Basic Skiing
Techniques
Before you can hit the intermediate or advanced slopes, you
need to start at the beginning. Just remember, even the most
competitive skiers all started by learning the basic skiing
techniques. From there, you can build and learn, becoming a
better skier. The basic techniques are extremely important to
master, which will help condition the body while giving you the
opportunity to increase self-confidence.
As you will discover, the basic skiing techniques are not
difficult to learn but they are extremely important in the
overall learning process. With this foundation, you will then
be able to venture to the more challenging techniques.
• Carrying the Skis – To make sure you are not hurting your
back or causing damage or harm to other skiers you need to
learn to carry your skis in the proper manner. For this, the
two skis together are placed over the shoulder so two-thirds
are behind and one-third in front. This allows the skis to be
balanced, making carrying easier and safer.
• Fall Line – One of the basic skiing techniques also includes
learning about terrain, specifically what is called the Fall
Line. This line is imaginary, which would whereby gravity would
make things fall naturally. For instance, if you were to place
a ball on a hill, the path the ball takes is the Fall Line.
This is important because when you go to learn to stop, you
will use this line along with the position of your skis.
• Ski Stance – Another of the basic skiing techniques has to
do with standing position of stance. On flat ground, you would
point the tips of the skis inward so they barely touch. On a
slope, you would place your body so it is against (not
parallel) with the Fall Line, again pointing the ski tips
inward and placing pressure on the inside edges. This way, you
will be able to stand firm and still without falling or sliding
down the hill.
• Walking – With the skis on, you will need to learn the
basic skiing techniques for walking. Rather than pick the feet
up as you would with normal walking, you would slide the skis
along the snow, gliding them in an alternating motion.
• Standing after a Fall – After fall, you need to learn the
right way to stand up. For this, you would place the edge of
both skis so they are against the Fall Line. Then, using the
poles, you place them firmly in the snow while pushing up. The
goal here is to use not only the poles, but also pressure on
the inside edges of the skis. With a little practice, you will
find this is one of the easiest and most basic skiing
techniques.
• Kick Turn – To rotate 180 degrees to change direction, you
would use a kick turn. Again, standing with the uphill ski
against the fall line, you would pick up the entire leg and ski
on the downhill ski, rotating it and then placing it firmly
above the upper ski. From there, you can lift up the other ski
and place it along the ski you just placed.
• Snowplow – Also called Snow Plough or Wedge, this is a
basic skiing technique used to slow down and stop for
beginners. In this case, the tips of the skis are pointed
inward while pressure is placed on the inside edge of the skis.
Bending the knees and sitting back a little will give you
control over speed and stopping.
• Herringbone – To move uphill, which is helpful if you lose
a ski or need to get to a friend, the Herringbone is used.
Another of the basic skiing techniques, this is done by
pointing the tips of the skis outward, again putting pressure
on the inside edge.
• Side Stepping – Finally, this too is among the basic
skiing techniques, which is used to move to the side of the
slope. With the skis going against the Fall Line, you would
take small steps toward your location, one ski at a time.
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