Fresh tracks

Making fresh tracks in powder snow is the ultimate reward for years of ski experience. When you watch someone who rides well in powder, it looks effortless, athletic, graceful and 'at one' with the mountain!

But how do we turn these words into reality?

In truth, lots of practise and lots of falling over! But here's a few hints to help you on your way...

~ Maintain a strong core otherwise you'll end up 'nose diving' and doing a few forward rolls.
~ Keep a narrow stance and weight on both skis as you turn, to help spread the load.
~ Allow the legs to stretch and bend freely and 'softly'.
~ Keep a calm upper body and look ahead (not at your skis).
~ Remember that a bit of speed allows the skis to bend and turn more easily.

Start to train on a fairly gentle gradient but bear in mind that deep snow will hold your speed back. Take a direct line and enjoy the sensation of floating through the powder, then start to bend and stretch your legs to get a feel for the texture of the snow under your feet (remember to keep those core muscles strong).

When turning in deep snow if you use too much active 'pivot' movement (rotational turning of the feet and legs) your skis will get tripped up in the soft snow and you will probably end up on your head! Instead, feel the pressure build up under your skis as you smoothly extend the legs into the turn. Imagine your skis and feet moving away and to the outside of your centre of mass, creating a 'shelf' of more compacted snow under the ski bases. This shelf is what causes the skis to react and bend making you flow around the curve.

To move smoothly from one turn to the next, retract the legs by pulling the feet back in towards your centre of mass as you complete the curve. This movement should help to release the pressure from the skis and allow you to 'dive' down the hill towards the centre of the next turn. Precise timing is required so that you don't either slow down too much, or, pick up more and more speed.

With plenty of practise and lots of leg burn, you will start to float from turn to turn with the best of them!

Coaching session 2: Mastering parallels

I've been asked to submit a post related to bridging the gap between 'plough parallel' and 'parallel' turns. I will start by clarifying the terminology - the first term (plough parallel) describes a turn which starts by rotating the legs and feet to create a wedge between the skis, but finishes with both skis pointing in the same direction. The second term (parallel) refers to a turn where both skis point the same way and turn at the same rate throughout the entire manoeuvre.

For most people the plough parallel turn is the best stepping stone between snowplough and parallel turns.... hence it's name! But, "how do I make the transformation into true parallel skiing" I hear you ask!

Firstly, think about the physics of say a bike, going round a corner reasonably quickly - the rider has learned to lean the bike over in order to stay in balance. This probably happens naturally for most of you. Now cast your mind back to riding a bike with stabilisers, to help with those first shaky slow speed attempts at balancing. In skiing, this compares to snowplough or early plough parallel turns, where you are relying on the foot/leg on the inside of the curve, to stabilise you.

In order to remove the stabilisers we need to first become confident at allowing the the skis to slide quicker, whilst also relaxing into the turns . This extra bit of speed will help generate more force against your 'outside' ski as it changes direction and you will soon be able to balance against it without relying on the inside 'stabiliser'......... as Yoda would say "feel the force"!

The more you balance and settle over the outer ski in a turn the more you can start to 'soften' the opposite leg and slide the ski in parallel to match the outer one. Initially this may only happen at the very end of each turn, but as you build your confidence, the skis will remain parallel for a longer section of the curve. Don't worry if it feels easier turning in one direction - most people have a less dominant side which usually requires more balance training!

Be more active earlier in the turn by pressing the outer ski into the snow, but don't be tempted to 'twist' at the start - simply squeeze the big toe edge into the snow and feel how the ski reacts and turns!

First ski tour of the winter

I've just had my first 'ski tour' of the winter - nothing too adventurous, but a really enjoyable wee hike up to the top of Ranfoilly in Les Gets. The recent snowfalls have formed a deeper base than I envisaged and, in fact, the piste bashers have been out in force preparing many of the slopes.

With a friend from Avoriaz, we put our touring kit (lightweight skis with skins stuck to the soles and bindings which allow 'freeheel' movement) on at Les Chavannes and made our way up the piste, past L'Hottys restaurant and up the path to the top of Ranfoilly. After a few pics and some re-hydration we then took the skins off, clicked our heels down and put some fresh tracks in about 30-40cm of powder.....yeee haaa!

Lower down we had to re-join the Tulipes red run which had been beautifully pisted and was in fantastic condition..... sure there were a few brown patches, but generally it was in great condition and well prepared ready for the next snowfall, which is forecast for tomorrow and Friday.

Ski touring is a fantastic way of escaping the pistes to experience 'backcountry' conditions. It's obviously not everyone's cup of tea, but it doesn't have to be about gnarly, steep, scary mountains......let me know if you'd like to know more!

Coaching session 1: Getting to grips with it all...

Once you've cracked those first 'skiddy' parallel turns on blue slopes, what's next?

