Trouble stopping .. which is kind of crucial!

[melrose88]

Hi all! I am new to the forum and so excited to have found this place. I have a problem and hopefully I can get some help here!!

Last winter I started skiing again, after having not skied for about 10 years. I skied a bit when I was younger but I was never amazing to start with, just a good beginner I guess. So last winter I got all new equipment and started skiing, which was a total blast except I can't seem to stop properly! I always have to snowplow to a stop instead of the proper "skating style" stop where you turn to the side quickly and stop. Every time I try that I either fall over or just ski off the the side when I do the fast turn to stop! (which is kind of funny but not what I want!) I am doing well with everything else, I can ski pretty well but I just cannot seem to stop properly. What am I doing wrong?! How can I fix this?!

Any insight would be greatly appreciated

 

[Robyn]

Well, you need to set your edges into the snow but honestly if you're having difficulty with this skill please take a lesson. For your safety and the safety of others on the mountain.

 

[marymack]

When I first learned to ski I had a hard time with hockey stopping. It wasn't until I started practicing turning uphill as a way to slow down (rather than wedging out my legs to slow) that hockey stopping kind of followed naturally. As you turn up the hill, add pressure to the to the inside edges of your skis (the side closest to the uphill as you turn). As you practice adding more pressure, you will find you need to turn up the hill less and less to stop. I did find for a bit that one leg would lead and the other then caught up, which is fine as you are learning (the cleanness will come as you practice). Thats just how I remember it, I'm sure someone who is actually a ski instructor will have some better advice. Good Luck!

 

[CMCM]

Yes, take a lesson...or as many as you can in the beginning. Lessons are SO important in the beginning, and it's so critical to be confident in your ability to STOP! How can you really progress with your skiing if you are unsure about stopping?

 

[Pequenita]

The equipment's changed enough in 10 years that a lesson will help with more than just stopping skills. You've invested in the equipment, so invest in lessons to use the equipment as well.

In general, if you're falling over when doing a hockey stop, you haven't found the balance points to stay upright (I know, you're saying, "Duh, people fall over when they're not balanced.") And if you're carving around to the other edge of the slope, it's likely you've found more of the ski's natural shape than actually made that turn yourself. A lesson + practice will teach you how to better position your body to make effective stops. And everyone else on the slopes will thank you for it.

Best of luck!

 

[Jilly]

melrose88 please take a lesson. This is something that can be taught in no time and will lead to greater things.

Where are you in Canada, I might be able to suggest someone?

 

[liquidfeet]

I second and third the advice above: take a lesson! Go on a weekday when the crowds are not there, sign up for a group lesson, and you might end up being in a group of one - thus a private lesson for the price of a group lesson! But in the mean time, the way to stop is not snow-plowing; that just isn't powerful enough when there's any kind of pitch to the slope you're on. Whipping the two skis around fast and skidding sideways to a halt - also known as a hockey stop - isn't the way either. Think of that as an "emergency brake" style of stopping, one that you can eventually add to your skills but not an all-the-time approach to stopping.

You need to make a slow steady turn, slow-motion-style, which just keeps going in a curve until your skis are pointing uphill. You will coast to a stop, gravity being what it is. You can't coast uphill very far. I think of this as a U-turn, only gravity stops you before you can go back uphill.

The key concept here is s-l-o-w-l-y turning uphill with your feet. No jerking the skis around, no hauling your entire upper body around, no panicking and whipping your skis around. It's a SLOW, gentle, steady, determined turn of the feet and the skis attached to them all the way around uphill until you and your skis coast to a stop because of gravity.

This is also how you need to make all your turns, without any jerky quick pivoting. If you can figure out how to do this on your own on the beginner slope where the novices are, then practice it for a while and take a lesson after lunch. Then you can advance even farther! If you can't figure out how to do it on your own reliably in both directions on the bunny hill, take that lesson before lunch.

 

[Jilly]

I went digging and I see you're at Blue. I can't believe that they don't have a women's program. We do at Tremblant. Same company, duh!

You might want to look at their weekly program. But you might benefit from a private lesson. As a student I know $$ aren't there, but you're enjoyment of the sport will be so much better.

 

[2ski2moro]

I can ski pretty well but I just cannot seem to stop properly.

Sorry if this sounds impolite, but stopping, turning, skiing under control, and the ability to avoid people/objects/hazards are critical skills. If you can't do that, you can't really ski.

Last year, an out of control beginner was skiing on a blue run at Killington, couldn't stop, and blindsided my husband, who had stopped to help a fallen skier. As a result of the collision, my husband sustained MCL tears in BOTH knees. It ended his ski season. He was in substantial pain for months. Even with health insurance, it cost us a lot of money for the doctors' visits and PT, not to mention his time lost at work.

Please take a lesson. And be sure to let us know about your progress. We are a friendly group of ladies, even if I come off too harsh at times.

 

[gardenmary]

Echoing what the other Divas have said, take a lesson. The instructor will be able to watch what you're doing and correct it on the spot, we can only guess without a video. Tell the ski school what you told us so they can match you up with the right person.

