Five skiing strategies to use!

First let us define what a ski technique is compared to a skiing strategy!
The first, a skiing technique is a set elements, postions,pressures a skier does while skiing. It often is at micro level, hardly noticeable!

Skiing strategies are at the macro and focus on "how" you "attack" the run. That is the options you take in going down a run!

Allow me to illustrate!

Trencher mentionned in a previous message that skiers, going up a lift should observe other skiers coming down a run!
Excellent strategy but most beginners do not know what to look for! I often ask skiers to tell me why this or that skier is "good"! very few can tell me what the three most important symptoms of a good skier are!

Here are some strategies expert skiers use and these strategies are what you should look for to make you a better skier!

1. Watch expert skiers coming down ski run,regardless of steepness, conditions, traffic they maintain same speed! The first observation you should make,,, is they turn at the edges of runs! Why?
Expert skiers know that the "nice, soft" snow is at edges because most skiers stay in middle of run!
Beginner skiers are like sheep they follow where everyone is going! Expert skiers pick a line away from crowds and hard used snow. That is an excellent strategy.

2. Watch skiers at a spot where the slope gets steeper! You will pick quickly the beginners vs the expert on the use of effective strategies.
The beginner and some intermediates will stop at lip of hard part. Like birds on electric line they will look to left look to right, chirp among themselves on where to go, where the ice is, where they might fall! You get point!

Meanwhile the expert skier realizes, much higher up the slope that there is a dip or real drop! The following strategy is used;
-do a large turn at very edge of ski run about 3 meters before dip. This allows skier to look at dip while skiing in traverse above dip and see if any skiers have fallen down just over dip, see if any ice in center, pick best line!
Once across slope, but still at lip, while turning into lip do a hard edge set to check speed , but never stop because you have the rythm and you want to carry it!
( Do not know what rythm is,,,, once you get it you will know right away)!
It does not matter how steep slope is since you have several options open to you;
- straight down if dip is short
-traverse over steepest section. With modern skis, if well sharpen traversing steep section is very easy since tips and tails "naturally" set into slope!
-do several tight SL turns to avoid too much speed.

3, This third skiing strategy seems so self evident yet few skiers pratice it! You are at major ski resort that has a télé ( large box like lift for 20-40 skiers) and skiers all rush to get to cabin!

Wait wait!
Let others get into cabing. Last in means FIRST out! You will have no one in front! You will have no traffic of skiers trying to put on skis!

4. Observation is a key part of learning skiing strategies! Observe how ski slopes are situated in reference to sun! As you gain experience you will learn that snow quality ( how ski slides on snow) is greatly effected by the sun.
You will note expert skiers skiing in the sunny portions of the run in the morning! However as the sun melts snow, expert skiers will migrate to shadow areas because snow is still hard and slippery!

5.This last strategy might save your life! Use it!

Watch where ski pros, patrollers, and experts stop!

Never at very top when getting off chairs! ( self evident but you still have skiers stopping 2 meters from chair)
Never stop at center of slope
Never stop below dip or drop
Never stop at tight turn.
Never but never stop below a section that is icy! ( just to watch some skier ski too fast . hit edges, slide on ice and hit you)!

Expert skiers hardly stop in a ski run. They do not ski very, very, very fast but they maintain an even speed during complete run.First they are fit. Second they have rythm ( that rythm concept again) and you want to maintain that "rythm" at all costs! You see the first turn after a stop is the hardest.

I will tell you a secret! Expert skiers are lazy! They let skis do all the work! They let the ski terrain "slow" them down! They believe in giving the minimum physical effort for the maximum result! That is why after one week of skiing they are still running up the stairs, still dancing at night and still wanting to ski for another 5 weeks!

Apply these strategies and learn more by watching the experts and soon you will learn;
-where the powder stashes are
-where the best deals are
-how to enjoy glades
-how to love ice on the slopes
-how to protect your skis
-how to ski till you are 90!

Skiing is a life long learning activity!

Look!

When it comes to stratagy on the hill, there is one that is the most important to me as a carver on boards and skis.

Getting the most out of your linked carved turns means making complete turns. On steeper slopes that can mean up to 180degree turns. Even with minimal traverse between turns, you cut a pretty wide swath down the hill. This can be most confusing for skiers who don't understand true carving. They are coming down the hill from behind and overhauling you. Because of this, they think they are going faster than you. The reality is, you are covering twice the distance that they are with thier small radius skidded turns and may actually going faster than they are. They see you turn right. They think they will pass you easily and wham. You've completed your right turn and as you sink into the left turn, they smash into you from behind.

The other common collision when carving is when two or more people new to carving set off on the run together. Your eyes always look at the run ahead, not to the side. So after some turns, two carvers end up transitioning towards each other at high speed and never even see the collision coming.

The strategy.
Face the fact. You cannot ski close to your friends when carving hard. One may follow another, but if he losses sight of the first carver, he must stop.

Watch who is about to go down the run and don't set off in front anyone who is likely to go fast or bomb the hill. Especially watch out for junior ski racers. Slow down to look behind you occasionly. If someone hits you from behind, yes it's thier fault, but it's your bones.

Collisions involving carving are going to become more common as more and more people buy the latest skis and learn how not to skid thier turns.

Trencher