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 The tip today is for my dad - he's a mid seventies, cautious intermediate skier and this is what really helps him. And that is to make sure that when you turn, you are skidding at the finish - because when he got on the steeper slopes here's what he would do: he would dig his skis in right away and that makes things really forced.
Instead, deliberately try to set up a skid and than just ride the skid out and make sure you start a turn with a skid. Now when I'm talking about a skid, I'm not talking about a wild uncontrolled side skid - just the right amount of edging that allows you to turn the feet or steer, and that's what helped my dad, a little less edging so he could turn his feet.
When you can turn your feet you can keep the skis turning, you can maintain your balance, you can maintain a rhythm, you don't get stuck, and you know that's a very common problem for some people. Some people think that edging is good, therefore more edging is better, therefore the most edging is the best, right?
Here's the thing. Most of us ski at speeds where we are steering the ski with a little bit of a skid. If you want a little bit of a skid happening then you have to turn the foot a little bit, but if you have too much edge the ski starts to run straight. Think about it, do you want your skis running straight in the middle of a ski pitch. Nah I don't think so! The way around that is to get practiced with the skidding actively and continuously every time.
So here's that situation - my stategy is to allow the skis to skid so that I can maintain my rhythm. It's a series of linked recoveries of a straight spot in-between, get rid of the straight spot - put a nice little skid spot in there instead. As we start the turn we literally let them skid and enjoy just controlling that skid with your feet and your knees. We call that steering and it feels great especially on beautiful snow.
And that right there made the difference for my dad, he told me he had the best ski day of his life. Try that - start a turn on the skis from a skidding turn. I know it will help.
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