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Parallel Turns

Parallel Turns

In previous tips we covered drills in all of the basic skiing skills: Edging, Rotation and Pressure, with pressure including ski to ski, forward/aft, and up/down (un-weighted/weighted).  Actual skiing, of course, requires utilizing all of these skills at once, so let’s consider how all of these skills combine to produce a parallel turn.

For wedge skiers learning parallel, it would be good to go back and review, on the mountain, a few of the basic drills covered in previous Tips, particularly ‘Garlands’, ‘Rotation’, ‘Bicycle Turns’ and ‘Unweighting’.  The ‘Stork Turns’ drill is also very useful, but wedge skiers may not be up to that one.  Instead, wedge skiers should make sure they can lift and hold the uphill ski off the snow when in the across the hill phase at the end of turns.

Let’s run through the elements of a parallel turn in terms of the basic skills and how and when they are employed.

Starting with the finish of the previous turn, the body should be fully angulated with the knees and hips up the hill, the knees bent, skis parallel, and the upper body leaning out over the downhill ski.  As speed slows to a comfortable pace, release the edges by standing up and moving the knees forward, just as in the Garlands drill.  As the edges release the skis will begin to move downhill.  At this instant, INSTEAD of re-edging to go back up the hill as in a garland, rotate the skis in the downhill direction, begin transferring weight from the downhill ski to the ski on the outside of the new turn, and at the same time re-angulate, but with the knees in the direction of the new turn.  Essentially, release the edges as in a garland, but re-angulate in the opposite direction.

Note that all three skills are engaged at the same time to do the turn.  That is, edges are released, skis are rotated, and weight is transferred to the ski on the outside of the new turn.  The skis are then edged in the opposite direction than they had been, with angulation increasing as the skis point downhill and then come around to point across the hill at the end of the turn.

A key aspect is how much rotation to apply.  For skiers learning to ski parallel, make sure you are on a comfortable run.  Don’t start this where you might feel uncomfortable with your skis pointing straight down the hill, since the skis will point down the hill briefly at the apex of the turn.  As in the ‘Finish Your Turns’ Tip, the turn should be made smoothly, ideally in one consistent ‘C’ shaped arc.  Don’t rush it!  Be confident that speed will be controlled at the end of the turn.

At the instant the edges are released, it should be easy to rotate the skis, just as if sitting on the ski lift and rotating your skis back and forth in the air.  But, as the skis are edged again, it takes more pressure to rotate them.  As the skis are re-edged and the turn progresses, the change in direction will apply more pressure to the skis. 

Keep the skis edged so that they do not skid to the side.  Instead, follow through with the rotation.  The pressure on the skis will cause them to bend, since the skis are widest at the tips and tails and the narrow portion under the boot moves farther than the tips and tails.  The increased bend in the skis tightens the basic turning radius built into the skis, as was illustrated in the ‘Railroad Tracks’ tip, causing the turn radius to be shorter than that built into the skis.  The more pressure applied to turning the skis, the more the skis bend, and the tighter the turn becomes.  Also, since the skis are firmly edged and the skis are not allowed to skid, this is a carved parallel turn.

Sounds easy, right?  Well, actually with a little practice it is!  Start on a gentle slope, then as you get the hang of it, move to slightly steeper terrain.  Also experiment with how much rotation pressure you apply.  Different amounts of rotation lead to different turn radius.  Get used to doing both short and long radius turns.  You will soon be able to ski the whole mountain in a variety of conditions!

Videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRkuiM0HyMw

From wedge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyB7Wu_aCq8

Progression from wedge to parallel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eG1uDU0rSLw