Note: These are notes from lots of different sources. My apologies for poor attribution
Effective movements for ice
• Modify your stance — keeping your skis further apart not only enhances your balance, but also allows your inside ski to act as insurance in case your outside ski slips out from under you.
• Use the whole edge of your ski — keep your weight balanced in the middle of your skis and keep the pressure on your edges right under your feet.
• Be very subtle in your skiing — any sharp movements will result in your edges breaking their tenuous grip on the ice.
• Don't over-steer your skis— they steer very easily, and can rapidly end up across your direction of travel; once this happens, you will have little option but to slip sideways until your edges grip.
• Make sure that your edges are super-sharp.
Ineffective movements for ice
Many skiers try to edge the skis more aggressively in icy conditions. Typically, this only makes the skis slip even more. Others give up on trying to make their skis hold at all and substitute twisting or pivoting movements in an effort to get the skis to go where they want. Still others attempt to bear down on the skis to make them hold. Unfortunately, none of those tactics work particularly well.
Slide and Glide
1. Ride the slide.....find some ice, turn, and let your skis just slide...this step
Gets a person more comfortable on the slick surface. Find ice on easier slopes, in small patches, for this exercise.
2. Guide the slide...same as above, but with forward movement. The forward movement is attained by a gentle application of both edges, and light pressure on the front of the boots. There will still be some sideways motion.
3. Hide the slide....Add to the above a more positive commitment to the edges, and more forward pressure in the boots.
Tips first – Focus on early edge engagement with feet and legs
• Focus on your skis’ tips. Open your stance, press your shins forward, and coax the front of your edge to engage first.
• Turning your tips first allows you to grip with your ankles and feet. You can even edge both skis.
• Forces at the bottom of the turn will combine to throw more of your weight toward your outside ski (the ski that’s about to become your downhill ski). That’s natural. But try to start turns with both tips. With experience, you can play with the amount of pressure you apply to each foot through the turn.
Quiet upper body
Accomplished ice skiers concentrate on where they’re going next. They don’t twist, tip or tilt. Their hands are well positioned and they employ a smooth, purposeful pole plant.
Hips are aligned with shoulders and they’re open or countered preventing the tails from skidding.
• Your upper body position should be the most natural one: shoulders level, hands where you can see them, torso facing where you’re going. This stance is crucial to success on ice.
• In shorter turns, think of your hips as connected to your upper body. They should face where your torso is pointed—downhill.
• As you complete a turn, your hips, like your upper body, should face downhill. A disciplined upper body amplifies all the good things your feet, ankles and legs are doing.
• Pole movements should be deliberate, but not so dramatic that they trigger a sudden upward shift that makes your edges release.
• Enter each turn balanced, confident and committed, with lots of early edge. Focus on using both edges from the very start.
Effective movements for ice
• Modify your stance — keeping your skis further apart not only enhances your balance, but also allows your inside ski to act as insurance in case your outside ski slips out from under you.
• Use the whole edge of your ski — keep your weight balanced in the middle of your skis and keep the pressure on your edges right under your feet.
• Be very subtle in your skiing — any sharp movements will result in your edges breaking their tenuous grip on the ice.
• Don't over-steer your skis— they steer very easily, and can rapidly end up across your direction of travel; once this happens, you will have little option but to slip sideways until your edges grip.
• Make sure that your edges are super-sharp.
Ineffective movements for ice
Many skiers try to edge the skis more aggressively in icy conditions. Typically, this only makes the skis slip even more. Others give up on trying to make their skis hold at all and substitute twisting or pivoting movements in an effort to get the skis to go where they want. Still others attempt to bear down on the skis to make them hold. Unfortunately, none of those tactics work particularly well.
Slide and Glide
1. Ride the slide.....find some ice, turn, and let your skis just slide...this step
Gets a person more comfortable on the slick surface. Find ice on easier slopes, in small patches, for this exercise.
2. Guide the slide...same as above, but with forward movement. The forward movement is attained by a gentle application of both edges, and light pressure on the front of the boots. There will still be some sideways motion.
3. Hide the slide....Add to the above a more positive commitment to the edges, and more forward pressure in the boots.
Tips first – Focus on early edge engagement with feet and legs
• Focus on your skis’ tips. Open your stance, press your shins forward, and coax the front of your edge to engage first.
• Turning your tips first allows you to grip with your ankles and feet. You can even edge both skis.
• Forces at the bottom of the turn will combine to throw more of your weight toward your outside ski (the ski that’s about to become your downhill ski). That’s natural. But try to start turns with both tips. With experience, you can play with the amount of pressure you apply to each foot through the turn.
Quiet upper body
Accomplished ice skiers concentrate on where they’re going next. They don’t twist, tip or tilt. Their hands are well positioned and they employ a smooth, purposeful pole plant.
Hips are aligned with shoulders and they’re open or countered preventing the tails from skidding.
• Your upper body position should be the most natural one: shoulders level, hands where you can see them, torso facing where you’re going. This stance is crucial to success on ice.
• In shorter turns, think of your hips as connected to your upper body. They should face where your torso is pointed—downhill.
• As you complete a turn, your hips, like your upper body, should face downhill. A disciplined upper body amplifies all the good things your feet, ankles and legs are doing.
• Pole movements should be deliberate, but not so dramatic that they trigger a sudden upward shift that makes your edges release.
• Enter each turn balanced, confident and committed, with lots of early edge. Focus on using both edges from the very start.
This is a very useful guideline. But it looks difficult to do, or maybe I’m just inexperienced and that’s why I find it difficult. Anyway, thanks for sharing this. I’m planning to take a skiing vacation in winter, and I’ll definitely follow this guideline. I’m planning to have a few sessions there, but still I want to learn the basics before I get there.
ReplyDeleteKayleigh Holton