Click here to find out about this year's camp at Hintertux

I am a Greek skier and came to know about Harb Ski Systems by reading the first book, "Anyone can be an Expert Skier" and then via the Internet (the web site) and through e-mails with Diana Rogers. This year I also purchased the second book, " Anyone can be an Expert Skier II" which I was looking forward to. So I was a PMTS skier only by reading the book. When I learned about the ski camp in Hintertux, Austria, I thought, "here is my chance to ski with Harald and Diana and see what PMTS really is." So beginning of May 2001 I joined the camp.

When I met Diana and Harald in person at Munich airport for the first time I was quite sure that I would have a pleasant week in Hintertux. They are both very pleasant people, something you can see immediately.

Reaching Hintertux and weather permitting you can see the slopes and the glacier extending to an altitude of 10,500 ft. A spectacular sight that it's size can be perceptible only by going up there. You are captivated by the mountain and you are anxious to hit the slopes!

So Monday morning after having breakfast at the hotel - you must estimate at least half an hour for eating breakfast, because the variety is so much and everything so tasty that you want to try them all - we took the lift for the glacier. After 6,900 ft the slopes were covered by snow. Changing three cabin lifts we finally reached the top of the glacier.
The view from there is spectacular. The Austrian Alps in front of you and the icy glacier underneath your skis. You are about to take a ski lesson from Harald and Diana. Well! What else do you need?

After a warm up run on the steep and icy slope where your edges must work and your short turn is being tested and placed in dispute, we reached the T-bar that would bring us to a more gentle slope with softer snow due to the orientation of that slope. There we had the first briefing from our teachers who had already done their study on the way everybody skied. Most of them they would have work on perfecting details while I was to take some basic PMTS lessons to eliminate my wedge entry to the turn. Diana's trained eye immediately noticed that I needed a bit of canting to my boots that would let me roll to the ski edges more easily. So a pair of plastic wedges was placed underneath my heels and things seemed to get better. From then on I was to try and stay longer in the turn and trust that the ski will turn on its own. PMTS rule No. 1: We don't turn our skis; they turn us. Having learned how to ski by the traditional method I was twisting a bit my skis in the entry and was making a very tight turn that sometimes was causing a skid. On that first day and after Diana's remarks I could make a round and gentle turn using the famous "Phantom move". And I felt great! Well a lot more had to be done for me in order to ski like the others in the group but the effectiveness of PMTS was already obvious.

After skiing for about 2 ½ to 3 hours we grouped all together for a small lunch in the restaurant that was close to the third cabin lift at an altitude of 8,730 ft.
The food there was very good - apple strudel with vanilla crème was to become the most favorite plate for many in the group - and the view to the slopes from the sunny terrace very nice. Spending there about 45 min. we took again the lift to the top of the glacier.
The condition of the snow at that time was better - softer snow due to the time of the day.
So we spent most of our time on the upper part of the glacier practicing more or less what
we were working the whole day. At about three o'clock in the evening, tired but happy, we embarked in the cabin lift that would take us down the mountain.

Five o'clock in the evening after a little time for freshening up, gathering at the hotel's bar for a coffee, refreshment or beer (mostly) and a nice talk until the time for dinner - the time everybody was looking for. The food was very good and plentiful and the service excellent. It's a good end to the day and off to bed, for most of us to sleep.

The schedule for the next days was almost the same as the first day. We had become familiar with the surroundings, the ski lifts, the slopes and the morphology of them and after Harald's "blind ski system!" lesson we were capable and confident to ski in mist.
We were practicing in refining the two-footed release by managing the free foot and we were also working in flexing the legs to start the release for a quicker transition on steeper terrain. I personally had also to work my pole planting, holding my poles and arms in the so-called "home base." The last few days I was practicing the stabilizing pole plant and I could ski parallel and with quite a rhythm a steep, slushy and bumpy slope.

So my first impression of PMTS was great. As I wrote above, I knew about the system only from the books of Harald Harb, but skiing with him and Diana Rogers you have the conviction that you are learning from the very best. Having been shown the right moves and practicing the innovative exercises that Harald introduced gave me not only the ability to ski better in such a sort time but also the ability to comprehend better what I read and see in the books. Having now the " know-how " to perform the basic PMTS moves and with the help of the book I can become my own best coach, hoping that one day I could ski like my teachers do.

Taking for the last time the cabin lift, passing through pine forests with waterfalls and going down to the green valley leaving behind the snow-covered slopes I promised to myself, that I will try to be there next year again.

T.M.
Thessaloniki, Greece

Click here to find out about this year's camp at Hintertux

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