As many of you will be aware, it's not just a question of 'ski technique' that will take you to the next level - 'confidence' can also play a large part. Lots of practise on familiar slopes is a great way to help gain confidence whilst honing your technical skills. To make practise sessions more varied, try turning up the tempo of your turns, or increase your speed - but make sure you stay in control!

It's important that you start to relax and ski these familiar runs without thinking too much about your technique. Once you've achieved this sort of 'auto pilot' state of mind, its maybe the right time to face the new challenge of a steeper blue or red.

You must develop a feel for WHEN and HOW MUCH you tilt your skis onto their edges:

• Too much tilt too early in the turn and you risk the skis tracking straight out of the curve.


• Not enough tilt in the 2nd half of the turn and you'll end up sliding sideways out of the curve - a bit like Bambi on ice!

As you make each turn, try to feel the edge angle against the snow build up progressively. The maximum amount of tilt should occur towards the end of the turn when the skis start to point across the slope.

To flow from one turn into the next, try to anticipate the best time to release the edges and flatten both skis. Allow your body to 'topple' over your feet and down the hill, to make the skis change on to the opposite edges. It's really important that you are patient during this 'crossover' phase and don't try to rush or force the movements - just go with the flow!

Trying to perfect the optimum timing for releasing the edges at the end of a turn will take hours of practise and the correct moment will vary depending on the steepness of the slope, your speed, the turn size and the snow conditions. Remember, if you:

• Release too soon, you will pick up more and more speed as you travel down the hill.


• Release too late, you may end up pointing up the hill with insufficient momentum to help initiate the next turn.

If you have any questions about this article please contact me: tim@skischool.co.uk. Look out for my next coaching blog, coming soon!

Snowy Hintertux

Just back from a BASI training course on the Hintertux glacier in Austria where there is plenty of early season snow. The glacier boasts skiing for 365 days a year, with 21 state of the art lifts up to an altitude of 3250m. It snowed each day of the course and was fairly windy at times but it didn't stop us enjoying some cracking piste conditions.

After a long spell since becoming a fully qualified ISTD (International Ski Teacher Diploma) - in fact nearly 14 years - I decided to take myself out of my comfort zone and partake in a 'professional development course', which is also aimed at instructors wanting to become 'instructor trainers'.

An eight hour drive from Les Gets to Hintertux on Thursday followed by a warm up day on Friday before starting the three day training programme on Saturday morning. Much of the course was spent delivering mini coaching sessions to one another, followed by critique from the rest of the group and the observing BASI trainers. Our remit during the sessions was to improve the skiing performance of our peers, whilst demonstrating a varied approach to our teaching skills.

Mentally exhausting, but all-in-all a great way of keeping you up-to-date on developments, improving your delivery skills and of course, sharpening your personal skiing and making sure you can still ski as well as those 'new kids on the block'!

First ski of the winter

It's quite a long way to drive for three draglifts and a day's skiing, however, with a group of mates we headed over the border to the Swiss resort of Saas Fee on Monday. A six o'clock departure (in the fog!) got us to the bottom of the Alpin Express for about 9.30.... along with too many other like-minded skiers and boarders! We'd completely forgotten that it is half-term week so the queue was fairly hefty for the gondola and subsequent Metro Alpin funicular access lifts. The latter whisks you to an altitude of 3500m where you clatter up about 20 steps to the glacier, puffing and panting like you've just smoked a few packets of fags in preparation!

Saas Fee is a popular early season training venue for race squads and park riders so the queues for the three t-bars on the glacier were fairly sizeable - probably averaging a 15/20 minute wait each uplift.

The blue skies, sunshine and excellent snow quality made up for a lot of the grumbles and even though we only managed about eight runs, which we estimated to be a total of approximately 15 minutes ski time, we had a great day and certainly managed to break in the ski legs.... ready for Austria in 10 days time!

Back to my roots

Yesterday I had a trip down memory lane with a visit to Glencoe - the place I first learned to ski in 1980. I remember the now office building (see pic.) as the tea room and ticket office...where you bought your daily 'punch card' style ticket. The ticket was only made of lightweight card so inevitably ended up as a soggy mush in the bottom of your 'ever so stylish' ski pants pocket!

I'd almost forgotten how spectacular the setting is with amazing views across Rannoch Moor and beyond. Memories came flooding back of a stormy day in January 1984 when a blizzard almost prevented me and my friends from being collected by my Dad, at the end of a day's skiing in whiteout conditions. Luckily for us (completely unaware of how serious the road conditions were) a charitable chap persuaded us to catch a lift with him down to Fort William.... as he was the last vehicle to leave the carpark it's probably just as well we did. We later discovered that my Dad had been turned around by police at Bridge of Orchy where the road (and railway line) was totally blocked with snow!

Great days....and if that bloke who gave us a lift is reading this......THANKS MATE!