Jacob Perkins is a 28-year-old speed skier who recently placed in the 2022 FIS World Cup. Did you know that speed skiing was eliminated from the Olympics after 1992? However it has a high likelihood of returning in the 2026 games and Jacob is on a mission to see that happen. He relies heavily on his background in manufacturing and engineering for innovation in the sport of Speed Skiing where not only the athlete, but equipment can be a deciding factor of winning and losing. This episode is an interesting dive into what speed skiers do in order to reach such high speeds but also stay safe when you are sliding at over 150km/h!

Thanks for listening and be sure to check out Big Picture Skiing for video tutorials, lessons, webinars and other “how to’s” for your skiing

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Most of us don’t take the time to consider what goes into designing, testing and manufacturing the ski boots we put on our feet. There are so many factors to consider so I thought it would be interesting to chat with Christoph Lenz from Fischer about this topic. What you may find interesting in this podcast:

- How a change in brand made a huge difference to Christoph’s ski racing results. 

- That some of the best WC skiers using Fischer are not in super stiff boots but rather prefer to be more dynamic and get that from some of Fischer’s proprietary plastics. 

- Properties of the Vacuum plastic Fischer uses. 

- Costs involved to create a new boot.

- How the rail or lug of the ski boot changes the feel of your skiing. 

I found our talk really enlightening and enjoyed learning some of the finer details behind designing a ski boot. Let us know what you thought and if there was anything that stood out for you from this discussion. 

Thanks Tom Gellie

Don’t forget to check out www.bigpictureskiing.com for lessons, tutorials, tech talks, equipment know how and more.

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Sam and Tom chat with Ski Racer Jack Adams about his life growing up skiing at Thredbo and now competing in Europe aiming to make it into the top 250 in the world. This is a very challenging task so we hope you find it interesting to learn what a skier at this level is focused on in terms of technique and tactics. It ties in really well with the previous podcast with Paul Epstein for some context.

In this episode:

• Tuning skis by hand or machine?
• Being coached by Paul Lorenz at an early age.
• The breakthrough of going deeper with his racing line.
• Jack’s top technical focuses. Favourite drills.
• What he would coach young races about knowing what he knows now.

Enjoy and thanks for listening.

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Hear what a World Cup/Europa Cup Coach has to say about getting athletes onto the world stage of ski racing. He has created a private team to support and coach athletes from smaller nations like Belgium, Australia and England and help them break onto the World Cup and fulfil their dreams. This man is the real deal and his results speak for themselves. Tune in for a no BS conversation between Sam Robertson, Tom Gellie and Paul Epstein.

Global Racing is a private team and they could use your help. They don’t have the major sponsors and donors like the big World Cup teams but are producing some phenomenal results. If you found this interview interesting and want to help out some underdog ski racers live their dreams you can donate here by heading to the link below 👇 

https://www.teamglobalracing.com/donations

We at Big Picture Skiing donated and every bit helps.

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Sam Robertson was a 2x World championships ski racer for Australia. He is also my business partner and co-coach for Big Picture Skiing. In this episode I catchup with Sam and discuss his insights from returning to race training! Sam has spent the last 6 years mostly free ride skiing and on wider skis as he loves big mountain skiing and technical lines down big terrain. This season Verbier where he was based had a long period of no fresh snow. This encouraged Sam to return to the piste and join World Cup Team “Global Racing” for some race training. Sam talks with us about what he learnt from this experience as well as how much enjoyment he got from returning to skiing on narrow, sharp and fast skis on hard snow. I think you will gleam some great insights from this episode. The main one I would hope is that being an all round skier gives you many more days to love on the mountain so no matter what the conditions you will have a great day.

For more in depth ski information, lessons, and programs please check out our website: Big Picture Skiing

Thanks for listening

Tom Gellie and Sam Robertson

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Ski boots are not comfortable pieces of equipment. They can be made to be more comfortable but for the majority of people this takes time and ideally the best pair of boots to begin with. This podcast looks at some of the history of ski boot fitting and how the search to reduce pain in the everyday skier lead to dynamic performance potentially being compromised. There was a point in history where one solution to the pain skiers would experience going from leather into plastic boots was to build a motion inhibiting, foot stabilising footbed or orthotic device.

This podcast is a discussion between master boot fitter Brent Amsbury and skier Tom Gellie on the topic of ideal boot setup processes and concepts. One side of the conversation centres on a static model of how the foot and ski interacts (hold it stable and dont let it move) vs a dynamic model of foot/boot/ski interface where the foot has a little more motion available to allow the joints to move and the body’s structure to be loaded through the muscles tendons and ligaments. Almost akin to how minimalist shoes have seen people rebuild foot strength and arch support through their own musculoskeletal system.

The goal of the podcast conversation was to bring light to two sides of the coin so people can make their own decisions as to what road they would like to go down with their ski boot setup. No right or wrong way just different outcomes.

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Meet Gord Brown one of the best coaches I have ever had the pleasure of being coached by. Gord is a wealth of knowledge and a role model for all instructors and coaches in my opinion. I wanted to chat with Gord so you the listener could perhaps gleam some insights into what makes a great ski coach and what a great ski coach believes are some of the most important areas of skiing to get dialled in and right.

I dont have video of Gord skiing so this description wont do it any justice. However I have a memory of Gord skiing down a double black diamond in SilverStar on a powder day through bumps and around small trees with the grace and style of Fred Astaire. Smooth as can be. If you learn one thing from Gord you’ll find out he has never had a bad injury on snow and is skiing beautifully and will continue to do so for the rest of his life. Enjoy being inspired and enlightened.

https://bigpictureskiing.com/

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The Rookie Academy experience for both student and trainer is like no other experience in the world. Why? Because of a multitude of factors including the best trainers in the world working together, open minds, incredible New Zealand skiing and scenery, and above all an ethos that its about getting better at skiing above everything else.

In this episode Tom Gellie chats with Rookie Academy Manager Harry McFadden and Rookies trainer Rupert Goldring about their experiences working with the Rookie Academy. Tom also shares why he loves working on the program and why you may consider this to be your next thing to do for your skiing. Be that as a student or perhaps as a lifetime goal to achieve being invited to work as a trainer with Rookies.

https://www.rookieacademy.com/ to find out more.

https://bigpictureskiing.com/ to take improving your skiing all year round from the comfort of your own home.

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Erik Schlopy was at one stage one of the best Giant Slalom Ski racers in the world. In this episode:

• Find out what sort of equipment modifications and tuning he would do to compete at this level
• If he was to race Bode Miller and the WC again what are the top ski drills he would use to get himself technically ready.
• His thoughts on the recent Olympic Winter Games
• How his namesake drill has been misunderstood and what it really is meant for
• plus much more

This conversation being recorded was a last minute decision so I apologise for the audio. But I think you will understand why I just had to record it. Sit back and enjoy listening to the Big Picture Skiing Podcast.

LINKS:

Erik Schlopy Real Estate: https://teamschlopy.com/

Big Picture Skiing Online Ski School: https://bigpictureskiing.com/

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Benji Alexander started skiing only a few years ago. And now he’s aiming to compete in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games! Intrigued? So was I. This is a fantastic listen as i think Benji highlights some seriously important points about the learning experience. What better than to come from someone who has been recently thrust into an accelerated learning pathway. Drinking from a Fire Hydrant is probably an easier thing to do. I hope we will all be cheering Benji on in a few months time at the Winter Olympics but as you’ll find out there is still many hurdles to go.

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