Tom GellieBig Picture Skiing Pty Ltd · Coach/Director

Olympian taught her kids to focus on feel vs form when skiing and now they are close to making WC

17 Jun 2025 · 2 min

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1:44

In this interview, an Olympic skier‑parent explains how she taught her young children (as young as 2½‑3 years old) to ski by prioritising feel over formal technique. Rather than starting with snowplow turns, she used skidding and falling‑leaf drills to give the kids precise control over where they wanted to go. This early focus on directed skids allowed them to ski bumps and steep off‑piste chutes confidently. She outlines a three‑pillar framework—twist (turning), push (edge engagement and snow displacement), and edge (varying edge angle)—that underpins speed, direction, and edge‑angle versatility, essential for both freeride and race‑style skiing. The approach aims to build natural, adaptable skill that later evolves into carving and advanced racing techniques, positioning the kids close to World Cup level.

Chapters

I remember skiing couloirs with the boys when they were 7, but we never felt worried about them because they had so much control. We didn't really force snowplows and things. We did a lot of skidding. So they were 2 and a half, 3 years old, and we would skid around the mountain, falling leaf skills, almost like the big mountain guys.
Yeah.
That's right, exactly. For the first season, he didn't bother turning. He didn't actually think he needed to turn. Now and then I'd say, Zach, you can turn if you want, and you go, why? Why should I turn? I'm quite happy doing this. But that skidding and that precision and control of where they wanted to get to with their directed skids meant that we could ski bumps. We could very quickly ski like little steep chutes off-piste. If you teach them to skid, you can go anywhere, and carving and all that, that comes later.
So you ask skid, uh, what were the 3 things?
Yes, twist, push, edge. Okay, so twisting is just turning, twisting is turning your skis, and then adding the skid to control it. So descent, so controlling your speed and your direction with that skid. Pushing was when we were in deeper off-piste or in slush, you know, is getting that edge and pushing the ski. This snow displacement that Phil talks about a lot, yes, pushing that snow. And then of course edge, you know, that being able to vary the edge, you know, that for a ski racer is huge as well. So you're not just stuck on one edge angle, you need to be able to have 70 degrees, you need 10 degrees, and you need the whole shebang in between.
Yes.
So of course, when the boys were young, they were not thinking, am I skiing with a 10 or a 70-degree angle? But they were just naturally developing that.