Skidding the end of my turns

federico wrote:Does anyone know a good exercise to stop me skidding out of the last part of my turn? I've been told (by people who follow me) that I push out a spray of snow on the exit of each turn and my legs are always tired at the end of the day.

I try to lean back at the end of the turn but that doesn't feel right.

Tx for any advice

Not quite sure why you see pushing out a spray of snow at the exit of each turn as a symptom of a problem, this is what should happen at the end of a pivotted turn. During a turn force will build up against you as you round off the turn and increase your edging, this will result in a spray until the edge grabs the snow.

If your problem is that you have difficulty in getting the edge to grab the snow at the end of the turn (particularly on hard pack and ice), then I would suggest that you need to use your knee and ankle joints a bit more to create 'angulation' instead of just using your hip joint. Doing this will help keep your center of mass over your feet, hence putting more pressure on the edges. Try adopting a wider stance to enable this.

As for tired legs, I've been skiing for over 20 years and always have tired legs at the end of the day!

Over the course of my ski instructor years, this was one of the most common "errors" that we dealt with. All of the above suggestions are great, but what if you don't want to carve? I frequently avoid carving; it's a pain in the butt to try to carve fat skis through the bumps or trees, for example. That, and carving is FAST. Unless you have a seriously sidecut ski (such as a modern slalom race ski) you need a decent amount of real estate to do it, and it can be intimidating - and dangerous, if you're on a busy slope. I think that more likely the SHAPE of your turn is why you spray snow at the end.

Most skiers on groomed runs do not make round "S" shaped turns. Rather, they kind of traverse a bit, find a happy place to change directions, THROW the skis across the fall line, and SLAM on the edges. This results in "Check" or "Z" shaped turns, with a lot of snow spray, and tired legs (because these skiers are also in the back seat, and their quads get exhausted holding them up).

First of all, I suggest a lesson. American "Level 5" or "Level 6" should be good. During the week, even at busy places like Breckenridge, where I used to work, you can usually get pretty good teacher - student ratios in group lessons.

If you want some food for thought, however, here goes. You need to have patience through the initiation of the turn, and allow the skis to seek the fall line. Start by finishing your turn and standing up a bit (cross-over). This leg extension movement should carry your center of mass over your skis. At this point, flatten both skis, and allow them to start going downhill. Then, tip them onto their edges gradually. Concentrate on NOT rushing through the fall line. Steer your skis with your legs, and round your turns out, creating pressure more evenly throughout the turn. If pressure builds up, allow your legs to flex slightly to absorb it. If I'm doing short turns, I often think of getting my skis on a very early edge, and spraying snow UP the hill. Last but not least, once you finish one turn, start the next! Don't get caught in a traverse! If you find this makes you accelerate down the hill, finish your turn more - steer your skis across the hill before starting the next turn.

Let me know if this helps at all. Happy skiing!