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"SKIING IS A SLIDING SPORT":
A Skiing Turn Simplifed (sort of)
by Bill Jones, Ski Instructor
Certified Professional Ski Instructor (Registration #110478)
"Do you know how many ways there are to make a ski turn?", asked the wag.
"Two!", was the answer: "Left and right".
His skis are not under his torso! Is he about to fall?
Skier Types: A ski instructor once classified
skiers into 4 types:
- Double-Edge-Death-Grip: Knowing that control of sliding skis
ultimately comes from their edges, these skiers keep the edges always tipped
up, requiring them to make powerful movements, usually by throwing a hip
around the outside of the turn, in order to get around corners. They tend to
be tense and probably have less fun skiing than they could. Fear of losing
control actually keeps double-edge-death-grips from gaining control, as they
could with different mechanics (see "glider" below).
- Lock-and-Step: Lock-and-step skiers realize they don't have to have
both ski edges engaged for control and that it is easier to turn if they lay
one flat, but they are not willing to let both skis go flat at the same time.
They keep the downhill ski tipped up which gives them a sort of one-ski moving
platform which they use as a fulcrum around which to make a sort of lunge that
gets them going the opposite way. Many have ingrained this pattern so deeply
that changing it is hard, even though of necessity lock-and-steps must choose
their terrain and snow conditions carefully to enjoy their sport, unlike
gliders (see below) who are unlimited in their options.
- Dig Me: Dig-mes have their weight strongly toward the back of the
skis, their bodies supported by their ski boots. Their legs seem to be glued
together. To get started into a turn, dig-mes use a strong rotation or
counter-rotation movement, with a counter-rotation of the lower body
immediately following, with the result that the skis change direction but then
head out to the side until finally out far enough they tip up of necessity,
catch an edge and are deflected back and underneath the skier who rather
elegantly then gets the same thing to happen on the other side. Poles and arms
wave in unison, with the pole often not touching the snow. These gyrations
require precise timing and are not easily adjusted once begun, so that a
dig-me trademark is a bent ski pole or one without a basket. Dig-me skiers
look cool to many (not to ski instructors), and project an image that many who
come to ski school would like to emulate. Dig-mes often know they look cool
and if they come to ski school may soon wonder why, for they are not eager to
change. Typically they are young males, but there are women dig-mes, too, as
well as older dig-mes of both genders. It is said if you want to find dig-mes,
look on slopes under chair lifts where they can best show off their style:
"Dig me, dude!" Many have learned their style on their own and from the
start of their skiing. And many have developed it to a fine art. They
therefore find it difficult to change to a style of skiing that uses mechanics
so different from theirs (see the next item, "gliders"), even though that may
be far more versatile, effective, and efficient. Part or even most of the
success of dig-mes, however, comes from choosing the slopes they ski on
carefully, for they have little other way to manage their speed, a significant
problem especially in bumps.
- Glider: As the name suggests, the glider is in balanced posture as
his or her skis slide along their edges. Skis are steered with the legs and/or
tipped up progressively to get more bite from them as forces increase from
speed or steeps, causing them to bend more and thus make round arcs of desired
radius in the snow, unlike the three other skier types who typically make
turns more resembling the letter Z. Rhythmic flexing and extending is
done and poles touch the snow consistently. The glider skis slopes of any
steepness, at slow or fast speeds, and moves into areas of bumps and powder
with little change of technique.
Traverse and Position of Power: Skis are slippery. When we stand on a ski slope, in order to keep from sliding where we don't want to go, we tilt
our skis up so their edges bite in the snow; this gives us a grip on our position. To tilt the skis still
more, we must tilt our feet to the side (and therefore our lower legs and
perhaps even move our upper body parts the opposite way to stay in balance).
When moving and tilting the skis, to keep from falling
over, we must tilt the body still more and/or bend at the waist to bring the upper body back over the lower part.
A little fore-aft twist at the waist with the downhill body parts trailing the
upper ones helps us make this bend, being
anatomically stronger, and results in the downhill ski being back a bit from the
uphill. This position has been called
the Traverse, and it is effective when sliding across a slope. It has also been
called the Comma, for that is the shape the body gets itself into, not because
there is a pause in the maneuver as there would be in a sentence.
