Downhill Technique

It's All Downhill

January xx, 2005- By Mike Muha

Skiing is supposed to be fun. Then how come so many skiers look nervous when they come to a downhill? How many racers train all year to climb hills faster only to standup and lose their advantage because they're tentative on the downhills?

I don't know how skiers I've passed on downhills. With almost no additional expenditure of energy, I zoom by and have extra momentum for climbing the following hill. Racers: You need to race the downhills, too! Tourers: Learning to ski downhills better will make your touring more fun!

Fortunately, skiing downhills better is not that hard to do if you know the tricks

The Basics

There are two important rules for downhills:

Rule #1: Hands in front!

Always keep your hands in front of you - you should ALWAYS be able to see your hands. If you can't see your hands at all times, you are going to fall. The most common reason to fall is when one hand goes behind you. Never, ever let the outside hand get out of your line of vision. If you feel it going back, punch it forward.

Rule #2: Point your hands around the corner!

You hands should lead you into the corner, and point in the direction of the curve.

Rule #3: Hands low! Low hands can quickly move around for balance adjustment.

Desensitize

Going Around Easy Corners

Line

Steer your skis around the corner:

Push the outside ski forward. It creates a more balanced position and guides you around the corner.

Use the side of the track. Your ski doesn't have to be flat in the track - let the outside ski slide up to the side of the track. Think of cars going around a banked turn - your ski is banking off the side of the track.

Steer your hands in the direction of the curve. If you're turning to the left, your hands should be pointing down the track to the left.

Steer your outside ski around the corner with your foot. Push out at the heel and in with the front of your foot..

Maintain Balance:

As speeds get  faster, lower your center of gravity. Hips go down, hands go down.

In a tuck, put your hands in front of your face, poles on hips, back flat.

If you need more balance, let your inside hand move out of the tuck to the inside of the corner. But see rules 1 & 2!

If you need even more balance, let both your hands out of the tuck.  But see rules 1 & 2!

Practice, practice, practice. When training, make sure you train

Line around the corner

Mike

A good drive is to go down a downhill turn with no poles, with your hands clasped together in front of you. Point your clasped hands in the direction of the turn.

To answer your specific questions, generally, the outside ski slightly leads the inside ski ("Do you push one ski ahead of the other?" Yes, the outside ski) - especially in a track. You can also steer your ski by pushing against your boot with your forefoot (toward the inside of the turn and heel (toward the outside of the turn).

If you're going faster than the corner can take, you must skate/step turn to the inside of the corner. Quickly skate off the outside ski onto the inside ski to get a more inside line - this could be multiple skate steps and is a very quick set of motions!

It's critical to be "light on your feet" or have "happy feet" - that means being able to quickly shift weight from one foot to the other - necessary to skate/step turn in a corner.

Many people going down a hill have "lead feet" - their weight is evenly divided between their feet (OK) but they can't shift their weight to one ski (bad) because they're fearful of falling (self-fulfilling prophesy). It's like their feet are too heavy to pick up (like lead!).

Here's a couple drills: In shoes: stand in place in an athlete-ready position. Now quickly step from foot to foot as fast as you can. Easy. On skis: go down an EASY hill and do the same thing.
 

Lex:

try to take the inside of the curve - there is usually more snow and it is less likely to be scraped away.
you might have to start on the outside and cut to the inside if you are "flying"

Look where you want to go and not at what you want to miss. If you look at the tree you will hit the tree!

Some other thoughts on falls
1. Falling is a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you say you are going to fall, you will fall. 2. Definitely keep your hands in front of you. Everything has an equal and opposite reaction. If something effects your feet, the shoulders will want to rotate and as soon as the arm goes behind your body - you will fall. 3. And of course - my happy feet - the lead feet will make you stiff and more likely to fall - if the weight is between the skis - you get stuck and will not be able to respond to changes in terrain. One common scenario is a "face plant" due to the inability to keep the skis together.