Harald Harb's Season starter tutorial!

Harald Harb coaches you for the new season on connecting your short turns efficiently! The explanation and video show you how to create the precise turns and transitions used by the best skiers in the world. Harald has unlocked the secrets of world-class skiing that ski teachers have never grasped. Now instructors worldwide embrace and are applying his teaching and techniques.

[@skiwhh]

I find it humorous that now after 25 years when I published my first book (Anyone Can Be an Expert Skier) about using the inside foot, (Originally called "The Phantom Move") boot, and ski for numerous movements it's being picked up and used by ski instructors. Now they are raving about it as if it was something they discovered.

[@Osnosis]

So true; being a disciple of Lito and your’s has put me on the outs with many current instructors (the ‘cowboy stance’?!). When I teach, I constantly reference you both and give credit where it’s due.

[@GorskiNunavut]

A very few of non PMTS instructors, have suficient understanding of skiing .None of them have wording to fully describe esential movements,that are done by a good skier.Their system does not produce expert skiers as they implement TRICKS, not a system.All that puts average sko student in an endless loop of confusion, that is hard to brek, without PMTS.

[@TheBeingReal]

Yup. I’ve seen a few KZbin ski folk introducing it in the last year or so. See you in Jan at camp.

[@pauljosephhealy]

HH was the pioneer others follow 25 years later. Legend. Enough said. In the US only Taos NM has great skiing instructors.

[@PregnyChambesy]

It is the way of every innovation that has mattered. Credit is often not given-look at all of the Arab mathematicians and astrologers that we do not credit. Or the many inventions Edison borrowed. Or in science you see McClintock’s jumping gene example. Etc. You should take comfort that you were among the first to recognize it and perfect it. The people who matter to you know. Plus imagine the counterfactual where you were hailed as inventor and then given bureaucratic role. Would not having anything to fight for or even your name associated with the concept as it was blurred into standard training have been a better legacy or life? Expecting recognition is too much-mimicry is the sincerest form of flattery!

[@skiwhh]

Just so viewers understand I do not endorse Carv, which is one of the KZbin sponsors applied to the beginning of this video. I do not have control of the intro commercials.

[@TheBiffsterLife]

I’ve seen an entire mountain stop to watch flights of PMTS students come down a mountain. The synchronised and perfect technique is awesome.

[@skiwhh]

Our skiers from camps stand out because they show control and balance.

[@brianw.blackburn2330]

Thank you for posting this video. I've used your books and essentials DVDs to learn PMTS over the last 12 seasons. Interestingly you and I are the same age. I am fortunate to live next to a small ski area allowing me to practice several days a week. I love the feeling of skiing like this. Thank you for all of your dedicated work developing PMTS. A 95 yr old Austrian friend, a former skier and MD told me when i was 65 yrs old, " Now it is time to ski with elegance and grace. " PMTS has given me the the ability to do just that. Thank you Harald.

[@TheRock-xj7hs]

Hey Harold! Former ski patrolman Ricky from Mount Cranmore ski patrol! You were always a very pretty skiier,very articulate, and particular ski race coach. You certainly turned out some ringers! Good to see you or the back of you.

[@skiwhh]

Thank you, Ricky, great to hear from you.

[@profpat70]

WOW-one of your all-time great ones Harald!

[@3rwparks3]

Hi Harald, I am 72 years old now, and I haven't been on skis for a couple of years. I was a PMTS skier. Glenn was my instructor/ coach. It is a great system, and it made me a great skier. Have a great season. Russ Parks

[@bobfrizzell1059]

This is perfect, a nice summary/description of the technique. Thanks for posting Harald.

[@languagetruthandlogic3556]

Beautiful, precise and flowing skiing ? It must be the Harbs on the piste. Great to hear from you again. Have a great season. All the best from the UK!

[@skiwhh]

Thanks, you too!

[@jimroberts6176]

My skiing improved immensely after reading your article 'Anyone can be an expert skier' in Skiing magazine (?...one of those mag's). ~25 years ago. Thanks for making me a better skier over the years.

[@TheBeingReal]

Try a camp! Life changing.

[@skiwhh]

Thanks, and right on!

[@dweaver6838]

This is the best instruction I have ever seen and will help me teach my kids to become more advanced skiers. Thank you Harald!

[@skiwhh]

Happy to help

[@undrellx]

Hi Harald. I found ur book in Canada 20 years ago, n it literally changed my ski life. This video is the answer to everything.. once we know what we have to do, all we have to do is go and do it.. 😂 So grateful to have found ur book all those years ago.

