Boondock Puffins

While it’s still fresh in my experience, here are a few things that helped me the most:

#1. Learn to snow plow first.

#2. Don’t be afraid of looking like a beginner.

#3. Try to keep your shoulders facing down the slope.

#4. Aim to keep your thumbs visible – imagine you are holding a tray or two mugs of hot chocolate out in front. This helps with balance and coordination.

#5. Learn to side slip early on – this is an invaluable skill to help you on any slope you get to that is beyond your comfort zone and/or skill level.

#6. Don’t go out if you’re already feeling miserable. Skiing seems to be an almost direct reflection of your mindset: if you’re happy, you’ll have a lovely day out skiing; if you feel a bit on edge or miserable, then skiing will generally only make this worse and you’ll find yourself having a panic on the baby slope which suddenly feels like a cliff!

#7. Learn to hockey stop (side stop). This will allow you to have confidence in your ability to stop no matter how fast you’re going. When you do this stop, you can think about making your body into a sort of C shape – your hips push out towards the slope and your head/torso point out, away from the slope. Initially, this feels horribly counterintuitive, but it really helps your skis to grip and to top with control, even on ice (as much as possible)

#8. Aim to keep your weight in your downhill ski when you’re turning – there are loads of drills for this, including lifting up your inside ski as your turn… nerve wracking but effective! This is a crucial step in progressing from snow plow to parallel turns 😎

#9. Remember you’re aiming to have fun! It can be so easy when learning to get bogged down in trying to improve or keep up with others but ultimately, if you’re having fun and enjoying yourself, that’s the most important thing.