Niall wrote:
"It could be too that you have beginners skiis which are narrower and
softer in the tail. This will cause a tail skid unles you are very
light at the start of the turn."
- No! We actually did really well with the skis. Booked online with
intersport and got streetracers for 56 euros for 6 days (with a special
offer for one days hire free ...that we didn't use).

"Also, pushing into the front of the boot is an old technique fomr the
days of straight skiis, with carvers you weight the ski through the
balls of your feet."
- So when people say that racers are able to get better grip because
they have really strong muscles, are they pushing down on the balls of
their feet?

"Apart form that, make sure you get a good edge change (and good edge
angle by getting your knee well under your body)"
- I hadn't thought about looking it that way - keeping the knees under
my body! I'll have to wait for snow in Scotland before I can see if
that helps ...and that might be some time!!

Getting grip on hard packed snow is my main trouble so it's great to
hear any comments on technique that might help!!

Niall

Something else occued to me, check your boots are over the centerline
of the ski. If the bot is to fat back (hapens if you borrow skiis set
up for a smaller foot) you will weight the tail too much.

Also, if your bots have cuff canter, make sure when you stand upright
the ski is flat. If you have slightly bowed legs you might find the
ski sits on its outside edge when you stand making it harder to get it
onto the inside edge.

But generally, when you start a turn get your turning knee well under
you, and as the G force builds up use hip lean to get more edge angle.

What I do is try to lift the little toes off the sole while pressing
with the big toe joint. I find it helps me as I like my boot cuff to be
not too tight.


When you do start getting god edging you will see it on your skiis;

#1 Any scratches will be along the length of the ski, never sideways.

#2 After some heavy use, the base of the ski will be lighter along the
outside 1 inch than in the middle. This is where the pressure really
builds up and it shows on the base.