TECH TALK/BACKSHOP
tition, but becoming excellent freeskiers, too. Case in point?
Joey’s son, Shane, a current USST C Team member, achieved
a perfect 5.0 skiing score in the 2009 USST selection competi-
tion.
Its all about the basics, says Joey Cordeau. “We teach our
athletes to ski the entire mountain, not just a man-made zipper
line,” he says. “We teach a combination of every ski technique
you have ever learned — from the French technique in the
60s and the Austrian technique of the 70s to the American ski
method of the 80s and the two-ski method of today — con-
densed into 30 seconds of mogul skiing.”
Andy Ware
The Cordeau family.
What the U.S. Ski Team Says
“I met Joey Cordeau in 1981, the first year that I competed on
the Saab Pro Mogul Tour. I noticed that all of the skiers from
Sun Valley were using the ski tip-to-tail in the turn. Personally,
I thought this was the greatest thing I had seen and tried to
adopt that in to my own skiing. As the sport has evolved the
last 30 years, there are now many techniques to get down the
moguls and with the change to manmade courses and bigger
jumps, there is now a combination of many things that make a
great competitive mogul skier. The fact that the program in Sun
Valley promotes skiing everywhere on the mountain is key in
the development of an all-around skier. In competitions, skiers
see all kinds of snow conditions and different-sized moguls and
rhythm changes. Having your skiers ski all over the mountain
gets them used to these different conditions and will also help
develop skills with their vision and having to use various tech-
niques when needed. It will also give skiers a different perspec-
tive on skiing as all skiers in a competitive program are not
going to get to the highest levels of the sport and you want to
make sure that they are having fun. They should come out of
a program with better skills than they came into it with and be
able to continue to have a love and passion for skiing.”
SVSEF; TOMM Y RICHARDSON
Tuning GS Skis for Moguls
Nearly all the SVSEF freestyle athletes use GS race skis for training and competition, but with plates removed. Here are some other
specs that Joey Cordeau shared:
1. Flat bases. Just like in alpine racing, this creates the best glide
and most consistent feel on the snow. Cordeau sends his athletes’
skis to the shop on a regular basis for stone grinding to keep the
base wear in check. (When I grind mogul skiers’ skis, I like to put a
slalom race grind on the ski, but then “lower” the grind extensively
for faster acceleration and easier maneuverability — imagine shav-
ing the tread from a race car tire). Keep in mind that getting a totally
flat base and base edge takes extensive grinding at slow speeds on
a modern stone grinder; oftentimes requires removing the bindings;
and might take up to an hour of grind time per pair to achieve.
2. Base bevel. Cordeau likes all his athletes to have a true 0.5-de-
gree base bevel running the entire length of the ski, and even talks
of wanting the front of the ski to feel “hooky.” This allows the athlete
to load the forebody of the ski to start the carve very quickly out of
the transition, a must when there is not distance or time to achieve
huge body angles pre-fall line.
3. Side bevel. Cordeau asks for a 2-degree side angle, which
gives a solid and sharp ski — but one that can still be steered when
needed. The side bevel is applied the entire length of the ski, from
widest point to widest point (which is farther than a flat ski’s con-
tact point). Just like an alpine race ski, it’s important to have the
sidewall prepped and shaped so that the ski’s structure does not
interact with the snow or block you from achieving a clean 2-degree
side angle the entire length of the ski.
4. Sharp tips. You need consistently sharp and polished side edg-
es the entire length of the ski — no dulling — and this includes well
up into the tip. Why? Once the ski is laid on its side, the sharp tips
help to pull the athlete into the “quick carve turn,” particularly when
he or she is arcing up the front side of a bump.
5. Round tails. The tail cap (not the side edges) of many skis is
an aluminum insert or a steel edge, and it’s important to make sure
that there are no burrs slowing the athlete down in the bumps. Keep
an old file around to file the tail cap insert round and smooth.
SkiRacing.com APRIL 7, 2011 | 62
