DAY 7 - Niseko - Beugen und Strecken

For the illiterate, this was the bend and stretch day.  Mark decided that Steve and I had to improve our turning technique for powder skiing, and he would employ the Austrian bend and stretch method in order to achieve this.

What a task master...it definitely worked, with the ski lines less scraped and the turns cleaner.

We spent most of the day in An'nupuri, which is the ski field on the left side of the mountain.  The peak was shrouded, but the lower slopes had a nice coating of fresh snow.

We had lunch at the Niseko Hilton, consisting of a buffet with soft drinks at a very reasonable price.

The rest of the day was spent Beugen und Strecken. Steve and I seem to be less tired as the week progresses and our aches and pains are reducing.

Photos in the An'nupuri gondola:

Now the videos.

Lots of time spent on technique.

Steve (The Brick) and Mark (sWoop) bending and stretching.  Notice how the torso is facing down the slope with the legs pushing out in the turn:

sWoop and The Brick bend and stretch at speed:

Chopper (Den) doing an easy Red groomed at speed:

The Brick and sWoop - was meant to be at speed but they wimped it:

sWoop:

Brick and sWoop doing something flash:

Brick on the way off the mountain.  The weather had closed in and it was pretty damn cold:

Chopper coming off the mountain: