Olympic Mogul Skier James Matheson - Elite Mogul Skiing Technique

This episode is brought to you by Carv, the digital ski coach. Now, one of the features I've had the most fun with all time is simply the fact that Carv tracks every single turn you make. I treat it a bit like Strava, so at the end of the day it tells me exactly how many turns I've done, and those numbers keep adding up across the season. So last season in Australia, I had a few days where I was doing nearly 2,500 turns, and my legs were tired, but it was really cool to try and have that number there motivating me, and I'm quietly working my way towards my 1 millionth turn with Carv. So the other metrics I've been diving into lately, and these are new for this season, are very unique, and these are turn corridor and turn radius. And I don't see many skiers using them, but they tell you a lot about the shape and flow of your skiing. So the turn corridor shows you how far you're traveling across the hill, or the time almost between apex to apex, and how long you're taking to transition. While the turn radius measures the actual arc you create once you start the turn. So these can be different, you can have like a very wide corridor, say 18 meters, but a lower turn radius, or the other way around. So when you compare the two, it opens up a whole world of experimentation, and it would be a bit like a race coach will set different types of race courses to influence a racer or skier to change the timing and mix it up. So I encourage you to look into this if you've got Carv and play with it and see if you can manipulate it, because it's only going to improve your versatility. So I keep my Carv on my boots every single day because you never know quite know when like a change in technique or a new ski resort or skis will show up in the numbers, and it's great at the end of the day being able to check that, or even after the fact. And I'm really looking forward to the day I open the app and I see turn number 1 million So if you want to explore your skiing in a completely different way, check out Carv, the digital ski coach. And thank you, team, for sponsoring this episode.

Hello everyone and welcome to the Global Skiing Podcast. I'm Tom Gellie, and today you're in for a treat. Sam and I are speaking with Olympic mogul skier James Matheson from the Australian team. Now what's amazing about James is not only his insane insane ability to ski moguls and throw huge tricks off jumps back into moguls, but also his ability to articulate and explain to us what he's feeling and why he's doing certain things in his mogul skiing. So this episode is going to be awesome because you're going to get an insight into how these athletes think about their technique at this level. So I really think you're going to get a great couple of pointers, a great couple of concepts of what they're doing to be able to ski at this blistering speed, which most of us would be way too scared to do. I really enjoyed asking James, like, about how he got to this point, also about equipment setup, as well as things that these mogul skiers do other than ski moguls to prepare themselves and get ready for such a high-demanding sport. So without further ado, let's jump right into the podcast with James Matheson.

Today we're here with James Matheson, and James Matheson is an Olympic mogul skier with the Australian ski team. So really awesome to have James on. We've got some great questions, uh, for James today, and Tom and I've been waiting for this for about a week. We've been talking about it heaps. Uh, James, so good to have you on, man.

It's awesome to be here, guys. Um, pleasure to meet you, Tom and Sam. We've been, you know, we had a good chat the other week, so I'm happy to, uh, hook into some skiing stuff with you guys.

So how's your prep going? I mean, Olympics coming up, and I mean, it's cool for you compared to, you know, I remember saying when I was competing, like, we ski sometimes a lot more than other people around the world, right? I mean, so how's the prep going? You know, is toppers almost ready? And I mean, how are you? How's your body and everything?

Yeah, it's all happening now. So the Aussie winter season is just beginning, so we're basically just now um, kind of gathering ourselves, prepping ourselves, ready for this domestic season. Because normally we would have been going— we would have been away in April, May. We would have been in Whistler doing some spring mogul training, specifically, um, very technical stuff. I'm sure we could always get into that. And then also, um, in September, October, we would have been going to Zermatt as well, um, to do, uh, our kind of like final prep phase. But given we're underneath COVID COVID-19 restrictions. All we have right now is our Aussie domestic season. So basically we're gearing up and trying to make the most of this season, um, before we head overseas for the Olympics. So we'll see.

Cool.

Yeah, so like, what does that— what does that look like currently? Like, as in, so you do dryland training and then you're going to be skiing, and then— and I would say skiing like not on moguls, and then mogul skiing. Like, is that a pretty fair split of the three things? And what percentage would each of those be?

Correct. So right now we're basically on a 3-on-1-off schedule, so 3 days skiing, 1 day off. And within that, we spend about half the day skiing and then half the day doing dryland. And within the skiing aspect, given that it's very early season, um, and we're limited by Mother Nature, right now we're mainly just doing flats, so groomed runs and just getting back to the basics of, you know, standing on your ski and trying to get your ski fundamentals working so that when you do get into the moguls and we have enough snow for that, we can then build into that. So right now, um, we've basically just spent the days lapping, uh, the Ridge Chair, um, over at Perisher. Um, and so, yeah, so we'll do that, and then once we have enough snow to get, um, you know, some moguls going, then we'll basically be straight on to that. So you typically every season will spend about 1 week's worth at the start of a season doing these flats, and then we'll build into moguls and an airside, and then we'll build into a full course. So it kind of like staggers like that, if that makes sense.

Yeah. So what are some, you know, because I would imagine if most people watched you do what you call flats skiing training, they'd be like 'Oh, what, what's there to fix?' You know, the guy's like so fast, short, short, short, short, short, snappy turns, balance is good. Like, at your level, what are you like when you watched videos? So maybe, I don't know, did you ski today? What are you, what are you like, 'Oh man, I still need this better'? Like, what's, what are you fine-tuning?

So basically, as you would know, um, everyone is individual. And so what we try and do when we go to skiing flats or skiing groomers, we're out of the moguls, is we try and fix those things that we can out there so that when we go into the moguls, we kind of have a bit of a leg up. So for example, for me, one of those things is, um, my transition from turn to turn, um, holding a flexed position and not coming off it and extending and, you know, going into the next turn. So I've actually just changed ski boots to try and get a little bit more flex. So do I've gone to a softer boot to try and, you know, basically hold that, uh, flexion. And right now I'm just trialing it and it's quite interesting. So that's one thing, for example, I'm working on. Another big thing is body position. So when you're in the moguls, your body position is paramount. That's the number one building block you have, and everything comes from that, as I'm sure you know. And so when you're actually on the flats, you can work on that. You can work on how your body is standing over the skis, and you can feel how the ski properties are going underneath you. So then when you do go into the bumps it's there. And in terms of like the nitty-gritty of it, like, we'll start off by doing, um, full, um, you know, hip-width medium radius turns. And we then will also go into, um, full-on, um, mogul-style turns where our legs are together and doing more of a short swing or a shorter radius style turn. Um, so we basically do everything, to be honest. Like, it's all, um, we look kind of funny when we're skiing around basically doing that stuff without— with our mogul skis on, because you don't get a lot out of those things. But it's, uh, you can do quite quite a lot.

Hey, so why do you think it is so hard to stay flexed in the transition, even at your level? You're still even like, you know, because I think a lot of people do. Like, what is your feeling of it? Like, you know, it's like, like when you've been working on it, it's like, oh, like I can feel I came up. Like, why are you coming up, not staying flexed?

Again, it's definitely individual, um, and that's probably in terms of my skiing, that's one of my Achilles heels. Um, and some other skiers, they might be better at it. They've got more of a natural, um, flexed position through the moguls. So for me, it's what it used to be was a, um, I was inhibited through my range, so through my hip range. So my absorption, because my hips were limited, would be going from— would be coming from my upper body and leaning forward too much, my hips going backwards. Right. And so then after the, you know, once you absorb once like that, when you come up and out of that position, it means that you're basically going to be releasing out of the front of the boot, as opposed to, as I was talking about before, if your body position is correct and in a more stacked position, your absorption can come up in more of a telescope manner underneath you, right? And so then you're holding that flex the entire time instead of coming off and on the front of the boot. I don't know if I answered your question there, but that's kind of how I'm picturing it at the moment.

Yeah, like, I guess, I guess one thing, like, have you found— is there any relationship in terms of, like, like, the, the edging and timing of pressure, that sort of stuff, that, that plays— that really plays into it? That if you don't get that right, doesn't matter if you're really trying to stay flexed, you will unflex yourself?

Do you mean on the, on the groomers now?

Still on the groomers, still like if you're still working on the groomers, because that's probably what's going to pop you up, right?

Yes. Yeah, it is. So, so, so the action is exactly— the action is a retraction. So that's the feeling you need. So quite often a natural feeling for, you know, all the skiers listening and, and you guys, I mean, you're both very advanced skiers, but a natural feeling is when you've— when I'm thinking about it and you're putting your pressure through a turn and you're then changing and you're going to go to a new edge A very natural feeling is to, to feel that pressure, come off it, get the new edge, and come down again. But what you're— we're trying to do when we're doing our flats or our groomers is we're trying to, as that pressure builds up, have a retraction move. So then you never end up completely coming off the pressure. And that retraction is you're basically imitating a mogul as best you can, and that's how you're holding that pressure, if that makes sense.

Tom, uh, so interesting how like similar this sounds when we're talking about like our regular skiing, quote unquote, right?

Yeah.

Um, like James, we kind of found this season, um, you know, one of the, the things we noticed that was like a key difference between like if we say like an advanced skier and an expert skier, right, uh, was, um, that expert skiers pretty much always maintain a flex position. Like they never lose this, this flex, especially in, in the transition. And it's just funny, like, hear you, um, speak about it this way because, like, I've always kind of thought, like, when I'm skiing moguls, you know, like, in between the moguls, especially when they're deep, I'm trying to press my tips down, and then sometimes I get, like, insanely extended, and, um, it feels a bit, bit awkward. Like, I get a bit off compared to when I'm skiing normally. Um, And I mean, when you're skiing, when you take it from flats into moguls, are you still trying to like do anything you can not to sacrifice that flex? Like, like let's say the moguls are really deep, right? Or whatever your terminology is. Um, uh, are you like, will you still maintain that flex and just take a bit of airtime in order to maintain that flex rather than dipping and becoming fully extended?

For sure. So yeah, the key word there is airtime, basically, but what you're actually trying to do is bridge. So you're basically— if they're really deep, you definitely do not want to be having your ski, as you said, putting your, you know, tips all the way down and in. So what you want to be doing is you want to be getting to about an 80% extension. Each person's different, let's just say 80% extension. Then that will bridge the gap no matter how deep it is. You can— it could be really deep, it could be even a little shallower. That bridge action and holding that flexion is what's going to get you over that. And so that is going to help a lot. So when you have really deep, really big moguls, that bridge and that not, uh, extending is even more important in, in a really deep mogul, for sure.

Okay, so, so when you say, uh, a deep mogul, just so we can like let everyone know all of our listeners, right? Can you compare like what a deep mogul is for you, like, uh, compared to like what it is on, on your, your double, uh, double black diamond? Like, let's say like, like a North American double black diamond, because they, they typically have more moguls and so on, uh, than in Europe. But I mean, what's, um, yeah, I mean, can you have us— can you have a stab at explaining what deep is for you compared to what deep is for everyone else?

It's hard to say because at the end of the day, like, our mogul courses are made for us, right? So we— out there, they're made by a cat, they're measured out to, um, 4.5 to 5 meters per mogul. And so you're kind of limited in how deep they can get per sense, especially when you're skiing World Cup, because you've only got maybe 5 to 7 days worth of skiing on it, right? But then if you then now shift to a double black run in North America it's, you know, that's got— depending on when the last snowfall was, you're going to have a lot of skiing through that, right? And you're— it's also completely idiosyncratic, so it changes a lot, um, because you just have so many different people skiing through it. So that was a long-winded answer of saying, like, we probably don't get as deep moguls as on, you know, like, on a double black run because of how controlled it is, and also the level of skier that we have in our courses is quite high, and so they would be skiing it in a certain way so it doesn't end up getting that deep and cut out. But I don't know, let's say like one of the biggest moguls I've, uh, courses we skied was in Deer Valley, Utah, and it was after about 3 feet worth of snow, and you were standing on, uh, one mogul and the other mogul was over your head, um, above you. Wow, pretty deep.

But that was actually more like— it's not like the drop then, isn't it?

That was a drop.

Yeah, it's a drop. Yeah, that—

but that was— that is extreme, you know. So you might even get, you know, in other cases you— this is why it's quite fun, moguls. Like, you know, in another course you'll get it and it's at, you know, hip height. Like, it's, it's totally different. And then as we're saying before, when you're talking— exactly, your timing changes, how much you're going to be absorbing and extending, it's completely different, all dependent on the course and the snow conditions.

Oh, I actually— correct me if I'm wrong, James, but just for our listeners, like Deer Valley, it's the only Uh, it's the steepest in the world, right? Or steepest on the World Cup for you guys? Most consistent, I think, on average, Chris, because you guys like the, the, the FIS rule, as far as I know, is 23 degrees max for, uh, for a moguls course on FIS World Cup.

No, no, no, no, no, that's way steeper than that. Yeah, yes, yeah, 23 is pretty flat.

Yeah, it's like, so 20, 23 is, is the steepness of like bump run in Treadbo, if you, if you know that, like the lower, lower section of the World Cup above the mid station. Um, just not everyone who's listening is going to know that, but like that's, that's 23.

