Before you think I’m losing my marbles, let me explain. Skiing is a dynamic sport. It is a challenge for coaches to use words that are static to teach skiing - a sport that is always in motion. To help people register concepts when so much movement is involved, I bundle movements in memorable phrases. All my students know the ‘Love Spot™’ or the ‘Squeegee Move™'. So what does the ‘Power of the High Heel™’ bundle?

In every ski turn, we have an inside ski and an outside ski. This difference in the skis is easy to visualize in the middle of a turn. When passing through the fall line, one ski is on the outside of the turn and the other is on the inside. When a turn is completed across the fall line, the inside ski becomes the uphill ski, the top ski, or the high ski. The ‘high heel’ refers to the heel in the top foot and how that ‘high heel’ functions for great skiing.

1. Scotty Brooksbank with his balance on his High Heel as his passes his pole touch at the beginning of his new turn.
2. Scotty on flat, edgeless skis as he passes through the Love Spot™
3. Scotty shaping his turn with his Epiphany Pad™ as he develops the Power of the High Heel™ as he passes through the Fall Line.
4. Scotty's balanced on his High Heel as he completes the turn.

	The Epiphany Pad™ is the outside edge of the foot from the little toes to the heel. The Epiphany Pad™ is the place where we control the inside/soon-to-be-uphill ski. The heel is the strongest part of the Epiphany Pad™.

From How Mikaela Shiffrin Won the Slalom, NYTimes.com, February 21, 2014. After the first run, the 18-year old American Mikaela Shiffrin led the field by 0.5 of a second. On the second run, the Austrian Marlies Schild skied the fastest time of the day, taking the lead. In order to win, Shiffrin would have to ski even faster than she had in her first run. Halfway through her second run, Shiffrin became unbalanced and her weight shifted back on her heels. The power in the tails of her skis sprung her forward like a trampoline. How do you think Mikaela Shiffrin made her recovery?

Anybody who has read my book, seen my DVD, or skied in one of my programs, knows I’m big on the functions of the inside ski – especially for all-mountain skiing and specifically for mogul skiing. Unfortunately, the inside ski has been neglected by most of the ski teaching community where the primary focus remains on the outside ski. I first became aware of the importance of the inside ski while competing in world freestyle events. My understanding and concepts of the inside ski didn't come to fruition until I watched Jean Claude Killy ski. Where can one find a more graceful model of free skiing? I wish more of my peers would study the suppleness with which Killy skis.

The ‘Power of the High Heel™’ takes the concepts related to the inside ski to another level. The importance of the heel of the Epiphany Pad™ became vivid after watching Killy's video for the 100th time. Watching closely, one sees Killy jam his inside foot into his outside foot as his skis pass through the fall line [Notice the frames between times 3:50-5:30]. When he makes this move, his bones are stacked and he looks absolutely relaxed, yet solid as a rock. He completes his turns balanced on his top heel - the High Heel. At turn initiation, he is often balanced totally on his top heel as he releases the grip of his bottom/outside ski. This is perfectly clear because he releases the bottom ski by lifting it out of the snow. These two concepts are the lynch pins of the Clendenin Ski Method. 1) Each turn is initiated with balance on the top foot. 2) The first move to initiate the new turn is the release of the downhill ski (either by picking it up or tipping it flat into the new turn). The Power of the Heel™ facilitates both of these concepts.

From: Four Words for Great Skiing

At the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, Switzerland, there is an exhibit displaying Killy’s equipment from his triple gold medal win in 1968. On display are his original leather LeTrappeur boots. Each boot had an extra layer of thick leather sewn on the inner side. There are dozens of deep razor cuts on these extra inside layers. Those razor cuts were etched by the inside ski edge cutting into the boot. This means he skied with as narrow a stance as functionally possible and that his inside ski was extremely active and often tipped on a higher edge angle than his outside ski. Without the pad, his razor-like edges would have cut through his boot.

How does Killy use his high heel – the heel on his inside/soon-to-be-uphill ski? After many hours of experimentation, I found that the power of the inside heel is incredible. When employed with pressure and balance early in the turn, above the fall line, the Power of the Heel stacks the bones and shapes the new turn. Now, when skiing moguls, I am less tired and have more control of both my speed and turns.

Where has the High Heel been hiding?

Johnny C - Today