Variety is the Spice Making the mountain your playground requires quick decisions about turn shape regardless of the environment. To gain ownership of this skill, try changing up your rhythm on the groomers. Practice changing back and forth at random between short, medium, and long radius turns, while varying your speed. Doing this on comfortable
Tag Archives: Derek Althof
#SkiTheDifference Tip Series – Week 19
Mashed Potatoes On any given day, either the skiing is good or it’s good for you. Skiing deep, heavy, wet, mashed-potato-like snow is no exception. And with the right tactics, it can be a lot of fun. You’ll want to keep a narrow stance, this allows your skis to cut one path through the snow so that you’ll
#SkiTheDifference Tip Series – Week 18
Ski With a Soft Touch When skiing off-piste in variable conditions and terrain, focus on skiing with a soft touch. Don’t brace against your skis with stiff or locked legs – that compromises balance and finesse. Instead, use your legs like the shocks on a car. To accomplish this, think about relaxing your legs slightly to manage terrain
#SkiTheDifference Tip Series – Week 17
Mastering Moguls For some, moguls can be a skier’s ultimate nemesis on the mountain. That said, they don’t have to be. Many skiers who feel successful in the bumps find them fun and a challenging environment to spice up their day. In addition to my last post, Eye’s Ahead, the following tips will have you
#SkiTheDifference Tip Series – Week 16
Eyes Ahead Just like when driving, being a good skier entails constantly looking down the hill in the direction you want to go next. By relying on physiological input as well as paying attention to what comes next, you are able to select the most playful and/or efficient lines for better flow down the slope.
#SkiTheDifference Tip Series – Week 15
This week you’ll be getting TWO tips for the price of one (back to our regular schedule this Thursday)! Sorry for the delay, but here’s #15: Don’t Oversteer Turns that are smooth, round and on the ground are a recipe for a fun and enjoyable day on the slopes. To accomplish this, it’s important not
#SkiTheDifference Tip Series – Week 14
Separation is Key The ability to turn your skis with leg rotation that is separate from your upper body is the fundamental skill that turns a good skier into a great skier. To put it simply: changing the direction of your skis by rotating your upper body and/or entire body is inefficient. Derek demonstrates a lack of
#SkiTheDifference Tip Series – Week 13
Powder & Crud There are two types of skiers when it comes to powder and cruddy conditions: those who love it and those who find it too challenging. If you’re the latter, hopefully these quick tips will turn you into a lover! In powder, the first thing you can do to make your life easier is
#SkiTheDifference Tip Series – Week 12
Enough is Enough It’s been said that everything is good in moderation. This is definitely true when it comes to how much edge angle you produce on a given turn. A common ski error is producing too high of an edge angle for the terrain, speed, snow conditions and desired turn shape. There is such a
#SkiTheDifference Tip Series – Week 11
Edge From Your Feet Up When it comes to tipping your skis up on edge, there are a few ways to do it. You can tip your whole body laterally inside the turn, you can tip your feet and legs separate from you upper body, or you can do it the correct way and combine both.