An earlier post discussed the importance of using hip angulation to create more effective edging on ice or hard snow. The use of hip angulation in the last half of the turn will improve your edge grip, especially in a longer turn. You can apply that hip angulation more efficiently if you think about your body representing the center of a clock face.
Archive for the ‘Snow Conditions’ Category
Skiing in icy conditions doesn’t require MORE edging, it requires MORE EFFECTIVE edging. In hard snow conditions, using knee angulation alone may not be enough to give you a confident grip. And using more angulation may be self-defeating as higher edge angles require a higher balance and that’s going to be difficult on harder snow. One technique to generate more effective edging is to apply the hip along with the knee to improve your control on ice.
Frozen granular, hardpack, scraped off, and bulletproof are just a few of the terms I’ve heard used for hard snow conditions. For the sake of brevity, let’s cut through it all and agree that ICE is a pretty good word for conditions on those days where the snow just doesn’t have much ‘give’ to it. There can be some great skiing in those conditions; it just takes a little more effort physically and mentally to adapt and make effective turns.
You should ski on ice conditions like you’re robbing a bank: “No sudden moves and don’t stand in one place too long”. Physically you need to develop skiing movements that are methodical and patient, relying more on subtlety and than force to generate the turn. Neither your leg steering nor your edging can be abrupt or hard; you’ll want to apply these skills in increments of small doses to keep all your movements as smooth and even as possible.
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