Snowplough turn
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Snowplough turn |
The snowplough turn is a skiing technique for turning, usually taught to beginners as the first method for turning. The snowplough (also known as the wedge or pizza) involves forming a V shape with the skis - tips together, tails apart. By applying pressure against the snow with the edges of the skis - taking care not to cross the tips of the skis - speed can be controlled or brought to a stop.
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[edit] 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.
[edit] Explanation
The discovery of the snowplough (also known as the pizza, wedge, or snowplow) allowed for safe and enjoyable skiing. It involves pushing both skis out from being parallel to form the classic V shape of a pizza slice -- tips nearly together with tails forced apart. The edges of the skis dig into the surface, slowing the skier and allowing him or her to control his or her run down the hill.
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.
[edit] The turn
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.)
