What's Your Best Ski Tip!

[snowmiser]

I'm pretty new to this forum, but I thought it would be interesting to find out what all of your best ski tips are when you're teaching somebody how to ski. I've had a lot of success teaching students to turn by using a tip that somebody shared with me that if they want to go right, to lift up their big toe on the right foot into the direction they want to go. To help get the turn initiated even faster, they can push down on the left big toe at the same time they are lifting up the right big toe. This tip works very well. If any of you have another breakthrough type tip, it would be great if you could share it with us!

 

[Shellski]

My best, 17 of your friends will tell you 17 different things, so listen to your instructor, and take everything else with a grain of salt. ;)

Get forward to get control - I got to use this on the weekend, I was explaining to a friend to think about how much force you would really need to fall over the tips of your skis, it's just not going to happen, that she was far more likely to fall over backwards from leaning back, or sideways from leaning into the hill. Lightbulb on!

 

[RachelV]

My first day on skis I was doing TERRIBLY until the instructor told me to pretend I was squishing a grape with my toe to initiate my turns (using the right toe to turn left anf vice versa). Random, but there ya go.

I didn't really have a similar "eureka" moment going from beginner->intermediate or from intermediate->wherever I am now. Just lots of ski days and small improvements.

 

[Native Vail Gal]

Tips up when you get off the lift!!! :D

Oh....and NEVER lose your sense of humor!

 

[ISki]

Bend zee knees.

 

[Jilly]

Bend zee knees.

and $5 please. Seriously, best tip I ever got from an instructor is relax and have fun.

 

[Ski Spirit]

An instructor was trying to explain crossover and I just couldn't get it until he said "Picture yourself at the helm of a boat and seagulls are flying close so you reach out over the helm to try to touch them."

 

[SnowHot]

One day I had a horrendous instructor for my school kids on our school day trip. I had 14 kids skiing but only 3 beginners.
These kids were a delight and the instructor was a grump with a cranky attitude. At the end of their lesson, all three beginners were still struggling with a pizza wedge and definitely couldn't make a turn. So I was stuck on the bunny hill with these three wonderful kids trying to get them to make some kind of wedge turn.

One little girl(not from my group) who had had a different instructor looked at me with a big grin and said......."Well, my instructor said to do this chant "big toe pressure, outside ski"". She played with my three students, got them laughing, they were having fun, chanting Big toe pressure, outside ski!, they were turning, stopping, Heck! they were skiing!!!

I'm no expert in this area, but this seemed to work for these kids.

 

[ski diva]

Anyone else have anything they'd care to add?

 

[sibhusky]

Well, I had luck with friends afraid of even STARTING down the hill because it looked so steep by telling them to STOP looking DOWN the hill and start looking ACROSS the hill, then it doesn't look so steep. Do traverses across until suddenly you're down. Even if they can't turn so well, we'll worry about that when they get to the end of the traverse. I've had them turn by pushing down on their outside knee with their hands. Or, for kids, pretend you're an airplane.

Of course, this is the last stuff I'd tell someone who actually knows how to ski a bit, but sometimes getting someone over their fears is more important than technique. Of course, I'm not an instructor.

 

[island girl]

ski tips

what a great idea for a forum. One of my favorite tips, is suggesting that you pretend your big toe is a button. You push your left button to turn right and vice versa. This really helps initiate a turn and get the feeling and shifting your weight; not unlike some of the other suggestions already posted. This works well for children and adults. Of course, the biggest tip really is to have fun and keep smiling!!!! Looking forward to hearing other ideas.
Island Girl

 

[snowmiser]

Another tip that I like to give my students is to have them pretend that they are riding a bicycle. I explain to them that the downhill or outside leg is the foot that they are pressing down on the pedal, and the uphill or inside leg is the lightened foot on the pedal. When they want to turn, they have to lighten the downhill pedal and press down on the uphill pedal. I also have them place their hands on the imaginary handlebars. This is a great excersice to familiarize them with pressure control with their skis.

 

[Kiragirl]

I'm not an instructor, either, but one tip I would share with beginners or other level skiers is to be comfortable, make sure you're dressed properly, especially make sure your hands and feet are warm. Then you can enjoy skiing, learn, and have fun. I don't know how many times I've been out skiing with people who are just miserable because their hands are cold; it's a shame, it ruins their whole day (and sometimes ruins the time for others).

 

[Consuela]

My favorite tip for first time skiers is: "Don't let your husband/boyfriend/etc teach you how to ski. Save your relationship and go take a Beginner Lesson."

 

[Kiragirl]

Haha, good one, except I'll bet a bunch of us divas have taught the boys how to ski, not vice versa!

 

[Consuela]

Possibly! I did teach my bf (now DH) to ski on shorties. But, when he wanted to give Alpine skiing another try, I said, "Great! I'll let you know where and what time the group lesson is!" I signed us both up, since it had been a long time since I'd alpined... besides, I didn't want him getting too much better than me right away! hehe

 

[dloveski]

Do the 'bush push'!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep that butt tucked in. Or some say nips to tips to keep out of the back seat.

 

[mollmeister]

Do the 'bush push'!!!!!!!!!!!! Keep that butt tucked in. Or some say nips to tips to keep out of the back seat.

^^^^ What she said, alternatively known as "show me your bush" or "F%&^ the turn."


Oh, and the one that's worked the most wonders for me personally, is "keep your hands where you can see them." If I can ALWAYS see my hands, even out of the corner of my eyes, even on steep, difficult terrain, then I know I am skiing well. Hands too far back = disaster.

 

[Sheena]

One that has helped me a lot, especially when exploring more challenging terrain... BREATHE!

 

[LilaBear]

Inside hand up in the bumps.

If I think about one thing and one thing only - keep that hand up and bring it round ...... then the rest of me does a whole lot better and I can link a few turns. And the simple act of focusing on just one thing gets rid of some of the stiffness/fear.