It took me almost 5 years to learn how to ski. From never ever to acquiring the skills and confidence to ski any natural terrain on a mountain and more importantly having fun doing it. This include steeps, ice, bumps, powder, crud, trees and any of those combined. So here’s the thought. Knowing what I…
Lower leg and spine are at parallel angles due to equal flex at ankle and hip joints. I’ve been in Canada for the past few weeks working with a former colleague on some of my personal methodologies for the instruction of skiing. It’s been an interesting an insightful time from a teaching perspective. To be…
A good pole plant will make your turns both easier and better. A bad pole plant on the other hand can be completely detrimental to your skiing. In fact, it’s almost better for you to NOT pole plant than to do a bad pole plant. Again, like most things in skiing, a pole plant is a…
In skiing there is talk of a ‘Basic Position’. It is essentially a basic athletic stance + angulation and is referred to as a strong desirable position. The basic athletic stance is flexed ankles, knees and hips. Angulation is creating angles with our body by moving our knees and hips. When you’re traversing, you’re pretty much…
Active inclination at the start of a turn. Inclination is an active edging skill. Active means we have to consciously perform it. The opposite would be a passive movement. Flex your ankles (active movement) and your knees will flex (passive movement) as well. Inclination allows you to achieve that ‘oh-so-mysterious’ high early edge and it also…
Edging is such a vast topic when discussed but at it’s core it is a ludicrously simple movement. The skill of edging, in isolation, starts with the inversion and eversion of our ankles. (Here’s an article on anatomical biomechanics if you’re into that stuff.) That’s fancy speak for rolling your feet from little to to big toe using our…
Edging is the skill of tilting the ski onto an angle against the snow. This skill when combined with the other skills (balance, twisting, etc) results in multiple effects. On its own, I like to simplify edging as giving skiers a grip on the snow. When we have a firm grip on the ground, other…
When we ski, we shouldn’t be looking down at our feet or skis. So we can’t see whether what we are doing is right, enough or even wrong. We have to feel it. Video can be a useful learning tool but ultimately, the only immediate and constant feedback we have to rely on is what…
“My short turns feel like shit. I’m heel pushing to slow down cos I can’t turn my legs to finish my turn because I’m not crossing over because steeps terrify me.” That was part of a recent conversation I had with a fellow instructor who was preparing for an exam. In that sentence, she…
If you’ve ever been to a dance or yoga studio, you’ll notice there’s always a wall covered with mirrors. Now besides catering to the narcissist inside all of us, the mirrors serve as instruments of feedback and self-correction. The guy might actually feels like he’s doing what the instructor is doing, till he looks in…
turnshape 