Lots of skiers hit walls in their technical development, leading to slow and frustrating progress with little idea as to what’s holding you back. If you’re really looking to take that next step, hiring a ski instructor for a day is a great way to get you moving. This video from 13-year PSIA national team member and Carve pro team coach Eric Lipton will certainly help, though, breaking down what separates intermediate, advanced, and expert skiers on a technical standpoint, in addition to offering drills to take you to that next level.
Intermediate skiers tend to move their upper and lower body as one unit, producing Z-shaped turns. The key fix is learning to move your body inside the turn, using drillslike stork turns (lifting the tail of the inside ski).
Advanced skiers have some upper/lower body separation and engage edges earlier in the arc, producing C-shaped turns. To reach expert level, focus on lower-body edge control with drills like side slipping and railroad track turns.
Expert skiers ski dynamically, allowing the body to lead the feet down the fall line, achieving high edge angles and handling greater forces. Drill to get to this point include skating down the fall line and outside ski turns (lifting the entire inside ski).
