Interactive Dynamics of Alpine Maneuvers

Abstract

In the preceding chapter, we analyzed idealized situations in which the edge of the ski would bite into a plane or inclined snow slope that otherwise did not deform. In each case we assumed that the skier always anticipated lateral forces and maintained balance throughout the maneuver being discussed so that the total reaction force of the skier’s center of mass was always directly along the skier’s legs, through the skis, and onto the snow. In actual skiing, skiers alter the configuration of their bodies and, by using muscular forces, set their centers of mass in motion in relation to their skis. A simple example of this is the way skiers weight and unweight their skis by thrusting their legs up or down. More extreme examples would be setting the poles (or the edge of a ski) into the snow and then moving or rotating all or part of the body over or around that stationary point in acrobatic jumps that may or may not be accompanied by twists and turns. In this chapter we examine several of these dynamic skiing maneuvers [1].