Skiing is an inherently un-American sport. That's because most of our sports stories and metaphors revolve around the idea of trying harder.. "Okay boys, go out there and really hit 'em!" Go drive harder, tackle harder, run harder, play harder.
Well, in skiing it's just the opposite. The trick is to try softer.
Work with the mountain, rather than attacking it. Adapt your movements to meet the terrain.. Ski calm and collected, with the least amount of energy possible.. Let turns happen and forces build progressively, rather than forcing them all at once. Skiing is about borrowed forces. Gravity, mediated by our own grace, propels us far faster than we could ever go under our own sole power. The role of a good skier is to dance with, and coordinate these exterior forces, to meet the mountain in her curves and move with her.
The more you are in tune and sync with your skis, the snow, winter, with your own body and the mountain, the less there is to feel aggressive about.
The French have a term for this: la glisse. Glisser avec delicatesse, is to eloquently slide. You can't force it, don't even try. Let the piste rise to meet you, then flow into her..
Adapted from Breakthrough on the New Skis, Lito Tejada Flores, pp. 274-5.
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