YOUR FIRST DAY ON SNOW - TECHNIQUE FOUNDATIONS
8 min · Free lesson · written lesson, video in production
After this lesson you can stand, glide, control speed and stop on gentle terrain without panic, on skis or a snowboard.
The Technique
- The athletic stance is everything: ankles, knees and hips flexed, hands in front where you can see them, eyes up the hill you are heading down, not at your feet.
- Weight lives over the middle of the ski or board. Leaning back feels safe and is the opposite of safe - it takes your steering away.
- Skis: the wedge. Push both heels out, tips close together, and feel how a wider wedge slows you and a narrower one lets you run. Speed control is shape, not muscle.
- Snowboard: the side-slip. Board across the fall line, weight even, lift your toes to slide on heel edge, lower them to slow and stop. Repeat on toe edge facing uphill.
- First direction changes: turn the feet, and the ski or board follows. Small, patient movements. Let the turn finish before you start the next one.
- Flat ground skills first: skating, one-footed glides, falling leaf on the board. Boring for ten minutes, priceless for the rest of your life.
Common Mistakes
Leaning back when scared. Fix: hands forward, press the shins into the boot tongues, and pick a stopping point ahead of you.
- Staring at the snow directly under you. Fix: eyes on where you want to be three seconds from now.
- Stiff, locked legs. Fix: bounce gently in the stance while gliding until flex feels normal.
The Drill
On the flattest slope available, glide straight, sink into a slow stop, and finish with hands touching your knees. Ten reps. If you can stop where you choose, you are ready for the lifts.
Beginner terrain only. Helmet on from run one. Know the alpine responsibility code: people below you have right of way. Stop at the side of the run, never below a roller where you cannot be seen.
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