Uh, you remember, do you remember, so do you remember— sorry to interrupt— you remember the, you remember the ridge? You know, did you ever do, you know, the ridge? You know what, you know what Topper's Dream is?

You know, yeah, what's that top bit?

That was what I was going to— I think it was like 40. I think it's like—

yeah, that's steep.

It's like 40 degrees.

Yeah, you know, I'm, I'm, I just— I'm gonna say it's not actually.

What do you reckon it is, 30 then? I can't even— it's definitely not 23.

It's definitely not 23.

I don't know, guys. I think like, I mean, I've skied, um, hang on, I'll just give you a second.

And it's pretty, it's pretty top of jam. 40 is—

yeah, yeah, we gotta find this out.

The guy whose name the run is named after.

Yeah, we have multiple Toppers here because we have his, we have his, uh, cousin, his, uh, nephew in our team right now. So we got multiple Toppers.

Okay, such a dynasty in that family.

It is.

I, like, you know, I had this realization when I finished racing that, like, I was never skiing anything as steep as I thought, um, uh, and, and switching, like, in into freeride and, like, people were like, okay, so this what we're skiing now is like 45 degrees. And I was like, what? Like, this is insanely steep, um, and we're like skiing off-piste. And then I was just shocked that I, I had never been skiing anything as steep as I thought when I was racing. Um, so I'd love to find out, um, uh, how steep it is. But I mean, the top of the top of Toppers is like so intimidating.

And I mean, I can't imagine skiing an entire mogul slope at the same Uh, I will say, I will say, wild what you did, Sam, which was pretty impressive, was you followed Camby to the side, um, and you filmed me actually going down Topper's Dream. And so that, that's not a— that's not an easy feat. That's definitely not an easy thing doing that.

So that, that, that might have been like some of my most personally impressive skiing. I remember that was wild. It was so choppy on the side, and, and it was fun to, to actually dip in and like try what you guys do. I had so much more respect for what you guys do after that because it's like, it is wild up there standing at the top of Toppers. That's epic stuff.

Yeah, I will say that is one of the most intimidating, intimidating courses in the world, especially— I mean, when you're going up in the, in the, on the chairlift, you can see it, you're like, yeah, it's kind of scary. But when you stand in the top section as you did, it's, it's a totally different thing. Like, you're standing there and you can really see the length of the course and the change in the pitch. It's very steep up that top section, um, whereas, you know, and then it kind of bellies out. But yeah, it's, um, it's one of the hardest courses in the world, so we're pretty lucky to have that here.

That's unreal. Yeah, has there ever been a good push to get a World Cup happening there or something like that? It would be—

yeah, we're trying. It's, it's just expensive. It's expensive. Um, we don't have like the public recognition for it. Um, I mean, you know what it's like. Like, you guys used to have really big, um, alpine races here, right? And then it just kind of withered out, right, like over time. But we're trying. Um, we've got a pretty strong Australian team right now, so it's a good kind of time to do it. Um, it's also kind of weird because it's off-season, right? Like, um, so it's not— it's people— this, this, this time isn't when people are thinking of trying to do, do like World Cup level events. Like, so we used to have the FIS Um, continent— yeah, Super Continental Cups here. So we would have basically the top 10 in the world all here. So it's basically a World Cup, but it just wasn't called a World Cup. Um, so yeah, we've had, we've had some— usually a lot of people are out here, but obviously this year it's not happening.

Yeah, I hope it does happen in the future.

Can I bring it back to the, to the bridging thing? Like, I think that's a really, um— well, one, I think it's a really cool description because of how it's saying exactly what you're trying to do. But say you go back to the top of Toppers again, where there is literally these big drops, like as tall or if not taller than yourself, to the next, like, compression spot. Like, how do you— like, actually, first question: was there a moment, can you remember in your career, maybe it was like, I don't know how many years ago, when you finally got that bridging idea, like, right? And then two, like, so then you're at Toppers this season, it's a long drop, how do you make the bridge happen? Like, in your, in your own words, like, this is very individual. I'm interested in your own.

Yeah, so I'll say, so to your first point, um, it's a huge step. It's, it's literally a good way of thinking about it and a way I can describe it is it's like the feeling of being in a boat and when the boat aquaplanes. So if you're at a boat and the boat's going, you know, really slow and it's kind of like pushing through the water and it's kind of like, you know how it sits, sits up like that on an angle and it's kind of just like heavy and dragging, you know, drag. Exactly. So when, if, when you can get that bridging action, it feels like you're aquaplaning basically in a boat. And that level of efficiency that you get from that is incredible because if you're con— especially in these big moguls, if you're constantly fighting and just hitting the belly of these things, it's really physically taxing on you, right? It's not efficient at all. And if you can be bridging it and getting that action, like natural absorption action underneath you, you can go through so much faster. And you know, that's 20% of the score at the end of the day. So yeah, I, I think—

and is it less— is it actually easier on your body?

So much easier.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah, so it's like, it's very hard mentally because first you have to go faster. And I guess if you're going at a certain speed and you're pounding moguls, you're thinking, if I go faster, I'm going to pound harder. But like you said, there's like a boat, like there's a point where it picks up and there's an efficiency.

Yeah.

Okay.

And is it also like just because of the bridging where you impact the mogul is a very different kind of—

Exactly that. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So you're In terms of the way you're hitting in the mogul is different. So technically, if you're thinking about and picturing a mogul, you're hitting higher on the mogul and you're hitting further down on the mogul. Yeah, instead of lower and shorter. That's like basically what you're trying to do. Um, but obviously, you know, you got to slow down, right? You got to slow down. So then there comes that, because once you're like, oh, I can act, you know, I can, you know, bridge this angle faster, like exactly, then now you're like, uh I gotta slow down. So it brings in a whole nother element. Um, what was this your second question?

Well, actually, I'm good. So maybe this might help because I was doing a little bit of looking. I just Googled, uh, YouTube James Matheson moguls, and there was one, there was some footage of you at Toppers maybe 8 years ago or something, and it, and it looks like at that point maybe you hadn't got it, like you boom boom boom boom got spat out. You know, like that, like it looks like you're taking some pretty big hits, but then you go even to like that A-Bomb Challenge 2018 where you beat Matt Graham and, and you— and it's not happening there. So I'm just like, when did it happen? Like, how did it— did a coach help you? Did it just finally click? Like, was there dry— like, what was it that got you? Because that's a pretty— that sounds like a very significant, like, elite jump, you know, like that's proper elite level.

