Ski coach Tom Gellie says most skiers skip the basics: linking clean turns on green terrain before chasing steep slopes. Film yourself from behind to spot if your inside ski washes out or outside ski skids. Master that first, then progress to steeper runs.
Most skiers learning to carve jump to steeper runs too soon, or they watch Instagram and see others and they chase higher edge angles, and they miss the simplest test that shows whether they're actually carving. So if you can link turns on easy terrain like I'm doing here with 2 clean tracks from start to finish, your carving improves fast. No guessing, no hoping. So easy terrain gives you the time, time to feel what your skis are doing and time to actually notice whether they're gripping or skidding. I work with a lot of students, even advanced ones, and they're often shocked at how much their inside ski is washing out or how their outside ski skids at the top of the turn. They don't see it until the camera shows it. So here are some action steps. Early season tasks: go to a green run and slow it right down. Link turns, leaving two clean edge tracks like I'm doing here, both skis, both sides. Try and get someone to film you from behind like this video. If the inside ski smears, note when it happens and try and fix it. If the outside ski skids at the top, fix that too. Once you're consistent, then take it to steeper terrain. And remember, on steeper slopes, you don't have to carve the whole turn. This is just a task to work on so you can actually learn how to feel what carving the whole turn is like. But if you need to know the difference between choosing to drift and choosing to lock the skis on edge, You need to do this instead of just leaning and hoping the turn goes well. So save this and tick it off before chasing bigger edge angles.
Most skiers overlook how they use their poles. Try these five pointers next time you’re skiing.
