Snow Skills

To improve how your body moves into a skiing turn, focus on how your inside thigh can lead the way into the new turn.

For higher-level parallel turns, a good turn allows you to move from turn to turn without a break in good balance. To achieve this, it’s necessary to move your center of gravity to the inside of the path of your skis, without taking the balance of your balance off the outside ski. Whew!  That sounds like a lot to think about, but simplify this movement by focusing on using your inside thigh to lead your body into the turn.

The best way to practice this movement is skiing easy terrain in parallel turns.  As you release your edges into a new turn, let your inside thigh feel like it’s the lead body part.  Your inside knee will point just downhill of your inside foot and encourage your hips to move down gravity more than the path of your skis.  The movement of the hips to the inside of the turn will allow you to keep solid pressure on your feet and place your body in a good position to bend your leg joints to edge effectively.