An Engineer’s Take on SARS-CoV-2 Towards a Solution

In general, viruses that cohabit in our bodies have a high-temperature limit.  Often, the limit is higher than our core temperature of 37 ⁰C, and so for a while, we co-exist. If they cause trouble, our body reacts by putting our immune systems in action.  One response is to increase our body temperature, usually by a few degrees. In some cases, the body temperature goes too high to above 40 ⁰C, putting us in a jeopardy. We start cooking at that temperature.

But we can tolerate relatively high temperatures (43.2 ⁰C) very locally, such as our hands when we wash dishes and themselves many times a day. We eliminate rhinovirus causing the common cold at about 38.5 ⁰C, influenza a little higher.  Coronavirus seems similar as most people escape with symptoms of a bad cold.  The exception is that it clogs the lungs of some people.  Young people have the advantage of higher core temperatures and more active immune systems.  By heating certain critical locations causing a micro fever where the viruses recreate, we can eliminate them.  

I took a long way around to get there. For several years now I have used heat to eliminate colds and flu.  I also used over the counter pills and syrups to suppress the effects of colds.   

I first use hot baths and eventually measured my core temperature. I submerged myself in water, heated to the limit of my tolerance (about 41.6 ⁰C) and found my core temperature rose to about 39 ⁰C. This temperature is sufficient to demolish the bug.  In the last few years, I have instead used heating pads to heat my chest and throat. Then I started reading about colds and flu and found that most colds were caused by the cold viruses incubating in the nasal passages.

I found that lying down
is easier and less work.

So this is where I applied my heating pad. This works fine. I apply the heating pad holding it tight against my nose, eyebrows to tip, one side at a time, for about 10 to 15 minutes each side. I also found this process would clear my sinuses in my forehead and cheeks. Similarly, it also worked on my sore throat and chest as mentioned above. This process was much easier to apply than a hot uncomfortable bath. Colds went away overnight and the damage caused by the virus over the next few days.  I believe that I can’t completely get rid of all of the viruses but I sufficiently damage the reproduction process and environment to an extent that the body immune systems can finish the job.

I have recently been very interested in SARS-CoV-2.  I am in the old category and most vulnerable. After detection, the symptoms soon appear.  The incubation time is about 5-6 days during which the virus spreads vigorously. In young people, it seems to be less destructive, but with older people, even if they are on ventilators, their life expectancy is not good.  Some people survive and some don’t.  Older people have weaker immune systems and lower core temperature. This raises the question, “does half a degree make that much difference?”

If you look at the morphology of cold viruses, they seem in general to prefer to incubate in a temperature 33-36 ⁰C range. This is approximately the mean temperature of the nasal passage, per reports, and frontal sinus by my crude measurement. The viruses also seem to like moist surfaces.  When we expel breath out we moisten the air channel from lungs to the nose.  You can see the mini cloud formation on cold days. Every breath you take conveys the viruses out into the free air and the lungs.

The viruses also seem to have similar upper limits because people do survive core temperatures of 40 ⁰C.  So it seems that if the prime areas can be heated to a range of 41-42 ⁰C the virus would be corrupted. If you look at the data, viruses seem to stop being effective at an accelerating rate as the temperature rises to their demise limit.  As mentioned above, some viruses are highly active at 36 ⁰C and gone at 38.5 ⁰C.

I checked the heating capabilities of my newest heating pad; the highest surface temperature I can heat my nose and sinuses to was 41 ⁰C.  I was able to do this by using a double thickness.  The heating pad just sitting on a pillow will heat to about 60 ⁰C but as soon as I apply it to my face, it immediately drops to about 39 ⁰C. It has a very low heat mass and takes about 5 minutes held on my forehead to reach the highest temperature. The nose takes a little longer. I experimented a little on finding the best way to hold the heating pad in place. I found the easiest position is lying down is less tiring as your hand can be supported. For this application, a normal 12”x 12” rather than the King size I use is sufficient. Sufficient pressure must be applied to close the air passage at the nose tip.

