Help with Downhill Skiing - Techniques & Styles Forum

Wednesday 10th October 2007 at 9:56:02 PM

aggressor
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HI, I have a question. I wanted to know if you catch air in downhill skiing will it slow down or increase your speed? Thanks guys I just need to know this.

Sunday 21st October 2007 at 8:31:12 PM

sam29
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It will definitely slow down your speed because the wind resistance will pull you back and you will lose contact with the snow. Anytime you put your ski edge against the snow to turn or recover you are slowing yourself down. Hope it helps!

Sunday 21st October 2007 at 10:09:33 PM

ssaustin
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sam29 posted the following on Sunday 21st October 2007
It will definitely slow down your speed because the wind resistance will pull you back and you will lose contact with the snow. Anytime you put your ski edge against the snow to turn or recover you are slowing yourself down. Hope it helps!

did you just counter argument yourself in one post?

Sunday 21st October 2007 at 10:09:59 PM

ssaustin
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ssaustin posted the following on Sunday 21st October 2007

sam29 posted the following on Sunday 21st October 2007
It will definitely slow down your speed because the wind resistance will pull you back and you will lose contact with the snow. Anytime you put your ski edge against the snow to turn or recover you are slowing yourself down. Hope it helps!

did you just counter argument yourself in one post?

oh nvm i didnt see you wrote ski edge

Tuesday 23rd October 2007 at 4:11:48 PM

toms2866
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Traveling through the air, per se, does not slow you down. If anything, you will accelerate more quickly because there is no friction of the ski against the snow (assuming tuck aerodynamics are the same). The reason downhill racers prejump humps (avoid catching air) is to take the shortest path to the bottom (geometry). Imagine an upside down right triangle. If they catch big air, they first go out, then fall down (along sides adjacent to right angle). If they prejump to hug the course contour, they travel diagonally (along the hypotenuse), a shorter distance. It's about economy of distance traveled, not velocity.

Tuesday 23rd October 2007 at 8:41:55 PM

ssaustin
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toms2866 posted the following on Tuesday 23rd October 2007

Traveling through the air, per se, does not slow you down. If anything, you will accelerate more quickly because there is no friction of the ski against the snow (assuming tuck aerodynamics are the same). The reason downhill racers prejump humps (avoid catching air) is to take the shortest path to the bottom (geometry). Imagine an upside down right triangle. If they catch big air, they first go out, then fall down (along sides adjacent to right angle). If they prejump to hug the course contour, they travel diagonally (along the hypotenuse), a shorter distance. It's about economy of distance traveled, not velocity.

this guy knows whats up

Monday 5th November 2007 at 9:31:32 PM

sam29
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ssaustin posted the following on Sunday 21st October 2007

sam29 posted the following on Sunday 21st October 2007
It will definitely slow down your speed because the wind resistance will pull you back and you will lose contact with the snow. Anytime you put your ski edge against the snow to turn or recover you are slowing yourself down. Hope it helps!

did you just counter argument yourself in one post?

oh nvm i didnt see you wrote ski edge

lol! I don't understand!

Monday 5th November 2007 at 9:36:48 PM

ssaustin
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sam29 posted the following on Monday 5th November 2007

ssaustin posted the following on Sunday 21st October 2007

sam29 posted the following on Sunday 21st October 2007
It will definitely slow down your speed because the wind resistance will pull you back and you will lose contact with the snow. Anytime you put your ski edge against the snow to turn or recover you are slowing yourself down. Hope it helps!

did you just counter argument yourself in one post?

oh nvm i didnt see you wrote ski edge

lol! I don't understand!

nvm my bad read it wrong

Friday 23rd November 2007 at 2:03:51 AM

jasononskis
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In the air you go faster than on the ground as the previous guy said. The more points of contact with the snow the slower you will go (longer skiis go faster becasue surface area reduces drag, not increases it). In the air you have no points of contact and you will go faster. Gravity however will always ensure you spend most of your time on the snow. Turning is the fastest point of skiing (if skiing on the edge correctly and not sliding). You will always go fastest on your edge while maintaining contact with the snow, but often the direction the turn puts you in will result in a longer distance between you and your finial objective.