Mostly on location in the mountains...

Up till now the smallest skis and boots for children have been stiffer, making it tough for our youngest skiers who lack the weight, muscle power and fine motor skills to bend their boots and skis, and utilize ski design while they're creating turns.

Why does restricting our ability to bend boots and skis make learning to ski harder? If we can’t bend our boots or skis because they are stiff, we require: more strength, weight or momentum to influence the ski bending, and be able to take advantage of the skis shape and design.

Anyone learning to ski builds upon learned skills to gain confidence in utilizing more strength, speed or fine motor skills. Young children developmentally have yet to cultivate fine motor skills. For say three or six year olds to have boots where they are able to easily access ankle bend, positive skiing movements are promoted. These easily achieved movements start to bend the front of the skis.

For any of us on modern shaped skis: when the combination of our body weight, gravity and muscles firing, allows our skis to bend at the start of a turn, then the skis shaped design can assist and will further turn our skis. This is particularly impactful for children where shorter ski lengths and the need for durable plastics in boots have meant their skis and boots have been less flexible. This is why U-Flex technology is changing the way children can learn to ski.

Children learn by doing. Skilled instructors set up an environment where budding young skiers in the making are encouraged to make movements on skis that result in them feeling what the ski can do for them, no matter how small they are, with their own power! Now instructors can focus on fun games and activities that stimulate children’s interest with body movements that will help them turn the skis.

Shaped skis have allowed us mere mortals (meaning those of us that aren’t world cup ski racers!) to feel the wonderful forces created in a ski turn when we maintain the ski riding more on edge throughout the arc.

What is needed; preferably having some miles of sliding on skis under your belt, good ability to promote your body to stay balanced over the moving platform of skis, a forgiving ski, smart terrain choices and willingness to learn different movements and experiment with them - accelerated by an instructor who can manage your learning experience based on what you bring and how you learn. The art of carving, usually becomes a realistic goal for skiers once they have skills that make them confident to explore steeper groomed terrain and can balance on top of their skis on this terrain without feeling like they are doing hundreds of squats at the gym! If your legs are already exhausted why add more forces to your already tired muscles?

Sliding gives us a smooth and gentle ride. The ski is generally less tipped on edge and this is what allows us to guide and glide the ski throughout a turn. As soon as we tip a ski up onto a higher edge angle, we can expect speed to increase. We will need to manage greater forces pushing back into our body from the ski that slides sideways less as it is moving forwards over the snow. This is something skiers find exhilarating and exciting. It creates feelings of energy and speed that are addictive and adds to our skills as skiers. These skills help us in many different parts of the mountain. Did I mention how much fun carving is?

Ski design can help or hinder us in learning how to apply different movement blends to get different results from our tools in the snow. A carefully selected ski will compliment learning to carve. I prefer starting such learning on a ski that comfortably performs with both more or less edge. A ski that is stiffer and designed for aggressive edge engagement, expects more precise movements to have it successfully slide through a turn. As sliding is the fallback skill blend learners are able to resort to what they know already as needed, and confidence and carving ability can be built more swiftly.

Terrain choice should be selected and managed as we learn to ski on more edged skis. As we feel the effects of edge engagement and commit to maintaining positive body movement into and throughout the turn, learning to carve is easiest on; quieter, wider, flatter and groomed terrain - less likelihood to lose our efforts to promote continually balancing over the moving platform of the skis (remember the reference to tired leg muscles!)

This photo is an example of skis carving at a high edge angle. The shot is on flatter terrain where speed and understanding of how to manage higher forces in pressure allows me to create higher edge angles.

On steeper terrain although the slope can contribute to a higher edge angle it takes more commitment, trust, familiarity with speed and managing the resulting forces in pressure, to maintain higher edge angles throughout the turn.

Sebastian Blanco’s car blog, retweeted on my brother’s all-things-environmental-Twitter-page, rattled off some serious tax rebates available in Colorado. A BMW i3 was available around 44% less than the base MSRP, in addition to Federal and State rebates and included a 6K rebate by Drive Electric Northern Colorado (DENC), I made a somewhat spontaneous decision after calling the participating BMW dealer in Loveland. To my Aspen trailer-residence, my first brand new car was delivered in early January 2016.

Why this vehicle is the only i3 up here in the mountains of Aspen, Colorado, may have something to do with the following adventure. I freely admit that I really, really wanted this vehicle (to play my environmental part), perhaps did not completely research all available caveat emptor/buyer beware scenarios of owning an electric vehicle in the mountains, and as I called on the last day of the DENC 6K rebate offer, the deal made this i3 affordable. Although in 24 hours it is amazing how many blogs and articles one can read about any vehicle, I could not find any concrete info on how the i3 handled in the snow – this being my major concern – I decided that my adventurous side would take on role of researcher and figure it all out. 

These nuggets of info may have assisted me in making my purchasing decision slightly less spontaneous. Here’s the short list BMW i3 scoop for environmentally friendly mountain folk to consider as you shop:

 - Where you plan to service your vehicle (if outside of the driving range and including mountain passes) requires calculating charging stops, the time they take, and a healthy sense of adventure.

- The electric mile range of the vehicle when climbing mountain roads, using the navigation system or heater is drastically reduced (until you start descending mountain roads where you can generate electric miles) Once you start using gas climbing mountain roads can be extremely slow!

- Joining Charge Point (The operator that provides charging stations around the country) and being familiar with how their stations work, and where their stations are located is important when driving anywhere beyond the electric range of the vehicle. BMW supplies charge cards for this that requires activation. I discovered the location of these cards after my long distance trip to get Liesl serviced!

- The BMW i3’s range in colder temperatures on average is 80 electric miles and 65 gas miles.

- The vehicle has rear wheel drive and with the specific tire specification sizes it means that winter tires are tricky to track down in the mountains. Stand by for winter driving reports next North American winter once I acquire mine!

- The next i3 generation is expected to have an electric mile range of 130 miles, but all wheel drive is not likely to be available until battery technology drastically decreases their size further.

 It all started when the service light started to show up on the on-board computer. A subsequent call from BMW asking me when I was going to schedule my service gave me a big clue when the question I asked was met with silence and a “Let me call you back later.” Considering my location, and the lack of BMW dealerships near-by, I was asking what advice could be given to me considering the range of this car at 90 electric miles was not sufficient to make the 195 mile journey to the closest dealership.

With my seasonal job soon ending, I decided to wait until I had the time on my hands to make the 195 mile trip to a BMW dealership an adventure. Having only charged Liesl at home and the occasional top-up of watts at the local Wholefoods, I knew the four-hour trip was going to take a little longer. I set off to Denver, after a compulsory photo opportunity, with slight trepidation and many intended projects to complete to while away the hours while charging.  

My electric range ran out around Wolcott, an isolated turn off for Steamboat Springs, and I found that my speeds while driving from the gas tank were reduced substantially while climbing any hill. If this was going to be a slow trip I felt stopping at Larkburger in Edwards would be a good idea as I needed a positive attitude to face all this learning head on, via sustenance! Now my quest was to find if there were charging points around the Edwards area and I stopped into the Belmont Deli where two young men let me know they knew Vail Parking offered charging stations but perhaps I could check the transit center at the Edwards Shell. Finding the Shell Charge Point I discovered there was a $2 charge and while I was on hold to unlock a station with Charge Point (my Charge Point cards were discovered post this trip) I decided to continue my drive to Vail where I knew it was free, but being in a parking garage did wonder if I’d have to pay parking fees.

In Vail the West Parking structure was offering free parking. In we went, called Charge Point and got connected. Off to find a café and complete a two-hour project. The 42 miles allowed me to get over Vail Pass and to Wholefoods in Frisco with 18 miles of charge left. Charged for another two hours and explored the shops around the area including getting some Wholefoods shopping done, this increased Liesl’s electric mileage to 80 miles. Felt confident in my climb ahead to the Eisenhower/Johnson tunnels, and was intrigued to see how much electric I would earn over the large descent to Denver.

On the control panel computer when travelling downhill you can see what speeds generate and what speeds use electric. As I was descending a torrential downpour started and I was impressed and thankful for the ease to handle steep, wet roads with many puddles and cars accelerating and breaking in the Colorado driving fashion. Nine hours after my departure from Aspen I pulled into my hotel and after checking in was introduced to the engineer who helped me locate a parking spot where I could plug in to a regular electrical outlet for the night.

First thing in the morning I departed for the Schomp BMW dealer, in Highlands Ranch using the navigation for the first time since purchase. On arrival I felt I had achieved the first step in this journey quite nicely. The people of Schomp were amazing and I found owning a BMW offers an exceptional level of service that provides genuine care for Liesl and me.  With additional things to work on I got a loaner vehicle and completed my city list as no trip to the big smoke is wasted.

My departure was around 7pm. Driving off the lot my electric decreased suddenly, making me concerned that I may not have a big enough charge to climb back up to the Eisenhower/Johnson tunnels. The navigation alerted me to an insufficient charge to reach my destination. Selecting a Kohl’s Charge Point location on route I stopped for an hour there to charge and have my first Kohl’s experience... remember I’m originally from New Zealand, population of 4 million. Driving out of that parking lot again my electric decreased suddenly and I called Schomp concerned to know what was going on. Returning to Schomp to charge for an additional hour it was getting late. At 10:25pm I departed Schomp a second time with my electric recording 67 miles. Back on the road it decreased to 46miles and I decided to make the journey.

This is where I learned that climbing steep mountain roads with only gas can get really slow. Losing electrical half way up my steep climb, also meant I was rationing my use of the heater. As the windows started to fog I’d open the windows – why on earth had I not brought gloves? (This must be why in New Zealand we call the compartment on the front dash the glove box!) My uphill speeds on gas, ranged depending on the grade under 35mph. Crawling to the tunnel I was hugging the right verge with my hazard lights on. The only traffic, as it being midnight, were large trucks passing me. Needless to say I was EXTREMELY relieved to make it in the tunnel, close the windows and on the downhill turn on maximum heat. Four miles electric charge was generated on the descent to Silverthorne. This allowed me to climb out of Silverthorne to Frisco where I exited to hook up back at the Wholefoods Charge Point.