I have had rheumatoid arthritis for over 30 years and have been able to keep it in remission using heating pads. The older pads have hots spots and could cause burning, but the new type of pads have solved that problem.  They must have sensors and a feedback system to keep the temperature under control. They don’t burn the skin easily. From an engineering point of view, it would be good to know the heat conductivity of flesh and bone but at a guess, it is similar to water. So it takes a little time to heat parts of my face to a useful depth. I have found that by holding the heating pad in place, using my hand, takes about 10 to 15 minutes at each location.  I keep the heat on my throat until the pain goes away.  On my lungs, I heat both my chest and back for about an hour each.  If I have waited too long to heed the cold warning signals I may have to repeat the process a few days later.

There are many parameters to be checked to formalize this procedure, temperature sensitively, heat transfer rate, in situ effects on the virus and immune system, to name a few.  I know this is not the magic pill but you can look at it as radiation treatment on the infra-red spectrum, home remedy style.  I believe that by damaging the virus at the primary breeding areas my immune system will be sufficient to finish the job.

In product design, the first stage is to gather information, set goals and limitation and define the product’s critical  and non-critical functions. The next step is to explore possible paths to a solution. It is good design practice to pole people from different disciplines for their perspectives. My approach here is to look at a virus weakness that can be exploited. I wrote to a variety of people and organizations but have received only robotic replies.  Hence this note has migrated to my blog to see if there is any interest. Although I am a Doctor, I’m the wrong kind and have limited credibility.  My solution here is very simple and easy to apply. The cost of the necessary equipment is approximately $40. If this works the results are catastrophic in a good sense.

If I contracted COVID 19, the above is what I would do. But if some other person tries this, I will only take responsibility if it is successful in adding some control over this awful virus. Call it the AlanR treatment. Please let me know if you try this and your results.  My gift.

Alan Robb

About Lesson 5, The Skill of Blending

View west at the  Golden Hind

The Skill of Blending Skills
The sequence of lessons 3, 4, and 5 is deliberate.  Lesson 3 is about the finish of a turn, Lesson 4 is about the initiation of a turn and lesson 5 is about putting the previous 4 lessons together and adding the concept of skiing with the skis-side-by-side, parallel to each other.  In most beginner lessons the first goal is for the student to make a series of snowplow turns. I have found this practice counterproductive as I believe that once you have made 1  snowplow turn you have made enough. I use the snowplow as a teaching tool, not as a way to ski.  Unfortunately, if you show some people the snowplow turn and have them make a series of them, it can become a way of skiing. It is then difficult to switch to a more efficient way of skiing with your skis parallel to each other. So lesson 5 is designed to make use of the rudimentary skills, previously learned, in order to begin parallel skiing.

Blending Progression

Blending begins slowly starting with a short run with the skis parallel and at a 45-degree angle to straight down the fall line, the steepest hill angle.  There is a conundrum. If the angle is too great the student may go too fast, but if the angle is not steep enough it will be too difficult to apply pressure on the toe, in order to initiate the turn. The angle of 45-degrees in not written in stone, it should be modified greater or smaller, depending on snow conditions and hill steepness in order to make the first turn easily.

As subsequent turns become smoother and easier, the distance covered with the skis parallel can become shorter, and the speed increased gradually.  What happens is that as the speed increases more force is applied to the outside ski.  At some speed level, it will become easier to have the ski on the inside of the turn follow beside the outside turning ski.  The other progression is to try and keep the shoulders and head facing down the hill in the direction of travel.  The students’ balance on the skis should be centred so that pressure on the toe and heel can be applied quickly at the appropriate timing.

The last step in this lesson is for the student to make the turning continuous one turn after the other, by eliminating the short parallel skiing between turns.  The upper body should be facing down the hill in the direction of travel.

Sub-Lessons to  Beginner Lesson
The lessons should probably be named steps, but I wanted to stress the importance of the skills learned in each lesson.  The point is that the lessons are really the first lesson in learning how to ski on the technical side. Perfection is not expected at each stage. The purpose is to introduce the skills and to immediately repeat the process several times, with each time improving performance.

