Step 3: Adjusting The Turn And Putting Pressure On The Outside Ski

The last step on the road towards perfect parallel turns is polishing your style. You can focus on three things as you practice and improve your parallel turn:

Firstly, try to work up a rhythm. Ski an even track, where one turn takes over from the next. You should feel that you are turning all the time. Avoid pause where you are inactive between two turns.

Secondly, focus on the vertical up and down movements that you practiced at the beginning. the more you work up and down, the easier it will feel when starting a new turn. At the same time, the up and down motion gives you an even rhythm.

Finally, you can focus on actively putting pressure on one ski at a time. It is always the outside ski - or the downhill ski - in the turn that you should put pressure on. It is the edge of the ski that you should push down on. The more you push down on the edge of the outside ski, the easier it will be to make the turn.

If you concentrate on these three elements, one at a time - you will quickly improve your parallel turns. The goal is to ski rhytmic parallel turns down the slope without twisitng the skis or actively turning with your upper body. It is actually best if you keep your upper body completely calm when you ski rhythmically, using the vertical movement and pressing well down on the outer ski.