 Poster: A snowHead
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slikedges, I agree 100% with most of your bullets, but took a slightly different route into this - carving it rather than skidding. It really depends what type of terrain is available. I used about as flat and slow as you can get.
1) Start off running as straight as possible right down the fall line of the (barely perceptible) slope. This is to makemsure you can ski with the ski flat on the snow, rather than some kind of 'half a braking plough'. Anything steeper than a typical bunny slope is too much, so go for the basic learners' drags. You'll probably not have a flat ski to start with - almost certainly you'll be on the medial edge - and find you turn gently as if this were your normal turning ski. You'll probably find you have to angle the front of the free ski over the running ski to maintain that lateral balance. Keep doing it until you can run straight.
2) Once you've got the ski running flat you can start finding the edges. Running the same straight line, move weight gently medially and laterally. The ski will then start making linked turns, oscillating around the fall line. The ski should never slide sideways, but carve cleanly all the time. Start off only letting it diverge little more than its own width from the fallline.
3) As you get better you can increase the edge angle of the ski and make larger and larger oscillations. At some point the ski will not edge but will slide out (most likely from the heel). You have now gone beyond your ability level and are not achieving anything in this position, so start recovery - decrease the edge angle, adjust your balance (your ankles will probably be insufficiently flexed and your knee too stiff) and try again.
4) Repeat 3) ad infinitum, with increasing edge angles, steeper and longer slopes as you get better. Once you've got the basic hang of it, practice when you get on to those tedious windy green/blue tracks linking the bits of the mountain you actually want to ski. If a bend is too tight, use two skis when it starts going to pot and then resume the exercise when you've past the bend. Eventually your dynamic balance will improve so you can get around all those bends. You'll also find that as the excursions from the fallline increase and the turn radius tighten up you'll (need to) extend/flex the knee more to keep the ski carving (exactly as in one of slikedges later bullets). You can also practice fine edge control on these tracks, rotating the foot out of the carve towards a braking sideslip for speed control. Seems good for dynamic lateral balance. Do it really progressively though or you'll end up in an uncontrolled one-foot hockey stop and probably land on your ear!
5) When turning on the lateral edge, lift your free foot (and maybe even your arm) away from your body to the side to provide a counter-balance for your body which is on the inside of the turn. Be very careful with this though as the tip may flap about, and if it all goes pearshaped and the free tip hits the snow you could end up with a very nasty injury. Best to keep the tip raised higher than your foot to avoid this.
One instructor did get us doing a mixture of pressured/skiddy turns on a steeper slope last year (slushy blue/black) when trying to think of something to do with us in the pouring rain. Certainly it was too steep for me to try carving it. It was really difficult to avoid sitting back on the heel - and that's how most turns ended up at some point - so it was definitely important to do the exercise with two skis on, so you could bottle it, stop and get recentred before having another go.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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GrahamN, interesting. First time I had reattempted one legged skiing in over 10 years was about a year ago and I did pretty much what you describe, only the slope was a bit too steep(!) Started again this year with easiski and she eventually got me skating off uphill ski onto the outside edge of the inside ski for the turn, followed by a long traverse on that inside ski, which then becomes the uphill one again, then repeat. Like for what you describe you need suitable terrain for that, so I started doing shorter slower turns too, initially very skidded and now somewhat less so, but far from a clean carve. The feeling I get on the outside edge is very similar to that I get when doing an underpush on in-line skates. It's also the secret to slow long carves standing tall on very shallow inclines - I always feel more on outside edge of inside ski then than inside edge of outside ski. Straight running on one ski as you say is remarkably difficult to start with; hence interesting that sliding a short distance in a straight line is used by some instructors to get absolute beginners used to the sliding property of the ski!
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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I used to have an alignment problem that meant it was difficult to get my right ski flat let alone on the outside edge. I got that fixed a couple of seasons ago and one of the things I enjoy doing now is one ski skiing. I second the advice on starting on a gentle angle but you don't need all that much space. I find that long, winding and otherwise dull cat-tracks are quite good - also forces you follow a line.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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I saw the one legged chap doing the flying K at les Arcs... it was very impressive.
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Scarpa, That is Michael Milton and he is awesome.... Lost the other leg to cancer as a small child.... Sadly now fighting another type of cancer  He has a small baby IIRC
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