To Speed After Blending
The last lesson, 6, is added for you to experience the sensation of speed on skis.  For some people there can be a background fear of speed, but skiing in a tucked position, on a gentle slope, will give some sense of what speed feels like, often the fun part of skiing. In the tucked position with your feet wide and your elbows on your knees, you can’t fall far and hurt yourself. You know how to stop 3 different ways and how to turn if necessary. This is really a test of confidence in your new-found abilities.  You pass this and you are on the way to being a downhill skier. Time now, to have some fun now.
Miles to Imprint the Beginner Lesson

The next step is to get some mileage. Ski all the green level hills. And then try some blue.  If you find you are having a problem, the best attack is to repeat the lessons and find which one is giving you problems. In the future, you can use the lessons as a test of your skiing competence.

Comment on My Previous Post

I know my previous post about my method of knee joint repair is an engineering solution. It has little to do with beginner skiing.  It should be under some health heading but people keep asking me how it works. Often people complain about knee problems similar to mine on the ski lift. I explain my solution to them. Some impetus stems from my 10 years teaching, in the local ski school.  I was surprised by the number of instructors that had knee injuries (about 20%). I know also that there are several types of fluid injections for knees but they seem to be only delaying the inevitable knee joint replacement. So if people ask how I am fixing my knee, I can refer them to my site.

My solution, that seems to be working, is a design engineering approach. I spent many hours looking at the problem of knee repair and the solution seemed to be that while the mechanism for repair is all in place, in our joints, it was inadequate. The rate of damage was exceeding the capabilities of the repair system.  After, my discussions with Jerome Fryer, I delved into medical papers which were mostly above my understanding.  The essence of the papers and conclusions were clear.

When trying to solve an engineering design problem it is necessary to talk to a wide variety of people with varying expertise, particularly when designing solutions to solve people type problems. Determining the effect of bending a leg sideways to increase the knee gap size, to cause a vacuum, as well as filtering, and fluid flow, are not included in the doctor’s people repair manual. This is meat and potatoes for engineers.

My solution is a partial solution.  It requires some fine-tuning. Researchers, physiotherapists, and doctors are needed to fill in some of the gaps. Getting research done is a problem because there is no revenue generated. No pills, no magic bullet.

(It could get worse. I’m a great fan of the use of heat for curing some ills.  I have been keeping my rheumatoid arthritis in remission for over 30 years by using a heating pad. I stop colds the same way. It is simple.  If you look at the temperature sensitivity of some cold viruses they can’t tolerate temperatures much higher than body temperature at 37 C or 98.6 F. They propagate at much lower temps and don’t exist well above.  A heating pad will heat to a temperature of 140 F degrees much too high for your skin to tolerate. There is a but. When you hold a heating pad on your skin, the skin absorbs the heat energy and so on my forehead, the temperature only reaches 104 degrees. It is a little tricky holding a heating pad on my sinuses and nose (a hotbed for virus propagation) but doable. Cure a cold in 20 minutes. Check out the new coronavirus temperature sensitivity.  It’s sensitivity to temperature is similar to that of cold and flu viruses. Unfortunately, it can cause lung problems.)

Enough

AR

A Possible Knee Fix For Skiers and Others

Three Minutes Twice A Day 

Osteoarthritis Knee Joint Cartilage Repair

A PRP alternative? It’s free!

What I have done for the last two years is to bend my right leg in two different ways. When my leg is straight, I bend it sideways a very slight amount and then bend it the normal way, front to back (details following). Two other skiers that I know of, have followed the simple exercise with positive results. We have restored our knees to normal working condition. 

Left foot  blocks the right foot ankle

Here is how.

I sit on the edge of a chair (bed, stool, bathtub, anything chair height) with my legs out straight, resting my heels on the floor.

I first bend my healthy left leg slightly. Then I nest my right foot in the arch (instep) of my left foot. My right leg, the damaged one is straight. Per photo 1.

