S-BB the new way to skate up steep hills

The key problem lots of us have with skating is how to not get "burned out"
by the hills. Skating on gentle trails is fun and fast, way better than
Classic
striding -- but throw in some serious hills and after we just barely make it
over the top, our muscles are too tired to enjoy the gentle rollers much for
the rest of that day.

Survival: How to get through a serious hill and stay fresh for lots more
skating?
S-BB = Ski - Belly Button alignment.
As I go to set down my next ski, I turn my belly button to aim the same way
that next ski is aiming. I turn my hips away from the ski I'm currently
pushing and toward the next ski.
Two beneficial results for not burning out in skating up a hill:
(a) S-BB moves the hip for the next leg push lower down the hill than the
current hip is finishing it's push. (though it's higher up the hill than
where the current leg's hip started its push). So each step moves less far
up the hill -- thus for the same cadence turnover frequency, the rate of
vertical climbing is lower, so the required power output is lower, and stays
farther under the lactate-related threshold. The other way to reduce power
output is to reduce turnover frequency -- but taking larger steps requires
higher forces that tend to engage "fast glycolitive" muscle fibers -- which
operate anaerobically to produce lactic acid, and tend to consume limited
locally-stored glycogen fuel. S-BB avoids acid and conserves glycogen.

(b) S-BB moves the currently-pushing hip sideways outward, which helps drive
the current ski out faster toward the side. This helps the ski to keep on
gliding and not "stall out" -- just what we need to help manage a slower
climbing rate.

It also has a negative impact:
(c) S-BB reduces propulsive force and power applied by the leg-push through
the
ski.

Flat versus Hill: Skating on flat terrain, the reduction by S-BB of (a)
required power is smaller than the reduction of (c) applied power -- so the
S-BB move is a loser on the flats. But on a steep hill, the reduction by
S-BB of (a) required power is a large percentage, definitely larger than
the reduction of (c) applied power -- thus using the S-BB move reduces
muscle fatigue + strain from climbing up a hill. Mainly by making it easier
to climb the hill _slower_ and with smaller steps upward.
Therefore
* S-BB is not the "right" way to skate in all situations -- only for hills
steep enough to otherwise exceed the power rate my muscles can deliver
without starting to "burn" out.
* S-BB is not usually appropriate for super-athlete racers: because they're
trying to go faster up the hill -- "surviving" the hill is not a problem
for them.

I've been trying out S-BB on snow climbing hills for the past two days, and
there's no doubt it makes it much easier for me to climb slower and come
over the top with muscles fresh to keep on skating. I wish I'd known to use
it in my long hilly race this year.

Ken

P.S. Since the Toe of my foot aims in the direction of the ski, and my belly
button is my "Navel", we could also call this move "Navel - Toe" or "N-T"
alignment. Another useful alignment is to set down the ski with the Knee
over the toe, but that has nothing to do with reducing require power output,
and anyway adding a letter "K" to the "N-T" formula would make it harder to
remember (we'd need some silly phrase like "Tony's navel").