How do I ski Parallel

This extract is written by Harald Harb, President of PMTS.org and a PMTS trainer, for his subscribers to the PMTS.org newsletter.

From the onset, my initiative to write ski articles and books came from my desire to make sense of skiing movements and terminology.

I saw too many complicated words and concepts bantered about in discussions of skiing technique.

In many ways, elaborate terminology opens up the opportunity for misinterpretation rather then developing clarity and easy understanding.

In discussing PMTS Direct Parallel technique, we often describe actions.

For example: changing edges finishes one turn and begins the next turn.

In the process of changing edges we release the edges, change balance and re-engage the edges.

This simple description of the transition between turns can be summarized as "RTE" - release (edges), transfer (balance) and engage (new edges).

Sometimes it's necessary to be more detailed about how the turn transition is made.

It's important to realize there is more than one way to effect the transition.

The challenge, then, is to determine how many ways are there to change edges and to describe them without becoming complicated and overly technical.

Can we use regular language, avoiding jargon, so that any skier can understand and learn the required actions?

Limiting Movements Revealed!

I watch skiers on the slopes of Colorado , in Canada , and in Europe - skiers from all around the world.

These skiers share a similarity.

Most skiers change edges with a stem, which is a move from one inside or big-toe edge to the other. The stem is an entry-level edge change. Skiers who use this method must push one ski away from the other in order to shift their weight and balance onto the new big-toe edge for the upcoming turn.

Essentially, this method uses only two edges of the skis - the two inside edges. In the stem, the skier moves one ski to the side to transfer weight onto that ski.

How To Ski Parallel

In contrast, when we change edges in parallel skiing, the body moves from one side of the skis to the other, moving over the skis.

The skis stay under the body and don't move to the side unless the skier pushes them sideways, while parallel.

A phrase I use to convey the efficient movement pattern is, "edges are born under the body, not to the side".

In other words, tip the skis on and off edge while they are under your hips.

The simplest way to ski parallel is…. In Direct Parallel technique, we have the tried and true "Phantom Move".

The phantom move combines lifting (or lightening) and tilting the old outside or downhill ski near the end of a turn. The lightening of the old outside ski takes away the base of support, thereby transferring balance and weight to the other ski.

The tipping of the free foot to its little-toe-edge (which was the old outside / downhill ski which is now light from lifting) helps to move the body toward the new turn and also helps to change edges. The forces created through the motion of skiing also respond to the change in the base of support.

These forces help to move the body into the new turn.

This is an example of one way to perform the transition from turn to turn.

Although the Phantom Move sounds simple enough and thousands of skiers have enjoyed the immediate benefits of performing it, not everyone is doing it correctly. Fortunately, even an incorrect phantom move yields positive results.

By Harald Harb is President of PMTS.org and a PMTS trainer.

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