Skiing and snowboarding on steeper slopes
gives you quicker, more instant access to speed. Essentially, your superpower becomes amplified,
and if you have the right techniques, you have access to more fun. However, as a general rule, the steeper
the slope, the more dangerous it becomes. So you need to make sure you have the right skills
in order to avoid accidents and injury. Steep skiing is a particular passion of mine,
and this has extended far beyond the black runs in ski resorts. I've had the pleasure of exploring and skiing
in some pretty stunning locations around the globe and learned from some of the very best steep
skiers in the world today. So I've taken what I've learned from my voyages
into the steeper realms and have combined it with my findings of years of teaching skiers
to progress from blue to red to black runs. So here are my Top Five Tips for intermediate skiers as they progress
onto steeper terrain in ski resorts. Tip Number One is to stay balanced
over your downhill ski. As intermediate skiers progress onto steeper slopes, your natural reaction is to lean away
from the steep slope, which is intimidating you. You might feel like you're closer
to the ground here and therefore safer. But doing so puts your weight on the uphill
ski and breaks Golden Rule number one,
which we discussed earlier in the course. You will then lose control of your best
breaking leg and have less control as a result. So make sure when you're on steep slopes
that you're aiming to stay balanced over that downhill ski
in order to maintain more control. Tip number two is to make sure that you are
balancing over the middle of the skis. Yes, I am again referring back to our Golden Rule number two. But it is especially relevant as you start to tackle steeper slopes. Leaning back puts your weight over the tails of the skis
and takes your control away when you need it most. Balancing in the middle gives you easy access to the entire edges of your skis,
giving you better breaks for less effort. So make sure that you're still flexing those ankles and you have contact between the shins and the fronts of the boots. Make sure you also have a little bit of flex at the waist so your upper body is leaning forwards
a little bit and keep those hands just out in front of you. Now this is where learners often object and I am aware that leaning forwards down the hill
and being balanced over the middle of your skis is much
easier said than done. So here's a little tip
that will help you to achieve that. We're just going to reach the pole plant forwards
and down the hill. That's going to bring our posture
into the middle of the skis and over the downhill ski and we will
therefore have better control on steeper slopes. Tip Number Three is to make round turn shapes. Think about going from 12 to 6
around the clock face and not cutting the corners. On steeper slopes, your tactical choices
are just as important as your techniques. Performing rushed, jolted and jagged turn
shapes will condense the forces coming at you into shorter, sharper bursts, making for a rougher
and a more unpleasant ride as a result. Generally, rounder
turns will make for a smoother ride, since you can spread the frictional forces
around the arc of a turn. So think about turning all the way from 12 to 6 around a clock face. Rather than rushing the turns
and overly relying on side skidding. Tip Number Four is to Progress Progressively. Now, this one might seem like common sense,
but finding yourself on slopes which are too steep for you
is an easy mistake to make. It's not uncommon that I teach a client,
make lots of progress on their confidence, and then after the lesson, they will be guided by someone in that group down, something
which is too difficult for them. They either get hurt or come back the next day
with a lower confidence than when we started. So progress on to steeper slopes gradually from
the greens to the blues to the reds to the blacks. Not only as you are discovering them
for the first time, but each day as well. So warm up on some easier slopes rather than just
throwing yourself onto the hardest blacks during the first runs of the day. Now, Tip Number Five is to control your speed. This doesn't necessarily mean skiing slowly. This means skiing with a consistent speed
and not gradually speeding up and losing control as you go down the mountain. Make sure you finish off your turns and control
your speed before you start the next turn. Think about this as slowing down
to turn rather than turning to slow down. For some reason, a lot of skiers seem to panic and rush into the next turn
before they have finished the last turn. You then gradually get faster and faster
as you go down the hill and sooner or later you're going to lose control. So find a speed that you are comfortable with
and try to maintain that speed as you descend rather than gradually speeding up
throughout your run. Then a sixth little bonus tip is to get
your mindset right before you start your run. Take a moment to assess your run, to breathe,
and to work out what you're going to focus on whilst you're skiing. I often have a couple of words or a short phrase,
which I repeat in my head again and again before and during my skiing. For example, on steeper slopes, I might say
to myself; "Shins forward, reach the pole plant. Shins forward, reach the pole plant."
Saying this again and again whilst you're skiing helps you to avoid distractions and implement
whatever it is that you are working on. So bear these tips in mind
as you progress from blues to reds to black runs. You'll be amazed at how much control
and confidence skiing equipment can give you in steep terrain when you have the right tactics
and the right techniques in place. As you build confidence, you'll be able to explore
more of the mountains and have a lot more fun whilst doing it.
