Ski Technique

K2 pro freeskier and fully qualified ski teacher Chris Fecher let’s us take a sneaky peak into the foundations of ski technique and his ‘ski to learn’ concept.

The ‘Ski to learn’ idea came about from a desire to break the mould of the traditional ski school lesson. Practice makes perfect, so with a specific focus or goal in mind we ‘ski it in’ and through this practice you make it become automatic. Less talk more skiing!

Technique:

Skiing has gone through a vast revolution in recent years, this is evident in the advances in equipment design and manufacture. Importantly also in the evolution of modern skiing technique, to meet the demands of a new breed of skiers. Modern ski boots are all about lateral stiff-ness, modern skis and technique work in harmony with this design concept. In its elemental form, rolling both skis onto an edge simultaneously by a sequential movement of the joints and the body over your base of support, results in two clean arcs in the snow.

Balance/Stance:

A solid and centred stance with feet hip width apart is the most effective way to stand on our skis. The ability to balance over the centre of the ski can be measured by how quickly you can return to this point from being out of balance. Try to improve this fundamental skill on all four plans. Up-down, rotary, lateral and fore-aft.

Steering:

Exploring the limits of each steering element and how they can be blended together is key to skilful skiing. Play around and push the limits of how much, how quickly and when you should, put the ski on its edge, rotate the skis or push on the ski into the snow.

Pressure:

We need to manage the amount of pressure created under the skis, using the joints in our legs as shock absorbers. This improves our control by keeping the skis and edges in contact with the snow, it also smoothes out that ride.

Freeskiing:

The path towards becoming a more rounded and skill full skier starts with a strong foundation of basic movements. We are then able to build on this foundation by exploring the full range of movements and developing a feel for the tactics appropriate to each given situation. Freedom and expression are what freeskiing is all about, make your mark on the mountain.

Chris Fecher owns Gravity ski school based in Chamonix. www.gravityskischool.co.uk