[@skiwhh]

Wonderful!

[@GorskiNunavut]

A true gem, as a present for the SEASON(Ski ,Holliday or both). For more pleasure, you got to give a gift to yourself and that is attending PMTS Ski Camp Do it for you and your skiing and Joy of living will thank you for decision! Happy Hollydqys to Harald and his team! Goran from Vancouver(from the Alps).

[@TheBeingReal]

💯

[@williamtaylor5193]

Simple, efficient, and graceful.

[@FatherGorgony]

Спасибо большое, грациозное и мягкое скольжение. 10 лет назад я увидел Вас впервые в интернете и перестал стоять на лыжах, а стал сидеть:-) . Какая свобода движения координации, несмотря на мои 84 года. Хорошо бы получить распределение усилий на ступню в ботинке в течение полного цикла поворота и перекантовки. Есть такая игрушка для обучения горным лыжам. Thank you very much. Graceful and soft glide. 10 years ago I saw you on the Internet and stopped standing on skis, began sitting:-) What freedom of movement, coordination, despite my 84 years. It would be good to get the distribution of forces per foot in the boot during the full cycle of turning and edging. There is such a toy for learning to ski.

[@skiwhh]

And the English version is?

[@FatherGorgony]

​@@skiwhhThank you very much. Graceful and soft glide. 10 years ago I saw you on the Internet and stopped standing on skis, began to sit :-) What freedom of movement, coordination, despite my 84 years. It would be good to get the distribution of forces per foot in the boot during the full cycle of turning and edging. There is such a toy for learning to ski

[@mikedavis6495]

Hi Harold, we are just getting on the snow here in California. Junior race kids. lots of new ski boots that need to be set up. we are making footbeds that are made for tipping the foot. this video shows the importance of the free foot. and how it works . During video sessions, we use a tipping board. And some barefoot drills it’s hard to know what’s going on inside the boot many people look at the knees it’s hard to look at the feet inside the boot.these movement patterns that Harold teaches are good for all levels of skiing. Thanks, MD.

[@fourftr]

As my boot fitter Adam Greenier said no one knows skiing better than Harald Harb!!! Harald, PLEASE would you please give us some names for us here in the New England States that will teach us the PMTS. You or your staff has to know some people

[@skiwhh]

I'm sorry but we no longer have anyone in the East who can teach PMTS. In the Midwest, we have many accredited PMTS instructors at Welch Village.

[@thatguyonthehillwasme]

Fantastic! Skiing made simple as it is and should be.

[@skiwhh]

Glad you liked it!

[@billabongboy9510]

This is a great video. So glad I found this channel. Thank you so much for the time to share. Would love to see a training camp in Austria at the start of the ski season… rather than the end of it…. Live in Europe and would definitely attend. Maybe next year 🤞

[@skiwhh]

Look forward to skiing with you. HH

[@johnkim7439]

Fantastic instructional video!

[@jimmanuel9512]

Looking forward to seeing you guys at Camp! Snow!

[@skiwhh]

Us too!

[@DavidSkok1]

Excellent skiing Harald!

[@rickcertano2767]

Thanks Harold! Excellent!! Clear concise video and explanation!! Thanks!!

[@skiwhh]

Thank you for the comments.

[@matteoallegretti1663]

Great as your usual!👌⛷💪

[@skiwhh]

Things to look for that may not be in the running commentary during the video. Notice that there is never a hard hit at the end of my turns. This is due to early edge engagement and counteracting movements made through the arc. The bending, flexing or retraction to release do the rest.

[@davtsa]

Best video, ever!

[@brahamyoung1951]

Fantastic Sandra just sent this.. Braham

[@charlestesar855]

Great recap video Harold! Thanks for doing it. You mentioned you were going to have a second video on integrating the upper body movements in the turns. Is that still something you are planning? It would be great to have that to go along with this one. Bookends on the PMTS method for all us fans! Thanks for being a pioneer in better ski technique.

[@skiwhh]

Yes, soon

[@LAXtimmons]

Thanks for this and all your videos, HH. Thank you for mentioning your ski turn radius. I ski a 19' radius as my everyday driver. At 5:20 in the video, you shared that the inside shovel comes off the snow. I have always been a heel lift guy. Can you explain a little further how the shovel gets off the snow, especially if our weight is balanced or forward as the turn is just before or at "apex". Thank you again.

