pmts.org Newsletter February 23, 2001.

Article brought to you by ex-ski coach now peak performance life coach Peter Stone from www.peak-performance-coaching.com.au. Visit us for free resources on how to live a rich and fulfilling life with all the energy, time and money you need to do what you want!