I'm now in a position to bend my right leg sideways, my right knee is forced towards my left knee. ( if your lateral condyle is the problem use the other side of your left foot to block and force your damaged knee to the right)

I use the inner thy muscles of my right leg to apply the force and to cause the bending. (I could also use my right hand to push my right knee to the left.)

Steps  

1. I apply and hold the bending pressure for a slow count to 5, then release the pressure (5 seconds).
2. I then hold my right knee up with both hands and flex my lower leg, swinging it front to back 5-10 times (10-15 seconds). (Figure below left)

Holding the right knee off the ground swing the
 lower leg several times to mix the plasma and
the synovial fluid.                                            

Repeat: step 1 and 2, about 4 - 6 times ( about 2 min.).

The amount of side pressure is very gentle.

(1 minute to find a suitable place). 

I can tell that this process works for me by feeling the fluid build-up at the base of the patella. I stop at this point.

 What Happens: 

There are two membranes surrounding the actual inner hinge portions of the knee.  Outside the membranes are the parts that hold the knee in place and make the knee work.  This includes the repair material, blood.  There are sufficient arteries, storage material, and veins for supplying the needed nutrient to repair and keep internal sliding surfaces healthy. 

In normal walking/running the cartilage compresses and expands about 0.05 mm (about 0.002 in). But if the cartilage is worn away a space created can be as much as 2 mm on the medial femoral condyle side ( middle bearing bone surface as opposed to the outer side one).

It is difficult to imagine the shape of the volume of space created, I look at it as a wedge, a few mm long. The numbers I use are approximate vary over a spectrum with joint size and loading.

The approximate extra volume of the wedge is 2/0.05 = 40 the opening change. Because this is a wedge this is divided in half, 40/2 = 20.  What I am showing is that when the knee is bent sideways it creates a vacuum and sucks in a volume of the liquid solution into the inner workings of the knee. The effective inflow is about 20 times normal. 

The solution is filtered blood or plasma.  Larger particles such as red blood cells are filtered out by the synovial membrane leaving a watery fluid full of nutrients and repair parts for rebuilding the cartilage.

The problem is that if this plasma can pass the filter in both directions, in and out of the enclosing membrane (step 1 above). Here is where it gets a little murky because it is not clear how the 2 fluids mix.

Hence the step 2:  The flexing of the knee to mix the plasma with the synovial fluid (bearing lubricant) by repeating steps 1 and 2 several times until the skin near the base of the patella starts to bulge out. The blended fluids seem to be retained. This is similar to a PRP treatment only I suspect that the platelets block the plasma in at the synovial membrane.

Other Problems

The other problems are there have been no formal clinical trials, no MRI information, no organization endorsements, doctors are conditioned against the possibility of cartilage regeneration, no arthritic organization interest. There is no protocol for cartilage growth.  No idea of how the plasma and synovial fluid mix, no idea of how well the membranes filter and  what the appropriate mix is, what the parameters are? etc. 

What I know

What I do know is that this process works for me and at least 2 others. I have told a lot of other people that I don’t know and haven’t heard from them.

In any formal investigation, the first step is a suggestion a `proof of principle’. I believe this is sufficient information and results for formal clinical investigation.

  

If You Try This

If by chance you try this you may feel something happening right away.  And if you do and want to continue I suggest that you start gently just walking.  If you are above your BMA limit I suggest that you lose weight. Easy or light bike riding will help keep the knee aligned. Add loading slowly. Pain is your friend. It will tell you when to stop overloading. Some heat using a heating pad helped me.

The process will stop when your knee is tight again. 
This is not a quick fix.

Over a period of time, my knee has tightened up and can support full-load. Moguls and running are again okay. It has taken a couple of years because I still have rebuilding lost muscle and RA issues.

