Ski Techniques and Tips for Freeride - 1 Upper Body Management

A common problem for many skiers moving from piste to off piste is their upper body management, directly relating to their shoulders. When you ski on piste and are trying to make dynamic turn you tend to stand with rounded shoulders. This usually aids a dynamic stance.

If your shoulders are rounded like so in powder or off piste terrains you may find them putting you out of balance. The main reason for this is that when you are freeskiing you tend to find yourself trying to absorb large pressure shocks from the ever-changing terrain. If your shoulders are forwards when you’re in the process of trying to take the absorption you’ll find that no matter how much you try to take the shock by absorbing with the legs the shoulders will cause the whole body to be hurled forwards with a huge break at the waist. This almost always results in eating snow.

Try to think about managing your shoulders for a while. Again, at first on piste, then when you feel you’ve got the hang of it try it in the off piste environment. A little bit of modification here can save a whole lot of time putting your skis back on in the powder just after that front flip that you didn’t want to do.