First of all, thank you Very Command for taking us out all day without complaint, correcting our movements — we really appreciate it.
I mainly practiced carving small turns. There were three main takeaways from the day’s learning and practice:
1. Mastered the key points of carving small turns. Carving on piste snow, do not edge too much. Keep your ankles tight — I understand that as curling your ankles — keep your weight forward, so the heels can move easily to push the ski to carve an arc with the tip as the pivot, initiating the turn. Throughout the turn, keep the skis flat. At the end of one C-turn, you can slightly edge to slow down. When the speed is generally manageable, avoid edging altogether.
My problem is that I turn my ankles too much and too obviously, causing me to ski in a zigzag. This is a habit I developed when practicing randomly on steep slopes to quickly change edges and control speed. I spent the whole day trying to get the feel of the C-turn. I thought I was doing pretty well, but the instructor pointed out it was still a Z. So, I still need more practice.
2. Practiced the pole plant posture and rhythm. Keep your hands spread out and fixed in front of you, like hugging a jar. Often while skiing, I’d find my hands drifting — hanging by my sides or swinging behind me. This needs conscious practice until it becomes second nature to maintain that posture.
3. Got a clearer understanding of carving on piste snow. I’ve always heard people talk about carving on piste and using the edge, but I never knew which one I was actually doing. I did use some edge, but probably because of the rental skis at the resort, I always felt I couldn’t hold a clean edge on corduroy snow, so I ended up carving on piste. Even when I thought I was carving on piste, it seemed I was still edging a bit. The unclear concepts affected my ability to learn and improve through videos or forum discussions. This time, I focused on carving on piste, and I plan to clarify more concepts through more practice — that should be the essential path to becoming an expert.
My level is limited, so if there’s anything incorrect in what I said, please feel free to correct me.