Snowplough turn

The snowplough turn (also dubbed the "wedge" or "pizza") is a braking and turning skiing technique, usually taught to beginners. The front tips of the skis are brought together and the tails pushed wide apart, with the knees rolled inwards slightly. By applying pressure against the snow with the edges of the skis, speed is reduced and the skier can stop completely.

Terminology

* "Uphill Ski" refers to the ski that is in a position higher up the hill.
* "Downhill ski" refers to the ski that is in a position farther down the hill.
* "Outside ski" is the ski farthest away from the center of the circle the skier is turning about.
* "Inside ski" is the ski closest to the center of the circle the skier is turning about.At the completion of a turn, the downhill ski is the outside ski, and the uphill ski is the inside ski. When a new turn is initiated, the old inside ski becomes the new outside ski.

Since the sense of a ski being "uphill" or "downhill" changes over the course of a turn, it leads to some confusion, with different instructors using the terms to mean either the position of the ski at the start of the turn, or at the end of the turn. The terms "inside ski" and "outside ski" have a constant meaning for the duration of a turn, only switching over when one turn ends and the other begins.

Explanation

The discovery of the "snowplough" allowed for safe and enjoyable skiing. It is important, as it is the first method by which a beginner can control his or her speed. However, it is much less effective on steep runs, and much less efficient than the parallel turn used by advanced skiers.

Having brought the skis into the V shape mentioned above, more pressure or edging is applied to one of the skis, so causing the skis to turn (to the left if applied to the right ski, or to the right if applied to the left.)

Once mastered the skier can rapidly move into a controlled skiing environment by using the "snowplough turn" ("wedge turn"), a skiing technique where the uphill ski is "stemmed" or pushing out from being parallel with the downhill ski to form a "V" shape. However, when executing a "stem turn" the skier's weight is shifted to the uphill ski and the downhill ski is rotated to become parallel with the uphill ski. Both techniques described below were included in Mathias Zdarsky's book Lillienfeld Skilaufer Technik in 1896.

ee also

*Stem Christie
*Parallel turn
*Skiing

References

* [http://www.freerideskier.com/html/kill_the_snow_plough_.html Kill the Snow Plough]