If you dismiss the opening and closing hyperbole and blatant commercialism of Stu Campbell, the Technical Editor for Ski magazine, Ski Better Now! is an excellent instructional video that incorporates slow-motion and eye-catching graphics in ways that highlight how the video medium can be used most effectively. Ski experts Dave Merriam, Gary Posekian, Shawn Smith, Jerry Warren, and Tim Petrick take viewers step-by-step through the basics: stance, pole use, transferring your weight, and steering and guiding. In the second half of the program, the pros take those basic concepts and apply them to specific situations: steeps, moguls, soft snow, crud, and ice. Color graphics superimposed onto the picture allow viewers to see the basic movements (color arrows for posture, direction, etc.), while high quality cinematography captures the important detail in the skier's runs. The tape takes a nose dive at the conclusion when Campbell exhorts viewers to "get in touch with your skis" (which is like telling a rodeo rider to kiss his or her horse-it's beyond the function). This ski-guru baloney is really just an excuse for a long commercial about Olin skis under the guise of ski care instruction (keep your Olin skis in shape, etc.). Campbell's segments aside, Ski Better Now! is a superb instructional video, and is highly recommended. (See BREW IT AT HOME for availability.)
Ski Better Now!
(1991) 30 m. $19.95. Driscoll Communications (dist. by Aylmer Press). Public performance rights included. Color cover. Vol. 7, Issue 3
Ski Better Now!
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