Just joined this forum not long ago and read some technical discussion posts. Actually, I found that many friends still can't systematically evaluate their own skiing level. Some people go straight into off-piste skiing in the trees. Yes, you can ski there, but can you do it comfortably? Can you make smooth, beautiful turns back and forth continuously? I think the joy of skiing doesn't lie in what you're able to ski on. Some people...Snowploughstyle on advanced slopes? Does that make you an advanced skier? Just learned parallel turns and you head into the trees? Sure, you can ski there, just take it slow. Does that mean you're ready for off-piste skiing? No. The joy of skiing lies in the quality of your runs, in graceful skiing posture, and of course, in reducing the risk of injury.

The purpose of writing this post is to help everyone assess their own skiing level. I'm not an authority myself, but I'd be happy if this post helps you. If there's anything incorrect, please don't be too harsh—ha ha.

I often watch skiers from the chairlift, especially those on alpine skis, and I’ve noticed that there really aren’t many who ski well. There are so many alpine skiers, but so few with good posture. This is because alpine skiing is difficult and requires step-by-step progression. In contrast, snowboarding is different. Beginner snowboarders may look clumsy, but they don’t look bad. Alpine skiing postures, when bad, can be all over the place—that’s why young people prefer snowboarding.

I think the foundation of anything is very important. The milestones of each technical leap, I believe, can be assessed through carving techniques. By reaching a certain technical level, you’ll know what kind of slopes you can ski. This way, we can enjoy the pleasure of skiing with both quality and quantity.

Stage One: Snowploughstyle
Not much to say about this—many people have gone through this stage.Snowploughstyle turns require you to shift your weight to your downhill foot (outside foot) to release the uphill foot, thereby enabling a carved turn. Gradually, as you get better at shifting your weight, you can bring your uphill foot in during the turn, which is called the half-snowplough.Snowploughstyle.

Stage Two: Traditional Parallel
Once you’ve mastered snowplough, you’ll naturally transition to traditional parallel. Traditional parallel is basically a half-snowplough with better posture—the only difference is that the process of bringing the uphill foot in is very brief and hard to notice. It looks like you’re making parallel turns the whole time. At this stage, you’ll also go through several processes: at first, you’re just scraping the snow, making zig-zag tracks. You’ll gradually learn to shift your hips to make your ski edges carve arcs in the snow. This takes a lot of practice. I feel most people stay at this stage because by this point, you can say you know how to ski—you can handle most slopes, even advanced ones. Of course, your posture might get a bit off on advanced slopes, ha ha. Some people even go into off-piste trees at this stage—they can ski, but the posture... the quality... well, that’s another story.
To summarize, the carving technique in traditional parallel involves the downhill foot carving first, which then leads the uphill foot to carve. Skiers who do this well make it almost unnoticeable when the uphill foot follows—but if you watch their footage or ski behind them, you’ll definitely see that slight movement of the uphill foot coming in. This isn’t full parallel, and you’re not yet an expert, ha ha.

Stage Three: Full Parallel
Now you’re advancing to the expert level. Full parallel mainly involves the uphill foot carving first, which then leads the downhill foot to carve. This way, there’s no process of bringing the feet together. The two skis remain parallel the entire time. Mastering full parallel also allows you to bring your legs closer together, which is essential for short turns. By this stage, you’ll naturally start practicing traverse skiing, diagonal skiing, and learning to rotate your skis freely left and right. You’ll also progress to smooth short turns that combine partial edge control with partial sliding—meaning you can carve and slide with equal ease.

Stage Four: Jump Carving
A name I came up with myself. I think you need to reach this stage before venturing into off-piste trees, moguls, and other challenging terrain. With jump carving, you’ll experience shifting your weight up and down on your skis. In deep or broken snow, you need to press the base of your skis down, extend out of the turn, or even jump slightly to release the base for carving. This makes the skis move up and down rather than side to side—in off-piste conditions, moving side to side is nearly impossible, and even if it is possible, it’ll exhaust you and prevent smooth turns. You also need to merge your two skis into one to gain enough floatation and build sufficient speed for continuous, effortless turns. That’s when you can truly enjoy the thrill of off-piste tree skiing.

Jump carving involves using the uphill foot as the pivot to jump and carve. In the air, the downhill foot follows through the carving motion. On flat terrain, you can practice the feeling of jump carving—specifically, jumping and carving out of a deep turn using the inside foot of the upcoming turn as the pivot.

I’m not sure if everyone understands what I’ve said. Some things are hard to put into words. What I want to emphasize is that alpine skiing has many technical aspects, the foundation is crucial, and you shouldn’t rush into off-piste tree skiing. First, ask yourself: have I reached the right level? We all just want to fully enjoy the pleasure of skiing.

I’m still learning myself. If there’s anything inappropriate, feel free to point it out. My name is Kiwi—I’m a freestyle alpine skiing enthusiast. Welcome to ski and chat with me together.
For more advanced freestyle basics, check out my other technical post:Freestyle Alpine Skiing Basics – My Insights: http://bbs.lvye.cn/thread-385780-1-1.html