 Poster: A snowHead
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I'm looking for some advice on ski drills from those in the know. Using the really useful guides on www.insideoutskiing.com I would say I'm a level 6 ish, i.e. happy with parallel skiing, skid turns, etc. though I no longer lead with my shoulders having had this beaten out of me by a lovely French ski instructor in private lessons on my last ski holiday! Basically I'm now looking to develop technique and start moving towards carving and want to work on this in my local snow dome prior to my next ski holiday. I'm looking for some ideas of drills I can do to help me begin to work on this. Any ideas?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Go to your local snowdome, have lesson from BASI2 qualified instructor and ask for some drills to practice to move you on after lesson.
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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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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Eleanor, good for you for wanting to improve yourself. This is as good an explanation as any as to how to start carving http://www.expertskier.com/shapeshifter.pdf and is pretty much the same process I used.
If in a snowdome you might find it easier to first learn this on blades (no I'm not joking, it's how I was taught the feelings of carving on a Phil Smith (Snoworks) improvement course). Blades have a very short turn radius which will allow you to get more turns in in the short length of a 'dome. They are also extremely unstable if you attempt to skid turn or go straight; therefore you get instant feedback when you are carving them correctly because it is the only time you feel stable. Once you can link stable, railed turns on blades put your own skis back on and replicate the feelings/movements until you can produce clean tramlines with them too. When examining your tracks look closely at the full arc and concentrate especially on getting clean lines at the apex of the turn which is usually in the fall line. That's the part where people often lose their nerve and flatten the edge for a short skid before resuming the carve as they start to come across the slope. Be patient! The ski WILL come round if you keep it on an angled edge.
IMO learning to carve is a massive positive leap in ski technique and will transform your enjoyment of the sport. It teaches you that speed can be your friend, skiing faster can be more relaxing than skiiing slowly and it can often be easier to control speed and line through turn shape rather than braking and skidding. You'll also start to really appreciate different ski shapes and types. Enjoy.
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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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it's how I was taught the feelings of carving on a Phil Smith (Snoworks) improvement course)
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snap! with Dave Peek. 
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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The first Salomon carvers were introduced by using blades in Snowdomes, I remember BASI members of all grades being blown away. I still have the 1997 Salomon carving tour T-shirt as a memory of the year when skiing changed and of a friend trapped on an edge of a 130cm careering with a cloud of sparks into the piste basher house at Tamworth; my sides still hurt from laughing.
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Thanks for the links. I take the point about instruction, and have spent a lot of time in lessons so know there's no real substitute for a human being teaching me but sadly my money is finite! Will save up more to have some more instruction, and remember to ask for drills next time I do. Am usually too excited by whatever progress I've made to remember to ask important questions! Unfortunately I've already completed all the group classes at my local dome, which didn't go as far as carving. Guess I could book another just to have question time with the instructor, but I'm pretty sure they weren't all BASI 2 at my local dome. I'm assuming they should all have been BASI 1 though? Is this correct? I ask as though I remember some of them having badges saying they were BASI qualified, they didn't all have them.
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If your local snowdome doesn't offer carving courses take a look if there's a dry slope nearby that does. The dry slope where I teach does for example, and I'm surprised that the snowdome doesn't.
If you want some drills to practice independently then I would favour starting on a long gentle slope like a beginners slope in a resort, but probably less steep than a slope would be in the UK. This is just so you can get the feeling of turning without skidding and not having your speed build up as you do it which could quickly make you nervous. Given that sort of terrain you can then experiment with putting your skis on an edge, applying pressure, and then waiting - the last bit is key! You'll start to make very large radius carved turns, and can continue to experiment.
If you don't have the very gentle terrain then you'll have to work from the other end. Starting with your skidded turns, try to make bigger less hurried turns. Once you've got really relaxed into this, and you're happy with your speed, start slowing down the movements that you make to turn. Instead of snatching at the turn to bring your skis around and skid it try to do all the movements really slowly - progressively so. It will feel odd at first as you won't have the feeling your used to from your skis, but keep working at it, making the rotation of your skis happen more slowly and smoothly, and you'll start heading towards a more carved style of turn.
The underlying skill to all this is being able to separate rotating movements (that result in skidding the ski) from edging and pressure movements. And there are lots of drills to build these skills.
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