Facing the force for better balance
That heavy feeling that you sometimes get under your skis through a turn is the pressure building from traveling on an arc. The best way to stay balanced is to align your body to face where these forces are coming from.
Natural Balance
A lot of people try and balance from their head down and force a position while they’re skiing. Try to be more aware of what you feel under your feet and balance from the snow up.
Simplifying Steering
Keeping things simple in your skiing, constantly turning to manage direction and grip to deal with challenging snow and visibility.
Skiing the bumps with speed
Skiing the bumps with speed can be really fun and really exciting. Line choice is critical and so is being aware of the conditions.
Keep your feet underneath you
Pushing your feet away or trying to get them away from you can make you fall to the inside of your turn right from the start causing you to lose edge grip and balance. Keep your feet underneath you to help build a solid platform first and then move inside that platform.
Creating a reference point for varied conditions
When the going gets tough that’s when you need to have a fallback plan. Work on creating good feelings when the conditions are good and then use those as your goal for when the conditions get challenging.
Tactical bump skiing
Skiing the bumps tactically by being aware of speed, line and turn shape. Technique is important when skiing the bumps but you can set yourself up for success by choosing the right approach for the situation.
Using the Inside Ski
This tip was pretty controversial when it was first released. There are lots of ways to achieve certain outcomes on a pair of skis, try not to get hung up on one idea, be open to different concepts and you’ll continue to learn and improve.
Skiing the Steeps
Skiing the steeps can be an exhilarating experience and makes for a good challenge. Here are a few tactics to help you better deal with steeper terrain situations.
Adapting your stance
Being able to adapt your stance makes it much easier to adapt to changing conditions, speed and turn shapes. Stance width changes to allow for quickness or to help create stability.
Turn shape
This tip talks about turn shape, how you create it, and why it’s important. Being able to adjust turn shape is a skill that all good skiers have.
Alignment and your skiing stance
Where you feel your balance come from is what has an affect on your alignment. A lot of skiers balance from the head down, much like they’re walking on a tight rope. Balancing from the snow up will leave you better aligned throughout the turn.
Skiing in broken snow
Sometimes by the end of the morning on a powder you’ll find yourself skiing in broken or chopped snow. Here are a couple of pointers to make this a little more manageable and fun.
Pressure and balance
The heavy spot that you sometimes feel throughout the ski turn is the pressure that you’ve built up under your skis. Feeling that and being aware of it can help you be better balanced.
Natural Lead Change
There are a few common misconceptions with regards to lead change. So say that it’s bad, I think that depends on how it’s created. This tip is about how lead change is created and how it is a function of good balance.
Finding balance on your skis
Skiing is all about balance but balance on your skis is not a position, it’s an action. This tip talks about how to find better balance throughout the turn.
Steering
With ski design the way that it is these days a few of us have become a little bit lazy and letting the skis do all of the work. By adding a little bit more of a steering effort you’ll find that the ski technology is even better than you’d imagined.
Visibility
Skiing is an outdoor sport so sometimes the visibility can be challenging. So what do you do? Here are a few thoughts to help you deal with this challenging condition.
Releasing your centre of mass
To be able to move into the top of the turn smoothly the edges and the COM need to release at the same time from the previous turn. This tip will help you do that.
Short Turns
A short turn is a useful tool in a variety of terrain situations. Having a short turn in your repertoire will open up more terrain on the mountain for you as well as possibly get you out of a jam.
Earlier Edge Grip
Early edge grip seems to be the fashionable thing these days. This tip focuses on getting balanced early in the turn so that the weight moves to the outside ski and grip comes with it.
Move to the Middle
This ski tip is about balance and in particular balance on what is known as the fore/aft plane. A lot of people are trying to “get forward”, why? Ski in the middle of the skis and they will do what they’re designed to do.
The A-Frame
An A-Frame is a common issue among intermediate and advanced skiers. There’s a couple of things that can create an A-Frame. This tip will help you with getting better alignment in your legs and therefore better ski performance.
Balancing edging and turning
The amount that you edge your skis and the amount that you turn your legs are the contributing factors that dictate your speed and your turn shape. Decide on the outcome that you’re after and then look to balance both of these efforts.
The feeling under your feet
What you feel under your feet will let you know if you’re balanced or not. With ski boots being as solid as they are it’s sometimes difficult to feel anything. A focus on what you feel along the length of your foot can help keep you in balance throughout the entire turn.
How to start a turn
The best way to start a ski turn is by a good turning effort coming from the legs. What you feel in your ski boots can really impact this. If you’re on the ball of your foot your whole body tends to get involved in the turn. If you turn off of your heels the […]
Introduction to skiing the bumps
Skiing in the bumps is a lot of fun. Here’s a few pointers on how to get going and a couple of things to keep in mind so that you’re successful.
Using your hips
All three main joints in the lower body are critical for ski performance and balance. Engaging the hip can add power to your skiing as well as increasing edge grip.
Selecting the right ski
Selecting the right ski for where and what you’re skiing is like selecting the right tool for the job. If you’re able to have a couple of pairs of skis count yourself lucky. But, if you can only have one pair here are a few things to consider to help you make your choice.
How to create strength in your stance
Using all of your lower joints and using them together gives your skiing stance strength. Being strong on your skis allows you to increase your speed as well as tackle more challenging terrain.
Proactive skiing stance
Anticipating the changing snow and terrain can keep you out of a jam when you’re skiing. This involves being proactive in your stance and looking ahead. A reactive stance is sometimes too late.
Retract your landing gear
Being active in your legs is better for balance and makes it easier to adapt to changing conditions.
Turn with your toes, not your nose
Leading the turning effort with your feet will leave you better balanced against the outside ski and that gives you better edge grip. Better grip means that you can increase your speed or try more challenging terrain with confidence.
Skiing in fresh snow
Sometimes people struggle with a little fresh snow on the ground. This tip focuses on a tactic to get your skis up and out of the snow at the start of the turn and find your balance at the end of the turn.
Rock jumping tactic
The visual of jumping from rock to rock while running down a river bank is useful to create rhythm in your skiing as well as how to get direction change.
Agressive attitude
The attitude you demonstrate with your upper body often reveals your mental attitude. Try to maintain a little bit of a bend in the hips so that you’re in a better place to deal with terrain changes.
Elbows down for grip and balance
Often an unnecessary move with the upper body can take away from ski performance and balance. Here’s a simple thing that you can do with your elbows that actually improves grip on the snow.
Breathe through your turns
Seems pretty straight forward, breathing, but breathing through your turns can assist with timing of your movements and make your skiing a lot smoother.
Pressure and balance
The heavy spot that you sometimes feel throughout the ski turn is the pressure that you’ve built up under your skis. Feeling that and being aware of it can help you be better balanced.