Yeah, it's a big jump, and, and it's different for everyone, Tom. Like, it's hard to say when it happened for me. It just, you know, like, you'll get it, it's— and then, and then you might not get it. It's just sort of happened over the last 5 or 6 years, I'd say, that I've really sort of started to grasp it. Um, but it, it's— it comes with— one of the biggest things is the body position, really. Like is understanding like how you have to stand over your ski and then trusting the speed that you're gonna be getting at, that it's actually in a more efficient point and in a more controllable point. Like you have more options up there when you're skiing like that. And as opposed to down, so I can't pinpoint an exact time, um, when it, when it sort of clicked, but it's, it's the feeling of it is, is, is pretty bloody good when you do get it. So it's, it's, yeah, it, it, it does feel good.

Even in like, like if you go and say, we go back to the Sam's double black diamond example, like if you go and ski that sort of stuff on, on a pair of freeskis, do you still look for the bridging? Like, is that how you'd like to— do you hammer that?

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What you'll find is it depends because you can go back and you can look at like you know, mogul skiing back in the day when they first ever started doing it, hot dogging. And that was just what we're talking about— double black diamonds, you know, um, uh, natural moguls. And they, they, they do it like they, they— and what you're doing, like, you have to pick your line. Like, I'm not just going to say, oh yeah, every double black with moguls on it, you're going to do it. It, it really depends on the run. But that action is applicable everywhere. Because you don't want to be going into the trough of these things ever. Unless you're not confident enough, you're not a good enough skier, then you will need to be, you know, carving and following those troughs, and that's where you're actually— that's where your ski line is. But if you are a good enough skier, you're always going to be— you're always going to want to be bridging that. You never want to be down there. That's where trouble is. You don't want to be down there.

Pretty interesting, Tom Gellie, like compared to super interesting, uh, this— like our ski instructor background training, like doing exams, doing training. Like, the narrative is like, dolphin, like, shove your, shove your tips down into the trough. And like, that's been speaking that way for, for, um, a long time. It's just interesting to, to hear, like, from your perspective, James, like, what the aim is and like what people are doing at that, at that high level.

Um, I will say, sorry, one thing is it also is, um, snow dependent, right? If it's, if it's bulletproof ice, you want maximum ski and scoot— ski to snow contact. So if it is bulletproof ice, like horrendous ice, like what you ski on, Sam, or used to ski on, in that case you don't want to be bridging. In that case you want to be you with your ski on the snow at all times to be slowing down. And exactly, like, you know, keeping your skis underneath you. Because if you try and bridge and it's, you know, -30 in Quebec, like, that's— let's say goodbye, it's all over.

Yeah, you're just like so fast.

Oh, you're gone, you can't stop, you— it's impossible. Yeah, like, it's— you'll see it. It's— it's— you'll see if you ever see a course and you'll— and they don't look as good even though it's the same people, it's usually because it's so icy they have to be skiing slower and more controlled because you're getting less friction, exactly as you said. It's, it's so quick off the bump. So then in that case, yeah.

Okay, so, so what's, what's the additional, uh, speed control onto that? So, um, let's say like scenario moguls are still pretty big, like bigger than average, but it's, uh, but it's super icy. Um, what's your tactic? Like how would you change your skiing, um, to get the best result?

So in that case, you're going to be wanting to have more of it. So you're going to have a little bit more ski angle. So um, more of a steered turn, right? So you're going to have less of a pure, um, tip-in style of skiing, and it's going to be a bit more of a steer. And within that, you want maximum ski to snow contact. Um, and to do that, you really— we're talking about the flexion before, it's— that becomes even more important. You are like really trying to like grip and just like suck that snow. Exactly. As you're going, you're trying to like vacuum it. Because you need it to stop you. So in terms of slowdown moves, like, your edges can slow you down, but then also how you hit the mogul can also slow you down. So let's say in that scenario, you know, when it's quite, um, icy, the way you're going to slow down if you're coming into the jumps is through that steering. Then it's also through— you can hit the moguls a little bit firmer. So when you're like in the middle, you can go through it a little bit softer with your absorption, but then when you're coming into the jump and you're like, okay, I need to slow down, you can, you can have a little bit more of like a you're a bit more stiff when you hit it. Right, as well. Exactly, not too much, but it's kind of like a give and take.

Yeah, because you're literally— the bump is facing back at you, so if you kind of resist it, it's almost like you are slowing down, and then you allow absorption. So you want that in the longer—

exactly, and you want that in the small joints. So you want that in the ankle and the knee as much as you can. You don't want it— if you can avoid it, you really don't want it in the hip. You don't want your hip breaking, uh, because that's when you lose position and that's when you lose your flexion.

And to be clear with that, you're saying like when someone uses a lot of the hip, you'll see that torso like come forward? Yes. Yeah. When the ankle and knee, you'll see that, that whole lower part come up and that's when the torso stays? Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'm just saying that just because like the hip is still obviously working, but there's a, there's a, there's a difference. Like it's the legs coming up at the hip joint and you see the knees move instead of the torso slamming forward.

Exactly, yeah, that's how I think about it. Um, but I'm— yeah, that's a good distinction as well, especially for listeners.

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So, so could you— if we just like dissect that a little more for listeners, um, would you say, James, like you're trying to give your knees room to move up, right? So you, so you want to stay pretty open in your, in your hip joint like most of the time so you have like, like all this room? Like, because I mean sometimes you guys almost— it looks like you're kneeing yourself in the chest sometimes, right? So is that, is that a focus, like an active focus to try and stay, you know, pretty upright in the upper body and allow all that room.

Exactly, 100%. Yeah, it is. Because if you're— if you think about it, if your chest is forward and broken at the hip joint, you're blocking how much, um, movement you have, range that you have to absorb. And so what you— a way of doing it, which is kind of weird, and a good way to imagine it is if you're standing upright, you have a little bit of a hip tuck, um, right in your like lower core and lower abs area. And that you sort of hip tuck your pelvis underneath, and then, and that, and you kind of set that, and that's your upright position for your upper body. Then you want everything else to be swinging up and it's sort of opening it. So it, it almost, you could almost say your, your back in terms of your upper body, but then remember that your lower body and especially your ankles and knees is this flexion. So upper body lower body separation is huge in moguls. I'm sure you guys know.

That's very interesting.

Go ahead, Sam.

Oh yeah, I was just gonna say that's very interesting because, you know, we— I teach— Tom and I, we teach a lot of, uh, our clients to, you know, be like more forward, especially in the upper body. And, and like that forwardness comes from the hip and femur joint, right? So that forward— and when you say Uh, like that, um, tucking the hip under, like, I see that as like getting the same effect and still allowing you to keep your body more upright. You see that? Do you see that, uh, Tom? I think that's like a really interesting and, and very important distinction because obviously in moguls you still need to maintain like a lot of access to your joints, your lower leg joints. And you know, that hip tuck is going to allow you to get that same effect as just you know, normal skiing, upper body forward, being more tilted at the pelvis, uh, hip joint. Um, you know, I just think it's, it's super interesting, super interesting that you just say that like outright, like that focus on having, uh, the pelvis tucked under. Yeah, not everyone does that thing.

