After gaining a few weeks of experience, all intermediate skiers aspire to mastering parallel turns. In theory, the first part of a parallel turn should be the easiest, because gravity is already trying to pull your skis down the hill, in the direction you want to go. But as you're traversing, before starting a turn, your skis are tilted on to their uphill edges. While you're "holding an edge" like this, your skis are resisting the pull of gravity down the hill. To go from a traverse to a new parallel turn, you need to release those edges by flattening your skis, and then eventually rolling them on to their opposite edges - the "new" edges that will control the new turn.
There are two ways to learn the initiation of parallel turns: the "drift initiation", and the "hop initiation".
With the former, you need to extend from the traverse position (where the body is angulated into a curved shape), and stand upright, into the "neutral position". Your skis will flatten, allowing them to drift naturally down towards the pull of gravity. Once the turn is underway, you can roll the skis on to the new edges, and drive them around the rest of the turn. With practice, you will learn to speed up the drift initiation, by using a swivelling movement of the feet. This is also described by various ski schools as a "rotary", "pivoting", or "steering" movement.
The hop initiation is a learning method better suited to children and more athletically built adults. It is based on the same movement as the drift initiation, extending from an angulated traverse position into the neutral position, but is done more dynamically. This extension of the body should result in a hop, where the skis leave the ground. As the skis are in the air, the aforementioned swivelling movement of the feet is used to start them turning. As the skis regain contact with the snow, they should already be tilted on to the new edges, so that the remainder of the turn can be completed.
The problem that most novice parallel skiers have is an inability to release both edges simultaneously, and tip both skis together on to their new edges. They generally find it easy enough to do it with the new outside ski (ie the right ski when turning left) because of all their experience with stemming. But the problem is getting the new inside ski to do the same thing at the same time. Therefore, some teachers ask the pupil to concentrate on the new inside foot (ie the left foot when turning left), and focus on tilting it from the "big toe edge" over on to the "little toe edge".
Whichever method you use to get the hang of the parallel turn initiation, that is only half the battle. Also you must get into the habit of making a pole-plant. This should be done at the same time as you extend your body upwards to start the turn. For shorter, rhythmical turns, it provides a vital link to the snow during the almost weightless transi tion phase between turns, and it helps stabilise the upper body - for all turns, but especially for short, quick-rhythm ones, the upper body (above the waist) should remain facing permanently down the hill.
This has two advantages: in short turns, it enables you to turn your skis simply by pivoting your legs beneath you, instead of rotating your whole body each time - this uses less energy and increases your nimbleness - and, in long turns, keeping your upper body facing down the hill has the automatic effect of keeping your hips angulated into the turn, helping to keep your skis on edge.
Next week: angulation of both the knees and the hips in the context of carved parallel turns. Martin Bell is running ski courses for intermediate skiers this season in Vail & Breckenridge, Colorado. For more information, call 0170 8224080 or e-mail: vailresorts@clara.co.uk.
