Two-time World Cup slalom winner Didier Plaschy has brought his Ski-Valais athletes onto grass skis from our Brno workshop, and the footage he sent over is a small masterclass in summer slalom technique. The former Swiss racer and current Co-CEO of Ski-Valais has been using grasski to extend his team's effective slalom season well past the spring snowline, and was kind enough to share videos, a looped technique example, and a full frame-by-frame "protokoll" of one of his athletes turning a perfect right-footer.

Why a Swiss World Cup coach reaches for grass skis

Didier Plaschy is one of the most familiar voices in Swiss alpine skiing. He won World Cup slaloms in Vail and Kranjska Gora during the 1999/2000 season, took three Swiss national titles, and competed at the 1998 Nagano Olympics. Since stepping out of the start gate, he has coached at the Swiss national performance centre in Brig, served three seasons as a Swiss-Ski Europacup coach, and today is Co-CEO of Ski-Valais. Swiss television regularly has him on air as a slalom expert during the World Cup.

When a coach with that résumé picks grass skis as a serious summer tool, it is worth paying attention. The reason is simple: grasski reproduces the rhythm, edging, pole work, and inside-knee mechanics of snow slalom more honestly than any dry-land alternative. The slope rolls under the ski, the inside leg has to make room, the outside ski has to carve. As Didier's clips show, his athletes work the same gates, the same line, and the same body position they will use again in November on snow, just on a green slope in June.

Chiara's right turn, in Didier's own words

Along with the videos, Didier sent over a short loop of his athlete Chiara executing what he calls a textbook right turn. His advice, sent to his group:

"Thank you Chiara for the lovely right turn. Watch it a few times on a loop. See how simple it can be: pump, make space for the inside knee, rotation under the middle of both feet, and then a small pistolero (inside shoulder forward) to stop the starting rotation."

What to watch for in the loop:

1. Pump the ski to load the edge before the gate.
2. Make space for the inside knee so the new outside ski can carve cleanly.
3. Rotation under the middle of both feet, not from the upper body.
4. A small pistolero (inside shoulder pushed forward) to neutralise the start of the rotation and keep the line tight.

"Grasski Protokoll": one turn, broken down

Didier didn't stop at one loop. He put together a full Grasski Protokoll, a labelled coaching analysis that walks through a single turn phase by phase: the inside ski acting as the "Captain" and making room, the subtle rotation generated from forefoot, middle of the foot and heel, and finally the synchronisation of both skis through the fall line. It is exactly the kind of breakdown an alpine racer normally only sees on snow days, and it works just as cleanly on grass.

Built in Brno, ridden in Valais

Seeing skis we hand-build in our Brno workshop turn up in the hands of an alpine team led by one of Switzerland's most respected slalom voices is, to put it plainly, why we keep doing this. Didier's group is using our race-oriented models to extend their effective training calendar through the warmest months of the year, and they're getting a real return on the work, just look at the line Chiara is holding through the gates.

If you coach an alpine team and you've been wondering whether grass skiing can give your athletes meaningful summer mileage, this is exactly the case study we'd point you to. And if you just want to try it for yourself, our help me choose ski guide will walk you through the right model for your level. More on grass skiing as alpine summer training is over in our earlier article on the topic.

Our thanks to Didier Plaschy and the Team Ski-Valais athletes for sending the footage, the technique notes, and for letting us share it with the grasski community. We're looking forward to seeing more of their summer work.

All video footage, GIF and coaching analysis in this article: Didier Plaschy (Wikipedia), training Team Ski-Valais on grasski supplied by Grasski.net. Published with the author's permission.