Are you overestimating your skiing skills, or perhaps selling yourself short? In a recent YouTube video titled “Ski Levels Explained: Beginner to Expert,” George, a level 4 BASI ski instructor from Avoriaz Alpine Ski School, breaks down the progression of skiing abilities to help you pinpoint your current level and identify the next steps to improve. Whether you’re sliding down your first green run or tackling steep black slopes, this video is a must-watch for skiers looking to elevate their game. Let’s dive into the key takeaways from George’s insightful tutorial and explore how it can guide your skiing journey.
Why Knowing Your Ski Level Matters
George kicks off the video by emphasizing the importance of understanding your current skiing level. “Knowing your current level is a key step to getting better,” he explains, as it clarifies what skills to focus on next. Whether you’re a beginner learning to snowplow or an advanced skier mastering moguls, identifying your stage helps you set realistic goals and track progress. George divides skiing ability into four main levels—beginner, intermediate, advanced, and expert—each with lower and strong subcategories, except for expert, which he treats as a singular pinnacle before the elusive “elite” level.
Breaking Down the Ski Levels
1. Lower Beginner: The First Steps
If you’re new to skiing, this is where you start. Lower beginners are on the journey from “zero to parallel,” mastering the basics on gentle green runs. Key skills include:
- Sliding and stopping using a snowplow (wedge) technique.
- Snowplow turns, where you begin to wedge around turns and aim to get skis parallel during traverses.
- Side slipping and parallel stopping, laying the foundation for parallel skiing.
George highlights that these skills are about building confidence and control on the slopes, setting you up for the next stage.
2. Strong Beginner: Gaining Confidence
Strong beginners can make rough parallel turns on easy blue runs and start exploring the mountain. George introduces the “two golden rules of skiing”:
- Balancing on the outer ski to maintain stability.
- Avoiding leaning back to improve posture.
While posture may still need work, strong beginners are getting the hang of parallel skiing. George notes that this transition can take anywhere from a day to a few weeks, depending on your fitness and athleticism.
3. Lower Intermediate: Building Control
You’re an intermediate skier once you can confidently side slip without reverting to a snowplow and make decent parallel turns on blue runs. Key markers include:
- Confident parallel stops.
- Adopting the “skier’s lightning bolt posture,” with shins pressed forward into the boots for better control.
Lower intermediates are starting to refine their technique and gain consistency on moderate terrain.
4. Strong Intermediate: The Intermediate Plateau
Strong intermediates can handle blue and red runs with neat parallel turns, showing dynamic up-and-down movements rather than stiff posture. They may even tackle some black runs, but George warns that control often falters in challenging snow conditions like ice or bumps. This stage, known as the “intermediate plateau,” is where many skiers settle—and that’s okay! As George puts it, “Acquiring this level on skis is a real-world superpower that allows you to have unbelievable amounts of fun exploring beautiful places with your friends and family.”
Reaching this level typically takes 2 to 8 weeks of skiing experience, but many skiers stall here, never progressing to advanced levels without targeted effort.
5. Lower Advanced: Conquering All Terrains
What sets advanced skiers apart? George offers a simple answer: “An advanced skier can ski all terrain in parallel, including steep black runs, with control at higher speeds and in variable snow conditions like ice or bumps.” Technically, this level involves:
- Rotational separation: Turning with your legs while keeping your upper body facing downhill.
- Lateral separation: Tipping your legs without leaning your whole body.
- Carving vs. skidding: Advanced skiers can carve turns by slicing their edges through the snow, offering greater control at high speeds compared to skidding.
Reaching this level typically requires 8 to 20 weeks of skiing experience, marking a significant leap in skill and confidence.
6. Strong Advanced: Mastering Versatility
Strong advanced skiers are versatile, capable of short turns with rotational separation and clean carve turns with good lateral separation. They can confidently ski the entire mountain, choosing to carve or skid based on the terrain and tackling variable snow with ease. George highlights mogul skiing as a key way to hone these skills, noting that “bump skiing is really technical, involving absorption skills, quick turning skills with tight parallel skis, and tactical awareness.” While moguls may be an acquired taste, they’re “insanely good fun” and a hallmark of advanced skiing. This level often takes upwards of 20 weeks of experience to achieve.
7. Expert: Choosing Your Path
Expert skiers have reached a point where they can specialize in their preferred style, whether it’s:
- Piste performance: Mastering short and long turns or racing (slalom or giant slalom).
- Freestyle: Jibbing, jumps, and tricks in the park.
- Off-piste and freeride: Tackling powder, drops, and challenging snow conditions.
- Backcountry exploration: Focusing on ski touring, avalanche science, and big mountain steep skiing.
- Technical excellence: Skiing everything with precision and efficiency.
George doesn’t split expert into lower and strong levels, as expertise is about mastering a chosen discipline. However, he teases a “mind-blowing” insight: the gap between expert and elite skiers is larger than the entire journey from beginner to expert. Elite skiers, he marvels, achieve feats that “never cease to amaze” and deserve a video of their own.
Ready to take your skiing to the next level? Watch the full video here, subscribe to George’s channel, and explore his tutorials at AlpineTutorials.com.