[@Gottenhimfella]

While you're waiting for a proper answer, here's my take on it: most people think of weight distribution as if there was a force equilibrium at all times, whereas in practice short turns are an ever changing dynamic situation. At a given moment in the sequence we are never in what an engineering scientist would call "static equilibrium", and this means we can do crazy stuff like: lifting our inside tip momentarily (an unsustainably) by simply increasing the flex angle of our ankle joint for that ski, and making tops of our toes and our instep press upwards against the skiboot, EVEN though our weight is simultaneously moving forward relative to our feet. We should want our weight to be doing this. Our centre of mass throughout any turn should be predominantly moving down the fall line (= to the inside of the new turn, which has the benefit of allowing us to create the new ski angle really early) but at this stage in a short radius turn, our centre of mass has to move forward as much as sideways to do that (because we're never pointing far from the fall line). How this fits into the bigger picture is more nuanced than I make it sound, as Harald points out there's also the hamstring involved in this unweighting of the inside tip. He also pointed out that this has the benefit of stablising our core (which makes perfect sense to me, being a big muscle attached to and anchoring the pelvis, which in turn is attached to the core). But I know, from recently having discovered all this stuff by experimentation, that lightening the tip or tips at this neutral moment is a lot more beneficial than lightening the whole ski as was once routinely taught, "to change edges". The tips turn out to be the only part of the ski which it is beneficial to lighten for this purpose, and it's a fleeting, momentary thing. I think it's because of what I said earlier: we're temporarily disrupting the equilbrium of forces, and here we're creating negative tip weight, taking a loan from the future, in order that we can pay it back a moment later as positive tip weight creating early engagement. (I also take the opportunity while the inside tip is light, to slew it ever so slightly downhill, so that the inside edge of that tip is already pressed into the snow as I pay back the loan. The front of the ski is the first part which must bend to the new turn and the inside ski has to do this at least as early as the outside ski, preferably earlier if anything, to get out of the way.

[@skiwhh]

Let's be clear and accurate. The tip lift is part of the releasing movement. It engages the ore. The tip should lift (rather than the tail) during the release of the previous turn, in transition. There is a continuation of movement here where the tip lift is only part (it is the initiator or a series of connected movements that prepare the new inside ski for the turn). The next movements in this series are, bringing that foot/ski closer to the other one, tipping it to its picky or little toe edge, and pulling the foot and ski back to line the toes of the boots up so they are even (no scissering) before the Apex. This action offers numerous benefits. The movement originally called the Phaantom Move, provides early agles in the "High C" part of the arc, it holds the skis back while allowing the CG to move downhill and into the next arc, and it sets up your balance for the whole turn.

[@skiwhh]

I like your post. You have a good understanding of the biomechanics. text me or email me please, Harald.@@Gottenhimfella

[@peterguo3395]

Thank you for the new video. I have learned the PMTS way to improve my ski and it proved helpful and make me an intermediate skier. Seeing your new video, I am curious to know what is critical for me not to ‘stand up’ on the outside ski during the turn, which I think I am doing. Pushing the inside ski on the outside edge after engage with the turn?

[@TheBeingReal]

As I learned from camps: relax….let the pressure build thru the turn.

[@jensgreve2064]

Thanks Harald. I have enjoyed your books for years and still consult them for select details. I wonder if you could further comment on what you say at @2.45 about pulling the inside leg back.

[@skiwhh]

This "pull back" movement is well explained, demonstrated, and shown in this video, watch it a few more times, and you will get it.

[@nzheliking1278]

Great teaching , just works!

[@skiwhh]

Great to hear!

[@skiwhh]

Thank you for the comments, I enjoy reading them and will answer any of them that have questions.

[@craigangus2529]

Had my first outing yesterday. A bit stiff this morning, mostly in the lower back! I noticed yesterday and perhaps remembered that my carving technique is not efficient. I am still working harder than is needed - a great deal of focus on my outside ski. I understood that the inside ski and knee need to be retracted to allow the full engagement of the outside ski particularly when the outside ski is fully extended; yet I see your skis close together through the whole turn sequence? Thank you for this video.

[@frankm2588]

I have followed Harald for years, have all his books, DVDs, went to a camp. I find the free foot pullback very effective. But new to me at around 5:20 of this video is lifting the tip of the free foot at the start of the pullback. I find it difficult and don't really understand the reason. He says it engages the core.

[@nzheliking1278]

Gday Harald, do you have any videos posted relating to skiing powder/softer deeper snow? Apparently this requires a change up in technique? Would you agree? Thanks nick.

