Skiing Lessons Learned

Yesterday my wife and I went skiing at Vernon, NJ. It was her first time and my second time on the skis. My first time was in Flagstaff, AZ about a year ago. I remember I was a little adventurous at that time after we had been through the one-hour lesson. But when I started yesterday, I realized that I had forgotten much of what I had learned the last time. The stopping and turning and not-sliding-away-out-of-control skills did not seem to come naturally and I should admit fear was ruling me. Thankfully we had taken the beginner's package which included the one hour lesson. The second class really helped me gain back some of that confidence and release a little bit of fear. The instructor was very friendly and encouraging. My wife overcame some of her fear too and slid down the bunny slopes a few times. I took the lift up the "chicken" hill (meant for beginners) several times and came down without any problems. Fell a couple of times but was mostly in control. It felt very satisfying at the end of the day.

To make sure I don't forget what I learned, I want to put all the tips here in this post, so I can look at them when I go skiing again.

• As a beginner, you will find yourself carrying your heavy skis around often. The easiest way to carry then is to balance them on one of your shoulders. Dragging them may be more difficult.
• The most important secret of skiing is (according to my instructor today) the Chinese whatever, "Shin-Tung". :-) The shin of your feet (basically the front part of your leg between your ankle and knee) should always press the tounge of your shoes tightly so you bend down a little to the front.
• Hands always in the front of your body. Shin-Tung is the mantra. Leaning backwards is a no-no. You really want to do that only if you want to go out of control!
• As a beginner, it is good to practice skiing with one ski on at a time on each leg first before trying with both of them on. This gives a feel of sliding without losing control completely.
  
• The correct way to wear your skis is by placing them perpendicular to the slope of the hill. Otherwise you are going to slide down. Dig into the snow using the side of your skis that is uphill to get some friction going. This will give you some control you need to stay put without sliding away.
  
• The beginner's way to walk uphill with the skiis on is sidewards up the hill in four steps: pole-step-match-pole. If you are going up on your left, then it is left pole first, then your left leg, right leg, and then your right pole one at a time in a sequence.
• The way to reduce speed and stop while skiing is to form an inverted 'V' with your skis and use friction. To do this you would turn your knees toward each other, and spread your heels apart. Practice stopping on bunny slopes first before taking the lift up the hill.
  
• I noticed that the inverted V approach to stop is a beginner's way. The pros who know to turn well stop by making that quick turn to position themselves perpendicular to the slope and use the friction to stop in total control.
  
• I found turning quickly at will while staying in total control the hardest park of skiing. To turn, there are two things you would do. First you will need to turn your body so that your belly-button points to the direction you want to go in. Simultaneously, you would slightly press down to the ground the foot on the side of the direction you want to go - to go left gently press your left foot down, to turn right gently press your right foot down. Its like riding a bike.
  
• While skiing down steep slopes, control your speed using the inverted V approach.
• Falling is an intricate part of skiing. Don't tighten yourself up while preparing to fall. The snow is actually softer than hard ground, so falling will not hurt unless you are falling down a steep slope. Roll down naturally. Let the momentum take you however it wishes to; give in to it - let yourself loose. In fact, I feel that falling, rolling down and laughing at yourself is super fun!

Wishing you and myself happy skiing the next time we are on the snow!