Message #20684

[HeluvaSkier]

I am a little surprised by Helluva's statement that lateral ( side to side ) balance is poor.

Just because they aren't falling over doesn't mean they are properly balanced laterally and not relying on two-footed stability to keep them upright. Take high edge angle turns for example - lots of skiers, racers, recreational skiers, and good instructors alike can ski with high edge angles. The question you have to ask is how many are relying on the inside ski for a significant amount of support? How many are just grinding away on a highly edge outside ski without extracting much performance out of that ski? The answer is... pretty much everyone. That is why outside of high level racing it is rare to see high edge angle carves where neither of the skier's feet are under them. This is also why, when a skier finally starts to learn this, their edge angles decrease for a given turn radius... they are using the ski. Do you need the above to be a good skier? No... but you need it to be a great skier. Anyone interested in being better than "good enough" should pay attention.