Skiing Tips for Courchevel

Listening to some parents teaching their children to ski the other day, one phrase that kept being repeated was “bend your knees!” It is a stereotypical phrase and assumed that all ski instructors use as a stock comment. However the reality is very different. I find that I spend much of my time asking skiers to stand taller.

If you want to feel the power of the curve this season you need to develop and hone your carving skills. So... what is carving?

The more you progress the faster you will be able to ski and the more of the mountain will be available to you. Skiing steeper more difficult slopes offers more challenge, speed and excitement but it will take a little practice and an adaptation of your technique.

Skiing is a very simple sport based upon the interaction of the skier, their equipment and the mountain. The skiers we admire and aspire to achieve harmony with these components, they are effortless, skillful, playful and in control. The skiers that do not achieve this harmony look wooden, forced and they struggle. Skilled skiers flow whilst others fight their way down the slope.

When skiing powder or free-skiing off-piste terrains its important to realise, especially if you haven’t had too much experience in this type of environment, that certain things you may do on-piste naturally might not work so well here.

Skiing bumps (moguls) is one of the most demanding aspects of all mountain skiing, yet it is one of the most exciting and satisfying when done well.