The concept of the joints filling with fluid has been explored by Dr. Jerome Fryer, chiropractor, in Naniamo, BC, www.drfryer.ca .  If you have a back issue, his site is a good place to start.  I have adopted his work on backs for the specific application to knee joint. The speed of the fluid flow into the joint is unique to his work. The discussion of the fluid being plasma is my speculation. 

Beginner Skiers and The Snowplow

Taken From the Manual

About the Snowplow

One of the first things that you will be taught at a ski school is how to snowplow down a small hill. This is an excellent place to start if it is used properly. It uses all the primary skills; 

• Pressure control, 
• Edge control, 
• Pivoting or Counter Rotation,  
• Blending, 
• Stance and Balance. 

The snowplow allows you to move slowly down the hill. It can be used to stop and turn. It can be used as a way of skiing. Also, by keeping your legs wide you keep your balance bending slightly forward you prevent falling. There is a but. It can be habit-forming if overused and becomes a way of skiing.

Pressure Control

A snowplow is a powerful tool for learning the primary skills

required to ski. You start by forming a wedge or V shape with your skis. Leaning forward at the waist so you free pressure on the ball of your foot and if your feet are wide enough, you will feel pressure concentrated just at the base of your big toe.  This is an important pressure point because this is the pressure required to make skis turn. If you lean to the right, your right ski will tilt and bend. When moving your ski will turn left. This pressure can be enhanced by tilting the knee to the left.

Primary Edge Control

When you start moving down-hill the first time, you should form a small wedge. If you increase the V angle really wide, then you will stop. Or you can keep going making small and large wedges to speed up or slow down.  This is accomplished more by applying pressure to your heels, heel pressure control.  Also what enhances the effect of slowing and speeding up is that the angle of your ski changes.  The wider your heels move the greater the angle and the greater the ski edges grip the snow with the result to slow your motion forward. Performing this simple exercise you are teaching both legs pressure and edge control plus pivoting or counter-rotation.

Pivoting/ Counter-rotation

Counter-rotation is turning your leg in the direction you wish to go.  In a snowplow position, both your skis are pointing in opposite directions, so unless you enhance one or the other you will move in a straight line down the hill. Enhancing toe pressure on the right ski, you will turn left.

The above is all you need to know to ski down beginner and intermediate hills. It is also a very tiring way to ski. Your legs are under stress continuously.  This is one reason beginners lose energy quickly.

Enhancement of the Skills

To make skiing easier and less stressful is to enhance these skills with 2 more exercises.  One is the one-foot stop exercise and the other is initiating small turns. These are lessons 3 and 4 in my manual.

Primary Pivoting / Counter-rotation, Heel Pressure

In lesson 3 you start down the hill skis side by side, then make a wedge and then push one foot out in front so that it lies across your line of motion. Kids find this is an easy body move, often using this to stop automatically. You use pressure on your heel to make this happen.  As you get older it becomes more difficult. This is a tough one for me to demo, as I am really old now.

Primary Pressure Control, Balance forward, Turn Initiation

Lesson 4. this is where we first started with pressure on the ball of the foot and a slight tilting of the knee in the direction you want to go. With pressure applied to the front inside edge of one ski, the ski will turn.  Again the motion is down-hill in a straight line turning left and right in small turns. These are not real turns, they are just the beginning of turns.

Blending, Transition to Parallel Skiing

In lesson 5, you use a modified snowplow. It is called a stem christy turn, a mini turn and a one-foot stop without the stop combination. This is the start of the transition from snowplow skiing to parallel skiing.  If you have practiced the previous lessons diligently you will be able to combine lessons 3 and 4 and add parallel skiing.  It works like this. You start across a gentle hill at about walking speed with your skis side-by-side, spread about shoulder width, and at a 45-degree angle to the right of straight down the hill. Move about 5 meters (about 17') then lean forward and push out your right ski in a snowplow and turn 90 degrees. Bring your skis parallel and repeat.  It is best to see the video for this movement.  This is a progression where you gradually increase your speed and applying more pressure to the outside ski making the turn. You will find that eventually most of your weight will be on the outside or turning ski and the other ski can stay beside the turning ski.  Magic.

