Exercise Ski

What you are going to learn here is how to maximize the skis' potential by getting them on to their edges. The turns and the exercises in this section, therefore, will provide the basis for every type of controlled turn that I describe in future articles.

To learn new techniques I often suggest quite strange positions - a lowering of the upper body combined with a wide stance - being obvious examples that I mention in the article on Style and Balance. There are others like the exaggerated pole plants and angulation over the skis. These should not be adopted permanently, and with time and mileage will hopefully disappear to be replaced by a naturally acquired elegance that you can only fantasize about just now.

Just a few points before we start on the edging exercises. I have made them as simple as possible as there are no diagrams. Reading them through a few times should give you a pretty good idea of what to do. If like me you can't remember anything, print the pages off your computer and take them with you in an inside pocket, or even take your lap top up top.

Throughout this book I spend a lot of time repeating certain things. This is intentional as some instructions are so important that with only one or two mentions you may forget them.

If you have read and understood the article on Edging and Carving the Skis, you will recall that a ski has to be put on its edge to turn effectively in a controlled manner. Re read it now if you haven't already.

Let's get on to the practical stuff. These exercises are an introduction to edging, and getting a feel for the control that edging will give you before we start doing proper turns.

Imagine you are standing on a smooth, quite steep slope across the fall line with the weight on your bottom ski. Your knees will be bent slightly into the slope so that the edges are cutting into the snow.

While standing there, lower yourself over the bottom ski as if to do up a buckle on your ski boot.

As you go down you should be aiming to touch the middle outside of the lower boot. Are you touching it yet? Go on, lower! Notice what has happened to the lower ski. It is even further onto its edge now. To get to this position you have had to bend your lower knee into the slope, and to a certain extent your uphill one too. You have also had to flex at the hips. This is angulation, and is an exaggeration of what you will be doing at the end of each turn shortly.

Having practiced this exercise at a standstill on the other traverse as well, you can now have a go at the next exercise, which you may have done before, but without having a clue why you were doing it.

Start moving slowly across the slope on your favorite traverse.

As you traverse across the slope slowly go down to touch your lower boot as you did in the standing position. This will edge the skis and put most of the weight on the lower one. This exercise whilst moving is somehow more difficult than it sounds here; doing it standing still is easy. The brain finds it a bit more difficult to accept a moving ski on its edge for the first time, but persevere and it will come.

Now stand up, keeping the weight on the lower ski, and you should find that the skis are sliding forwards and sideways on their soles, ie: flat on the snow.

Go down again to touch your lower boot. Your knees should be angulating into the slope so that your weight can remain central over your lower boot. Stop, turn, and do the same thing on the other traverse. While you are touching your boot there should be no sliding at all, and if the snow is right, you can look back and see the smooth, slightly curved trench that the edges have made.

Now read Part 2 which shows you how to do a long controlled turn.
Simon Dewhurst has taught downhill skiing in North America, Scandinavia and the European Alps for 35 years. He currently runs a ski chalet agency in the French Alps. His book "Secrets of Better Skiing" can be found at http://www.ski-jungle.com If you have any comments about the above article, he will be happy to answer them.

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