Skiing isn’t as easy as it may seem; it is a long drive filled with bruises, bumps and lots and lots of frustration. Below are a few tips for you to make the painful experience of learning to ski a bit easier for you.
Take Pro Lessons:
As strange as it may sound, learning from a loved one is tougher than learning from a stranger, who must be a trained pro in this case. This is because when your frustration level gets high and you want to give up, it’s better to have a pro at your side to get you back on track. Another benefit is that pro lessons come bundled up with rentals and a discounted lift ticket which if bought on its own could cost you heaps.
DO NOT look down at the skis:
This is a tough thing to do, not gaze down to reassure yourself that the skis are intact while skiing. This does the opposite of what you want. When you’re looking down, you can easily get into an accident and hurt yourself because you weren’t looking where you were going. You should always look to 10 feet ahead of your skis so you know what lies ahead. But also keep a quick check on your immediate landscape as well.
Stick with one lift:
Lifts are intimidating. They speed towards you and are not always kind when doing so. However, using a fixed lift makes it easier. These sort of lifts revolve chairs in between two belts, one that’s fast and another that is slow such that slow one starts where the loading zone is. This way the chair will slow down at the loading station and then speed up as it goes up hill.
Bend Knees:
You may not believe it, but you’re the one in control of the skis and not the other way round. When you bend your knees, you are actually increasing the balance and you are forced to bend forward in your boots and thus you have increased control over your skis.
Turn up:
When you turn up, you’re losing speed naturally instead of ramming onto the brakes and possibly falling on your face by doing so.
Stay clear of powders:
Even though soft snow is fun to ski on, but not for beginners as it is heavier and you will get stuck into it, A LOT. You should begin your training on well-groomed paths where the terrain is consistent. This ensures that you focus on learning the technique and not on dealing with the contingencies. You can ski on the powder when you’ve learnt the art of skiing.