Use of this page means you accept the SkiMyBest Site Use Agreement  or EXIT NOW.
You are in Skiing Web Manual "Skiing is a Sliding Sport"
--contents at page bottom or Skiing Web Manual contents.

 A SKIING TURN SIMPLIFIED
 (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.
 "Just two!",  was the answer: "Left and right".

photo from www.ronlemaster.com, copyright by Ron LeMaster, used with permission.

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 WEB MANUAL--"Skiing is a Sliding Sport":  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  Men vs. Women/Women vs. Men and Skiing  Skiing Ethics and Slope Survival  Skiing Environment   Glossary  Acknowledgements SkiMyBest Website Contents  
This "A Ski Turn Simplified" page last modified 11/10/2007: \SkiMyBest\skiturns.htm.  Copyright © 2007 William R Jones.