Fine-tune the process by reducing the straight length, and you just shift your weight left to right making a series of turns. There you are effortlessly parallel skiing. Maybe 2-4 hours. Maybe a faster run (steeper hill) to feel a little speed.  Maybe a better hill with a bit of a challenge. Maybe adding a little more pressure on the turns at the start and finish, for speed control. Maybe work the skis a little harder. 

The point here is that there is no reason that a person can’t be parallel skiing in a few hours. The last 3 parts make the difference. Nobody should be stuck in a snowplow skiing position. To Improve start at the top and repeat the process often.

Beginner Skier Important First Exercise

A Basic Exercise For Learning How To Ski

  

Here is an exercise for a beginner skier that will make your first trip down a hill a success.  It is a difficult at first but a little practice it becomes easier.  It is important because includes one basic move and three main skills.  It trains one leg at a time so that when you have to make your first stop you will be able to move your legs in the appropriate manor.  It is a fundamental move in turning and stopping.  

When I give a lesson, I use this exercise to determine a student’s skill level.  As you progress you can use this exercise to test your own ski level.  If you are following my lessons one or two circles should be sufficient for a start. 

You form a large circle by pushing one ski out sideways, with the tip of the ski staying fixed, and the tail of the ski forming a circle.  The picture shows 6 segments as it makes a good diagram, but the number of segments can be more or less depending on how the length of your skis and legs.  The motion should be slow and smooth of the snow surface, like spreading soft butter on a piece of bread.  No lifting the ski. It is easier if you use one ski on and one ski off.  You push one ski as far as it is comfortable in each segment.  Switch the ski to the other foot and rotate in the opposite direction. When you revisit this exercise, 2 skis on will be fine.

It is best to form smaller segments first and gradually enlarge them as you become more competent.  At first, it is important to get the motion as smooth as possible ignoring your body position.  As you improve it try to turn your body to face sideways across the rotating ski.  This is a skill called pivoting or counter rotation.  It is dominant at the end of a turn and the start of the next.

The other two skills are pressure control and edging control.  For controlling the pressure, you must press more on your heel than your toe.  For controlling the ski edge you must tilt your ski at just the right angle for it to move smoothly.  Some of this won’t make sense until you try.

I'm an instructor for VISAS, Vancouver Island Adaptive Snow Sports. My last student was a 9 year old Asperger's Syndrome boy. I told him when in motion on skis it is best to lean forward. He asked my why. I told him it increased his rotational inertial, making him more stable and less likely to fall backwards. He replied " I don't know what rotational inertia is." I told him that is because you are not a mechanical engineer. That seemed to satisfy him.  It is a mantra for all new skiers. Bend forward when in motion. Try to include bending forward in this exercise. 

Getting Ready For The New Ski Season

Error in my Manual, tried to make this clearer Sorry

I started my preparation in July somewhat haphazardly by trying to bike ride for an hour, three times a week. At the start of my ride, there is one long hill in Parry Sound up one of the main streets that required some effort. The rest of the ride is relatively flat. Haphazard in the sense, that I’m not very consistent.

But August this year, I tried running again. I haven’t been running for over 6 years because of the condition of my right knee. I covered my repair process in a blog 2 years ago (Alan’s PRSF Skiers Knee Witchcraft)*. My first run was about 20 minutes. It was not really a run it was an old man’s shuffle. I found that my leg muscles had dwindled considerably, my calf muscles in particular. It was painful. During the next 3 weeks, I gradually changed my shuffle into some semblance of stride. Now I can actually jog. On my last outing, I was up to 10000 steps, about an hour. I had 3 methods of monitoring that day, my phone, heart monitoring watch, and my Fit copy watch.  My phone gave me the lowest count so I ignored its ability to count properly. 

The only rule I have is that I get my heart rate up to about 120 bpm with a max of 130. I learned about this from a long-distance trainer when I lived in St. John’s NL. He told me the training effect started after 20 minutes. It seems to work and is fairly safe. Initially, my muscles were so weak, that moving was fast enough to get my heart rate up to speed was a problem.  My heart rate started at 105 max and by the end of the three weeks it was at 134 bpm. I slow down to get to my 120- 125 bpm range.