And the upside of it is you might make a new friend in a class and have a ski buddy! Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Swissly1]

You have gotten some tips from our nice ski ladies here and I have to agree that the best would be to take a ski lesson. Somebody has to observe you while practicing. According to your posture and movement you'll get the right correction. I'm pretty sure, it doesn't need much but it's worth it.
Be careful not to fall into other people. My mom got 4 broken rips because of a lady who could only stop using her as the stop target, but with both fists ahead.

 

[Bayla]

I took a lot of lessons when I first started - enough about that. My ver first goal being able to parallel ski was to stop on command! I also spent nearly to whole days at first doing nothing but hockey stops and working both sides. You will favor a side but the mountain won't always let u pick the side so u have to be able to do both. Practice makes the mountain safe for everyone!

 

[segacs]

Whipping the two skis around fast and skidding sideways to a halt - also known as a hockey stop - isn't the way either. Think of that as an "emergency brake" style of stopping, one that you can eventually add to your skills but not an all-the-time approach to stopping.

But it's so much fun... especially when you can kick up a big pile of snow into your sister's face.

(Just kidding. Seriously, what everyone else said. Take a lesson.)

 

[2ski2moro]

Melrose88, come back. We didn't mean to scare you off.

 

[litterbug]

Melrose88, come back. We didn't mean to scare you off.

Please do. We have opinions, but no one every means to be mean. It can be overwhelming to hear you've been doing it wrong. I think a nice group lesson would really get you oriented to the gear and the basic skills. It might be hard to go back to basic--you might be more of an advanced beginner who just needs to get a few more skills before you can go on. But as someone who's been literally run over by someone skiing right behind my tails when I fell over while trying to stop (afterwards, she was angry at me for getting in her way!), I think more predictable turning methods are more than a little useful!

 

[SkiTux]

melrose88, I hope you come back, too! I can really relate to your question to a certain extent. I'm really only comfortable stopping when I'm going slowly, which means I'm not ready for intermediate slopes yet. And it's really frustrating for me because I just want to be good at skiing, but I realize that I'm never going to have the confidence to progress if I'm afraid of going too fast!

I'm a total beginner (skied for the fifth time in my life only yesterday in the White Mountains), but I agree that a lesson will help. And you might not leave that lesson feeling confident - I sure didn't. I stayed on the most gentle area of the (nice, wide!) beginner slope and just practiced stopping. I eventually got to the point that marymack is talking about, which is pretty exciting...at one point, Hubs said I actually did a hockey stop (whee!). But even still, I'm not ready to tackle bigger and better things. It can be so tedious and frustrating, but I feel like it's worth the effort.

Good luck. Please come back and post!

 

[Celestron2000]

I just learned to ski last year, and that drill was an important breakthrough for me.
I just practiced building up more and more speed and breaking on the bunny slope, really improved my confidence.
More Confidence -> More Speed -> Easier turns/ better skiing-> More Confidence-> More Speed -> Easier turns/ better skiing...
you get the idea.

 

[mustski]

Please come back! Don't be offended. Take a lesson for sure but with a female instructor if possible. No offense to the many guys who gave me lessons in my young days, but it took a female to get my stance correct and then I could ski. I was a very slow learner ... lots of lessons ... now I am 52 years old and an advanced skier with no regrets. Every lesson was worth it's weight in gold!

 

[whitewater girl]

...OK, I'm going to give some different advice...

starting out (actually, for more than my first 2 years!), I absolutely could not "hockey-stop"(or use an edge to turn-everything was wedge)...lessons were no help at all.

problem turned out to be my boots (2 consecutive pairs, bought at ski shops which claim to do boot fitting) - they felt tight (actually, the calf was so tight in the first pair, I was having what's called "calf-hang", where the calf was soo tight my weight was resting there and not on my feet...). I was just too new to know what was wrong...

eventually got into boots that work - first a pair with a completely different shape to the boot (was doing hockey stops, and finally able to really ski, in a very short time)..next pair of boots (needed when I graduated to longer skis) were a 2 full sizes smaller (yes, part of why the first 2 pair were so tight is they were too big - boot-calf came up too high on my leg and spacing on wide & narrow parts to the boot were not where the wide & narrow parts of my feet are...sounds counter-intuitive, particularly since the original boots "matched" the size shoes I wore, but it's for real)

I would recomend checking out your boot fit - this thread has info on getting properly fitting boots - as mentioned

They should bring out a minimum of 3 prs of boots. If they don’t pull out the liner and have you put your foot in just the plastic shell then shove their hands down the back of the boot, and maybe all around inside (shell fit you), go somewhere else. Proper shell fit is as follows: 1 “finger” or less for race fit, 1-1 1/2 “fingers” for performance fit, and 2 “fingers” for comfort fit. Anything bigger than that is too big! Then they should have you put your foot in just the liner, then put it all together. They should feel TIGHT but not painful!! Your longest toe should touch (but not be crammed into) the front of the boot.

...there's lots of info on the internet on boot fit as well - worth checking into (even if you can't afford new boots right now - at least you'll know part of the problem is mechanical)

Good Luck!