Ski Score

                                                                   for Intermediates

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You may be just starting to ski on intermediate slopes or may have been skiing them for a long time and never feel the control you want or the confidence to go beyond an intermediate run.

 

Pole touches may or may not be part of your skiing. You may have skied with your skis parallel for a long time or you many still have some wedge.  

 

There may be one turn size and speed that you always make. Your right turn may be different than your left. Deeper snow or firm snow is hard to handle. 

 

It may be good to go back to green runs to work on skiing moves. Look for good consistent snow conditions and areas that are less crowded. If you ski with someone who is always pushing you to ski faster or go to steeper slopes, meet up with them later.  

 

Set your expectations relative to your ski time, fitness, and ability. If your friend is in great shape, athletic, and has skied a lot but none of that applies to you, it will be hard to ski with them. You may just feel frustrated and think that skiing is not for you rather than enjoying skiing at your level.   

 

Turns before terrain- going to steeper slopes without an athletic stance and good turning reinforces natural defensive moves, causes frustration, falls, and makes improving more difficult.

 

If you are athletic, fit, ski frequently, play hockey, and skateboard you may progress much quicker than someone without those qualities especially if you work on ski moves rather than just going to steeper slopes and skiing faster.   

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​Athletic stance - 5 points  -video​

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1- Stand with your arms in front like holding a lunch tray with poles pointing back

2- Feel the weight on the balls of your feet with your chest above

3- Flex down and up flexing the ankle first, go from slow to fast and stop, this is your athletic stance

4- Step from foot to foot, go from slow to fast

5- Bend your knees like sitting on a chair and compare how much harder it is to step from foot to foot.

 

Ankle flex- 10 Points    - video

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Most skiers do not flex their ankles enough, or combine it with flexing the knees too soon, fast, or too much and end up on the back of their ski. A few stand with the ankles fully flexed, and knee flex for a low stance that limits motion. This increases turning with the upper body which restrict the continuous tipping of your body over the turning skis move downhill. Improving this provides a lot of benefits.

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1- Stand in an athletic stance. flex just your ankles as far forward as possible and return to start. Go from slow to fast.

2- In an athletic stance, flex just your ankles back as far as possible and return to start.

3- In an athletic stance, flex as far forward as possible then to the start position then flex back. Go from slow to fast. then reduce the range to just a small amount. Be sure just the ankles are moving and not the knees or hips. If it is hard to flex the boot, loosen the top buckles and power strap.

4- As you do number 3, focus your attention from feeling your hips moving forward and back to your ankles, and finally focus on the bottom of your feet. build the connection between feeling where your chest is over the balls of your feet. In a turn you move fore and aft,  it is key to feel this connection. 

5- In an athletic stance, flex down and up starting with the ankles then up to the knees and hips. Keep the chest over the balls of the feet. Many will have problems using the knees too much which moves your hips back and puts weight on the balls of your feet.

6- In an athletic stance, move each joint separately to increase your awareness and control. Flex just your ankles, then just your knees with no ankles, then just your hips with no ankles or knees.

7- If you can find a very uncrowded slope, repeat number three in motion skiing across the hill in a traverse. Be sure to look uphill so no one is coming.

8- If you can find an uncrowded slope, start in a slightly steeper traverse and turn uphill by gradually flexing the ankle of your downhill ski so you feel like you are pushing on your big toe. At the same time touch your downhill hand to your knee. This partial turn is called an uphill christie. 

9- Repeat number 8 in the other direction.

10- Repeat 8 and 9 but start with a steeper traverse so there is more speed and you make more of a turn.              

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Stepping - 1 point

When linking turns step on the new outside ski sooner when starting a new turns  

 

Turning - 10 points - video

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Most intermediates use their shoulders and hips to turn rather than skiing from the ground up. This limits their ability to ski on firm slopes, make smaller turns, and control speed. It takes a lot of practice to get more forward and turn from the ground up, some may get frustrated trying to improve or may not have the the time or desire to work that much on improving. But even a small change in stance and turning can make skiing steeper runs with more control possible. Remember it is turns before terrain for safer and more successful skiing.

