Snow Skills

Telemark skiing demands a high degree of balance for any terrain, weather, and conditions. The use of the hands can be like the summer intern: they can either be very helpful or sort of just always be in the way. The hand position that will help your tele skiing the most is to keep your hands as low as possible.

Try this in your living room; stand in a relaxed stance with your feet hip-width apart. Now raise you hands until your elbows have a 90 degree angle to your body. Note that this motion is relatively tension-free. Now raise your hands higher until they are are close to your shoulders as possible. Feel the higher degree of tension in your arms, shoulders, upper chest, and neck: this is due to your body’s natural tendency to compensate for your arms being in a less balanced position. This tension is unnecessary effort that will further reduce your ability to adjust your balance and leads to fatigue.
A high hand position in skiing can lead to larger issues. When someone is skiing with a high hand position, more experienced tele skiers call this the Nordic Prayer and this image is a negative impact on balance. The hand position that helps balance the most is one where the hands are generally the same distance off the snow as the elbows. With pole swings, the hands will rise above the elbows, but the image of the hands staying low is one that will maintain the most balance through the turn transition. A good indicator to see if your hands are in a balanced position are your forearms: if the forearm is generally level with the snow, your hands are probably helping your balance.