Not everyone does that. That's just, that's— everyone tries to have as, um, still an upper body as possible. Exactly neutral. And it's— but not everyone's going to think that specific— that's what I think of, and that's what some of the other Australians think of, but I don't know if anyone else thinks like that in, in the rest of the world. It's— but I— you can guarantee that in some form or another they're going to try and have a still upper body and a very fluid and moving lower body. But I will also say, in— when we're skiing groomers or flats, our chest is more forward and you're broken more at the hip because that's— you have to be. You can't ski it properly otherwise. Um, yeah, but because in Exactly. But because in the moguls you have, you have that, the contour changing, you, you can then do that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, you bet.

You don't want to ski around normally.

No, no, no.

Like, I mean, the big difference, you know, on the flats to, to the moguls, like, you need your legs away from you that way. And so you, that's, that's where that torso lean has to come in. But you really have your legs go barely, especially the better you get. They're just so under you. And, um, so yeah, that flex forward just takes away from being stacked with the feet. Hey, I was wondering, did you— in your career, have you worked with Stephen Fearing?

Uh, ah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, yeah, I haven't worked with him, um, but I've, I've seen him, um, I, I know him and I know people who've worked with him. Yeah, he's definitely a legend in the sport for sure. Um, have you done—

A little bit, yeah. Like, I, um, I approached him and I said— I asked him kind of questions I'm asking you out of interest, you know. You want to know stuff, you go to the, you know, the highest level.

He's—

yeah, he's incredible.

Yeah, yeah.

Like, I've seen some videos on YouTube that he has, and, and so I approached him because I just knew I really liked the way he explains and thinks about things. Like, I think he's a very well-articulated coach. Um, so yeah, is that— I mean, do you want to speak to any of your, like, maybe your current coach, or like a coach that even, even as a junior or something, that really you were like, wow, like, the way they did things was really, like, worked? You got really great results, right? Like, yeah, do you want to speak about coaching?

Yeah, it's huge, coaching. Um, I've have a very, like, active relationship with coaches. So what I mean by that is, like, I A lot of the stuff I do is, is back and forth with the coaches, whereas some people might go off on their own and kind of think of, think of stuff on their own and then come back and work on it. Whereas I'm like, from the beginning, it's back and forth with the coach. So for example, right now I'm with Steve Desovich. He's been with Australia for 20 years now, and he's coached multiple gold medalists, both in men and women. So he's definitely a very, very good coach, very good technical coach. And so he's helped me in the last couple years, um, basically at this higher level now, really sort of think about how to like, uh, compete at this high level. Um, but I'd say it's different, you know, like throughout your career you need different coaches for different things. Like you need that really technical coach who can explain things to you, but then at the same time, in an elite sport, you need a coach who is empathetic in a way. So like, you need someone who's got good, good human skills and who can know, um, how you're feeling on a comp day, for example. Um, you know, if you're in your head and you're, you know, feeling good, you want someone who's like, um, can, can understand that. And they might not even be coaching you technically anymore. They might be just being like trying to like pump you up energy-wise, or, you know, tell you to settle down energy-wise. So it's, it's different. And the role of a coach is, is big. And We're quite lucky here in Australia, to be honest. We've had a lot of very good, um, very good coaches, and especially right now our coaches are incredible. Um, they've— it's a, it's a very— yeah, it's very impressive.

So like, for like, because I think at this point, like, the psychology part, the psychological part, like, is that's, that's really where you're headed now with coming into like an Olympic Games And like, how are you handling that? What, what tools, or how's— yeah, how's that being— that side of things being dealt with? Because I'm saying this because like Sam and I, uh, like just finished coaching, I guess, some instructors through some exams. So, you know, different thing, but there's still that pressure of where things fall apart. You could be doing fine and then you just blow a fuse in your brain? Like, how are you, how are you managing that?

Those things happen, you, you know, people, you— doesn't matter what level you are, you're gonna blow, you're gonna blow a gasket, and you're gonna, you're gonna screw up every now and then. It's accepting those. But, um, I work with a sports psychologist, um, and she's been very helpful, um, this past year with me. And throughout the year, you work on different things. So, um, more specifically this year leading into the Olympic season Um, right now it's basically about trying to maximize everything that, um, we're doing. But a big thing is in this time of the cycle, so considering we're so close to the Olympic Games, it's more of a consolidation of skills and it's more of a simplifying of, um, your environment to basically be like, okay, we need to take everything that we have and now we need to basically package it together into the most high-level but consistent run package as you can that is repeatable and will get you up where you need to be in the event. So as opposed to what I mean is, you know, in a year one, if you've just done the Olympics and now you're starting a new Olympic cycle, you might be trying to experiment, you might be trying new things and to change a lot, whereas now it's more of a consolidation, more of a, you know, little one percenters here and there, um, I would say is the difference.

James, that's an interesting thing that just came to me then, is when you talk about like, like Olympic cycle and how you may give yourself more leniency on year 1. Um, and is that a thing? Is that like a pretty consistent cultural thing in moguls? Is like the Olympics like the, the top, top, uh, thing for you guys? Because— and I asked that because in alpine skiing you'll get different answers from different people.

Right?

Like, the Alpine World Cup is very, um, well, it's huge. I mean, like, a lot of guys may say, like, a Hannenkamm or Kitzbühel win is, like, to them the epitome or, like, the highest level in the sport. Um, so yeah, I want to, I want to, like, get into that a bit more. Like, you know, is the Olympics, like, the absolute number one that's, like, and everybody, it's, like, consistent that everybody's going for that? And if so, like if your year one is like lenient, I mean, how do you deal with, um, say, you know, not performing in year one? Because obviously you want to, you know, you want to do the best you can on World Cup as well. Like, how do you maintain that long-term mindset? That's, uh, yeah, really interesting.

For us, definitely the Olympics is number one without a doubt. Like, our entire system is built towards, um, doing as best that we can at the Olympic Games. And also just culturally, it's, it's, it's, it's the biggest event there is. Like, we obviously, we have World Cups and we have World Champs, but the Olympics is number one. I'd be interested to see any of those Alpine guys you were talking about, um, like, you know, if they've— if one of them has won an Olympics and say Kitzbühel, like, what they think was better. Or if you had one guy who only had Olympics and one guy who only had Kitzbühel like, I mean, the Olympics only comes around every 4 years. Like, is Kitzbühel every year? Like, surely every 4 years, and, you know, Olympics is a world-renowned thing. Not everyone knows what Kitzbühel is. I would have thought that the Olympics would be the number one there.

