Snow Skills

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.

Hip angulation is developed by allowing the hips to move to an “anticipated” position in the last half of a turn. Let’s start with the opposite of an anticipated position; a “square” position. Stand in a hip-width stance on your skis on a slight slope; make your left half be the downhill side. Now face your jacket zipper straight ahead between the ski tips. Note that each of your hips are the same distance from the ski tips; that’s a square position.

Now swing your hips to the left without moving your legs. You should find that your upper body (from the hips up) is now facing down gravity, just to the downhill side of your left ski. The left hip is now further from the ski tips and your right hip is closer; this is an anticipated position.

By allowing the hips to develop an anticipated position in the last half of a turn, you should be feeling the uphill edge of the left ski gripping the snow with more pressure. This added angle through the separation of your upper and lower body will allow you to edge more confidently with the outside leg while turning, especially in a longer turn and specifically on icy snow conditions. The added “grip” from an anticipated position will strengthen the edging from your knees and result in a more effective edge set as you move through the turn. In a longer turn pattern, this anticipated position will also place you in a position where you’re more ready to make the next turn than from a square position.