that likes a bunch of hard-core artificial-looking exercises every-
where you turn; I like most all my exercises to be incorporated into
regular everyday skiing. We concentrate on side-slipping one way
at a time for now, and the turns are just because we run out of
room and need to get oriented to practice slipping the other way. It
166 --- Heinsian DOWNHILL SKIING
won't be until in the future, in the advanced segment, that we start
linking our side-slips, which is far from whimpy and takes a high
skill level.
Once in awhile, during your side-slipping exercises, you might
want to set your edges and spray some snow for an assertive stop.
This is like a hard turn-finish instead of a gentle turn-finish, scrap-
ing butter off instead of spreading butter on. The neat thing about
these edge-sets is you can practice a half-dozen-or-more of them in
a forward-slipping traverse. It gives you a chance to concentrate on
what you need when you need it and really start figuring out your
edging skills . . . instead of being bothered with all three phases of a
turn. Also, if we're not careful, too much side-slipping alone can
make us stagnate in our ski moves, so, if for nothing else, these
edge-sets, can liven things up and break the monotony of just for-
ward side-slipping.
Remember, the guy who gets sling-shotted to the side of the
run in a hurry is the guy who's too locked on his edge and being
taken for a ride with his skis pointed downhill just a few degrees
too much---this is not what we want, but it's what too many low-
intermediates fall victim too because they don't have this plan of
knowing how to have the skis totally turned. Out of panic, he
cranks a difficult turn to avoid hitting trees . . . and immediately
gets ricocheted back the other way even faster and more desperate.
These are the dreaded Z-turns that have no place in dynamic
downhill skiing. The half-pipers of the world, wild snow-boarders
and skiers infected by them, might be doing a similar thing on pur-
pose---but they have a different agenda, namely doing their antics
in the air.
Before the student gets sick of too much forward side-slipping
and edge-setting, it's a good idea to get some mileage with the old
stem turns for awhile, maybe exploring another low-intermediate
run or two. There may be times, if strategically-located green cat-
walks aren't always available, when you will need to do some
strong-edge traversing across full-intermediate steepness, without
slipping, to get to vast parts of the mountain that would be more
your low-intermediate steepness. This not-so-bad scenario is fairly
easy for the more gung-ho proactive students; but I hate to see the
timid students be deprived of getting to acres and acres of terrain
they would love just because of a few yards of a slightly steeper
traverse. The calm voice of a good instructor will often get people
through tight spots where they might otherwise panic on their own
or with their husband or brother-in-law. That's the thing: some-
Who&WhatTurn, When&Where&Why---Not Just How! --- 167
times an instructor knows some of the logistics could be tricky for
fragile students, but he also knows that, if he doesn't get some
slightly difficult job done soon, the husband or well-meaning but-
untrained friends will take on the task soon anyway and really
screw it up. Some mountains are a lot easier than others to teach on
and get the slope and snow you need when you need it.
Meanwhile, back on low-intermediate hard-pack. To add an-
other nice ingredient to the mix, we can eventually try to add a pole
plant down the hill in unison with each edge-set---edge-sets with
pole-plants. This may take awhile to master, and it usually takes
wise guidance from a better-than-average ski instructor. But, once
you get this little maneuver into your repertoire, you will be light-
years ahead of most intermediate skiers and be more of a pure skier
than even some advanced students. If these don't start to come
easy in a fairly short time, don't force them, as this early pole plant
timed with a turn finish . . . can be put on the back burner before
you make an issue out of it. You do these from a forward side-slip,
trying to synchronize your plant with the edge-set, so that you de-
velop a pole plant that coincides with the end of a turn. Up to now,
we've emphasized an early pole plant that happens before a new
turn; now we are emphasizing a pole plant that helps finish the old
turn, or the turn we are still in, with sets us up for a sudden new
turn if we want---this is pretty much our earliest pole plant done in
its most introductory form. It'll come in very handy for future ski-
ing, and it takes some concentration to learn; it's pretty much the
pole plant that we didn't dare talk about with spontaneous christies
in the beginner segment, but now we are ripe for it. It's a drill, and
you don't have to master it all at once, so a half dozen each way is a
good dose from time to time.
To keep the student from stagnating and getting bored or
thinking about too much, it's time to do some christy down-stems.
Up to now, any stemming has been with the uphill ski to start a
turn; but we can change that around by focusing on stemming for a
more assertive turn finish rather than a cautious turn start. Pick a
short little slightly-steeper section that won't scare them, and have
them try it one turn right after the other. We aren't looking for so
much quality here as we are looking to wake the skier up a little bit.
