1
To
PSIA
&
all the Ski Schools
For
Ski-boys & Ski-girls
everywhere
& For
Graham Dorsey
May 2010
Apology:
Before we get into this manual,
I wish to Apologize
for a reference in one of my other ski books,
The PROHIBITION Of Snow-Boarding,
where Mr Buntline talks about
"snow-boarders down on their knees"
. . . possibly "bowing to Allah."
Therefore, I make two apologies:
one to the Islam Religion
. . . and one to the Radical Snow-Boarding Community.
I sincerely hope that Mr Buntline did not offend anyone,
of either group
---that was not his intention.
Sincerely,
GH
2
ONE GOOD TURN
DESERVES ANOTHER
Skiers-- Whether you're a beginning, intermediate, or advanced
skier, this Heinsian DOWNHILL SKIING manual is your lift ticket
to reaching your full potential. Using your uncommon everyday
forgotten horse sense, take responsibility for your own learning:
Get mounted on the right
ski equipment
(and cheaper than you thunk)
Develop three basic skills--for balance
Set up three primary variables--for Comfort Zone & Versatility
Analyze any given ski turn, and understand turn-linkage
Find out from GARY HEINS, maverick ski-boy straight from the
HeinsQuarters of the SWINGIN' G WINTER RANGE, how to
learn from yourself and the mountain and its snow. Be one with
your skis; and ski fluently, in any context.
Ski Teachers-- Read the fun print: You can lead a man to pow-
der, but you cannot make him ski. Knowing how to ski . . . is only
a drop in the bucket to good skiing and teaching: knowing who-n-
when-n-why to ski . . . a new slope, a new snow condition, the same
old slope or snow in a fresh new way, . . . or knowing when to
make an equipment change--this knowing who-what-when-n-
where-n-why, rather than just how, is the key to progressive
learning, as young horses have been telling their handlers for cen-
turies. This DOWNHILL SKIING manual will help you get out of
the student's way and let them reach their full potential. But be
careful: your students may learn to ski better than you can. . . . One
more thing you should know: Kept down for decades by too much
SS politics and pecking orders, GARY HEINS is now U.S. SKI-
TURNER GENERAL with a new chart defining Comfort Zone,
which helps Prosecute Bad Ski Instructors.
GARY HEINS
DOWNHILL SKIING
Get certified . . . to ride the high lift
3
Thee Second
---
SWINGIN' G BOOK
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
ONE GOOD TURN
DESERVES ANOTHER
---Heinsian
DOWNHILL
SKIING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~ GARY HEINS ~
U.S. SKI-TURNER GENERAL
4
ONE GOOD TURN
DESERVES ANOTHER
---Heinsian DOWNHILL SKIING
by GARY HEINS
Published by:
SWINGIN’ G BOOKS
PO Box 784
Saint Johns, Arizona 85936
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means without written
permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief
quotations in critical reviews.
Copyright © 1990, 1997, 2010 Gary Lee Heins
LCCN
97-091089
P-book
ISBN 10
1-882369-21-1
ISBN 13
978-1-882369-21-8
E-book
ISBN 10
1-882369-20-3
ISBN 13
978-1-882369-20-1
#
5
"Now there's one thing
that'll make it easy:
I'll ski like you,
and, Baby, you ski like me
---let's ski this run . . .
one turn at a time."
---GARY HEINS
& His
DUAL GS SKI-BOY BAND
6
DISCLAIMER . . . & CLAIMER
It is not my intention to harass ski areas or ski schools with frivolous
lawsuits dealing with natural problems beyond their control. I do, how-
ever, intend to help as many skiers and teachers as I possibly can . . . to
reach their full potential, much to the dismay of Professional Ski Instructors
of America and a few other charlatans. This book doesn't claim to be for
everybody, just wise open-minded teachers . . . and confident ski-it-your-
selfers, as well as those students and teachers who feel neglected, misun-
derstood, abused, even discouraged, disempowered, or disenfranchised . . .
by the dysfunctional pecking-order status-quo. Oh, the most selfish and
dysfunctional of instructors will want to read this book also, so that they
can defend themselves in court; if they read it soon enough, they might start
doing their job right and not have to defend themselves in court, as from
now on This Heinsian DOWNHILL SKIING Manual is the yardstick all
ski lessons are measured by---so this book is for everybody.
A big reason snow-boarding has taken off like wild-fire for more than
twenty years . . . is because of Political Correctness, . . . and because some
fed-up ski instructors weren't able to climb the political ski-school ladder:
Many in Ski School saw a more-lucrative ground-floor opportunity in be-
coming ignoble and igmobile snow-board instructors instead, much like a
prostitute. ---Witness a high percentage of ski instructors and other skiers
who wouldn't be caught dead shackled on a snow-board kneeling down or
sitting on their butt as if controlled by a pimp or a rogue religion.
Let's face it: the Ski Schools haven't gotten the job done in this country
for a couple of decades now---that's another reason why snow-boarding has
taken off like wild-fire plowing over the more practical mode of skiing. The
Ski Schools generally haven't done the Skiing Public justice, and they have-
n't done all the instructors justice: it's been politics as usual with too much
factional-n-individual scheming for power, with too few guys at the top . . .
living off the high turnover of instructors. That high turnover is perpetu-
ated by the greedy few at the top, and it helps them keep their cushy jobs
"training" a constant supply of fresh new instructors while keeping the gen-
eral populace unskilled and ignorant. When The Reformation came along
by the late 1990s, and 'Shaped Skis' were supposed to make skiing much
easier, the Powers-That-Ski decided to make the tasks and techniques that
much more difficult, especially near the top of their certification ladder;
meanwhile, they made entry-level certification extremely easy so that eve-
rybody and their brother could be a "certified" instructor, even the most
mediocre of skiers . . . and ski-bums who just want the perks but don't even
want to teach.
