Wedge to Parallel

Going from wedge to parallel is a process that asks a lot of both student and teacher. As the skier develops skills, confidence and mileage they begin to match skis (make parallel) and the matching happens earlier and earlier until they ski parallel all the time.

Our teaching system is based on the principal that everything from a wedge to a dynamic parallel turn uses the same movements. What separates them is in the execution. So we want to keep student on a developmental track by introducing only movements they use later on.

What you are about to read is a gross simplification of this process. I wrote it so that instructors can begin to understand it.

As always, balance is fundamental to all good things happening. If balance isn’t working, start there.

Getting the first match
Getting skis to match at the bottom of a turn is usually easy to achieve. Frequently all it takes is a little more pitch and speed. As the student builds mileage and improves rotary function the skis are steered to a match naturally.

Wedge size
Next time you are on the snow make different size wedges and notice the edge angle. As the wedge increases, so does the edge angle and it makes it more difficult to steer the skis. So make that pizza/wedge diet size instead of New York style.

Develop rotary movement
Steering both legs through the whole turn is the key to strong wedge turns and necessary to steer the inside ski to a match. Active inside leg steering is key. Your skis are like fighter jets flying in formation the inside jet goes first and the other follows or you’ve got problems.

At this level you will be primarily focused on balancing and rotary movements. Pressure management, edging and directional movements are happening but they need to take a more prominent role.

Flatten and steer
Once the skis begin to match you want to make the match happen earlier. But there is something in your students way, it’s blocking them from steering the inside ski to a match. Earlier we talked about how a large wedge can inhibit steering. Now an edged ski is inhibiting matching. Our skier needs to flatten the inside ski to steer it to a match.

It doesn’t take a big move to make this happen. Especially not one of those in to the abyss moves in dynamic skiing. All we need is for the inside femur and/or hip to move just enough in the direction of the turn to flatten the inside ski.

Release and engage
If movements in a wedge christie and dynamic parallel skiing are the same, why is the outcome different? What is the wedge Christie skier missing? The answer isn’t what, it’s when and how much.

A dynamic parallel skier releases the old outside ski at turn entry. A wedge christie releases the ski some time before or after the fall line. That is the when. The dynamic parallel skier makes a quicker and more aggressive move. That is the how much.

What we need is a movement of the hips and upperbody forward and diagonally into the new turn (directional movement). It should be complemented by:

• The old outside leg flexing and allowing the new outside ski to extend (pressure management)
• Ankles rolling onto new edges (edging movement)
• Steering of the legs (rotatry movement)

 Again, balance is always in play. That gives you seconds to perfectly execute the skills concept.

Sidenote – The Diva tought me to make wedge christie turns by starting with basic parallel turns and then waiting to move across the skis until I was just above or at the fall line. The wedge opened up naturally every time.