Welcome to video 5 of our Learning To Ski series. Feel free to watch the video above or to read the transcript below.
If you want to watch any of the other videos from the series they’re linked to at the bottom of the page.
Intro
[00:00:05] Hi, my name’s James Lockerbie and I’m a snowsports instructor. Today I’m here at The Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead and in this session we’re gonna run through parallel turns. Whereas we were using the snowplough before as a balance and stabilizers, the stabilizers are off and we’re trying to keep our skis parallel all the way through the turn. This gives us a wider range of turn shapes and sizes that we can do on lots of different terrain across the mountain.
Turning Technique
[00:00:30] So we’re gonna go through the parallel turns. But we are going to imagine that this time that our toes are like our fingers and imagine our fingers as playing on a keyboard and we’re rolling along the keys. And we’re doing the same with our toes, feeling through the snow and we’re rolling over as we start to turn our feet at the top of the turn.
Side Slipping
[00:00:51] So we are going to go through some side slipping. Remember we’re standing on the same edge of each ski this time. Looking down the slope, weight on the downhill facing ski which will be the outside ski of the turn. Nice and relaxed in our legs looking down. We’re gonna stretch. Start to slide. And then I’m gonna soften my legs and my edges will grip and I’ll come to a stop.
Parallel Turns
[00:01:25] Now we’re gonna have a go at some parallel turns. So just like we have been before, all the way through the progression at the top of the turn we are stretching our legs at the same time, turning both feet at the same time. Trying to keep the skis parallel through the turn now, softening the legs through the middle with the majority of the weight on the outside ski. We’re going to now go and give it a go. [00:01:48] Rolling, feeling through the feet. Roll.
Recap
[00:02:11] So just a quick recap on the things that we’ve gone over in this session. So when we’re doing the parallel turns we’re turning both feet at the same time, still majority of your weight on the outside ski, using the movements that help us do that, stretching and softening our legs as we go. We’re looking at the side slipping – another mountain skill that helps us get used to our edges – how we are moving, balancing, rolling from one edge to the other. And we’re also again putting that back into our skiing and thinking about our feet that we were talking about before. Like the fingers rolling along the keyboard as we’re rolling our feet and turning our feet at the same time for us to make sure we’re nice and balanced as we are turning our feet for the parallel turns. These are just a few tips for you to think about in and out of your lesson. But remember this is a really hard point of your progression and your instructor is there to give you all the personal development that you’ll need.
Want To Watch More? Then check Out The Rest Of The Series Below
