Hello! Advice for an advancing beginner?

[MermaidKelly]

Hello everyone! I have seen this forum for a long time and finally decided to join! I've been skiing for two seasons now, but am still skiing easy greens. At some smaller mountains (Butternut! ) I can go to the top. At larger mountains (Hunter, Okemo, Belleayre) I am skiing runs from the lifts that go halfway up the mountain. I ski with my fiance who is an advanced/expert skier, and we are having so much fun! I think I am progressing, just slowly. I am struggling with endurance and leg strength for longer runs. (He says my "happy spot" is about a mile long and 500 vertical for a run). I'm starting to get my skis more parallel, but can sometimes revert back to a wedge. I'm noticing I naturally put a lot of weight on my downhill ski. I have read online that is a good thing, but what I am really struggling with is the uphill ski. I try to dig in, but a lot of times I feel like it is just along for the ride. The downhill leg is doing all the work. I have actually had two accidents both relating to this. Two years ago I was turning left, (leaning hard on my right leg) and stumbled. My left leg was loose and floppy, and I crashed breaking my hip. This year I had another fall, turning right this time. My right foot caught on a snow snake, and my left foot wasn't strong enough to recover. Down I went. Now I have a hematoma on my leg and my season is likely cut short. Any help or advice is appreciated. I enjoy skiing and want to keep going. I am just a little frustrated with myself that I am learning rather slowly. Thanks!

 

[MermaidKelly]

One other thing I'd like to mention about driving the uphill ski. When I make my turn on my downhill ski, I am sort of in a wedge. I learned to "pick up" my newly uphill ski to be parallel for the remainder of my turn. I know I am not initiating turns properly, but I am doing my best. (At least I'm not 100% in a wedge anymore, just shifting my weight.)

 

[Trailside Trixie]

I just wanted to say welcome. Butternut is my mid week happy place. If you are around on wednesdays there's a wonderful ladies clinic for women of all levels. You self sort where you think you should be and you are free to move up or down level groups. I've been doing it for 2 seasons now and it's quite fun and I've learned a lot. Plus there's a brunch afterwards. No mimosas lol but it's a good spread.

I spend weekends at Bromley, Magic, Killington and Stratton in Vermont.

 

[TiffAlt]

You sound a lot like me. Outside of drills on bunny hill terrain, I found doing nothing but lifting my inside foot made my skiing very "squirrel-y" - I thought all the direction I got to be on the downhill ski meant the inside leg served no purpose and I had it "along for the ride" so to speak. What I think they really mean is to be balanced on the outside leg.

You mention "driving the uphill ski" and I think it's exactly that. I start with the little toe edge of my uphill ski, then drive that knee outward and forward, making sure to flex my ankles. Yes, most of my weight is on the downhill ski, but my inside is not doing "nothing".

 

[Jilly]

I would suggest at the start of next season taking a lesson. If you can ski mid-week your group lesson might be a private lesson as not many people can go.

Without video I wouldn't want to suggest any corrective measures. There are a few instructors on the forum and I would suspect they will say the same thing.

And welcome to our world.

 

[MermaidKelly]

You sound a lot like me. Outside of drills on bunny hill terrain, I found doing nothing but lifting my inside foot made my skiing very "squirrel-y" - I thought all the direction I got to be on the downhill ski meant the inside leg served no purpose and I had it "along for the ride" so to speak. What I think they really mean is to be balanced on the outside leg.

You mention "driving the uphill ski" and I think it's exactly that. I start with the little toe edge of my uphill ski, then drive that knee outward and forward, making sure to flex my ankles. Yes, most of my weight is on the downhill ski, but my inside is not doing "nothing".

"Drive the uphill ski" is a term I read online (possibly on this forum). I just don't know how to do it yet). When I firmly use both legs, I end up in a wedge. I think I'm struggling with my outside edge, rolling the ankle of the uphill ski.

 

[MermaidKelly]

Thanks everyone! Trailside Trixie, that group at Butternut sounds awesome! I currently work Wednesdays..but that could change by next season.

 

[Verve]

Welcome, @MermaidKelly! Love the shoutout to Butternut - I’ve spent fun days there with Boston kids learning to ski with the YES program.

