I started skiing three years ago and took systematic lessons this snow season. Due to a rather nasty fall yesterday, I might have to end the season early. Here’s a summary of some insights from my 18 skiing outings this season (safety first!)
    Equipment Tips: For beginners, the recommended order to purchase ski gear is: helmet, goggles (sunlight reflecting off snow is extremely glaring, and your eyes definitely won’t last a few hours without them), then ski boots (a well-fitting pair can significantly improve your skiing technique), and finally skis (for beginners, these are the least essential and most expensive compared to the others. Unless the rental skis at your frequent resort are really poor quality, or have too low a sidecut making edge control impossible, or you’ve reached the level of carving turns in slalom or giant slalom, or you simply don’t care about the cost)
    Technique Tips: Skiing on twin-tip skis is absolutely a gradual process. Don’t think that just 5–6 outings will make you an intermediate or even advanced skier. You need to get rid of the misconception that being able to ski down an advanced run without falling makes you an advanced skier.
    Step 1 – Snowplow: The snowplow technique is a crucial foundation; if you don’t master it, nothing else matters. 1. Snowplow turns and stopping: Ultimately, you should be able to stop anytime on a beginner slope, keeping your braking distance within 3–5 meters or even shorter (the figures may not be precise as conditions vary by person and resort). On an intermediate slope, you should be able to descend at a very slow speed or even come to a complete stop. This mainly trains your edge control and the feeling of pushing snow with the inside edge. If you’re not using the edge on intermediate slopes, it’s very hard to stop. 2. Snowplow turns: Eventually, you should be able to make S-turns on an intermediate slope. Many people actually haven’t truly mastered S-turns on intermediate runs—the benchmark is that during snowplow turns, your speed should be relatively slow, you should be able to stop after each turn, and the inside edge of your downhill foot should grip the snow. If your final track looks like a wave... ?or if you can't control your speed, then you haven’t practiced enough.
    Step 2 – Semi-Snowplow: Actually, the semi-snowplow is more of a transition between snowplow and parallel skiing. It’s best to get some coaching at this stage. Personally, if you have great balance and can easily shift your weight between your left and right feet, the semi-snowplow might be the only technique you can skip—or you might naturally progress into it once you’re very comfortable with snowplow, with the only added movement being the edge control.
    Step 3 – Parallel: At ski resorts, you’ll see many people skiing parallel incorrectly (including me). After a proper parallel turn, there should be two parallel tracks (when carving) or two lines roughly the width of the skis (mainly at turns). If your turns create a fan-shaped track, something’s wrong (possibly no upsweep movement). It’s best to get a coach to correct your form. For parallel turns, my feeling is that the turn is driven by the uphill foot acting as the axis while the downhill foot carves a circle—not by scraping the snow with the inside edge of the downhill foot. If you’re scraping the snow in your parallel turns, it’ll be hard to progress to slalom or giant slalom.
    Parallel + pole planting is mainly for slalom, to coordinate your upsweep and weight shifts more smoothly.
    If you want to practice giant slalom, it’s best to revisit the snowplow technique, focusing on feeling the push from the inside edge of the downhill foot. To put it dramatically, try making a U-turn on an intermediate slope using snowplow.
    The main purpose of this article is to help newcomers realize the importance of snowplow and also to invite experienced skiers to point out any issues in this piece or add details. Feel free to critique. You can completely disagree with my views, but please provide the correct answers so I can improve next season.