Downhill Ski Racing
By Julianne Moseley
Ripping down the powdered slopes with the wind whistling through my ears is a wonderful feeling. Skiing is what I look forward to the most when winter comes along. For my in-depth project 2022, I have chosen to take on downhill ski racing. I want to focus on this skill because I love skiing with my family, and we are up practicing almost every Saturday we can during the winter. But we always only go for fun, and we don’t usually focus on technique or speed. Therefore, I have no knowledge of ski racing and the mechanics, technique, and mindset of a ski racer. I became interested in learning about ski racing for these reasons. Over the course of this project, I plan on exploring both the mental and physical aspects of downhill ski racing. Some of which might include the preparation (muscle build-up, nutrition, etc.), mechanics (angles, turn tightness, technique, aerodynamics, physiology, etc.), and the mindset or mental preparation that goes into ski racing. Through the next five months, I will continue to work through these different skills and put them into practice on the hill when I am skiing with my family. I will be able to test and demonstrate my learning through the GMC Race Centre on Blackcomb Mountain in Whistler, with my goal being to improve my time by at least three seconds from now, to the end of this project.
My mentor, my uncle, Mike Giannelli, was previously a world cup ski racer. He competed in both the Giant Slalom (GS) and Downhill ski racing events. At one point in his career, he was 23rd in the world. So far, I have made great progress in this project with his help. I recently went skiing and was able to get a time going down the GMC Race Centre, giving myself a baseline or starting point to improve on. My uncle Mike and I talked on the phone beforehand, and he was able to give me a few tips to start out with, as well as a drill to improve my form on the hill. This drill involved lifting the inside ski when turning to strengthen the outside leg. He told me to send videos of myself trying out the drill while skiing, and he would send videos of himself to compare. I sent him my progress, and after he sent me the video of him doing the drill, I have realized I need to take wider turns to hold my inside ski up for longer, and I will try this next time I am on the hill. I will continue to work on the drill and tips he has given me next time I go skiing. 
In addition to the drill, he provided me with a few tips to advance my form. I have been taught to keep my hips and upper body facing down the hill while my legs do the work on the turning. I have also been told to try carving my ski edges when turning, instead of sliding my skis in parallel. I learned that a big difference between ski racing and regular skiing is that turns in ski racing help to speed you up, not slow you down. Carving is what is going to speed me up when I am turning. I am finding it very difficult to figure out, because I have been skiing the same way my whole life, and carving involves really committing and leaning into turns. I will continue to work on carving my skis, which I predict will improve my time quite a bit. My uncle Mike has sent me many resources already. The resources he has shared include ski racing in BC, parallel skiing turns versus carving turns, and a variety of drills for me to practice on the hill to help me improve certain mechanics in my form.
A large obstacle I have had to overcome was trying to plan out how I would continue my project into late April and May as skiing season will be over by then. I decided I would focus on the physical technique of ski racing for the next few months as this will take the longest and involve the mountain. I will leave more of the nutrition, knowledge on muscles involved in ski racing, and exercises that help to build up certain muscles, for late April and May, as these aspects do not heavily rely on the mountain to learn and achieve. I also found an indoor skiing simulator. In the simulator, I would be attached to skis attached to a belt that moves side to side to resemble turning, as if I was skiing through the flagpoles down a racecourse. I could try this out once sometime in May to help with my angles and turns.
I am extremely excited to go deeper into this project. I have a starting point, and a few drills and tips to keep in mind for the next few weeks that will help me get to the next level. I am thrilled to take on this project and can’t wait to see my progress along the way!