 

1- Stand with skis across the hill and poles in the ground lift one leg and point your big toe to turn as far as you can. Do it with the other leg. 

2- Stand in an athletic stance and slowly turn your shoulder one way the the other. Then turn your shoulders and hips. compare that to turning your foot.  

3- On an easy green slope, start in an athletic stance feeling your weight on the balls of your feet and chest above, ski straight downhill for three seconds and point both your toes a slight bit one way then back downhill before turning in the other direction. Continue making turns and feeling your feet turn as you move downhill. Be sure not to turn right away, turn too far, or turn too quick in the other direction before the skis point back downhill.    

4- The same start as above push on one big toe and point both big toes to turn, go straight downhill, and push on the other big toe and point both big toes in the other direction. Feel the skis turn under your body as you move downhill. You should be able to see your ankle flex as you push on the toe, if not try to flex it more. Try flexing each ankle three times in each turn.

5- Same start as above but ski straight for 6 seconds to build more speed and turn more in each direction to control your speed. Turn to a stop with your shoulders and hips looking more downhill than across the hill. Stop in both directions.

6- Same start as above and make three larger turns and three smaller turns, repeat to the bottom feel the turns from the ground up rather than using your shoulders and hips.

7- Same start as above and push and turn on one big toe to turn, and touch your hand to that knee. Repeat on the other side all the way to the bottom.

8- Go to an intermediate slope and make the same run as above feeling all the turning happen from the ground up.

9- Making turns as above focusing on finishing a turn and stepping on the other ski faster. The pattern is step and turn with the ankle flexing.

10- Making turns as above with more speed and focusing on slowly flexing down when turning and moving up and forward the next turn. The pattern is down to turn and up to start, like a smooth dancing moves.

 

Flow- Movement over the skis- 5 points   - video uphill christy/ move then task

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Skiers move back and inside using the way they move naturally.  Turn forces also push skiers in that direction which makes it hard to continuously move over the turning skis and down the hill. Going to steep slopes too soon and skiing fast even more defensive skiing rather than smooth flowing skiing.

 

1- Minimal turning- on an easy intermediate run focus on making the minimal amount of turn necessary to change direction and slow down. Feel your body move continuously over the turning skis toward the next turn. If you are moving back, turning with your shoulders and hips, and leaning inside the turn you are moving in the wrong direction and will not flow downhill.

2- Great timing for great turns- feel progressive ankle flexing and tipping that last to the end of your turn. Then feel your nonstop movement as you flow into the next turn. To remember what to do  think ski like P.A.T. (progressive ankle flexing, and tipping)

3- Uphill christie- is a main exercise that breaks down the turn to create great timing. Stand in an athletic stance with your skis across the hill and statically practice flexing you ankles forward. Then move the uphill side of your body forward and tip your upper body downhill as your hips move toward the hill( angulation). Then combine the ankle flex and tipping into one smooth motion. Start in a shallow traverse and make the same move. Do in both directions.

4- Hand on hip- do an uphill christie with your downhill hand on your hip. Push your hip in with your hand as you progressively flex your ankles. Do in both directions.

5- Pole swing- statically practice swinging your downhill pole with your wrist. then move downhill and touch the pole. Make larger size turns and focus on your pole swing and body moving together toward the next turn.

 

Variety- 5 points  -video       

 

​1- Large turns- make large turns on an intermediate run. Focus on the moving over the turn and flowing into the new turn. Make large turns that are slower by turning more across the hill and some that are faster by turning less across the hill.

2- Small turns-  make small turns. Focus on moving over the turn. Make some slower and some that are faster. 

3- Do a combination of turns by making three small turns then three big turns. Do a slow set and a fast set. As you shift your attention and change speeds make sure you do not move back and natural moves return.

4-Steeper hills- as the hills get steeper your body will naturally move back. This can be subtle and hard to see in your video. Look to see if your body is continuously moving over your skis, or if it is getting pushed back, down, or inside.

5- Ski moves-  As you ski more is tempting to just go for steeper runs and more speed, but spend time working on ski moves and you will handle steeper runs with much more confidence and control.