My conclusions are that jogging gets the right muscles strength for skiing.  It takes much less time than walking and riding, and gets your legs using the needed pressure on the ball of the foot. I was also pleased that my knee has recovered to a state where I jog again.

The first lesson in my manual includes learning to feel your feet.  As an intermediate skier, I was told about this many times over the years but took a long time to sink in. When I decided to write my manual there were many questions I had about how we teach skiing. I could find no reason why this particular issue is emphasized at some intermediate stage instead of at the beginning.   Applying the right pressure on my skis, at the right location, and at the appropriate time, during a turn is a central concept to my method of skiing. This way of steering skis requires the least effort for making turns.

So for anyone wanting to make skiing a pleasure rather than an effort, work on learning how to feel pressure on feet and condition the needed quads and calf muscles.

How Skis Turn

Ski turning is a fundamental part of alpine skiing sport. How well people ski is defined by how well they can make their skis turn in all conditions of snow surface and terrain. So the questions how do skis turn and how do you make them turn.

Ski design has evolved over many years with each year bringing in a new wrinkle to make skiing easier or to explore a different form of skiing. This blog is about how all mountain and recreational skis are designed to make skiing better.  It is a engineers perspective trying to make a very complex process easy to understand in common language. To this end, I will leave out all my coded technical engineering term.  

First, ski turning is a symbiotic relationship between three main components, the skier, boots, and skis. The boots and skis are chosen to fit the skier so all can work together to make a turn.

The turn.  The turn is made of 3 parts.  The first part is the transition or start of a turn.  This is a dynamic process, moving forward in a curve fashion.  The perfect curve is an arc of a circle that is split into 2 parts at the middle of the curve.  It is not quite perfect since the arc is used to both change direction and control your speed.  Controlling speed is the none perfect part.

The ski slides slightly sideways through the arc roughing up the snow. A “carved” turn has the minimum amount of roughing called side slipping and leave a very narrow snow path. On the other extreme where both skis are in a snowplow or wedge shape maximum of roughing or side slipping occurs. This latter form of skiing maximizes the amount of ski path width and side slipping for a beginner. The ideal path of a turn has a uniform amount of side slipping on both halves of the arc.

The ski.  Here is where it gets a little tricky. Skis are made in many different shapes and sizes for the many different uses. 

All Mountain Ski

I will stick with the all mountain ski that can be used on both hard packed and light powder snow. Newer skis are becoming wider under the foot and little longer again.  Basically, they are narrow at the boot mounting in the middle and wider at the ends. This hourglass shape makes skis unstable for moving in a straight line but helps to make turning much easier (Figure 1). Also, skis usually have flexible ends that will bend for a given load. The amount of flex will depend on what the ski is used for.  I’m assuming the boot and skis fit the skier.

When a ski starts sliding it is like turning on a switch, it becomes alive.  As soon as it starts to move it gains kinetic energy with speed. The ski must then be controlled.

To make a moving ski turn is a simple process.

Knee Tilt
 

You, the skier, must tilt your knee (figure 2) in the direction you want to go and at the same time  press on the ball of your foot to move the balance point forward (figure 3). 

Ski Pivot Locations

This engages the front portion of the ski tending to bend the ski (the darkened area on the ski in figure 1). The more you press on your toe pad the more the ski will bend and turn on the forward pivot point. This puts more pressure on the front of the ski and relieves some pressure on the back. You can then control the size of the arc and the amount of side slipping. Hence the shaded area showing the change in of the arc shape with the change in pressure, in the (figure 4).  As the turn progresses the pressure on the boot moves back to the heel and thus the pivot point.  The transition starts again.