If they have a good pole plant, fine; but, if they don't, don't worry
about it. I want my skiers to show signs of being scrappy at this
point. You might call to them: "Turn, turn, turn, turn," to get them
moving and asserting themselves down the mountain. These
down-stem christies are a more thorough advanced version of the
168 --- Heinsian DOWNHILL SKIING
spontaneous christies they did down on the bunny-hill. A christy
down-stem is just a more thorough finish on the old turn, which
will help you control speed and start a new turn without hesitating.
You put more effort into steering, edging, and pressuring the
downhill ski to a platform . . . to ski slower on a steeper slope---the
bouncy weight transfer to the unturned uphill ski will be a less-lazy
new kind of head start on a turn, believe it or not. Whereas up-
stem christies are kind of disconnected from each other---one good
turn,---the christy down-stem teaches you turn linkage and rhythm.
In your linked christy down-stems, feel a pedaling action: long-leg,
short-leg, long-leg, short-leg. Whereas the old up-stem start is ac-
tually a leisurely weight transfer, the christy down-stem gets you to
transfer your weight from an old downhill ski that's turned a whole
bunch, boom, to a new uphill ski that's not turned yet. Christy
down-stems should help you feel upper-lower body reciprocity
and definite independent-leg action. . . . I know I'm describing a lot
here, but I don't want you to get bogged down in trying to under-
stand it totally; just look at it this way: get yourself a bit of a wedge
on a slightly steeper short pitch, and make a bunch of turns at a
fairly quick tempo but fairly slow speed---it helps if you growl,
"Grrr! Grrr! Grrr! Grrr!" ---Scrappy---on a short steep pitch where
it's not a do-or-die situation. Your pole plant, hopefully, will coin-
cide with your down-stem; but if it's not perfect, don't worry about
it---just try to be scrappy and not so worried about how you look.
Now, for another homework assignment or test figure: do a J-
turn stop on low-intermediate hard-pack. This is a nice exercise in
that it isolates strong turn finishing. Remember, with a little mo-
mentum down the hill, it's the three basic skills of skiing in the
most thorough, crisp, clean turn-to-a-stop you've ever dreamed of:
stand tall at the start letting the skis run down the hill for some
dynamic momentum, favor the ski that will become your outside
ski, help turn the feet by driving your inside hand over the toe-
pieces, help edge the ski by keeping your hip to the inside, and go
down with the outside leg as pressure builds and snow sprays.
Remember the inside hand driving down the mountain is not just a
hand deal; it is the whole torso counter-rotating down the hill via
the good hand position---it's actually more of a non-move, because
you're not letting your hands and torso go where the skis are turn-
ing. Come to a full stop in this J-turn exercise, and don't go down
until things are really biting and spraying, otherwise you're getting
ahead of the forces of nature. If you don't come to a full stop in this
exercise, you are defeating its purpose and not learning anything.
Who&WhatTurn, When&Where&Why---Not Just How! --- 169
Some skiers will feel like tipping over to the inside back up the
mountain at the finish, indicating they were never committed well
enough to the outside ski.
I'll give you extra credit for adding a pole plant at the bottom
of the down, as if you're ready for another turn---a J-turn stop with
a pole-plant. But don't expect this pole plant to come easy without
some practice---it's kind of like a gymnast perfecting their landing
without any bobbles, or a western swing song ending on a strong
note---bring it home. Get the J-turn stop perfected first without a
pole plant, then add the pole, which is similar to your edge-sets-
with-poles, only stronger. You can practice a good pole-plant while
standing in one place across the hill and pretending you are at the
finish: skis pointed left, have both hands down the hill, and practice
swinging that right pole down the hill from about the toe of your
boot---this is pretty much the signature picture you see of yours
truly on the cover of this manual, showing the importance of one
good turn. You must work on swinging the pole basket without
swinging the whole arm, as the handle stays pretty much in one
disciplined little area, and the setting of the basket into the snow is
achieved more by your sinking in the legs than by reaching down--
-kind of like how you're supposed to handle a heavy bag of pota-
toes, with your legs and not your back. So this sharp-finish and
pole-plant are supposed to be coordinated to come to a crescendo
at the same exact time---kind of like ending a crisp western swing
song with all the instruments tight and together, instead of just
slowly turning the volume down for it to fade away without any
skill involved. You don't have to perfect this task all in one day: do
a half dozen or so each way each half day skiing, and it will soon
become part of your repertoire, and you'll be light-years ahead of
the rest.
