Ski skills: Lateral movement
You’ve got the gear, it’s now time to hit the slopes. Federico Laplaca from Freedom Snowsports shares his top tips to help you boss every turn.
Photos: Freedom Snowsports
We’re aware that if you’ve picked up this copy of Fall Line off the newsstand, or are a regular subscriber, chances are you can ski pretty well. So our new technique series isn’t here to teach you how to ski parallel, or tackle a red run. It’s about skiing with a bit more flair and dynamism. And, over the next four issues, we will look at all aspects of ski technique that will hopefully help you unlock that next level of performance. Over to Federico…
Have you ever seen a skier on the mountain making powerful turns that look so easy, gripping on firm or steep snow? This month we are going to focus on a key feature of these powerful but smooth turns: the lateral movement the skier makes across the skis paired with lateral balance.
Lateral movement is something all skiers use automatically when linking ski turns, but we want to take a closer look at how it is so fundamental to enhancing the performance of our skis. When linking turns down any slope, regardless of turn type, we experience some resulting forces and effects. The forces we generate by turning want to push us laterally and they continuously ebb and flow as we build and release changes of direction.
These are really familiar feelings – they are the same forces you feel when driving your car around a corner, when it feels like you are being pushed outward away from the direction of the turn and into the side bolster of your seat. Let’s call it the centrifugal effect. When speed around a curve increases, so does the strength of this centrifugal effect.
The big advantage we have on skis over a car is, of course, the ability to move our centre of mass laterally inside the turn to compensate for the centrifugal effect that is trying to push us outside.
If we increase the steepness or speed of our turns, we also need to increase the lateral movement to directly offset the increased centrifugal effect; if we fail to respond to the increasing forces pushing us out, we get pushed out.
Feel the forces + adjust your lateral movement constantly
When swinging turns back and forth on skis, and thanks also to the constantly changing terrain and turn shape, we need to adjust this lateral movement constantly. It’s important to remember, for example, that the centrifugal effect builds up at the start of the turn, will peak in the middle of the turn, and then ease off at the end of the turn. So, we correspondingly need to build our lateral movements and ease them off through every turn.
We have to use the feeling of the incoming centrifugal effect upon us to know how much to tilt our legs and move our body inside to offset it.
Upper body separation
When we tilt our skis onto their edges, we tilt into the turn and balance with the centrifugal effect. The temptation can be to lean in with our shoulders too, but if we incline our whole body too much then the extra weight inside the turn will mean less ski angle is needed to balance out the centrifugal effect – which means the skis will be flatter than desired, holding less grip with less balance.
If, conversely, we favour keeping our shoulders level to counterbalance the lean angle of the legs, we can keep tilting our legs, feet, and skis much further into the turn while staying balanced. This creates more edge angle, more grip, and more control.
Sounds easy enough? Let’s take a closer look…
Step 1 Instead of leaning the whole body into the turn (inclining), start by tilting your legs and feet diagonally forwards into the new turn, while balancing against the outside ski and keeping your shoulders level with the ground/slope (angulating).
Step 2 Keeping your outside leg strong and in tune with that centrifugal effect, allow your inside leg to compress smoothly (always keeping your shoulders level with the ground to provide some counter balance); it’s a continuous and smooth movement.
Step 3 To release and transition into the next turn, allow the outside leg to flex and begin stretching the inside leg forward diagonally into the new turn to become the new outside ski as you stand against it pressing into the ground and repeat the cycle from step 1.
Meet the pro
Federico Laplaca
Federico has been teaching alpine skiing in the French Alps for more than 10 years. He is the team manager of British-owned Freedom Snowsports, based in Méribel. A specialist ski coaching company, Freedom Snowsports has locations in Méribel, Chamonix, Saint Gervais and the Grand Massif.
Freedom Snowsports runs courses for all levels, from beginners to pro training camps. If you’ve ever wanted to develop your skiing skills, these guys are the go-to experts. Find out more at freedomsnowsports.com
