Other than leaning forward, how to tackle steep blue runs? (warning: long post with 3 questions)

[Gina D]

Buy Lito Tejada Flores book "Breakthrough on the New Skis." The best thing out there to learn the fundamentals of skiing.

Amazon link

 

[rcc55125]

@peepo Please take a lesson. You seem to want to become more proficient at the sport and as has been mentioned a lesson will offer the quickest path to that proficiency.
Watching YouTube videos will give you a grasp of what is involved in making good turns. What they can't do is tell you if you are indeed performing a task correctly. That's where the live feedback of an instructor will shorten the path to success.
A good instructor should be able to give you three descriptions of how to perform a given task.
Case in point. You mention your skis windshield wiper when gliding. You then ask if you need to move forward. You sort of correctly diagnosed the issue; you need more pressure on the front of the skis. How do you accomplish this. How do you get more pressure on the front of the skis? Move forward? Move what forward? How do you move forward? Would you believe one way to 'move forward' is to pull the feet back? All of this is predicated on starting from strong skiing stance; near equal angles of the ankles, knees and hip. An instructor will quickly get you in that position and then work the movements from there.
Deb Armstrong has some of the most understandable skiing videos on YouTube. Watching these videos, , will give you an understanding of the basics and make it easier to work with an instructor. Group lessons are the most economical while a private may offer faster results. One option is to take a half day lesson then practice what you learned the rest of the day or weekend.
Enjoy the journey.

 

[cantunamunch]

What’s wrong with YT vids? If he doesnt know what proper skiing looks like he won’t learn it from a pair of smart footbeds in his boots.
It is better to be shown once than told 10 times.

Ever had a teacher/instructor ask you "What does it mean to get full marks?"

 

[Gina D]

Lessons can be great, but books such as Lito's and videos can be an excellent way to learn the mechanics. No instructor can teach all of the movements of skiing in a lesson, that would be overload. So yes a lesson, or 9 or 10 would be terrific, but a book or series of videos can be much more thorough than 1 lesson ever could be.

 

[no edge]

My 2c, you need to learn to move forward as you start to move into the turn. It's a leap of faith, but it really works. The alternative is to sit back and use a blocking motion and that doesn't work. Simple, see if you're using a blocking motion. If you find an easy blue trail with some angle. Try it.

"Dive"

 

[James]

"Dive"

“Dive and have faith!”

 

[no edge]

Easy for me to say.

 

[Tony Storaro]

“Dive and have faith!”

“Dive, have faith AND sharp edges”

Faith alone is not enough on steep and icy.

 

[Dos-Equis]

The majority here are certainly correct, and you should listen to them. That said, not everyone has the money/time for lessons.

I consider myself self-taught. I’ve had two lessons in my five years of skiing and I’ve managed to build myself to what I’d consider a level 7 skier. Is it the ideal way to do things? No. And I probably could have arrived at my current level with fewer bad habits, but it worked decently well for me.

I used YouTube and read discussions/breakdowns on sites like this to get my head around the “theory” of how skiing should work and the cues/drills that can help put it into practice.

This was the channel I first used to familiarize myself with the sport.



And this was a collection of videos I found helpful along the way.


Hope that helps. Good luck.

 

[Tony S]

channel I first used to familiarize myself with the sport.

Well THAT got dismissed out of hand, if the guy teaching you how to put boots on was too stupid to go inside first.

 

[Dos-Equis]

Well THAT got dismissed out of hand, if the guy teaching you how to put boots on was too stupid to go inside first.

Ha! To be fair, I tried to post a link to the whole playlist of lesson videos and sk
Show that one is the only one that displayed. - I didn’t much take cues from his boot entry prowess.

 

[no edge]

“Dive, have faith AND sharp edges”

Faith alone is not enough on steep and icy.

Yeah, that's true. But that's not what the OP was referring to. He also said that he didn't want to get forward.