Uh, yeah, it's a, it's a good point. I suppose, like, we'll keep it more to moguls, but just as a side note, I mean, Kitzbühel is, um, I mean, it's more like a Super Bowl status in ski racing. And, and, um, if we look at, like, you know, the popularity of, of ski racing, um, just in the Alps. It's like, it's more like, you know, football or something, and just in terms of how popular it is. Um, and it's pretty, it's pretty common at Kitzbühel to have like a, a live crowd of up to 100,000 people just to that race. Um, and I don't know, like, I don't know if that happens in Korea, if that happened like the Korea Olympics and so on. Um, and, and sometimes, you know, the Olympic tracks like Sochi, insane track, absolutely savage. But sometimes, uh, you know, you'll hear Alpine guys, like, nutty Alpine guys just say no, like, like, the Korean track just wasn't hard enough, stuff like that. Um, so that's what I think, that's what I think it is.

It may be an Alpine is like within probably athletes it might be held something like the Hahnenkopf, you know, bigger, because everyone in that field knows how crazy it is. But to the rest of the world, you say I have an Olympic gold medal, that's going to sound more impressive than I won this race that is the gnarliest one. Like, yeah, so yeah, anyway, we're off track of moguls here.

Yeah, as, as a wrap-up there, I, I think like just think about it, like the European guys, I'm talking like Alps nations, France, Italy Uh, Switzerland, Austria, it's pretty common for them to really jack up, like, you know, Wengen, Kitzbühel, and the big races. I mean, as an Australian, I always was thinking like, yeah, like World Champs, Olympics, that's, that's the epic stuff. And then Kitzbühel is like, you know, that's epic within the sport, right? Um, but yeah, like, let's, let's bring it back to moguls. I have a, a follow-up question to the mental game. Um, and I just want to chat about the physical game and off snow because, I mean, I saw, uh, last October, you know, you hit up a PB on your powerlift and I assume like your power to weight ratio, power to weight ratio, having done over 100 kilos on your powerlift is, you know, insanely good. Um, but I want to hear if you, uh, in moguls have any very specific mogul dryland training. Um, I can imagine if you do, like, you guys must do some, some pretty crazy stuff. So like, you know, powerlifting, yeah, powerlifting, you know, we do that a lot in alpine skiing. And I was— I thought that was cool that like we have similarities there. But is there anything like very specific you guys are doing towards moguls?

Yeah, there's one thing very, very specific that we do do. Um, I mean, I will say also we don't lift nearly as much as you guys do. Uh, so yeah, you guys are definitely, uh, more animals than us in the gym. But, um, one specific thing that we do that I would actually love to get some alpine skiers on, it'd be fun. Um, what it is, is it's called brassards, and it's named after Jean-Luc Brassard. He's one of the sort of icons of mogul skiing. And you would have maybe seen, Tom, you're nodding there, some YouTube videos of him skiing. He's just amazing. And so what he sort of started and what we now do, it's basically if you're on a trampoline And you just, you get into your mogul stance and you do the mogul action. So you just like, bap, bap, bap, bap, bap, bring your legs up as fast as you can absorb. And that is a specific mogul thing that you do. And it, it, it burns. It's, it's equivalent to doing a 30-second as hard as you can on a, you know, indoor bike.

Yeah.

The same kind of thing. Like, you know, it's, you get full acid in the legs. It is a very, very hard exercise. So that's one very specific, and it's, it's, and it's kind of the action that you're doing. You know, it's, it's, it's— you're trying to hold your, um, upper body still and you're trying to have your lower, um, uh, joints moving up and down as fast as you can. So that— yeah, that's one that we do.

For how long?

Uh, so we do— it depends. So if you're just going for speed, we'll do anywhere between 5 and 10. Um, but if you're doing it for more of like to get like acid in your legs, you're doing 30 seconds. Wow. Um, and that's— yeah, 30 seconds. Do it, send me videos.

Hey, what about—

have you ever done like the Johnny Moseley dry land down a dirt hill style?

That stuff is sick.

That's why we've just done that. We've done that for fun, but we've never actually done like a legit thing. I feel like it's too risky. You can hurt yourself doing that or something. But yeah, we haven't done that.

And then, so do you have a— do you have a— do you have a favorite Like, is there someone on the World Cup in moguls, or even maybe it's all-time, speaking of Prasad, that you look at and you go, I just love how they ski moguls?

Oh, for sure. I mean, so right now it's, it's— so right now it's interesting, you've got the GOAT of mogul skiing is in Mikael Kingsbury. He's like the Michael Jordan basically of mogul skiing. He is incredibly good. So in terms of a performance level, he is the number one. But I would say in terms of just like, you know, beautiful to watch, and I respect their, uh, skill, um, and style, is a guy from Japan called Okuma Hiroshima. He's— yeah, that's my favorite. Unbelievable. Yeah, I like— I really like that you like him. His, his skiing is, is just beautiful. It's sort of back to the old, older styles of mogul skiing, the people that you would have seen like, you know, the Jean-Luc Brassard and the stuff that kind of Faring was teaching people. Um, it's— yeah, it's very, very good. He's actually coached by a Finn under His name's Janne Lässällä, or Janne Läthällä.

Oh, really?

Yeah, yeah.

So he's coached by— Yeah, yeah, yeah. Ex-gold medalist, right?

Exactly.

His coach is him.

Oh, no way.

Yeah. So you were talking about YouTube videos before. I don't know if you've seen the one that Janne has on, um, mogul skiing. Have you seen that one? Yeah. Okay, so that is— Yeah, that's, that's— If, if anyone wants to know mogul skiing and what it's about and like you know, really understand it, put that link out there for them to watch because that is still to this day, it's, it's unbelievable. And he's one of the best of the best. It doesn't get any better than him skiing. So if you want to watch someone turn a mogul ski, Yano's your guy.

Yeah, cool. And so you see that shining through in, in Akuma?

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, but he has a bit of, he has a bit of, he has a bit of Japanese spirit in him, which, which I love. Like, he has that, you know, Hell for leather, just sends it.

Kamikaze.

Yeah, oh yeah, he does. And he's kind of reining it in as he's getting better, but he still has it in him, which is awesome.

And that's so the best, like, oh, like, I was just thinking like the legend Japanese slalom skiers from last decade, it's the same, like they're so like so loose and savage. Um, oh, actually, James, speaking of that, uh, also Swedish slalom skiers, like, from last decade were just so incredible and loose to watch. They were kind of like, you know, everyone— sorry, everyone touted these guys as like the next Bode Millers in terms of like how loose they were and how fast they were. The other Swedes on the mogul tour, are they also pretty loose? Like, um, they are, they are, they are, they're—

I mean, they're our kind of our best friends. So, um, we, yeah, we love that. We love the Swedes. They're, they're awesome. So they're I wouldn't, I wouldn't put them in the same category as maybe some of the other people in terms of looseness, but they, they send it. And for sure they've got a strong pedigree and they've got a good men's team, especially right now. Um, they'll be, you know, they'll be buying well at the Olympics. But, um, yeah, they're, they're just an awesome team, awesome group of people.

