More on the Wedge and Parallel Turns 2

Continuing on from the earlier post, "More on the Wedge and
Parallel Turns", so far you have drawn your imaginary center
line, and line to infinity, and you're striving to keep them
touching each other. If you lean to one side or the other,
they won't touch. You're also striving to keep your shoulders
at a right angle to the way the skis are pointing. Square to
the skis, if you will. Turning the skis is done with the legs,
not the upper body. Keep it square to the skis.

You also know about crossover, the most simple, basic and
undeniable truth of all skiing. To turn left your body has to be
on the left side of the skis, and vice versa.

Remember, this is a pure *beginner* we're talking about here.
The body position you'll probably want will change a bit once
you start to really get the idea of turning the skis.

You might want to put the skis in a wedge stance. Just make
a "v" with them, tips close, maybe shoulder width apart, tails
spread away from each other. The closer the tails are together,
the faster you'll go, the farther apart, the slower.

So here you are, in your wedge, tips close together, tails
spread, like a space shuttle, piece of pizza, whatever.
Both skis are brought up on their big toe edges, purely
by the nature of the wedge stance itself. When you make the
wedge, it brings those edges up and into action. You can
change the angle of the edges, make them bite more or less
by bringing your knees closer to each other, or farther away
from each other.

You may notice that you are "crossed over" *both* skis at the
same time. In the wedge you're ready to turn either way, and
whichever way you choose, your body is on the inside of that
turn if you leave your body where it is as you stand or run
straight in a wedge. That is, with your centerline and line to
infinity touching each other.

So, as you stand on the snow in a wedge, if you *leave your
body where it is*, and pick up one ski and put it next to the
other (which is still at an angle), what will happen? You'll fall
over toward the side from which you picked the ski up. That ski
is no longer there to hold you up. Suppose you have a bit of
inertia?

If you run straight a little bit and get up some speed in your
wedge, then pick up one ski and put it next to the other (among
a few other things), you'll have a tendency to turn, and the inertia
will help to hold you up where you otherwise would have fallen
over. The "centrifugal force" will hold you up.

This isn't *exactly* the way you'd have the best luck turning
the skis as a beginner, but it's close. If we work on some wedge
changeups, we'll set our "static" discussion into motion.

foot2foot wrote:

Continuing on from the earlier post, "More on the Wedge and
Parallel Turns", so far you have drawn your imaginary center
line, and line to infinity, and you're striving to keep them
touching each other. If you lean to one side or the other,
they won't touch. You're also striving to keep your shoulders
at a right angle to the way the skis are pointing. Square to
the skis, if you will. Turning the skis is done with the legs,
not the upper body. Keep it square to the skis.

You also know about crossover, the most simple, basic and
undeniable truth of all skiing. To turn left your body has to be
on the left side of the skis, and vice versa.

Remember, this is a pure *beginner* we're talking about here.
The body position you'll probably want will change a bit once
you start to really get the idea of turning the skis.

You might want to put the skis in a wedge stance. Just make
a "v" with them, tips close, maybe shoulder width apart, tails
spread away from each other. The closer the tails are together,
the faster you'll go, the farther apart, the slower.

So here you are, in your wedge, tips close together, tails
spread, like a space shuttle, piece of pizza, whatever.
Both skis are brought up on their big toe edges, purely
by the nature of the wedge stance itself. When you make the
wedge, it brings those edges up and into action. You can
change the angle of the edges, make them bite more or less
by bringing your knees closer to each other, or farther away
from each other.

You may notice that you are "crossed over" *both* skis at the
same time. In the wedge you're ready to turn either way, and
whichever way you choose, your body is on the inside of that
turn if you leave your body where it is as you stand or run
straight in a wedge. That is, with your centerline and line to
infinity touching each other.

So, as you stand on the snow in a wedge, if you *leave your
body where it is*, and pick up one ski and put it next to the
other (which is still at an angle), what will happen? You'll fall
over toward the side from which you picked the ski up. That ski
is no longer there to hold you up. Suppose you have a bit of
inertia?

If you run straight a little bit and get up some speed in your
wedge, then pick up one ski and put it next to the other (among
a few other things), you'll have a tendency to turn, and the inertia
will help to hold you up where you otherwise would have fallen
over. The "centrifugal force" will hold you up.

This isn't *exactly* the way you'd have the best luck turning
the skis as a beginner, but it's close. If we work on some wedge
changeups, we'll set our "static" discussion into motion.



To ski or to read about it, that is the question. Whether tis nobler to
analyze or feel... blah blah blah.