J2Ski Forum Posts and Replies by ben76

skiing feet together is less stable, hinders angulation at the ankle and knee joints, but most importantly it looks mincey!

82ross wrote:

Is the beginning of this video a fair example of parallel turning?

What they're doing at the very beginning of that vid are what are know as 'braquage' turns. This is an exercise where you turn but never really engage the edges at the end of the turn. This is a good exercise to get the idea of pivotting/turning your skis when they are flat on the snow.

The basic parrallel starts about 1min 15s into the clip, and is a good example. Notice how they gradually flex downwards at the end of the turn to increase angulation (hip and knee) and engage the edges before smoothly coming off the edges at the start of the next turn.

82ross wrote:This vid shows an example of an older style of skiing ie not carving.

I'd like to point out that there is a fair bit wrong with the technique demonstrated in this clip so should not be used as a 'how to ski parralel' demo.

Main problem is that this guy is using his upper body to chuck himself from side to side, and his legs are not pivotting separately from his hips. I'd suggest that the reason he's having to do this is because he's remaining on his edges for too long when he needs to be flattening them out at end of each turn. This is fairly clearly demonstrated when you can see his uphill (or inside) ski being independently picked up to initiate the subsequent turn, the first turn he makes after passing the camera gives the most obvious demo of this fault.

Whilst carving is a new(ish)style of skiing facilitated by shaped skis, parrallel skiing is certainly not an outdated style (although this business of skiing with narrow stance is and looks very mincey).

Anyone read 'The All Mountain Skier'? This is another good and easy to understand book.

2 issues with the original post. First of all why do you want to ski with a narrow stance? Ski with whatever stance gives you your best balance, for most people this would be feet about shoulder width apart. Skiing with a narrow stance is dated (80s and early 90s style), not the most efficient with regard to ankle, knee and hip angulation, and most of all it looks mincey!

This 2nd point is far more important. DO NOT under any circumstances use those suction devices to attach your skis to your car. The elastic properties of rubber change dependent on temperature, you'll almost certainly lose the vacuum that is sticking your skis to the car during your journey. If these come flying off when you're travelling down the motorway at 80 mph your could end up killing someone behind you and end up on a manslaughter charge!

try rounding your turns off a bit more before the transition into the next turn if you want to control speed whilst still carving, or more conventionally just skid your turns on pistes that are too steep.

Dshenberger wrote: Most of the time skiers who appear to be "good" are starting out with a nice carve, and at the apex of their turn are skidding through the rest of their turn. Even most of the instructors I see aren't consistently carving.

So, is it possible to carve with skis close, and an upright stance, or am I actually doing OK with my method?

You don?t have to carve your turns to be skiing well, carving is just another aspect of skiing that the new shaped skis have facilitated. There is an obsession on this board that you are skiing incorrectly unless you are carving, this is not the case! As an instructor I would say that a good pivoted (skidded) turn is much more technical than just putting your skis on edge and letting the skis? sidecut do the work for you. Modern pivot turn technique does use the skis? sidecut to an extent (when pressure is applied to the edges at the end of the turn), but much of the steering comes from the hip joint.

Pure carving IS great fun but is not possible on all parts of the mountain. For example you would not be able to carve through a tree lined run, a mogul field or a busy piste since your turn shape is restricted by the turn radius on your skis.

In response to your question about wide stance, yes modern technique does recommend a wide stance for more stable balance (particularly on hard pack). People who ski with their feet together are stuck in the 80s/90s.

Salomon skis are ok but certainly nothing special in comparison to the range of skis that are available these days, in fact they are well known for losing their stiffness quicker than most skis. As for soft flex, that would be the last thing you'd want if you're a half decent skier. Stiffer skis are much more stable when you're going at speed and won't 'chatter' on hard pack snow.