"SKIING IS A SLIDING SPORT":
 Conventional Skiing Wisdoms (CSW's) 

by Bill Jones, Ski Instructor
Certified Professional Ski Instructor (Registration #110478)

 CSW # 27: "I use the snowplow and/or a stem for control."

These are great maneuvers and essential parts of virtually all skiers' skill pools. On steeper slopes, however, they are harder and sometimes nearly impossible to perform. Learn to make turns with skis parallel to manage more conditions, but never forget the snowplow and stem.

Why is parallel more effective on steeper slopes and higher speeds? A ski that is edged is where most of skiing control comes from, for the properly edged ski slices into the snow to turn us as it is designed to do or we brush it across the snow to create friction to slow us or change our direction. On gentler slopes both skis can be tilted up on their edges but on steeper ones the uphill ski, even though held by our bodies the same way, cannot engage its edge in the snow. This is just geometry. But on these steeper slopes if we hold our skis parallel to each other, we can tilt both so both their edges engage the snow. We have just doubled our control! It is also true that the snowplow or stemmed position is not a natural one for human anatomy and so our legs cannot be used to their full strength when so oriented. With parallel legs, however, we maximize our strength. For success on the mountain, learn parallel skiing, even though you will keep the snowplow and stem for many occasions.

main CSW contents
prior CSW #26: "Carved turns are best"
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"SKIING IS A SLIDING SPORT"--a skiing web manual:     Skiing Web Manual Contents   Why Read This Skiing Web Manual That First Lesson  A Little Skiing History  Motion in Skiing  CONVENTIONAL SKIING WISDOMS  Skier Excuses   Fear in Skiing  Conditioning for Skiing   Equipment and Technique  Skiing Equipment  How Skis Work   How to Develop Balance on Skis  A Skiing Turn Simplified  Tactics for Terrains and Snow Textures  Skiing Tips and Tales--a potpourri  Children and Skiing  Age and Skiing  Gender and Skiing   Culture & Skiing  Skiing Ethics and Survival  Slope Safety    Skiing Environment  Glossary Acknowledgements SkiMyBest Website Contents  
This "CSW #27: 'I use the snowplow...'" page last modified 11/19/2009: \SkiMyBest\skiCSW27.htm Copyright © 2010 William R Jones.