I feel like I've been putting a lot of high-level tips up on here lately, so I wanted to put up a drill that could help a wider variety of skiers. This is a drill I've been used for many years with skiers trying to make the transition from wedge christies to parallel skiing. Nevertheless, even advanced skiers can benefit from drills that working on improving the basics.
So if you're making good turns and trying to make parallel turns but finding it difficult to start a turn without create a small wedge, this drill is for you.
Start with a sideslip
Sideslips are easiest on steeper terrain, so this drill is best conducted on a steep green or moderate blue slope. Stand with your skis across the slope, while facing down the hill with your hips and upper body. Your uphill ski should be in front of the downhill ski if your hips are the the right position. Now slip for a few feet, stop, and repeat.
When slipping, it's important to note that you can release your edges by either rolling your ankles down the hill, or by extending your uphill leg and flexing the downhill leg. Both are completely valid, but for the purposes of this exercise concentrate on the latter. By practicing extending the uphill leg now, you'll make the later drills easier.
If you're not slipping straight down the hill, check your balance. Leaning too far forward will generally back you slid back, and vice versa. Slip a few times facing both directions before moving on.
Sideslip while ... skiing?
Now we're going to try the same move while skiing in a traverse. Start off across an easy slope, either green or easy blue, and make the same uphill leg extension to start a sideslip. You should start moving down the hill while continuing your forward momentum. In a nutshell, you'll be moving diagonally down the slope while still facing across it. Practice switching between a straight traverse and a slipping traverse several times facing both directions.
Now open the screen door!
Have you ever had a screen door? Have you ever tried to open a screen door while your arms were full holding something? You use your fingers to open the screen door a few inches toward you, then jam your knee behind the screen door and swing it open. I want you to think about that knee motion that opens the screen door, because that's the move I want you to make.
Start across the slope in a traverse, then extend the uphill leg and start a slip. Once you're sliding, take your downhill leg and make that screen door opening move, except you should leave your ski on the snow instead of lifting it. By sliding, you're flattening your skis, which will allow you to make that movement without lifting your ski.
Once you do that, you should find yourself turning fairly effortlessly. Don't worry about the outside ski; it will follow the inside ski to create an open parallel turn.
What it's all about
What we're trying to do here is start a new turn cleanly without any wedging. To do this, we need to rotate both skis at the same time, which is harder than it sounds. When we wedge, we tend to flatten the uphill ski, which allows it to turn. By slipping, we've flattened both skis, making the both easier to turn. Eventually we'd like to get our skis not flat, but actually edging on the inside edge, but for now let's just enjoy the sensation of keeping our skis parallel throughout the turn!