That's so good. I have, I have a one more question, uh, on mental game, because I know, you know, we spoke about how you've been working with a sports psych. Um, And I'm wondering about your visualization game, um, uh, technically, and also like visualizing, you know, uh, say like what you want to achieve, but like technically, because a question being, um, the background is like, you know, Tom and I, we run one of our programs is this body prep program. It's 10 weeks, and like it's, it's basically doing movements off snow to prepare people for on snow. And when I was a kid, I remember my dad just doing like random ski movements indoors, right? And it's funny, like he never told anyone else or taught anyone else like what he was doing, but he was always visualizing his skiing indoors and just like down to the minute details. And now what's great is like Tom and I, you know, we're doing almost like something similar, but I never thought about it back then as like, I was always like, yeah, dad's just being weird. You know, but, but how are you like— I mean, if you're, if you're visualizing, um, how, like, how do you do it? Because I know in Alpine you get all different types of people. Some people are so, uh, physical with their visualization. Um, you know, how do you do it? I mean, if you even, uh, are doing that much of it.

No, it's definitely, uh, individual, as you say. Um, I've gone through different, uh, I've oscillated through different variations of it, but At the moment, I kind of do a combination of two things. So firstly, I just do straight up meditation, and that helps me with my breath control and then controlling my heartbeat. So then when I do get to, you know, situations where I feel like I'm, you know, I'm too nervous or distracted, I can, you know, just come back to that practice. So that's for— that's, I think, is the best building block, because then that actually teaches you how to be able to you know, pay attention and understand like your mind. So then secondly is the visualization of skiing. And so within that, I— in terms of our competitions, I will, after the training days, I will have, you know, pretty much memorized the run. Maybe not turn by turn, but I will have memorized the main sections of it, the hardest parts, and also the jumps. And then I'll just run through that in my mind. Typically I won't do any physical arm movements or anything. It's all just mental, um, and I just sort of will run through it, um, a couple of times. So that's— yeah, that's what I do at the moment.

Cool.

So, man, yeah, nice. Great. So, side note, I did look up how steep they can go. Um, any guesses?

35.

35 degrees is what Topaz is.

We—

okay, we, uh, the top section. Yeah, we were both wrong though. Well, maybe Okay, so I looked up the FIS rule, um, and it's 28 degrees with a leniency of 4, which I thought was pretty, pretty interesting.

Is that average for the whole run? Average, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

I mean, what are you gonna—

could have steeper and then flatter and it's still—

yeah, yeah. I mean, what are you gonna do, like, you get the protractor out? I don't know, like, toppers, it's just steep.

It's terrifying.

No, it is.

I, um, so toppers Toppers goes between— I've, I've got a message. It goes between 32 and 35 degrees, um, on Toppers Dream and at the top section. And then, and then in— and then on average it's going to be, you know, anywhere between— of a flat year is 26, a steeper year is 28. But you know, how often do— how often, how often do people actually stick to the FIS rules at the end of the day? Like, yeah, our jumps are meant to be 60 centimeters and they're definitely not that.

So, oh yeah, hey, um, you know conditions and stuff, like it's impossible to make rules about it really. Um, yeah, so go ahead, Tom.

Hey, I just— we're gonna have to wrap it up soon, um, with the incoming group because Sam, I just realized they're also on this same, uh, Zoom room.

Yeah, just join in.

Yeah, but can I ask, you started at the beginning, you talked about new boots. Yep. And like equipment setup. Like if I put you in a pair of race boots or even some other like boots, do you think like flat out you would, you'd be struggling to do what you normally do? How important are your boots?

Very. It depends on the— again, so we were talking about flexion a lot, right? It depends. So if you, if you put me in a boot that was really stiff and it was— and if it— and if it— and it didn't have a lot of flexion already built into it, yeah, I would, I would struggle because that ankle flexion is very important. Um, but if you put me in a really stiff race boot but it already had a bit of, you know, cant to it or, you know, flexion built in, maybe— exactly, maybe it would be okay, but it would be uncomfortable and I wouldn't like it. So, um, yeah, it's, it's— but I, you know, it's, it's individuals because, you know, some people are on, you know, Akuma, for example, he's in a race boot Um, he's in a race boot, um, but it's interesting. He's— I can't even remember what he's in. It's, it's maybe a— I can't remember what he's in. He's done some good stuff to it. It's basically very jacked forward and he cannot straighten his legs. I was talking to him in the lift line once and I was like, oh, you know, can you actually stand? Because he's so jacked in his boots. I was like, can you actually stand up? He, he can't straighten his legs in his boot because it's that—

so like that 80% you talked about, you never— exactly, it's just limited, like He probably struggles to get to just that 80, and so he'll feel that and go and never go.

But yeah, if you picture it from the side, if you picture it from the side and it's almost just like a, you know, a conveyor belt, it's ba— it's literally just like the, the, like, if the conveyor belt's coming this way, it's just like it's just rolling underneath, like his, his— sorry, his hips are rolling. It's wrong way around, but yeah, his hips are rolling underneath that way and it's just— and his upper body stays still. The Japanese especially, this they, um, they've got very good, um, uh, proportions for it. So like their absorption is very, very good and their mobility is amazing. Um, so they can, you know, ski— they can be skiing bolt upright in their chest and then, you know, in full absorption on the flats. Yeah, never mind in the moguls. Like, it's, it's crazy. So yeah, it's— yeah, equipment's important for sure, but not as important as you guys, you know, do, Sam.

And, um James, just, just speaking of equipment, like, um, just, uh, some specifics. I remember you were in a Dalbello Krypton for a while, um, and, and you said you had a recent change to get in something softer. So what are you in now?

So now I'm, I'm now in a Full Tilt. So I've gone back to the old days of mogul skiing. Um, I'm in a Full Tilt Classic Pro. Um, so they're, uh, yes, I'm trying them out. They're, they're very soft and I'm a little wigged out at the moment, but I think I gotta give them give them a good week, see how they go.

Yeah, like, because you haven't skied the moguls with them yet, have you?

We did actually today. We did actually today. Yeah, we did actually. And it was, um, no, I don't think so.

That's mine.

I mean, the coach might have done it, but yeah, it's interesting. It will be interesting. Is that what you're saying?

