Fundamentals Of Skiing

I'm not going to lie I am not a huge fan of your people.

People jumping straight into park seems to happen alot today whatever but for gods sake take a lesson every know and again dont be embarressed to I took lessons for 3 years when I first started skiing and it was the most benfitical thing I ever have done it got down the basic carves and got me alot of confidence on the hill. So when your some of your non park skiing friends wana go charge the blacks you'll be more than able to do so.

This is a great observation and one of the biggest keys to skiing well.  Your ability to move the inside foot forward through the turn influences everything: balance, carve, turn shape, control.  We used to have to ski with all of our weight over the outside ski to generate enough force to bend the ski and get a carved turn.  Now both skis can carve so the skier's weight is distributed more evenly between outside and inside foot. 

Get on some mellow groomers and work on making GS or larger radius turns.  You want to feel the inside foot sliding forward.  Don't look down to make sure it's happening because that will really screw you up.  Ideally you never want to feel like there is a spot in your turn where your feet are not moving apart or together along the length of the ski.  Once you feel like you are feeling that, take it to powder or crud.  It is exactly the same move.  By moving the inside foot smoothly forward you are creating an identical carve with both skis even in variable conditions.  As long as both skis are ski the same arc, you

Another tip which is easy to remember is the pelvic gyration.  It's a sexual thing.  Move your hips forward into the turn and let them drop to the inside.  As your hips move forward and into the turn, your torso needs to be a close to vertical or perpendicular to the slope as possible.  Always look down the hill in the direction of travel.  If you are looking down at your skis, you will be bending over at the waste.  In variable conditions this means that you will be forced to absorb bumps with your lower back.  Every time you hit a bump or clump of snow, your weight will be pitched forward and you will be constantly fighting to maintain your balance.  Keep your chin up, chest out a little and hands forward and wide.  The better you get at doing this, the less you will have to worry about your balance. 

Last point is try to stand so that you can feel the arch of your foot in the boot.  You will naturally feel your weight shifting from the ball of your foot to the heel though the turn, but that should not be a major shift.  You do not want to be leaning back, feeling all the pressure on the heel of your foot or feeling like your calve is being pressed up against the back of the boot.  The ski is designed so that the tip of the ski helps you initiate the turn or start the ski moving into the fall line; the tail of the ski stops the turn and prevents you from doing surface 360's all the way down the hill.  If you are leaning back you are only pressuring the tail of the ski.  It will be tough to start a turn and you will end up with a turnshape that looks like this:   (      That means more time in the fall line, more speed and less control.  By standing in the middle of your foot you will be a able to create a turnshape that looks more like this:   C   This will allow you to control your speed much better. 

Seriously though.  Take a lesson.  Some of the best skiers and instructors I have ever known have come out of Bridger Bowl.  It would be well worth the money to go and take a lesson there. 

^Thanks that helped

This

wax your skis and stay loose

Thanks boss that really helped (sarcasm)

after two years of not skiing due to injury and not being a good skier at all before i was injured, these were the first things i was taught.

hahaha hey i think any one who joined newschoolers knos who to ski?

to the people saying keep your shoulders facing down hill this is true only to an extent. you want a slight counter, your feet knees hips and shoulders should all be in line. so for example when carving your inside ski is a little ahead of your out side ski your knees hips and shoulders should match that angle

the point isn't to teach people to ski, it's to give people tips to improve their skiing that might be lacking real technique

Thank you

thou art welcome, kind sir!

also just learn to butt tuck, jk

Athletic position... bend at your knees, not your hips ... if your knees are bent more then your hips in your stance... they be the first thing to bend when you hit terrain changes, or any impact ..... try and flex your abs and ass when you're chargin terrain, or landing.... basically, keep your belly button to knees as straight a line as possible ... better then bending at the hips and knee banging your lips ... whatever is bent most... will bend first ... good luck

get a legit ski instructer and go bump skiing with him all day. if you learn how to shred bumps really well, it makes skiing crud and other off piste stuff a lot easier

ohhhhhhh okay thats cool............. i just read the name of the thread

"ski like you screw, not like you poo."

hahahahahahahaha best advice ever

1. Try and keep your upper body quiet. It should still be fluid and roll with the terrain, but most of your movement should be in your legs. Try and keep your shoulders square.

Thanks^

Some lesson should help.  People talking about keeping your hands forward are correct.  When your hands are forward, you can deal with getting knocked around.  More often than not, falling is a result of getting in the backseat.  When you keep your hands forward, you can deal with much of what comes your way.

Instead of skiing park, work on angulation  fundamentals while skiing groomers.  Also, work on skiing bumps with proper technique.  Many of the best big mountain skiers started out as racers or mogul skiers.  Those disciplines are great for building the fundamentals.  Does your mountain at least have some mogul runs?  Those will help.  Concentrate on skiing the mountain, not doing park stuff.  You will improve immensely. 

After a couple of lessons, try some race training clinics.