If you want to learn to ski quickly, you must first learn to walk – with snow skis on! Take a ski lesson so you can learn what’s called “Stepping” from a professional ski instructor. There are two fundamentals you’ll learn during your first day of ski instruction – stopping and turning. The Stepping Drill (walking) is the gateway to this. The process involves lots of, well, stepping. When we walk (with shoes on) and turn left, we lead with our left foot. When we walk and turn right we lead with our right. We do this without thinking. With your skis on, you’ll be taking baby steps (left and right) until you’ve learned to turn, while simultaneously keeping your feet parallel – just like when you walk.
Avoid the “Wedge” (i.e., the snow plow method). This will slow down the pace at which you’ll learn to ski. Think of it this way: the wedge forces your body into an unnatural position causing you to pigeon-toe your feet. With the wedge, when you turn left, you’re leading with your right foot. When you turn right, you’re leading with your left. Try this with sneakers on as you walk down the street and you’ll get an idea of how it will not help you with downhill skiing. Granted, if you’re elderly or fearful, this “may” be the way to go, but it will drastically slow down the pace at which you learn.
Since you’re looking for the “fastest way to learn to ski,” you’re probably a go-getter. It is strongly recommended to take a ski lesson. The first reason – even before discussing any ski techniques – is safety. On the sides of most ski slopes are these big hard things called trees. You’ll want to avoid hitting these, as well as learn about the many other ski slope dangers. You may also want to consider restraining yourself from making a run for the summit after just one ski lesson. Give yourself some time and learn the ski basics at the lower elevations where the snow is softer, terrain more gentle, and it is generally much warmer.
During a ski lesson, you may be asked to traverse the hill with just your ski boots on. Some instructors want to literally emphasis the basic principal that turning on snow skis is the same as walking down the street. You may also be instructed to stick your ski pole in the snow and walk around in circles. You’ll then be asked to circle the pole with your skis on. The point is to keep your feet parallel. When we put skis on we’re often tempted to pigeon-toe. The stepping exercise helps us to avoid this so we can learn to ski, not only more quickly, but better. By learning to parallel ski we align our body, and more specifically, our hips, over our feet and thus have more control of our skis. While you may be anxious to get down the mountain, keep the above basics in mind and learn to walk in your skis first – this will help you learn faster and allow you to get down the slope without hurting yourself or anyone else.
Importantly, we know you want to learn quickly, the Stepping Drill is just one of many basics. For more complete instructions, visit online ski lessons. Downhill skiing is a blast! Keep a positive and humble attitude and you’ll be skiing great in no time!
Let’s try to simplify the concept of balance in regards to downhill skiing.