The Snow Plough

Feeling a bit shaky trying to master a snowplough turn? Focus on the right things and you'll find your ski legs in no time at all.

It may look a bit ungainly, but the snowplough is a novice skier's best friend. Once you master the art of pushing your heels out, you can start to feel how the ski can work for you, not against you.

Ah, the snowplough. The ugly reason why never-been-on-skis snowboarders stick to one plank and the ultimate skier's safety blanket. But, don't knock it - once you learn how to balance properly, how and when to push against the ski to turn, you will have a skill you will rely on throughout your skiing career.

If you're anything like me, you'll be eager to bypass the snowplough, or wedge turn stage completely, and go all out to swot up on the more graceful parallel turn. In fact, several teaching methods have been designed to avoid snowplough turns altogether, but most experts agree that snowplough turns are a valuable tool in their own right and it makes sense to learn how to do them. Why? They teach you to use your skis independently, you'll learn better edge control and steering with your outside foot and leg. Given the choice between building good technical skiing, or quickly learning an indifferent parallel turn, it is definitely worth working on your snowplough turns.

Find a shallow slope to practise on and begin by getting a feel for the snowplough position itself. With your tips next to one another and the back of the skis pushed out, you should form a wedge or snowplough shape with the skis.

Get a feel for steering your snowplough down the fall line and allowing your weight to gently transfer to your outside ski making you turn. As you apply pressure to the outside ski to steer, dig in the edge and push against it.

Make sure your upper body stays calm and still and don't use your shoulders to yank yourself round.

Once you start moving down the fall line and transferring your weight to the outside ski, you can use the curved shape of the ski to control your speed. Modern skis are waisted, like an hour-glass. So, if you stay centred and push against the ski, it will bend, forming a curve or carved shape that sends you round the corner to turn. When you've been skiing for a while and get used to the feeling of speed, it's easy to forget this feeling of steering that you get from a snowplough turn and how the ski is actually designed to work. So it's worth coming back to the humble snowplough every now and then to remind yourself.

It is the shape of your turn, this curve or arc, that also helps slow you down, not that actual plough itself. Once you get the hang of feeling the turn, play with rocking in and out of balance. This will help you fi nd your centre of balance, and if you grasp this now it will make everything else you learn so much easier.

Once you've turned one way, start gliding in a snowplough position across the slope again. Steer your skis towards the fall line with your feet. It may feel terrifyingly fast as you accelerate down the slope, but try and learn to accept it - it won't last long. Sink slightly, allow the pressure to shift to your outside ski and push your outside knee forwards and into the turn. Keep pushing against the outside ski until you come right out of the fall line. As you finish your turn, rise back up into the gliding snowplough, before beginning your next turn. Try to get into a rhythm of rising to start the turn and sinking to finish.

Finally, remember that your skis are designed to turn, so let them. Start the turn with gentle steering and the rest should follow. If you find yourself jerking your upper body round to finish the turn, hold your ski poles out in front of you, parallel to the ground as you ski. This will help to keep your shoulders and upper body centred and still.


Custom Search