If you have the ability to take a lesson next season, even just one, I bet it will make a huge difference. Good instructors get us out of our heads and into our bodies. Until you feel what a more parallel turn feels like, it’s going to be hard to figure your way into them. It’s clear you’re already reading up and thinking the right way about progressing!

Learning from a more experienced partner is great but has its limitations. (If it worked perfectly I’d be an amazing tele skier by now instead of a moderately competent alpine skier lol).

 

[Trailside Trixie]

Thanks everyone! Trailside Trixie, that group at Butternut sounds awesome! I currently work Wednesdays..but that could change by next season.

Check it out. They open up registration in the summer and it does fill up. I work wednesdays too but I block mornings out on my calendar and bring my laptop with me. I usually work in the upper lodge after brunch and take a run or two if I can. My group of ladies all ask to be together each year so I've been with mostly the same girls for 2 seasons now. Lesson is from 9am until 11am and then brunch after that. It buffet style so you will be sitting down with your food by 11:15 or so. It's very worth it.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

First of all, congrats! You have a partner who sounds supportive and you are skiing 500 vert in one go. Know that even at resorts with thousands of vertical feet of elevation drop, the majority of skiers take a lot of breaks and only a few have the stamina to do a whole long run in one go.

For the sake of clarity many of us instructors often refer to the outside versus inside ski in a turn, as those remain constant throughout the turn and most of the technical focus makes more sense when analyzing the turn from this perspective.

There is a big difference between bracing against the outside/downhill leg, versus standing over it. Could it be that you are bracing? Unless a skier is going extremely fast, it is often better to think of bending the outside leg throughout the turn and driving the ski forward rather than having a braced straight leg. Hard to know without video as this may not be an issue at all.

The wicked unwanted wedge is sometimes a result of not starting to shift the weight to the new outside ski early enough at the very onset of the turn. If we are still standing heavily on the old outside leg, then it is in the way and it is hard to bring both skis from edged to flat to then engage the new set of edges.

Hopefully what I said made some sense. I do better explaining when I can draw or demonstrate.

I second the suggestions of lessons, or at the very least finding some quality online videos. Though, a set of skilled eyes that can provide you with movement analysis of your own skiing is really the goal.

 

[TheGreenOne]

I have the same issue with the habit of picking up my uphill ski when I couldn't get the uphill ski to engage correctly, but took a lesson at Heavenly my instructor made me play tug-of-war with him—using my poles to help me understand the body position and dynamics in order to put my uphill facing hips 'into' the hill while having my shoulders face down hill. This was more rotation of upper body and separation of lower body than I knew how. It made a huge difference in my ability to make parallel turns properly without picking up the uphill ski.

I also goto lot of the same mountains you do, and was just on the cusp of being able to do easy blues consistently but blew my knee again so... whenever I go back I'm starting over as baby-deer. Could be worth meeting up if I go back late next season. I'll probably get the limited Belleayre season pass (blackout for holiday weeks, which I tend to avoid going skiing)

 

[kathuang]

I have read online that is a good thing, but what I am really struggling with is the uphill ski. I try to dig in, but a lot of times I feel like it is just along for the ride. The downhill leg is doing all the work.

I think it's great you're keeping most/all of your weight over your downhill ski! This is something I've had to consciously work on. In terms of still keeping your inner leg "engaged" so it doesn't wedge: it's help me a lot to think about focusing on putting the weight on the big toe of my downhill ski and focusing on tipping my inner ski to my pinky. This introduces a little bit of edge but mostly helps me keep some focus on my inner leg so it's still like active while not being weighted.

 

[MermaidKelly]

Oh wow! Wonderful advice, thank you!

SnoWYmonkey, that makes a lot of sense. I may be bracing/tensing the outer leg too much. I am not quite relaxed yet as I ski. That is definitely something I will take note of when I get back out there.

TheGreenOne, that is awesome how a lesson helped you so much! I will try and remember that rotation is a good thing. I like what you said about keeping upper body and lower body more separate. I notice sometimes my arms are borderline clenching my poles. To be more loosey goosey is good. Eventually I will try to learn how to use my poles properly. When I tried to pole plant I had no success so far haha. Sorry you hurt your knee, I know the feeling, to be feeling good like I'm making some progress, then knocked back down by an injury. I hurt my shoulder in March so I had to cut my season short.

Kathuang, I like that trick! Think of your pinky toe while you turn. I will try to remember that when I get back on the slopes!