Terminology

The National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic and the Canadian Association for Disabled Skiing National Festival are both coming up soon. These are events where sit ski tetherers from many locations meet up, sometimes we learn from each other, sometimes we confuse each other by using different terminology. This post is intended as a reference guide to some common terms.

The Ins and Outs of the Death Wobble

It may be a dramatic term but if you are a tetherer you’ve probably seen a death wobble. It is problem which afflicts quad skis (a.k.a dual ski with pontoons / fixed outriggers) when traveling straight down the hill on flat terrain. The sequence goes something like this:

1. The ski starts to lose momentum
2. The ski tips randomly (to the right in this case) and the right pontoon touches the snow.
3. This causes a braking on the right side of the rig, and the skis twist 15 degrees off the direction of travel.
4. But the skier’s momentum is still straight forward, now 15 degrees left of where the skis are pointing, so the rig flops over to the left side
5. Now the left tide pontoon touches down on the snow
6. This causes a braking on the left side of the rig and the skis twist to point 15 degrees left of the directing of travel.
7. Now the ski flops to the right and the whole cycle continues, etc.