Learn how to crash safely on skis with these 4 falling techniques
Ever noticed how some people can fall over all day without hurting themselves? Jens Nyström explains how to crash like a ski ninja
Learning to fall over probably sounds pretty counter intuitive, right? However it’s actually one of the most important skills for any skier to learn. Whenever we push ourselves on skis, or try and learn something new – whether that’s hand drags in the park or simply stepping up to bigger drops in the backcountry – falling over occasionally is inevitable. We just have to accept that: it WILL happen. In fact sometimes it’s actually better to take an early controlled fall than, for example, try to hold on while inexorably picking up speed with potential dangerous obstacles coming up fast (we’ve all seen the beginner ‘snowplough of death’ before!).
HOW we fall is what makes the difference between a funny video for our mates/the internet to laugh at and a painful trip to the local hospital. No one knows this better than freestyle coach Jens from Stomp It Tutorials. 10 years ago he knocked his front teeth out in a frankly brutal BMX crash, and as he moved into park skiing he took the time to learn how to crash safely from one of the only sports where participants really train how to fall over properly – martial arts.
HOW TO CRASH ON SKIS | 4 FALLING TECHNIQUES
Learn how to crash on skis. We look into how you can first of all learn step by step so you do not crash. After that we teach you how to crash on the side, back, front and roll better.
In short there are four main techniques – how to fall on your side, your back, your face, and when you go completely over the handle bars. The most important things to remember are to first try to land at least partially on your feet (even if just for half a second) to absorb some of the impact, and then to NOT stick your arms out straight to break your fall – that’s how most broken wrists/arms/collar bones occur. Rather try to roll through the fall on to the bigger and stronger parts of your body.