What you feel. Yeah, what you feel and what you see. Like, like, it'll be interesting. So you'll have to let us know, like, whether you're like, oh, that feeling of softness actually is kind of what— yeah, whether it's like what you need or it'll be— yeah, it'll just be interesting, isn't it? Because often that's like the way you think about it is actually the problem, not the feeling.

Exactly.

Yeah, exactly.

Yeah, it is, it is. But it's, it's, it can be too much, you know. It can be too soft. You can— if you're, if you're coming into a mogul and you hit the mogul and you press through it, the next moment you're going to come off it because you didn't— you don't like that feeling. So then you're going to be back. So it's Yeah, yeah, you need to find the right one.

Yeah, right. Yeah, well, this would be—

thank you heaps.

Yeah, I was just gonna say, Tom, this is gonna be so fun because, you know, like right now Tom is about to take on, uh, one of our Academy program classes, and like you're gonna be able to go straight into a debrief on this stuff, like with like, like, uh, like a kind of private debrief with like some of our clients. Like, that's super awesome. I suppose we can finish with like a tiny shameless plug for a couple listeners, Tom. If, you know, if you guys love what you're listening to and also, you know, you like the way, you know, Tom and I think about skiing, and, you know, feel free to apply for our Academy program. And, you know, you can get a free private lesson where you can just have a chat with us and we can look directly at your skiing and see if it's right for you. And so that's— you can find that at bigpictureskiing.com. Skischoolskiing.com. Um, thanks for living through that shameless plug, James.

And I'm going to add one thing there. I actually spoke to one guy, one guy who's just starting this week, and he had his private lesson with you, Sam, and he skied, and he said, already what Sam told me about my skiing— because you bring your video to the, to the session— he said it was worth the, worth the price of admission. So I haven't told you that yet, that yet, Sam. So yeah, it's just, I think it's really cool. It's cool. And jumping on what James is saying, I think having a coach, if that's the kind of person, you know, you are, like, yeah, just this back and forth, back and forth, it's— that's what gets you progress, I think, you know.

Yeah, people, if anyone's listening out there, want to get a coach, 100%, you need one. Like, there's no point in banging your head against the wall. Like, it's— yeah, you'll never regret it.

James, actually, just, just to finally wrap that up, um, so you and I come from an interesting space in, in ski athletics because, um, you know, Tom and I, we do a lot of video analysis with our clients, right? And I'm sure you do as well. And I did— that's like all we did when I was ski racing. And it's so funny that, Tom, until this past year with corona, like, when I was teaching clients rarely ever did it, right? And I just realized now, like, how effective it is. Like, it's just like, you have to confront your own skiing, right? You, you feel one way on the slopes, and then you look at yourself and it's completely different. Like, it's just, it's so helpful, like, what you can get done, uh, to just kind of confronting, you know, exactly what you do. Yeah, it's so key. Um, I think we, we gotta jump off, but James, God, I could go forever, mate. It's been a pleasure chatting to you, man. Much appreciated for this.

Yeah, I hope we can go skiing one day.

Yeah, yeah. Wish you all the best.

You're not— Tom, you're not down here, are you?

I, I'm stuck in Sydney, but I was supposed to be there this week. But anyway, we'll, we won't go there.

Yeah, but I'm still hoping to get you guys. Yeah, we'll have to get you guys to meet in person. And, and anyone who's listening, if you, if you like what James has said And, you know, I mean, obviously you can tell he's a great bloke, but if you want to help James, you know, this is the Olympic year, it's a massive year for James. If you are really interested in what he's done and you want to help him anyway, you know, we're going to leave— I suppose, like, James, you probably have something we can leave in, in the bio so people can reach out to you if they're interested in helping you out, right?

Yeah, absolutely. It'll— I can, you know, Instagram, and then maybe my email as well. I appreciate that.

Fantastic, man. Okay, well, thanks a lot, James. You're a legend, mate, and we'll be chatting soon, man.

Go Aussie, go!

Thanks a lot, lads. I appreciate it. How good, Skanks?

Yeah, see you, mate.

Ciao.

So thanks so much, James, for a great interview. I got so much out of this. I just can't wait to get out and and try some bridging and just really hone my athletic stance. I mean, you hear him talk about how that's where he starts and what he's still working on, changing his boot setup around to try and get even a better athletic stance to be able to bridge moguls and do all these things that he's talking about. So it's really inspired me. It's also given me some new thoughts on how I would I want to approach my mogul skiing in the future. And I think we're so lucky to be able to get insights into an athlete of this level, so I hope you guys did as well. Now, if you haven't been to my website, please, I invite you to go check out bigpictureskiing.com. I put all my ideas, lessons, webinars, dryland training, and it's growing every month with more and more more content, and it's all designed around the person that is in love with skiing, obsessed with skiing, and wants to get better. And I truly believe that skiing is an all-year-round thing. Even when you're not doing it, you can be improving it through enhancing your understanding of all the different elements that make up a good skier. So if you haven't checked it out, go there. You check out a 3-day free trial to see if it's up, uh, up your alley, if it's good. And, uh, yeah, I hope to see you there. And thanks for tuning in to another episode of the Global Skiing Podcast.

This episode is brought to you by Carv, the digital ski coach. Now, one of the features I've had the most fun with all time is simply the fact that Carv tracks every single turn you make. I treat it a bit like Strava, so at the end of the day it tells me exactly how many turns I've done and those numbers keep adding up across the season. So last season in Australia I had a few days where I was doing nearly 2,500 turns and my legs were tired, but it was really cool to try and have that number there motivating me, and I'm quietly working my way towards my 1 millionth turn with Carv. So the other metrics I've been diving into lately, and these are new for this season, are very unique, and these are turn corridor and turn radius, and I don't see many skiers using them, but they tell you a lot about the shape and flow of your skiing. So the turn corridor shows you how far you're traveling across the hill, or the time almost between apex to apex, and how long you're taking to transition. While the turn radius measures the actual arc you create once you start the turn. So these can be different. You can have like a very wide corridor, say 18 meters, but a lower turn radius, or the other way around. So when you compare the two, it opens up a whole world of experimentation, and it would be a bit like a race coach will set different types of race courses to influence a racer or skier to change the timing and mix it up. So I encourage you to look into this if you've got Carv and play with it and see if you can manipulate it, because it's only going to improve your versatility. So I keep my Carv on my boots every single day because you never know quite know when like a change in technique or a new ski resort or skis will show up in the numbers. And it's great at the end of the day being able to check that or even after the fact. And I'm really looking forward to the day I open the app and I see turn number 1 million. So if you want to explore your skiing in a completely different way, check out Carv, the digital ski coach. And thank you, team, for sponsoring this episode.