Fronds

The fronds is a short swing technique of alpine skiing , the on the drifted parallel turn based. Swings are made with high frequency and without driving straight in between, so that the swings merge directly into one another and the movement of the ski is reminiscent of the wagging of a dog's tail. A (time-consuming) vertical movement of the upper body happens on the ski slope - if at all - only minimally, the torque on the skis occurs through a lateral hip bend (torque reaction). The transfer of this impulse to the ski and the further control of the swing by pressure on the sliding (drifting) ski edges is known as heel thrust. Before the carving era, waving with close parallel ski guidance was part of the “high school” of alpine skiing. With modern carving skis you can also wag, but the carving technique enables a much more dynamic driving style at higher speeds with an approximately comparable swing frequency, which, however, requires more effort.

Definition & technique

When waving, turns are made in which the skier drifts over the edge of the ski, that is, slips. The starting point is a neutral posture over the ski, with the ankle, knee and hip joints stretched and bent evenly. Central elements of this technique are the lateral hip bend and swing control via the so-called heel thrust. The actual direction of travel is based on the fall line : the upper body is directed directly down the slope to the valley and moves along the fall line, the legs and skis perform a pendulum movement underneath. The use of poles is mainly used on the groomed slope as a rhythm generator for initiating turns.

In deep snow there is a significantly stronger vertical movement of the upper body than when waving on the slopes, in order to facilitate the initiation of turns through high relief and active use of poles.

history

Based on the parallel swing developed by Toni Seelos from Seefeld in Tirol in the 1930s , the Wedeltechnik was created in Austria in the 1950s. The stylistic representative was Stefan Kruckenhauser from St. Christoph am Arlberg (Austria).

Wedeln emerged from the twisting technique that Stefan Kruckenhauser adopted from slalom runners in the ski curriculum. The racers used this style in order to avoid the painful and usually strong braking contact with goal posts made of solid wood and still ski as close as possible to the goal line. In order to ski reasonably quickly and safely with such a torsion of the upper body, the swing had to be triggered by the hip bend and the heel thrust had to be controlled, while at the same time the upper body was inclined laterally downwards (relative to the direction of the ski).

In the case of skis that are barely waisted or not waisted at all, the radius of a drifted turn is controlled by the edge angle, edge pressure and heel thrust. In contrast to racing, where high speeds require stronger edge pressure and larger edging angles, in the case of untapered skis, only a low edge pressure and edging angle enable short turns to be lined up seamlessly. In the 1970s, waving was replaced in racing by the transfer swing, in which the ski on the inside of the curve is lifted so that a lateral swing-triggering force acts on the (outer) ski even without a hip bend and the swing can be initiated more quickly, only wagging was done in vertical combinations. In the 1990s, the carving technique established itself with the development of the tailored ski.

Even today, the term waving is often used in the media due to its imagery and tradition - not always in connection with the technology that is actually referred to as such. Wedeln is no longer taught in modern ski instruction; it has been replaced by carving with short turning radii.

In deep snow, however, waving is still one of the techniques for advanced skiers - if you want to braid two people (i.e. place very regular tracks offset against each other in the snow), you must be able to safely master waving.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Page no longer available , search in web archives: YouTube video: Sapporo 1972 , Fernández Ochoa .

Web links

• History of Alpine Skiing. ( Memento from January 3, 2015 in the Internet Archive ).