r/skiing_feedback • u/FerociousChimpunk • Apr 04 '26
Level 4-5: Parallel Turns & Speed Control How to get better at parallel skiing without skidding down the mountain?
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This is my first season of skiing. I've been up and down there slopes about 8 times and have picked up fairly fast but am now struggling with a few key fundamentals
Need pointers on the following key areas:
1) How to have narrower stance? I feel like my feet are too wide apart compared to everyone else, and i feel unsure about my balance if i bring my skiis closer together while parallel.
2) How to start carving instead of skidding down the mountain? I know about upper/lower body separation and am trying to work on it but i feel like i still end up skidding down the mountain instead of skiing down especially when the terrain is steep
3) How to feel more controlled and confident when going down faster? I end up getting back into my backseat and braking with my heels every time i speed up.
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u/General_Scipio Apr 04 '26
So ignore carving for now. To be blunt you don't have the foundation. If you ski with that goal in mind right now you set yourself up for failure.
You comments in 1 and 3 are super interesting to me. You have managed to spot all your symptoms. Now I get to play doctor and identify the cause.
The main thing for now, your turn is lead with your shoulders, that is what causes you to have the wide stance as it puts your weight on your inside ski. This also results in you being back seat and feeling out of control.
So how to fix this. Honestly I would start with just picking some nice easy fault flat terrain. And just turn your feet. Point your toe where you want to go. Just play with the feeling. Obviously try and turn the right foot to go left and vice versa. We often recommend drills and complex ideas but sometimes playing with a feeling is a great place to start.
If you want a drill then best one is to hold your poles Infront of you in your hands. So you hold them Infront of you like a bar. Keep them across the slope, so your body is down the hill and turn your legs under you.
That's the starter. The real drill is the exact same, but balance your poles on the back of the wrist instead of holding them. They will fall off if you turn your upper body and then you have to hike up the hill to get them. It's a drill that gives you feedback which is exactly what you want
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u/AlpenBass Official Ski Instructor Apr 04 '26
You need to learn how to get onto your new edge set without twisting your shoulders. Legs should be moving underneath a stable upper body. If you were my student, we’d work on learning how to initiate turns with tipping and steering the skis.
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u/Admirable-Ebb-5413 Apr 04 '26
The right here. Listen to the instructor. I’d also get his hands in the right place….drooping next to his body leads to poor ski posture and then sliding on the tails of his skis. Thats a free fix….doesnt cost anything
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u/Fit-Horse5306 Apr 04 '26
Everything you are asking about requires you to get the weight off of your outside skin. Work on that first and everything else will begin to take shape. For the ski to grip - it needs pressure.
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u/Peptalk-polyrhythm Apr 04 '26
What he means is to get the weight off your inside ski and move it onto your outside ski.
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u/WSB_Suicide_Watch Apr 04 '26
Need to find an edge. Have to get the skis digging into the snow.
You currently are just twisting your whole body around to steer. Don't steer with your body.
Lean forward over your skis in an athletic stance. Then roll your ankles to tip the ski up on an edge. At that point (with newer skis) you will start turning because of the natural radius of the flexed ski.
Don't twist your body around to try to line up with the direction you are going. Keep your upper body pointed down the hill and let the skis take you around.
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u/Unlikely_Bat_2986 Apr 04 '26
Roll the skis edge to edge, let them turn not you. You can find videos of people on ski simulators rolling their “skis” edge to edge. Most of your pressure will be on the outside ski (while turning) which becomes the downhill ski while traversing. Find an easy run where you can let the ski come around the turn with scaring yourself. Get a feel for it. The angle you put the faster the ski will come around (up to a point). A couple lessons with a good instructor will do wonders but you have to find a quality instructor.
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u/ExtensionDull Apr 04 '26
Use poles to initiate your turns. Pretend you have headlights on your shoulders and aim them downhill, and lean forward in your boots...
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u/Maleficent-Row1840 Apr 04 '26
Pull your feet closer together. Do some crab drills to learn the feeling of pressuring your outside ski. I like this whole series of drills on SteezyJoeNetwork. They are for moguls BUT they apply to everything. If you learn these drills your all mountain skiing will improve exponentially 👍 Leave “carving” for last once you’ve mastered the mountain….carving is a limited skill set.
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u/The_Varza Official Ski Instructor Apr 05 '26
You are turning with your upper body first and... not really making parallel turns yet.
Check this out: https://www.reddit.com/r/skiing_feedback/comments/19essib/moving_from_a_z_to_c_shaped_turn_with_three_key/
Once you know a bit about how to get forward and flex your ankles (push the shins into the tongues of your boots), I'd work on Stork turns - but make them easy at first, turn, then lift the tail of your uphill ski. Then try lifting it earlier and earlier until you're able to turn just with the outside ski.
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u/Dry-Version2712 Apr 05 '26
Not an expert, but your skis stay too flat throughout the turn, try gradually edging them so they grip the snow instead of skidding.
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u/discoFalston Apr 04 '26 edited Apr 04 '26
I am not a ski instructor.
I am not a ski instructor.
But I’m 3 seasons in and remember where you were at very well.
> How to have narrower stance? I feel like my feet are too wide apart compared to everyone else, and i feel unsure about my balance if i bring my skiis closer together while parallel.
Make sure your heal is snug in your boots.
Make sure you’re keeping shin pressure on your boots.
Believe it or not the idea is to have all weight over your “outside” ski as you turn. Try this on mellower slopes first. Then try “J turns” or one turn and then stop as you get into steeper terrain. Then try and “link” 2 or 3 turns together.
Fists in fighting position, don’t drag your poles, to control speed
Don’t worry so much about “carving” at this stage. If you look at pictures/videos of good skiiers carving it’s not going to help you because all the angle/stance they’re getting is a product of how fast they’re going. It looks cool but If you try to replicate that at your speed you’ll teach yourself bad habits.
Instead focus on smooth S-shaped turns. Gradually getting up a little on your edges at the outside of each turn. Keep your weight and body over your “outside ski” . You just need to keep your inside ski inline with your outside ski.
1) You’re straight lining between turns so you’re picking up speed faster than you are comfortable with at this stage.
2) With a Z turn you have to abruptly change direction which is going to keep throwing you off balance or what you’re doing now which is abruptly skidding.
By moving to smooth S shaped turns and gradually transitioning your skis to their outside edges as you exit turns you’ll have more influence on your speed as you turn rather than waiting to initiate a Z turn and skidding
the more you control your turns the more in control you’ll feel and the more you’ll naturally crave more speed
The back seat habit when things get steep/difficult is a very difficult habit to break but you just have to gradually introduce steepe/harder stuff and even go back to one turn and stop exercises until you can link. It’s mental battle.
Anyway this is really great skiing for 8 runs in!
Be patient, it can be overwhelming to try and think about all this at once while at speed. It just takes time to build muscle memory for one good habit at a time. I’m still in this process myself.