by jbotti » Mon Feb 11, 2008 8:41 am
Bobsledbob, there are two drills that come to my mind. The first is to do garland/carves back up into the hill. Start on some modest terrain. Aim your skis down the hill but also on an angle across the slope and you will need to use your poles to prevent yourself from starting. Get both edges engaged/on edge and the let go (you need to be on a steep enough pitch so that you will take off into a carve). You will need to use counter balance (weight over the outside ski) and some counter rotation to help keep you in the carve and you will need to continually tip the inside foot. The goal is to produce two clean lines across the snow. Let the mountain stop you as you ride the arc back up the hill. Lastly, it is very important that you look up the hill before you let go so that you don't kill yourself skiing inot someone bombing down the hill!!
The other drill is best practiced on very gentle terrain especailly because as you say on steeper terrain you have a tendency to force the skis into turning rather than waiting for them to trun themselves once on edge. So this is a very simple drill. It is called "trying not to turn". On gentle terrain, on a wide trail, simply traverse across with a little speed (enough so that you don't have to pole to keep your speed up). Next put the skis on edge and try not to turn. Your goal is only to put the skis on edge and see what happens. Have enough room so that if you go straight you will be OK. As you are putting the skis on edge, remember to counterbalance, use counter rotation and tip agressively and wait and see what happens. This is best done with skis that have a short truning radius (as the arc of the skis will initiate the turn faster than on skis with a longer turn radius).
Again practice this on easy green terrain until it becomes easy and then take it to steeper terrain.
These drills that Harald and Diana showed me helped me immensely as I was learning to trust the sidecut of my skis.
I hope they help.
Balance: Essential in skiing and in life!