Go From Intermediate to Expert Skier, with 3 Skills

Contents:

Levelling up your Skills

Skill 1: Edge Angle

Skill 2: Edge Similarity

Skill 3: Outside Ski Pressure

We all want to look like we know what we’re doing on a pair of skis, and nothing feels quite as good as flying down your favourite run executing perfect carving turns to the envy of your fellow skiers.

But once we get to a point of not falling on every other turn or carving out of control and sending half of the lift queue flying, it's easy to stop working on technique, which can lead to picking up bad habits. You might also find that while you're a capable skier in good conditions - fresh snow that’s just been pisted and clear visibility, once the clouds roll in or you come across ice or choppy snow you don’t quite have your technique perfected enough to allow you to deal with it.

Levelling up your skiing skill

It’s great to have a refresher every now and again, and sometimes all it takes is an awareness of what you need to work on and a few tweaks to take your skiing from good to great.

With that in mind, we’ve identified three skills that separate expert skiers from the rest of the pack, and what you can do to brush up on them. All three can be measured on the CARV app, which will give you instant data to show what you need to improve and live coaching to help you do just that.

If you want to really take your skiing up a level and spend time with like-minded people, then join a Stomp It Ski Camp. You’ll get digital analysis with Carv, bespoke tuition with expert instructors who’ll give you the tools to really progress your skiing (while also having a great time!)

Skill 1: Creating Edge Angle and Carving

This means that when you get up onto the edges of your skis as you enter a turn, the contact points at either end meet the snow and pressure is put on the centre by your weight causing the ski to bend - this creates a turn. A higher edge angle causes more bend and this shortens your turn and creates a carving action.

To improve edge angle through your turns you need to look at the positioning of your body - your upper and lower body need to work in unison to create the desired shape. Work on trying to angulate your knees into the slope and the inside of the turn while aligning to the outside with your upper body.

This will increase your edge angle and allow the ski to turn cleanly. The Carv app provides Carving Training, where you’ll be given verbal queues as you ski to help you focus on tidying up your technique and getting a better edge angle.

Skill 2: Refining Your Edge Similarity

Edge similarity refers to the extent to which both your skis move evenly together. If both of your skis aren’t following the same route, at the same angle then you won't get smooth transitions which will use more energy.

To improve this, look down at your skis as you make a couple of turns (make sure you’re not going to plow into anyone while doing this!) and see if there’s a point in each turn where your skis are not symmetrical and at the same angle. You might find that your inside ski is flatter than your outer, which is a common issue.

Once you’ve identified how your stance changes through your turns then spend some time focusing on trying to keep your shins parallel and rolling your ankles into each turn.

Skill 3: Build Your Outside Ski Pressure

Intermediate skiers may find their outside ski skids out from under them on turns, reducing their stability. Putting more pressure on the outside ski will make it grip more into the snow and will go a long way to preventing you from stacking it if you hit an unexpected patch of ice.

To correct this try to increase your angulation by pushing your hips further into the turn while reaching with the outside arm down to let the weight of the upper body put pressure on the outside ski.

There are a couple of drills you can try which will help with this. Practice lifting your inside ski slightly off the snow as you turn - this will force all your weight onto your outside ski and will give you a reference point for the amount of pressure you should be putting on it.

You can also try holding your poles out to either side of you and keeping them both in contact with the snow as you turn - this will force you to lean down and create more pressure on your outside ski.

Once you’ve got to grips with this you can try Outside Ski Pressure Training on the Carv app, which allows you to move up through levels as your technique improves.

There you have it - once you’ve nailed edge angle, edge similarity and outside ski pressure you’ll notice a big difference in your skiing. Of course, every little positive adjustment you make feeds into your overall technique and while these are three separate skills that you can monitor on the CARV app you’ll probably find that as you start to work on one, the others will improve as well and you can link them all together.

It won’t be long before you’re sailing past other skiers, flawlessly carving down every run. You will also find yourself better equipped to deal with any less than perfect weather or snow conditions that you come across, which will help you to make the most of your time on the snow.

Stomp It Tutorials lead in-person technique camps in Zermatt and Laax, Switzerland, where they combine Carv's objective analysis with in-person coaching to push your skiing technique to the next level.

Sign up now, and use discount code CARV at checkout to save €150CHF.