Switch riding

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EClay46

Active member
i know u guys will probably flame me for this but who cares, does anyone have any tips on skiing switch? i tend to cross my tips
 
have a wide stance. look over the opposit should from the direction you are turning.(so left turn means look over your right sholder then right thurn look over left....)
 
Some tips that helped me:

-Try to use the same kind of techniques as if you were skiing forwards except...

-look uphill a bit first before you look over the other shoulder while turning

-avoid keeping all your weight over the front of your skis (ahead of the front of your body. Its okay and faster to even out the weight a little more

-kind of point downhill with your outside arm/hand to get more weight onto your outside ski, that helped me to stop catching my inside edge which was annoying
 
i used to suck at switch skiing and then when i went switch this year i was so much better. just practice.

oh yeh and also im gonna break out the old SEARCH BAR
 
i tend to lean forward when skiing switch and carving. i dont know why but it helps me. i just push more of my weight towards my tips.
 
sometimes putting keeping one foot higher than teh other, or w/e (turning right, your right ski is higher and your left ski is kinda pushed behind) can help. But all in all, when your carving right, look over your left shoulder, when left, look over right. Just take a crap-load of runs down groomers all backwards for a couple of weeks, it kinda comes when you learn to balance on your edges when your carving and stuff. And when you hit a lip, you wanna make sure you pop good and that you dont try to spin too early or you'lle catch the lip, and die.
 
I still wouldn't say that I'm really all that good at skiing switch, but the the most helpful tips for me were to stagger my feet and stay low.

Also, if you're JUST learning, I'd suggest kinda "surfing" (that's what I like to call it at least). By that I mean don't go "straight" backwards. Work slowly to that angle.

First just try 30 degrees backwards, carving heavily into the side of the mountain while still getting the feel of skiing backwards and looking over your shoulder. Then move to 45 or 60 degrees, carving a little less into the side of mountain, getting a good sense of speed while moving backwards. Everytime you need to change directions, try to do a 270 to face the other way, just to get a good feel of how to pivot.

I know those "degrees" are fucked, but if you didn't understand, read it again... it made sense to me.
 
I just bombed small hills switch when i was learning to go fast. It takes a little while relearning balance, but just do it everywhere. Start with a wide stance, and when you get good you can start doing lead changes and staggering your stance, which lets you turn really easily. Dont do it around ski patrol, i've nearly gotten my pass clipped doing it at night on a bunny slope.
 
yea when i teach i just ski switch the whole time. now i feel more comfortable hitting jumps and spinng switch then regular
 
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