SkiGreat.com

We receive a common question every year in a variety of forms. They all boil down to this: do I need to be in shape to learn to ski? Beginner ski instruction has little to do with one’s physical shape, athleticism, or weight. While a healthy lifestyle has numerous benefits, the lack of them rarely cause issues when skiing. Think about it. You’re going “downhill” with slippery sticks strapped to your feet – how physically prowess do you need to be? The real problem for most beginners is they develop bad habits and perpetuate them year to year.

One recent skier was concerned that her “weight” was causing her skis to slip downhill faster than normal and that her thighs would “burn” from trying to slow down. The following response comes from a professional ski instructor and will help many of us who struggle with this very common issue – regardless of our weight.

Being overweight has nothing to do with her problem. It sounds like her hips are behind her feet, causing the quads to fire up [burn]. What she needs to do is put more weight on her downhill facing ski as she traverses the slope. She needs to get her hips over her feet physically and mentally. Physically, her whole skeleton should be aligned just as when she walks down the street (e.g., her skeleton is stacked – upper body over hips – hips over feet). Mentally, she needs to think of skiing like walking.

Bring these walking mechanics to downhill skiing. Try this – go to the beginner area and practice walking in your skis. Step up the hill. Step down the hill. Step around a corner and and turn. Now, eliminate the “walking” steps, and you’ll have a naturally aligned skeletel structure for a nice, controlled parallel turn. Finally, I would suggest a one hour ski lesson to get her back on track and to eliminate the habits that created this issue.

Hope this helps. Click Beginner Ski Instruction for more helpful ski techniques, as well as Ski Basics

Now is the perfect time to get your body ready for some downhill skiing. The following online ski lessons will focus on reawakening the right muscles so you can start the ski season off right. While you may be in shape from all your summer activities, the muscles that matter most for skiing often don’t get used as much with summer sports.

The following exercises are great ways to prepare your body. Read more…

We talk about balance a lot in relation to ski techniques and beginner ski instruction. Without it, we’ll simply never learn to ski. Yet, many ski lessons focus on technical discussions. Let’s try to simplify the concept of balance in regards to downhill skiing. Read more…

Whether you’re just learning to ski or a seasoned downhill expert, staying in shape (in specific ways) is key. Now, most of us only get to ski a few months out of the year, so we risk losing the ski techniques we’ve been practicing. There’s no need to worry! A great spring/summer/fall activity to improve your downhill skiing is inline skating. Many of the muscle and body movements are fantastic ski techniques. Read more…

I was talking with my dad (the real ski expert) about the best ways for kids to learn to ski. My kids are getting to that age and I was wondering whether I should teach them or send them for ski lessons. I thought he would tell me to just do it. He didn’t… Read more…

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. Read more…

Learning to ski well requires balance. While strengthening your body is important, it’s secondary. No matter how strong you are, if you don’t ski balanced you’ll be wiped out at the end of the day – if not sooner. If you’ve wondered why lots of skiers head for the lodge by early afternoon, it’s because they‘re not skiing properly and thus tiring their bodies too quickly. Following are three tips/exercises to enhance your balance. Read more…

We all want to hit the snow skiing like experts, but, for the beginner, it’s important to have the proper expectations of ski instruction. The first day you’ll focus on stopping and turning. A good instructor can show you fundamental ski techniques quickly and easily that will get you off to a great start. Take the time to absorb these basics… Read more…