learnin' to tele!

[dkemp]

I'll have y'all know that I am learning to tele ski! I called in sick and hey, I did pretty good! The first two runs were really bad but the next dozen were not too bad. I was even trying pole plants and such.

 

That back ski gets kinda squirelly, dont it?

 

Whoo-hoo! I'm skiin'!

Doxey

[dryad]

You go boy!!! Woo hoo!

[Lambone]

right on dkemp!

 

remember...the more weight you put on that back ski, the less squirly it'll be. twist that inside hip into the hill, and think big-toe-pinky toe.

 

also, you don't need to dip to the ground to make a good tele turn...thats just what people do to look cool.

 

ok end of free advice, anymore will cost you a beer, have fun!

 

are you switching from alpine, or starting from scratch?

[EddieE]

Yeah...hammer down on that rear ski for sure. Pay attention to the gap between your knees. If you're having trouble pressuring that back ski, you might be throwing your leg too far back - a very common error with beginners. Right on though...keep on tele'ing!

[thelawgoddess]

twist that inside hip into the hill, and think big-toe-pinky toe.

 

along the same lines, but think outside pinky toe - inside heel. pressuring the heel will really help you weight the ski ... and concentrating on those two contact points will help ensure that you get both skis on their correct edges.

 

it sure is fun, eh?

[murraysovereign]

...you might be throwing your leg too far back - a very common error with beginners. Right on though...keep on tele'ing!

 

This is definitely one of the more common mistakes - and not just with beginners, either. The inside ski doesn't just trail along behind waiting for the next turn - it should be weighted and working pretty much the whole time. I finally got the hang of it when an instructor friend told me to think of the tele stance more in terms of compressing down, rather than spreading out. The way he described it was to imagine you're trying to open an aspirin bottle under the ball of your rear foot - in other words, push down and twist. If there's no pressure under the ball of your rear foot, that ski is effectively out of control.

 

The simplest way to get a mental picture of a tele turn is to pay attention to your feet while you're walking. When you go to turn a corner, you weight the inside foot and rotate on the ball of that foot while swinging your outside foot into the new direction of travel. Stop yourself in mid-turn a few times, and look at your foot position - perfect tele's. You've been doing it instinctively literally since you were a toddler - now you just have to get the hang of doing it on skis. It's a little more complicated when you're wobbling down the hill at 20 mph, but once it clicks, it's SWEET.

Good luck.