Cross Country Academy, Efficiency, and Micro Adjustments with Justin Arndt

How can a movement as small as a five-degree change in your knee or shoulder position dramatically improve your skiing efficiency? In this episode of First Chair, host George Thomas talks with PSIA-AASI National Team member Justin Arndt about his recent 32 Degrees article, “Micro Adjustments: A Practice for Developing Efficiency.” Justin explains how subtle changes in body position—like shifting your center of mass, adjusting knee angles, or refining pole placement—can significantly impact balance, power, and efficiency on snow. Justin also shares how these ideas translate across cross country, alpine, telemark, and snowboard instruction, and how instructors can help guests experiment with small adjustments that create big performance gains. Watch this episode on YouTube to see Justin demonstrate these micro adjustments and tutorials visually. His examples make it easy to understand how tiny movements can lead to more powerful, efficient skiing. The conversation also covers: - Why efficiency is the foundation of cross country skiing - How micro adjustments can improve skiing across disciplines -Teaching strategies for helping students feel subtle movement changes - Details about the upcoming Cross Country Academy at Mt. Bachelor Whether you're an instructor, certification candidate, or simply looking to ski more efficiently, this episode offers practical insights you can apply on your next day on snow.