Best ski tip you ever got

[Christy]

I'm a low intermediate (last year was my first full season) and have been really bad this year--stuck on the easiest blues and really struggling. I took a lesson last weekend and was told, stop thinking about trying to stay forward. Instead, think about bringing your feet back underneath your body.

My skiing improved drastically and immediately. My quad fatigue was gone. We left the easiest blues and went all over the mountain, to the hardest blues and even what my instructor said were short black stretches. I have never, ever, skied so well.

Anyone else ever received any life (ski) changing tips like that? Just a way to think about something differently that made a huge immediate difference? I though it would be interesting to hear a few.

 

[Robyn]

I can do it. Given by a certain Diva when I tried to bail out. :D

 

[SnowHot]

Never apologize to your husband when you hand his @ss to him!

 

[MemilyG]

Great idea for a thread! Reading this makes me want to go get on skis and try bringing my feet under my body instead of trying to stay forward.

I am just a wee-newbie, so the best advice I have gotten was that I need to tip my feet side to side to carve, instead of pointing my toes where I want to turn. :duck:

More sage advice please

 

[Christy]

Never apologize to your husband when you hand his @ss to him!

I want that problem!

 

[geargrrl]

Keep your mittens in your goggle view. If you can't see your hands they aren't in the right place.

 

[alyeskaluv]

I agree about a tip that helps you stay forward . . . for me, it was "imagine there is a grape between your shin and your boot - now make some wine!"

 

[Kiragirl]

Bring your outside hip around into the turn.

 

[Jilly]

Got 2 for you:

1. Trace out your turn with your hand/pole. That way your pole is in just the right place for a pole plant.
2. Roll the grapes under the arch of your foot. This keeps the weight centred and helps with gettting that ski on edge. One foot is rolling on, the other off.

 

[Kimmyt]

Definitely reaching forward with your pole plant into the turn on steeps. It has really helped me stay forward.

 

[PNWSkier]

We left the easiest blues and went all over the mountain, to the hardest blues and even what my instructor said were short black stretches. I have never, ever, skied so well.

I'm so glad you had your "moment." Strangely enough I had one of those days there on Saturday. I was seeking out things that I never would have skied before.


I know that someone else said it but I also learned to squash grapes with my shin in the boot. Whenever I am feeling quad pain I realize I am not making wine.

 

[Shellski]

A good one for me was pushing your hips forward to stop them dropping back and getting in the 'toilet seat position'.

Eloquently put by some of the Diva's I believe as... 'push the bush'.

 

[HotChocolate]

Definitely reaching forward with your pole plant into the turn on steeps. It has really helped me stay forward.

Yep I was told to do that and it really works. Ohh and also take the straps off your wrists when learning to ski trees! I need more tree skiing tips.

 

[fatoots]

A good one for me was pushing your hips forward to stop them dropping back and getting in the 'toilet seat position'.

Eloquently put by some of the Diva's I believe as... 'push the bush'.

LMAO.

This is a great thread. I definitely need to "make wine". I've been realizing that I don't keep the shin pressed to the boot enough. I also haven't been tightening the boots enough either. I did that last Saturday and was like, "Hey, wow, look at that. The ski and foot are like, 'one'."

The best tip I ever got in a lesson was to "pretend there is a giant rubber band between my hip and pole" so that when I reach to plant, I pull my hip out with it to turn.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Hardpack-to-ice & steep:
Get off the (ski's) edge.
Keep turning.
Sustaining/maintaining edge hold on difficult, hard (to icy) snow on steeper terrain isn't going to happen.
Commit to the turn and get off the edge.

(I used to vocalize this..."off the edge"..... hopefully have finally internalized it?)

 

[Kimmyt]

LMAO.

The best tip I ever got in a lesson was to "pretend there is a giant rubber band between my hip and pole" so that when I reach to plant, I pull my hip out with it to turn.

This is another good one. In fact alot of the ones that the other Divas like, are tips I've gotten that I liked too. Some just really work. We had an instructor at Sugarloaf who had us do the rubber band thing and make a funny sound when we did it, kinda like a nananananana sound and it was hilarious but it really made you remember to keep the two connected.

As for tree tips, I'm not very good at skiing them, but it helped me when a mountain biking friend told me to look where you want to go, not where you don't want to go (i.e. don't look at the trees, look at the gaps between them!).

 

[AnneC]

I'm a low intermediate (last year was my first full season) and have been really bad this year--stuck on the easiest blues and really struggling. I took a lesson last weekend and was told, stop thinking about trying to stay forward. Instead, think about bringing your feet back underneath your body.

My skiing improved drastically and immediately. My quad fatigue was gone. We left the easiest blues and went all over the mountain, to the hardest blues and even what my instructor said were short black stretches. I have never, ever, skied so well.

Anyone else ever received any life (ski) changing tips like that? Just a way to think about something differently that made a huge immediate difference? I though it would be interesting to hear a few.

My moment of enlightenment came in a different way. I was told I was not far enough forward. No matter how much I tried to change and actually though I was forward I still had the same report from instructors. Then at a Women's Ski Spree at Okemo they got us on the short blade skis. You can't sit back because there is no back. I quickly learned were center was. You had to be in the right positio/stance to control movements. It was a great experience for me.

 

[SkiBam]

A couple of people have mentioned hips forward. This has been my most recent revelation: despite the fact I THOUGHT they were forward, they weren't. Not until an instructor recently made it very clear that my bum was way too back did I realize this. So I've been working on this and am noticing a big difference.

I love the "push the bush" analogy. I'm also telling myself that if I'm going to pee (which I certainly hope I'm not while skiing), it should be on the boots.

 

[volklgirl]

My favorite tips have been:

• Bend the ANKLES first.
• Parallel shins (the change in hubby's skiing when we first started doing this was nothing short of AMAZING!).

My favorites exercises have been:

• For steeps: Stand at the top. Reach waaaaay down the hill with one pole and plant it. Make one turn around it and stop. Do the same thing going the other way. Continue doing "1-turns" until you're comfortable, then begin to link them....first 2, then 3.... (this was from an ancient issue of Skiing, back when I was first learning and this technique still gets me through anything in my "Yikes Zone").
• For carving: Make a run really concentrating on what your feet and legs are doing. At the bottom, stop and close your eyes. Put your arms out in front of you and make your arms and hands mimic exactly what your legs and feet just felt. Continue doing this without changing anything while you open your eyes and watch what your hands are doing. Are your hands (feet) really carving? Do your hands(feet) go out from underneath you and acheive a high, early edge angle? What does your transition look like? If you do this with a buddy who really does carve their turns, watch what they're doing and make comparisons...ask questions. It's a real eye-opener to think you're truly carving and have your hands tell you you're really not.

 

[Bumblebee]

When you're losing your nerve, feeling wobbly or just "not right", bounce. Just a few bounces, both skis off the ground. Gets you centered and weight on both skis - always kills my nerves too and focuses my attention.