- 1). Master the snowplow, which looks like an inverted "V." Bring your ski tips together by angling your ankles inwards. A snowplow can be used to stop and is also the basis of turning.
- 2). Weight the downhill edge. All turns are created by putting the ski on edge. By leaning your weight on the downhill ski, you can turn back and forth across the slope. Weight your left leg to turn right and the right leg to turn left.
- 3). Practice your pole plants. You should be using your ski poles to help create a rhythm, but don't rely on them to physically turn your skis. An ideal rhythm is to plant one pole downhill and turn around it. For instance, plant your right pole and quickly weight your left ski, turning around the pole. Reach down the hill for each pole plant, to learn to ski the fall line (the line an object would fall down a slope).
- 4). Bring the skis in together as you get more comfortable on them to ski parallel. Ski instructors teach kids by having them think "Pizza, french fries." The pizza is the snowplow; the french fries is the parallel turn. Keep your skis about shoulder-width apart and weight the downhill edge to turn.
- 5). Try the jump turn, which come into play on steep, narrow terrain. Practice a jump turn on a flat surface before using it on the slopes. From a standstill, jump into the air, and turn your skis and body in a 180, leading with the shoulders.
- 6). Keep your skis weighted evenly when skiing in powder. On groomed terrain, your downhill ski often has 90 percent of your weight. If you do that in powder, you will create a tip dive and fall. Powder turns require keep your weight balanced over both skis.
previous post