Tips from the Guru
With the advent of carving skis, now you can ski like you’ve never skied before. The shorter skis with their trademark sidecut make it much easier to ski like a pro!
This new reality has got me thinking about how to be aggressive on your parabolic skis.
I often see skiers applying way too much pressure as they try to ski aggressively. This invariably results in the skis skidding. It’s easy to spot these would-be aggressive skiers—they’re the ones with the sore tibias at the end of the day! It’s important to understand that the pressure that makes your skis flex in a turn comes from the angle you apply to them and not the opposite. The days of skiing on long skis and feeling the tibias pressing against the top of your boots in order to turn are long gone. Those boards are best hung up over the fireplace as a memento of days gone by!
Here are a few tips to help you apply the new ski technique. Try increasing the angle of your skis without exerting undue pressure. You should be able to do this while keeping perfectly centered in your boots. If you feel too much pressure on your tibias, you’re too far forward. Likewise, if you feel too much pressure on your calves, you’re too far back.
As you can see in the photo, the skier increases the angle of the skis not by applying excess pressure, but by pointing both knees in the desired direction of travel.
Give it a try!
Jean-François Beaulieu
Directeur, Mont-Sainte-Anne Snowsports school director