[@skiwhh]

When you acquire PMTS movements you will not have to change your movements or technique. With traditional instruction you have to learn a different technique for every snow. Why? Because extension and rotation don't work in all conditions.No one can do that successfully. There isn't time enough to undo and relearn, unless you have skied your whole life and are very gifted. With PMTS you won't hav to learn and unlearn techniques for powder ,steeps or bump skiing.

[@anatoli28]

This is not ski ...is ballet😮

[@silicant5247]

As a ski instructor at a large mountain resort, PMTS is always so interesting to me, as everything is backwards from our more traditional arlberg-esq technique. What is the platform of the PMTS model? Like are we trying to show the student the most effective movements?...Or are we trying to show them a better way to ski, etc? The way a ski is designed, with traditional camber and mount, suggests we should spend as much time on the forefoot as possible as its the most efficient place to rotate and flex the ski from. Does Harold advocate skiing on the forefoot? what about the 5 ski fundamentals, how to those play into this teaching model?

[@skiwhh]

Your best bet is to learn more about PMTS if you are interested is from my books. The place to begin is the instructor Manual and then the "Essentials of Skiing" book and videos". PMTS Direct Parallel is a science-based system, biomechanically the most efficient method of ski teaching in use.

[@RK-ig5hy]

Great video! @7:06, it's like you're talking directly to me. I know I was allowing my inside ski to slide forward, and I would stand hard (and forward) on the outside ski during a carved turn--is that what you mean by a "bracing skier"? During a lesson, it was pointed out to me that my skis diverge--are these all related?

[@skiwhh]

They are somewhat related, however whenever there is an extension on one leg or the other, tipping into the new turn is hampered which causes upper body leaning and rotation.

[@tag1343]

Where can I find the second video covering the upper body movements?

[@skiwhh]

It's coming up in the next week.

[@davidrubaloff8652]

Having learned to ski in the early 80’s much of the inside tipping is foreign to me. I was hoping you might provide me a dry land exercise that will help me get this into my muscle memory? Thank you.

[@skiwhh]

Yes, I have provided more free informational content on the internet than any other coach. You can look up my Blog, or my books and videos, as well as try to enroll in our ski camps.

[@davidrubaloff8652]

@@skiwhh Thank you for getting back to me and thank you for making me aware of how much information you have provided online. Thanks.

[@douglast3410]

people can say whatever they want about pmts, but the fact remains there are only a handful of people on the planet who can ski this well as this 70 something man

[@skiwhh]

HH is 75 in June.

[@CostantinoLenzi]

How about the movement of the foot inside the turn for have right pressure in front and back of the ski?

[@skiwhh]

Go back and listen to the description near the beginning where I describe the actions of the inside "free foot".

[@CostantinoLenzi]

@@skiwhh thankyou very much, im little bit confused about this trick to lift the tip of the otiside ski durig the shape phase, what you think about? kzbin.info/www/bejne/gHaXl2x8at1rY7M&ab_channel=NielsCraenen

[@flyoverstateresident2890]

Come back to Terry Peak.

[@JanosKoranyi]

Nice skiing, nice explanations but, but..... How comes that no intermediate skiers are able to copy these turns? There are at least 2 secrets that Harald does not tell you. First is is his speed. These turns can only be made with a high speed. The second secret is his very close stance, he keeps his skis very close to each other. If you are not used to these things you will struggle and make completely different turns.

[@skiwhh]

In our camps we teach the movements of PMTS skiing slowly, it's in some ways more difficult as the energy in the ski isn't the same at a slower speed, however, I can demonstrate the same movements slowly. What most people don't see, is what you pointed out; I use my speed and tipping angles (decreasing radius) to create energy that suspends me in transition so I don't fall over when I'm upside down to the slope. The slower you ski the more counteracting you need. We have this figured out and have developed hundreds of skiers who can make these movements slowly with PMTS instruction.

[@mikedavis6495]

Hi this is Mike and I have skied with Harold 20 days. I asked him what I should work on. He told me to ski slow for 30 days. Pmts is not just for advanced skiing . many skiers that I ski with are intermediates we start out learning the phantom move. this helps them with their transitions. A parallel start to the turn. The outcome is amazing. Cheers, MD. P.S. pmts has no secrets .understanding movements is the only secret.❤

[@skiwhh]

Your comments are limiting by the fact that you don't know PMTS and you don't know how we teach. And I don't keep any secrets.