References are indications we use to orient ourselves or to identify something. When skiing, we encounter a variety of references. Different skiers use different references. For some, postural balance references are the most important, while for others it is sliding or movement references. An aesthetic tendency can also be taken as a reference by certain skiers.
For some, references are obvious aspects of skiing itself but for others, there is a reflection, a relationship that appears and generates a “eureka” moment, an experience of sudden revelation that arises when the solution to a complex problem appears unexpectedly that turns into a useful reference.
Discovering references is a mental “click” where our brain connects previously scattered information, leading to a deep understanding and a sense of clarity and pleasure at having defined it.
We can broadly classify references as structural (technical-internal) and tactical (strategic-external).
From these postulates, we will extract some of the types of references we can use in our everyday skiing.
Visual references
- An effective visual reference emerges when our eyes are focusing in a parallel line to the slope. This helps the vestibular system maintain our actual balance and not be fooled by the incline of the hill. If the focusing line of our gaze is lower than the inclination of the slope, loosing parallelism with it, or it is pointing up the horizon, then visual perspective as a proper reference is lost, causing balance interference.
- Gaze fixating is an active mechanism of motion reference because in the direction our gaze is oriented, our skis will follow (our gaze guides our body and our body guides our skis).
- The ski tips serve as a peripheral visual reference during carving turns, gradually aligning them with the destination point or the direction change point.
- If our intention is to perform skidded turns, then we will take our heels as sensorimotor references, using them to dynamically align the ski tails towards one of the mentioned points.
- Vertical references are employed in low visibility or “flat light” conditions, as vertical elements such as lift towers, trail markers, trees, or even other skiers to perceive the slope’s incline and maintain body verticality.
- In beginner levels, the visual reference tends to be on the immediate surface and actions’ execution, whether in more advanced levels it tends to be further ahead.
Through visual anticipation, we can detect the following references:
- The proximal zone reference of visual fixation is usually employed as a reference to determine the imminent direction change point.
- The distant zone visual fixations establish the prediction of farthest turning points or the destination point (the end of the descent or the end of the slope).
We can also apply the following vision/action references:
- We can look where we ski (beginner levels).
- Or we can ski where we look (advanced levels).
Spatial references
- The description and study of our body’s movement when skiing requires determining its position in space as a function of time. This requires a system of familiar environmental references, which allow us to anticipate and organize our motions in the mountain by determining reference points.
- To evaluate the surrounding space, we rely on references provided by the perception of gravity, ourselves, and the perception of perpendicularity, which is the orientation in which objects are perceived as vertical.
- To represent the mountain space,we employ environmental references as verticality, horizontality, obliquity, and depth.
- Some skiers suffer from an illusion of verticality, where their survival instinct dictates that they should remain perpendicular to the “center of the earth” (up-right upper body) rather than to the inclination of the slope (upper body ‘forward’ feel).
- Setting vertical and horizontal references provided by trees, lift towers, constructions, or other people will contribute to our spatial and postural orientation.
- When we set a turn towards one side or another, we decompose space with reference to us, accepting ourselves as an axis from which space expands.
- Recognizing that terrestrial gravity constitutes an external body reference is important in our relationship with the surroundings.
- The fall line is the most decisive spatial reference when skiing. Establishing our location in relation to that line will facilitate the beginning and the end of our direction changes.
- With this goal in mind, we generally use two spatial references: one establishes the destination point determining linear or curvilinear trajectories to get to that point, which is taken as a reference for our descent.
- The other reference is the direction change points, which are pretended points where we will modify our linear or curvilinear trajectories.
- We can use the space of a slope using two types of motion references: straight or curved.
- Within the curved references, we can include two more: the “Z” type turn is used as a turn-to-brake reference, and the “S” shaped turn as a turn-to-guide reference.
- When setting possible paths to move, we also detect possibilities for actions (attraction points) while others are discarded (exclusion points).
- Attraction points are references we take such as slope areas that can guarantee certain stability, promoting adequate skiing conditions such as groomed snow, a gentle slope, or a low traffic area or, for more active skiers, places inducing dynamic skiing conditions such as jumps, bumps, trees, or untracked snow. In these cases, the majority of possible trajectories tend to orient to attraction points, which are considered as “targets.”
- Exclusion points are reference areas that we tend to avoid as slope limits, intersections, drop-offs, irregular ground or snow, traffic, etc. They are points considered as “obstacles” restricting affordances and limiting possible trajectories.
Equipment references
- Although it would be common knowledge for advanced skiers, for beginners, references about ski gear are essential for determining their handling and control.
- The beginner skier needs references about which is the downhill ski and which the uphill, which is the outer ski and which the inner ski, and that they change designation related to how they are positioned in the slope and during turns.
- Skis positioning, through their longitudinal axis, gives a reference of speed control. The easiest way to control speed is referred as a “pizza” (wedge), bringing the tips together and spreading the tails apart. The visual reference is a triangle: the bigger the pizza, the more the skis brake. A reference for gaining speed and gliding would be “French fries”, as keeping the skis straight and parallel.
- During parallel skiing, a visual reference is that the skis should maintain the same distance between tips and tails, and that the tips usually do not differ much longitudinally.
- The edges are the reference point for grip; when tilting the skis, the contact between edges and snow allows to steer, to carve, or to brake.
- Boots’ fitting is also an important reference as keeping the feet snug and secure for better skis’ control.
- The reference for a well-fitting boot is that toes can move slightly, but heels are completely locked in and do not lift when flexing the legs.
- Pole preparation and pole plant are references for rhythm and timing, signaling when to shift weight from one ski to the other.
- Pole plant is also a tactile reference for upper body balance, specially during short radius turns on groomed slopes, in powder, and on moguls.
- The inner pole is used for body inclination reference as a ‘sensor’ by feeling how much pressure comes from touching the tip on the snow, which it is felt at the inner wrist.
