Anyone here ski? How do you initiate turns?

[fuzzybabybunny]

I'm getting pretty competent at skiing. It's only my 2nd time but I can do any blue diamond in Tahoe's Heavenly without a problem. The black diamonds just don't look fun at all. Even if I could tackle them I'd probably avoid them and go on nice long, fast, blue runs. But with that said, I don't want to start developing bad habits. Right now I've found that I tend to keep my legs together and skis close together and parallel as much as possible (never did the wedge crap), but that I initiate turns by scissoring my legs. So if I want to carve left, I push my right leg forward and my left leg back.

I have a feeling though that this isn't the proper way to do it. Should I be starting at a vertical stand, and then just lean my entire body to one side and edge both skis to one side while keeping both my feet together?

 

[Ns1]

I have a feeling though that this isn't the proper way to do it. Should I be starting at a vertical stand, and then just lean my entire body to one side and edge both skis to one side while keeping both my feet together?

...and pull up with your toes and push down with your heel (to some extent), while applying more pressure to the outside turn leg (ie if making a right turn more pressure should be on left leg)

scissoring = LOL

 

[TheVrolok]

It really depends on how you want to turn, what kind of skier you are, what kind of snow you ski on, what kind of skis you're using, etc. etc.

I ski mostly in the northeast on loose granular/ice so I have sharp reinforced edged skis that I use to carve ice so I ride on edge a lot.

Long story short, it's far more about weight redistribution than whatever this "scissoring" is. I'm not realizing it's incredibly difficult for me to put in words quickly, without thinking about it while I'm skiing. 😛

 

[Zeze]

Skiing: You break and turn using your left or right side of sole (and bent knee and skii parallel).

Snowboarding: You break and turn using toe braking or heel braking.

I've never skiied, just boarded. This is all I know. But you can tell just by watching others or pictures:

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

It really depends on how you want to turn, what kind of skier you are, what kind of snow you ski on, what kind of skis you're using, etc. etc.

I ski mostly in the northeast on loose granular/ice so I have sharp reinforced edged skis that I use to carve ice so I ride on edge a lot.

Long story short, it's far more about weight redistribution than whatever this "scissoring" is. I'm not realizing it's incredibly difficult for me to put in words quickly, without thinking about it while I'm skiing. 😛

Hmmmm... let me put it this way. When you're in the middle of a turn, is one foot in front of the other? When you're carving left, is your left foot ahead of your right? Or are the tips of your skis always lined up with each other?

 

[Ns1]

Hmmmm... let me put it this way. When you're in the middle of a turn, is one foot in front of the other? When you're carving left, is your left foot ahead of your right? Or are the tips of your skis always lined up with each other?

If I'm carving right I would expect my right ski to be slightly ahead of the other

I ski fairly aggressively.

 

[Stuxnet]

Love to ski! Haven't been able to go this year because it's been too darn warm.

Anywho, I'm not an expert but can hold my own on most slopes. It's hard to describe how I initiate turns, but it feels like I begin by very slighly picking up the heel of the inside foot, pointing it inward just a touch, then digging in. Eventually I end up digging in with both blades, but that's the initiation of it.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

If I'm carving right I would expect my right ski to be slightly ahead of the other

I ski fairly aggressively.

Ah, that's what I meant by scissoring. You scissor your legs slightly - on left turns, your left is slightly ahead, and on right turns your right is slightly ahead. Just like we scissor our legs when walking, although not to the same degree in skiing.

 

[Ns1]

Ah, that's what I meant by scissoring. You scissor your legs slightly - on left turns, your left is slightly ahead, and on right turns your right is slightly ahead. Just like we scissor our legs when walking, although not to the same degree in skiing.

excellent video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJI3nd5JAqk&feature=related

 

[Gooberlx2]

Hmmmm... let me put it this way. When you're in the middle of a turn, is one foot in front of the other? When you're carving left, is your left foot ahead of your right? Or are the tips of your skis always lined up with each other?

There may be some movement like that, but from the natural angle the skis take, not from conscious action. Pressure should be on your outside leg (right leg when turning left, and vica versa). Specifically, pressure should essentially be on your inside sole of your foot (outside leg)....almost on the ball under your big toe.

Additionally, your torso should be pointed downhill, not in the direction of your turn. Transition from left to right is pretty much all in the knees. Your thighs should definitely feel worked at the end of the day.

Ultimately, it's a matter of time and practice. Classes are worth it.

 

[Sluggo]

scissoring = LOL

It does make for an interesting visual; I think. 😱

 

[velillen]

i highly recommend taking a private lesson if you plan on skiing somewhat regularly or even if its just a couple times a year. its way easier for someone to watch you and be able to correct things early on (and on the snow). I've been skiing for ~20 years now so its hard to get me to change anything anymore lol.

As for turning....your upper body shouldnt be shifting all that much. There might be a bit of "scissoring" but it should be excessive. Just pressure the outside ski.....depending on speed you are going and how fast you want to turn really determines how much pressure to put. High speed carving where you want to "pop" you might go more 75% on the outside vs long medium speed turns might be more 60%.

Like i said though a lesson is honestly the best thing you could do for yourself. A half day type would help ya get things in your head so you do it the right way.

You can learn quite a bit from watching world cup races too. I grew up watching WC races and ski movies and its pretty much how i taught myself to ski lol.

 

[DrPizza]

I agree on the ski lessons. There's just no way you're going to read instructions online and manage to put most of them into practice effectively. Get lessons now before you build bad habits.

I used to get a season ski pass, up to a couple years ago. No matter how good I thought I was, I never passed up the opportunity for the lessons that came with the pass. Lessons were an hour long; I'd usually take a lesson after skiing for about 2 hours, as sort of a break. I can't see that having longer lessons would have been beneficial - usually they found one or two things that you really needed to tweak & you'd just keep that in mind for the rest of the night while you were skiing. (And no matter how good I was, unless the instructors working that night recognized me, they assumed I was delusional when I got into the most advanced groups - and took me down a blue trail before asking me, "why the hell are you wearing those skiis? They're 25 years old! You should have nice shaped skiis, not those relics. I assumed when I saw those that you didn't ski very much."

I almost bought new skis for this year; glad I didn't. Average snowfall in Buffalo is 74 days with 1" of snow on the ground or more; this year, the area is still in the teens, poised to crush the old record least amount of snow.