 

[East Coast Scott]

Different people learn differently. I think it is easy to watch videos and learn. I also will follow a local racer down a trail and learn a lot from him/her. Obviously Mikaela Shiffrin or her coach could probably teach me much more but I don't have the money for that, lol. It's always easy to tell a person to take lessons and then excuse it by saying if they can afford to ski they can afford lessons which is just dumb. Take lessons if you can afford it, if not ski with really good skiers and watch videos.

 

[mdf]

Different people learn differently. I think it is easy to watch videos and learn. I also will follow a local racer down a trail and learn a lot from him/her. Obviously Mikaela Shiffrin or her coach could probably teach me much more but I don't have the money for that, lol. It's always easy to tell a person to take lessons and then excuse it by saying if they can afford to ski they can afford lessons which is just dumb. Take lessons if you can afford it, if not ski with really good skiers and watch videos.

A small number of strategically timed lessons can improve the payoff from your approach. I got unstuck with a lesson then read a lot (pre toutube), then much later took another.

 

[cantunamunch]

A small number of strategically timed lessons can improve the payoff from your approach. I got unstuck with a lesson then read a lot (pre toutube), then much later took another.

Full marks means you learned everything you could from the planned lesson; YouTube is there to help you pick which courses to take.

 

[East Coast Scott]

A small number of strategically timed lessons can improve the payoff from your approach. I got unstuck with a lesson then read a lot (pre toutube), then much later took another.

I don't disagree with this at all.

 

[Magikarp]

unfortunately i don't have video of others filming me, but i. feel like i know what i'm doing wrong, and looking for tips

i can go down greens no issue, making either big or small turns, with either snow plow or sloppy parallel. i'm also not using poles so i can focus on turning with my legs. i can also partially lift my inside ski while turning. Currently i'm working on making good "dolphin turns"

Question 1: sometimes when i'm attempting parallel turns, it feels like the inside(uphill) ski is turning first before the outside(downhill) ski. Is this a symptom of leaning back to much? Also sometimes while turning, my skis feel unstable(at a higher speed, still on greens), like i'm not getting enough edge, so the skis are gliding not in a nice curved line. from my own helmet cam POV it looks hectic, like my skis are windshild wiper back and forth quickly and just gliding on the snow. it's not because i'm using a narrow ski right? (waist 74) not trying to blame it on the equipment of course

when i get to the blues, when the slope is steeper, i can make a couple turns(carving the edge into the snow) but i think i'm still leaning back too much because my quads get sore after a bit

Question 2: how do i approach steeper blue? while going down blues, is it constant pivot turns(and making small turns with the edge to brake?) should i still try to snow plow down the slope? it feels like when i approach it, the initial speed is already fast pretty fast, is it the same issue where i just have to lean forward?

Question 3: while going down blues, i was basically side slipping down from one side to the other, then fell at the side the side slipping down the other side. how do i make an actual turn on these steep slopes? any tips one turning so i don't catch outside ski edge and tumble down the slope?

or it's hard to tell what the issue is without a video of someone else filming me? had one lesson before but time for another lesson?

thanks!

What do you mean by "narrow" ski?

 

[dan ross]

The most important part of an in person lesson is real time feedback before you start building in bad habits. You can’t get that in a video.

 

[Tony Storaro]

Ha! To be fair, I tried to post a link to the whole playlist of lesson videos and sk
Show that one is the only one that displayed. - I didn’t much take cues from his boot entry prowess.

The name of the guy is Darren Turner.
Turner…that’s as good a name for a ski instructor as it gets dammit…

 

[Tony Storaro]

Different people learn differently. I think it is easy to watch videos and learn. I also will follow a local racer down a trail and learn a lot from him/her. Obviously Mikaela Shiffrin or her coach could probably teach me much more but I don't have the money for that, lol. It's always easy to tell a person to take lessons and then excuse it by saying if they can afford to ski they can afford lessons which is just dumb. Take lessons if you can afford it, if not ski with really good skiers and watch videos.

Videos with too much talking I find annoying. Just show me some proper skiing I can figure out the rest for myself right?

I really wish Deb Armstrong made a whole series of vids with Alain Veth just skiing. No talking, no explanations no nothing, just show him ski, now that would be educational.