Far too many skiers aren't privileged to know this what I call a
"prized secret pole-plant" at the bottom of the down. Only the best
instructors think to teach it, and not all of them know how to teach
it. This "prized secret pole-plant" will be one of the main keys for
being able to ski moguls like a pro and linked turns in powder and
the dangerous steep-n-narrow a little bit later in your ski life. I
offer this here now to impress upon you the importance of having
it---it's sad if you become a so-called advanced skier without it,
because you'll never become an expert without it. In truth, too
many of the best advanced lessons that are taught . . . consist of a
good instructor assigning all the homework that was skipped when
the students were intermediates and beginners---like a good horse
170 --- Heinsian DOWNHILL SKIING
trainer that finds all kinds of "holes" in horses that have already
been ridden for a number of years.
Remember, these tasks are listed pretty much in the order of
difficulty, but you don't necessarily want to burn yourself out go-
ing straight from one task to the next without time to just ski in a
relaxed manner for awhile. This becomes more true at the low-in-
termediate stages, and it becomes more and more true as you pro-
gress. Up to this point, we've covered the basic things a low inter-
mediate needs and can use early in their intermediate career, but
there's plenty we can do yet.
Take it easy, learning at your own pace, and you'll probably be
doing medium-radius skidded parallel turns on intermediate
hard-pack before you know it. Notice how natural it is to sink
down on the outside ski at the finish of a turn and to use a lighter
pole while standing tall and releasing the edges to start a turn;
keeping the skis parallel will be easy with the early weight transfer
enabling you to steer the inside foot "first"---a wide stance is fine,
and stemming a ski here-n-there is still legal. We aren't talking
about a task here so much as we are just noticing how relaxed we
are becoming on intermediate hard-pack. Whereas that J-turn stop
with a pole-plant is in conjunction with the old-turn finish, the me-
dium to long relaxed turns we do simply have a pole swing early
enough to be before the new turn, but it doesn't have to be so early
and hard and precise as to coincide with an abrupt old-turn finish.
Even with sharp edges, you may anticipate a little sideways
drift on hard icy snow: don't insist on more edge and get into a big
argument with the ski; let your upper body hang out over that
drifting outside ski, and the ski will come back in to you---it'll re-
ciprocate. Again, the harder the snow, just be smooth and relaxed
and deliberate: stand on that new uphill outside ski early; keep
things tall, round, and smooth through the middle of the turn; sink
down on the heavy outside ski at the finish. Again, it's not so much
a new task here; we are just adding some finesse to the turns we
already have, for when the snow might become harder and icier
like later in the day many days.
An appropriate place for a simple warning. Many mediocre
skiers have parallel skis on intermediate hard-pack: all they really
need to be parallel, or even have there feet locked together (which
was a ridiculously common goal from the 1950s well into the '90s
but maybe not so bad in the 2000s), . . . is sufficient speed, which, in
their passive technique, they get too much of on advanced slopes . .
. and not enough of on beginner slopes. Hence intermediate slopes
Who&WhatTurn, When&Where&Why---Not Just How! --- 171
are a breeding ground for mediocrity, if you don't have a plan like
this one. Far too many intermediate and advanced skiers do noth-
ing but figure-elevens on the green hard-pack: in a subliminal if-
not-ignorant way, they are trying to convey the message that they
are above beginner terrain, that there is nothing for them to do
without "enough mountain" under them. These mediocre skiers
treat the long flat stretches at the bottoms of most mountains like
it's a big waste of their time, and that's sad.
So, invariably, the intermediate skier will find himself back
down in beginner country---this does not mean he has nothing to
do on his skis, and I just happen to be the guy who has a couple of
easy homework assignments that are more mandatory than they
are for extra credit. Next time you're on the lift above these long
flat stretches, notice that the experts and better teachers are always
tinkering with something in their technique no matter how easy the
slope-n-snow.
Long-radius parallel turns in cruising mode are a given for an
intermediate on green hard-pack. In this mode, there won't be any
need for pole swinging, so you can keep your hands and poles re-
laxed and fairly quiet but not asleep. It's probably too early for
carving with this task, especially if the student has enough ski,
something not too darn short-n-soft, but skidding can be kept to a
minimum. They don't want to turn so much they slow down every
turn, so each turn is more of a long parenthetical shape toward
their destination.
