Customer Reviews

Anyone Can Be An Expert Skier 1 - The New Way to Ski [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Harold Harb is a pioneer in ski instruction and his PMTS system will have you skiing like you never have before. His form is very inspiring, and you won't be able to wait to get on the slopes to try out his lessons. However, his video suffers much the same problem as his book(s)-- his technique is ingeniusly simple, but his explanations are highly technical, not organized to its best, and confusing. The names given to each movement tend to be somewhat academic, and any claim that these lessons will work for the first time skier may be a stretch. I'd say this is a a great video for the intermediate at best-- I got this video to make better sense of his book of the same name. I've learned his technique from an instructor, though, and this video makes a great refresher to what I learned that day.

I discovered Harald Harb's ski instruction method a couple of year's ago and have seen definite improvement in my skiing.

The video covers everything you need to get the most from your shaped skis. His program is clear, step-by-step, and his technique for great turns is easy to learn.

I recommend this video for all levels who wish to gain new insight into the realm of expert skiing...

Anyone Can Be An Expert Skier 1 is everything that it says it is, a fully modern instruction method and approach to skiing that, unlike traditional ski area teaching, takes full advantage of the most modern equipment. After many seasons working with traditional or mainstream PSIA instructors, some of them friends, with little results other than frustration at their obvious lack of understanding of their own sport, I began looking at other teaching systems, starting with the very good Breakthrough on Skis by Lito Tejada-Flores. But when I found Harald Harb's books and videos, that's when my skiing realy began to take off. Why? Because Harb's approach is based upon a scientific understanding of the actual (bio)mechanics of skiing. After working with the Harb material for two seasons now it is clear to me that his is probably the best approach, more depth than Tejada-Flores and FAR superior to the muddle of tradition and misunderstanding that is mainstream PSIA teaching. My skiing has gone from stuck (frustrated, pissed off) stemming my turns and being uncomfortable with any terrain that wasn't blue groomed to being totaly cool with bowls, bumps, steeper runs where you ski around rocks, and, of course, powder. Specific movments of specific body parts are explained clearly as to their function and execution. Big improvment in my skiing happened right away and continues. This book is for anyone of reasonable athletic ability who desires to learn the movements and develop the balance necessary for true expert skiing. I highly recommend it.

This is a great DVD for those who wants to stop skiing with "wedge" and "snowplough" all the time.

The method is very simple to understand. Seeing it in a video makes a lot easier than reading about it.

I "test" the method recently, and YES that works great. I was capable to start skiing parallel almost immediatly. Of course took some time to improve, but the results came fast.

I could actually think about what I was doing while skiing, remembering the lessons on the DVD. That gave me the sense of practicing the theory.

Only thing that I missed a bit is a lesson explaining a way to STOP doing wedges and trust in the "Phanton Movement". I guess this part was quite overlooked.

Well..worked for me. I am skiing a LOT better.

I have been skiing for more than 30 years. I'm not sure I ever really learned via real instruction, but I can get down the hill with the best of them. Some days, I'm an amazing expert, other days an amazing clutz. Like most skiers (older ones at least), a couple of bad, off days can blow your confidence. A few days of good conditions and fancy footwork can restore your confidence.

I decided to finally work on my technique as a technical person (I'm a geek). I purchased both this tape and Lido's tapes (Breakthrough...) Interestingly, both Harald and Lido share the same viewpoint and overall objectives when teaching. Harald though, is so highly technical, that it should be the 4th in the series of Lido's tapes. I had trouble watching Haralds tape and even reading his book first.

Funny, I watched Lido's Breakthrough on Skis, and I had an epiphany, then when I watched Harald, it all fit together. I have improved a massive amount this season because of these two guys. Harald is definitely a racing, technique egghead. Lido is a seat of the pants expert. Trying Haralds techniques out of the box will certainly cause you to fall and hurt yourself. Trust me...I caused personal damage to myself.

I would recommend this to people who are total beginners as an only course of study. But if you are an advanced, or even an experienced intermediate, be careful, watch Lido first. Harald is technical enough and specific enough that it is confusing to unlearn what you already know.

My main criticisms are:

1) Too much time is spent on non-instructional filler material.

2) The photography is not conducive to learning the techniques. There are not enough slow-motion and close-up shots to really show what is going on with foot and ski position.

3) Some ski terms and jargon are not defined in the video. This can be confusing to a new skier who has to figure out what Harold is describing by watching the video multiple times. If the jargon was defined when first used, it would be immediately clear.

There are better instructional ski videos out there where the photography is much, much better with more time spent on theory and practice. This video was good when it first came out, but it has been surpassed by better ones.

I have been skiing for more than 30 years. I'm not sure I ever really learned via real instruction, but I can get down the hill with the best of them. Some days, I'm an amazing expert, other days an amazing clutz. Like most skiers (older ones at least), a couple of bad, off days can blow your confidence. A few days of good conditions and fancy footwork can restore your confidence.

I decided to finally work on my technique as a technical person (I'm a geek). I purchased both this tape and Lito's tapes (Breakthrough...) Interestingly, both Harald and Lito share the same viewpoint and overall objectives when teaching. Harald though, is so highly technical, that it should be the 4th in the series of Lito's tapes. I had trouble watching Haralds tape and even reading his book first.

Funny, I watched Lito's Breakthrough on Skis, and I had an epiphany, then when I watched Harald, it all fit together. I have improved a massive amount this season because of these two guys. Harald is definitely a racing, technique egghead. Lido is a seat of the pants expert. Trying Haralds techniques out of the box will certainly cause you to fall and hurt yourself. Trust me...I caused personal damage to myself.

I would recommend this to people who are total beginners as an only course of study. But if you are an advanced, or even an experienced intermediate, be careful, watch Lito first. Harald is technical enough and specific enough that it is confusing to unlearn what you already know.

Having competed on a national level when in college in 1980s I recognize elements of Mr. Harb's techniques used back then (i.e. ski on one leg). However, we now have shaped skis, which seem to need a different approach to achieve level of enjoyment and performance not possible on 20-year old straight skis.

I am certainly not an expert, but I did take a lesson recently from a professional instructor. Here is what I've learned (and what seems to be opposite to Mr. Harb's teachings):
- Ski on both skis (only if you have "shaped" skis)
- make sure that inner ski is at the same angle to the slope as the outer one (for that you need move inner knee closer to the slope - it feels awkward at first)
- during transition between turns, you hold skis parallel to slope and quickly turn them in the direction they need to go without putting them on edge (this is very quick, less than a second and somewhat unstable move)
- After skis are turned in the direction you need, put both of them on the edge and enjoy a feeling of acceleration.

When you ski like that, there is almost no side sliding of skis, and it feels that you actually accelerate in the turn. Unbelievable!

When I compare how Mr. Harb turns (and diagrams that he draws on weight distribution) with clips of current racers. it feels as if Mr. Harb uses turns to slow down - see flares of snow. Perhaps this is because he turns only on one ski. Opposite to his approach, racers on the very same DVD almost always ski on both skis and one can see almost perfect trajectories of both skis without wasteful side sliding.

Mr. Harb, I hope you personally experience the new technique and make an updated video that I am able to learn from. However as it is, I can't recommend this DVD nor the "Anyone Can Be An Expert Skier 2: Powder, Bumps, and Carving" DVD, that seems to be using similar principles.