SKI DRILLS
Carving
Carved Traverses - Traverse Position
Your stance should have your feet about hip width apart. Move your body forward to feel your shins solidly against the tongues of your boots and your weight concentrated behind the big toe at the ball of your downhill foot, and behind the little toe of your uphill foot. Assume a tall, square position in which your ski tips are even and your body faces in the direction of your skis. Then advance your uphill ski slightly ahead of your downhill ski which faces your body very slightly down the hill and shifts weight to the inside edge of the downhill ski. Increase the angle of your skis against the snow by angulating your hip up the hill while keeping your head and shoulders above the downhill ski to concentrate your weight on the inside edge of that foot and ski.
Traverse Using Sidecut
From a traverse, tip both skis onto uphill edges. Each ski should track and not slip or skid sideways. Your skis will track in an uphill curve. Alter the angle of the skis against the snow to change the turn radius.
As the edge angle changes, angulation helps to maintain your balance. In this angulated position the upper body stays vertical while the lower body (hip angulation) and lower legs are at a slant to the snow.
Repeatedly practice the traverses beginning with a shallow traverse and progressing to steeper traverse lines. Make certain to bend your legs and maintain contact with the fronts of your boots.
Continue to progress to steeper traverse lines until you begin straight down the hill. Ride the ski edges to a stop and don't turn or steer the skis to create slipping of your ski edges.
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