So the intermediate on flat hard-pack shall do more than the
beginners . . . and be a good role model, giving them plenty of
room so as not to spook them. A lot of the mediocre figure-eleven
skiers will ski too close to beginners, showing their "superiority"---
then, when there is a close call, the "better" skier might play the
victim by acting as though they didn't know anyone could be that
much of a neophyte.
Now, probably after at least several days learning, if not a few
week-long ski trips spaced out over a couple of seasons, is a great
time to really get into ski design, to open the gates to introduce the
possibilities of becoming an advanced skier---when they are ripe
for understanding it and starting to use it. From a stand-still on
green hard-pack, preferably fresh "corduroy," so that everyone can
focus and witness the results, do the train-track carve: with a wide
stance at this slow speed, and starting straight downhill, edge and
pressure the outside ski so much that it locks on edge like a freight
train on a curve in the tracks, it carves, from tip to tail, engine to
172 --- Heinsian DOWNHILL SKIING
caboose, on the same razor-edge cut in the snow---the softer the
snow, the easier this will be to see and feel. It's important that you
get them to feel it and not mess it up with any editorial decisions
like steering the foot. We want them to feel themselves going for a
ride on the ski they've got edged-n-pressured: it will make a perfect
razor-edge arc in the snow, the result of a decambered, or bent, ski.
It's important to start slow and facing straight down, because the
decambered ski will soon come across the slope and carve all the
way away from the fall line. This perfect arc will likely be a perfect
quarter-circle in the snow, at probably no more than 5mph---if you
have groomed hard-pack with no other tracks, you can really see
the results. With the extremely wide stance, the inside ski is noth-
ing more than a training wheel to keep the student from tipping
over because of the lack of centrifugal force. Right now the focus is
on the ski, and the boot as its lever; the focus is not on the skier per-
se, but on the expensive tools they are learning to get the most out
of.
In conjunction with this ski-design/boot-leverage session,
don't forget, when you are in beginner-land, you can wade into a
few inches of powder at walking speed and play with your edges
and pressure there. So try the train-track carve very slowly in
three-to-six inches of untracked powder, where you're less likely to
force any erroneous editorial decisions. The fresh powder on the
fringes of the green runs is something most beginners avoid like the
plague, so you can get in there carefully and see more of your ski
design at work---as you'll notice, it's pretty much impossible to do
any steering at slow speeds in a few inches of powder. Make sim-
ple figure-elevens with a wide stance for a ways, then stick your
knees out just a bit like you're bowlegged for a few yards . . . to feel
your skis spread apart from each other, . . . then angle the knees
back in . . . to feel your skis deflect toward each other---don't do
anything too fast or drastic so as to do the splits or cross tips. Take
note that, when you exit the powder, your skis will sort of take off
because of less resistance; this is also why people often plant their
face when entering powder too fast for the first time without a
plan---they aren't ready for the new resistance. By the way, poles
sure come in handy when wading through powder this way, espe-
cially if you get bogged down.
(Good ski instructors have always taught this, certainly since
the 1950s; but, again, with the advance of 'shaped skis' around the
turn of the millennium, making this task easier than ever, far too
many first-day-beginner classes have tried forcing this carving on
Who&WhatTurn, When&Where&Why---Not Just How! --- 173
everybody and their brother who isn't ready for it yet on fast hard-
pack. Some ski manufacturers were so proud of their new easy too-
short-n-soft 'parabolic-ski' technology, they talked ski schools into
signing contracts that they wouldn't bother with starting skiers in a
wedge---and this was just about criminal in my book. This whole
FDB fiasco drove yours truly into exile for a few seasons, which
really irritated me, as it interrupted my career severely. Finally,
after a number of seasons, more than a few ski school directors and
supervisors admitted---confessed, actually---that the prohibition of
a wedge, or snow-plow, in beginning lessons . . . was "an abysmal
failure," and they started realizing I wasn't the 'dark-edges imbe-
cile' they thought I was.)
Put this carving business on the back-burner for now, and we'll
start incorporating it into regular skiing every chance we get.
One related thing an intermediate skier can start doing at this
point . . . is angle steps reminiscent of their first half-hour on skis if
they got a thorough lesson. Most intermediates, when they get off
a ski-lift, waste an opportunity to wake up their feet with a few
angle steps: instead of steering away from the unloading zone, why
not scissor-step away, using better edge-n-pressure?---you'll get out
of the way better. When you steer a turn, you might not get totally
out of the unloading zone, and then you need to resort to poling
away, or start skating from scratch; but, when you scissor-step,
you'll be getting away quickly and efficiently while waking up
your feet as you use the momentum from the unloading ramp.