Ski Tips

Ski Tips

Upper Body Tip - Look Down The Hill

Look Down The Hill
Goal: To illustrate that your body goes where you look.
Body Positioning: Ski with your head up and eyes looking down the fall line.

The Look Down the Hill drill will get your body into the proper position for good skiing. Your shoulders will be straight, your arms out in front of your body, and your head facing straight ahead so that you are looking down the hill. Your attention will be focused on your goal. Don't let the simplicity of this drill fool you. Looking down the hill has many benefits; for instance, your body will go where you look. If you look off to the side, you will start traversing and will not be focusing on skiing the fall line.

Extreme Team member Dean Decas, better known as the Dean of Skiing, says: "The biggest improvement I see in skiers is when they learn to look down the hill and look past obstacles that used to cause them fear or disrupt their focus."

Start this drill on any slope you're comfortable with and face downhill. Begin skiing and make sure your head is pointed downhill and your eyes are looking straight down the fall line. Your head is the key to athletic motion and looking ahead will square your shoulders down the hill. This is your best position for your body.

Now begin to traverse. Let your skis run across the hill, but keep your head up and your eyes looking down the fall line. As you begin to make your turn, swing your body to face downhill to align with your eyes. Continue looking down the fall line as you begin to traverse in the opposite direction. Feel how the eyes guide you.

The interesting thing about letting our body follow our gaze is that we intuitively and automatically follow the fall line and the path of least resistance. This enhances our relationship with the mountain and smoothes out our skiing style without any major adjustments to our skiing technique. Once again this proves that when our body is in the right position, skiing becomes easier.

So now you have a new tool to use in order to overcome fear of obstacles or changes in snow conditions. Just look past it; look beyond to where you want to go - which is downhill. This active visualization will help you get your eyes focused down the hill so that you ski exactly where you want to go.

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