The same position develops by the end of a ski turn. It lines up the body in the
strongest way to manage the excess forces that develop at that moment. This position
near the end of a more forceful turn is sometimes called the Position of Power. The ski's edges rise to an
increasingly high angle as the turn finishes, thereby increasing control..
Crossover: The Position of Power is a great way to finish a ski turn--especially on
steeper hills or to control speed, but it does not start a ski
turn. To start the skis turning a new direction, we must get out of the Position of
Power
and tilt the skis over onto their other edges. Imagine tilting the skis from one set of
edges (the uphill pair) to the other set (the downhill pair). To do so, we must move our bodies from one side of the skis to the
other, a move called the "crossover". If done standing still without poles to support you, you will almost
surely fall over; the move can only be done while moving so that forces have
developed to hold you up. Because of this the crossover is probably the hardest
move to learn in skiing. Yet the crossover is the heart of modern skiing. It
should be learned right from the first lesson!
In the middle of the crossover, we have two options: We can keep the ski
moving across from one set of the edges to the other, and with sufficient
finesse we will put the skis in a position where they increasingly bend into a
bow that will turn them and us. Or when the skis are flat to the snow (both flat
at once, please), we can twist them with our legs by rotating the thighs within
the hips (that "braquage" word again). If we try to twist before or after the
skis are flat to the snow and they are still on their sides (edged), the skis
will be stuck and either keep going the same direction they were or we will have
to resort to some powerful body movement to change their direction with the
result that we lose options for fine-tuning their subsequent course. Often at
the crossover we combine the steering movements when the skis are flat with
later tipping, continuing the steering only to keep up with the amount of arcing
the skis do because of the tipping.
The crossover must be learned and re-tooled at all levels of skiing from
beginner to expert. To not use the cross-over move is to limit your skiing
ability to lesser accomplishments. To use it is to open the door to experiencing
the pleasure of flight on snow. But it is a movement that a skier ultimately
must decide to make on his or her own. Coaching and coaxing may help, but
ultimately a skier must just do it. Like diving off the high board, however, one
can work up to doing the move on tougher terrain by doing it first on easier
terrain. Skiers should begin learning this move as they first begin learning to
turn--in Level 1. And then it will be part of their skiing pattern.
photo from www.ronlemaster.com,
copyright by Ron LeMaster, used with permission.
Turn phases
are shown in this photo montage. Note especially the moment when the skis have gone flat to the snow and
the body has reached the midpoint of crossing over them. This point is shown by
the skier at the M and also by the skier in the prior turn directly upslope
above the one at the M. You might note, too, how the racer's skis are at maximum
tilt a bit higher in the turns than where we recreational skiers would do
this--because we develop less force at our slower speeds. Neither would we ski
with so much body tilting, but the images still apply to what we should do, just
not so extremely. Thus the racer's legs are flexed at maximum about at the gate
and extended at maximum in between where the skis are flat to the snow. Finally,
the hand position might be a bit confusing, especially at the zone where the
racer is approaching the gates. This is different from what we recreational
skiers do and has to do with creating a longer "float" time while the skis seek
their new edges (you worked on this moment when you used patience to give the
skis more time to come around the turn and reduced your tendency to push the new
inside ski forward). Also observe that the hands are always in front and held
wide with the fist positioned so the poles stick out to the sides like whiskers;
that works for us recreational types.
"How many psychologists (or ski instructors) does it take
to change a light bulb (or a skier's turns)?", asked a wag.
"It can't be done", was the answer: "The light bulb (or skier) has to want to
change".
"How many ski instructors does it take to screw in a light bulb?", asked
another wag.
"A
dozen!", was the answer: "One to do the turns, and eleven to analyze
them."
Another version (by those who already know how to ski and
may have some disdain--or jealousy--for instructors): "How many ski
instructors does it take to screw in a light bulb?", asked the wag.
"One!", was
the answer: He (she) holds the bulb and the world revolves around him (her)."
"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 & Skiing Culture & Skiing
Skiing Ethics and Slope Survival
Slope Safety Skiing
Environment Glossary Acknowledgements
SkiMyBest Website Contents
This "A Ski Turn Simplified" page last
modified 03/26/2010: \SkiMyBest\skiturns.htm.
Copyright © 2010 William R Jones.
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