Every now and then, an individual ski instructor shines above the rest,
. . . only to be stifled or even totally shut down, by politics or economics,
because he's a threat to the comfy status-quo. In 1980, passing Associate-
Level Certification in PSIA's Northern Division, they complimented me on
my "Strong Communication Skills"; however, in PSIA's Intermountain Divi-
7
sion in the years to follow, they passed me in Skiing Ability and Technical
Knowledge at the Full-Cert-Level, but they flunked me in "Communication
Skills" three times in three years---they did not give credit where credit was
due, and they still don't. They might as well have done wrong to Clint
Eastwood or Charles Bronson or Sam Elliott . . . or Erin Brockavich . . . or
Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption, because it has been my life-long
purpose to continue doing what I do best, . . . and to prove them wrong and
expose them for what they are, . . . ever since.
Everything we think, feel, and do . . . matters; individually and collec-
tively, we create our own destiny---if you don't understand that yet, you are
missing the boat . . . or at least the last chair-lift ride to a more celestial
place. This book is for leaders more than followers, ski-it-yourselfers who
are willing to take responsibility for their own turns in life---as responsibil-
ity means freedom; . . . but we must follow something for awhile . . . until
we learn how to lead for ourselves. You don't have to do anything I say in
this book; but God help you if you think you can learn from a politically-
motivated instructor with a hidden agenda, or from a hedonistic ski-bum
masquerading as a 'certified' instructor---whether He or It, you already have
the God Force inside you, and you don't need anyone's permission to ski
through the Narrow Gate into Heaven. When learning from a book, the
student must take responsibility for his own safety; however, when
learning from an instructor out on the mountain, the student is somewhat
dependent on the instructor for safety. While obviously spiritual and
somewhat psychological, skiing is also a highly physical activity: for every
thousand new-age gurus coaching millions to "just close your eyes, and
think positive," we are lucky to find one instructor really offering the people
what they need. Things have gotten so silly lately in our Nation's politics
and socioeconomics . . . the Meek have started inheriting the Earth---singer
Susan Boyle's long-overdue success in 2009 was a Turning Point; and, from
now on, with the help of this book, the most out-of-line ski instructors
and instructor trainers, PSIA or otherwise, will be held responsible for
their arrogant, self-serving, ignorant and/or subversive actions.
The problem is deep-rooted, and it goes way beyond just ski school---
it's hundreds if-not-thousands of years of puerile tradition . . . in almost
every walk of life. Enjoy what you learn here up on the mountain and
anywhere else in life where you can apply it, kindly giving attribution; . . .
and you're welcome to transfer what you learn here . . . to another walk of
life that needs help----but this niche is taken (as well as some of my other
topics, like WESTERN SWING). Remembering the childhood story illus-
trating the importance of recognizing the Truth, we need to admit that the
Emperor is not wearing any clothes, in every walk of life where we see it;
and we need to do it right now if not yesterday---otherwise, the planet and
its people may not have much of a future, and learning downhill skiing will
be the least of our troubles.
---GARY HEINS
SWINGIN' G BOOKS
8
Bear with me, Beginners, while I send a note
to any Neigh-Sayers & Know-It-Alls out there:
Brief Prologue----May Day! May Day! 2010
This book was originally laid-out in 1990, but it is as true
today in 2010 as it was back then---and I've had twenty more
years to tinker with it. While skis and boots may have generally
changed for the better in recent years, becoming easier to operate,
the requirements for learning to ski have pretty much stayed the
same: mountains are still mountains, snow is still snow, and people
are still people (although I wonder sometimes). Back when the
'Straight Skis' kept you more honest, ski teaching had to be done
more correctly; one of the main problems with the recent Reforma-
tion of Ski Technology with 'Shaped Skis' . . . is that it has made
many instructors lose focus----they've given the skis themselves too
much power, much like a rogue computer, and they've forgotten
how to help the student learn to be responsible and take control.
The new skis operate pretty much the same as the old skis: they just
carve a little easier is all, but all skis need to be skidable---a ski that
won't skid is like a car with no brakes. ---Let's not forget: 'Straight
Skis' already had Shape, so 'Shaped Skis' are not the totally new
and different phenomenon the Ski Industry would have you be-
lieve. And, even if the newer ski technology carves a lot easier,
every skier still has his threshold where he had better start skid-
ding to brush off too much speed---even for most experts it is
somewhere on intermediate steepness. Not being part of a con-
spiratorial trend full of Planned Obsolescence to milk your
money . . . and MissInformation to control everyone's brain, . . .
this book will be just as truthful fifty years from now as it is to-
day . . . and was twenty years ago.
---GARY HEINS
U.S. SKI-TURNER GENERAL
9
ONE GOOD TURN
DESERVES ANOTHER
---Heinsian DOWNHILL SKIING
DISCLAIMER & CLAIMER
6-7
Brief Prologue
8
Foreword ( by JD): Meet Gary Heins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
Ski-Teaching Like Ranch Horse-Training . . . . . . . . . 19
Priorities: Safety, Fun, Learning
21
Our Bottomless Topic: "How to Turn" ---A Preview . . . . . . . . . 33
Anatomy of a Ski Turn---One vs Many
35
turn phases, turn size-n-shape, turn-linkage
Ski Equipment
41
skis, boots, bindings, poles
skier clothing, accessories
Three Basic Skills for Balance
87
pressure-, edge-, rotary-control
Three Primary Variables for Versatility
96
slope, snow, task---Comfort Zone!
Who&WhatTurn,When&Where&Why, Not Just How! . . . . . . . . 113
Monitoring Variables, Developing Skills
114
---Beginner Skiing