What is this kinetic energy that I slipped in? Simply, it is the ability to do work. As soon as you start to move you have it.  You have to stop to get rid of it.  In skiing, you push snow out around. This will either slow you down or if you push hard enough you’ll stop. You can also use some of this energy to move your skis around by just pressing on your skis at the right place and time. This is similar to riding a bicycle where it takes very little energy to steer the bike. You use a small amount of energy, in order to move a large heavy object, in a different direction.

The boot. I use a relatively soft forward flex boot and like to keep my boots loose on hardpack snow. This allows my ankles to bend but still have the side rigidity of the boot for making the ski’s metal edge dig in. The boot has another function in that when clamped down in place it will stiffen the centre portion of the ski. This function helps when skiing on ice conditions. It also ads weight for kinetic energy.

The Person.  How you stand on skis is most important in making them turn easily and effectively. If you can shift the pressure on your boots from toe to heel equally well, then you are centred on your ski. The easiest way is to just move your boot forward and back under your upper body.  Leaning and/or moving your hands back and forth works. There are other ways to start a turn such as pushing on the middle of the ski or on the boot heel. Pushing on the middle of the ski takes more effort and time. Most people are taught to ski this way.  Pressing on the heels moves the ski balance point to behind the boot, also a way to ski. In the adaptive sports application there are some people that can’t bend forward or get their weight forward, then this is another option.

Remember this is about skis turning not skiing.  The person must add the skills and timing to make turning happen.

Basically the ski is shaped and bent to follow a chosen path.

A Short Introduction to Alpine Skiing

Strathcona Provincial Park
(large park in the middle of Vancouver Island) 

If you want to learn how to ski there are several things you must learn to do.  There are relatively easy things such as acquiring the necessary winter wear and need ski equipment. Then you must learn how to put on ski boots and skis. Then, the harder part when your skis are on, you must learn to turn and stop. Be forewarned, skiing can take over your mind.

Turning is a little hard to describe because there are several ways to turn and several reasons why it is important to turn. Starting with something easy, turning is necessary to take you in the direction you want to go.  Turning is often for self-preservation to avoid dangers and bumping into other skiers or snowboarders. Turning is also used to control your speed.

Turning to control your speed is of most interest to a beginner skier for several reasons.  Gravity is the thing that pulls you down a hill. If you do nothing to control your speed you will go faster and faster. What will slow you down is the snow dragging on your skis and the wind drag you create due to your speed increases.  You will eventually reach some limiting speed depending on the steepness of the hill and if a wind its direction.  On a beginners hill, your final speed may be about walking speed or as fast as you can peddle a bike.  On really steep hills your speed could be anywhere from 120 to 160 km/hr. I have never even approached the higher speeds.

To control your speed on skis you must learn how to make them scrape sideways on the snow surface during a turn.  This is basically what you need to learn as a beginner skier. This is what your beginner lessons are primarily about. You must learn to ski a serpentine path down a hill, with each turn controlling your speed. The steeper the hill then more effort or energy you must use to make each turn. You progress to this skiing level.

If all you did was make turns down a hill, skiing would soon lose its attraction.  To enjoy skiing you must learn to meet the many challenges along the way.  Steepness is one, but there are different trails and terrain with moguls, glades, jumps, and bumps, etc. Speed is good for generating adrenaline and excitement. It can be addictive.

And then there are the 3-4 different ways to start a turn that got me started on the path to develop and create my ski method for beginner skiers. I reached a point in my skiing where I could not improve and couldn’t figure out why and what to do.  The secret was learning how to steer my skis quickly and efficiently. The question was why didn’t I learn sooner? And then, what and how soon could I have learned? This is what my manual and video are all about, how to become a good skier in the shortest and most efficient way.

This blogging site is for beginner downhill skiers, people returning to the sport and those wanting to improve their skills.  Highlighted is my free Manual, AlanR Method, Learn to Ski. The manual has 3 sections. The first section is about preparation to start. The middle section is lessons on how to ski. This section includes 6 sequential lessons which are based both on how skis turn and 5 basic skills we needed to learn in order to control skis. The last section is the background of a few of the basics.