Skiing Made Easy is a practical guide to learning to ski, based on
many happy seasons of ski teaching in Val Thorens. It's available as a Kindle ebook and in paperback. It's also available
as an ebook on Apple
Books and on Google Play Books.
Most of the demonstrations are performed by my friend and fellow Val
Thorens ski instructor Marina Michaud.
Skiing Made Easy starts with a chapter about putting on your skis and
boots, then goes through a beginner's progression from snowplough to
parallel turns.
I suggest relevant exercises to develop and improve your skills, and
identify common faults and how to correct them. 'By the way' sections
contain information about many of the little things that people often
assume you just know, but you may not.
Who is the book for?
The book assumes no prior knowledge, so it's suitable for complete
beginners, and people who are in the early stages of learning to ski.
It's not a substitute for ski lessons, but it will help you make the
absolute most of your tuition, and understand why you're being asked to
make movements or do exercises.
Even if you've been skiing lots of times, Skiing Made Easy will help
you understand more clearly why you use certain techniques, and you'll
almost certainly learn things you never knew before.
For an experienced skier who is planning to help a novice friend or
family member, or a trainee ski instructor, this book could be
invaluable.
Skiing Made Easy, Chapter One: Putting on Your Boots and Skis
A lot of people have painful feet or shins on the first day of ski
lessons simply because nobody has showed them how to put on their
boots properly. Don't make that mistake!
Chapter One is all about equipment: how to put on your boots, putting
on your skis and taking them off again, and the names of the different
parts of skis.
Skiing Made Easy, Chapter Two: Snowplough
Chapter Two is about the snowplough - snowploughing in a straight
line, and making sure your plough is the right width and not lopsided.
I include a useful snowplough exercise, and 'by the way' sections on
getting up after a fall, how to carry your skis, going uphill with
your skis on, and magic carpet ski lifts.
Skiing Made Easy, Chapter Three: Snowplough turns
Chapter Three explains how to do snowplough turns.
I suggest an exercise to make sure your weight stays on the outside
ski when turning, and run through a few common faults (and how to
avoid them).
'By the way' sections include the correct way to put on your pole
straps, and using the chairlift.
Skiing Made Easy, Chapter Four: Plough Parallels
Chapter Four covers the next stage - plough parallel turns. This is
an intermediate step on the way to parallel turns, and involves a
snowplough at the start of the turn and parallel skis at the end.
As well as explaining a plough parallel turn, I suggest a
heel-lifting exercise, a side-slipping exercise, and a skidding
exercise.
Skiing Made Easy, Chapter Five: Parallel Turns
Chapter Five is about parallel turns. Everything in the book has been
leading to this.
I explain the elements of a parallel turn - weight transfer,
simultaneous edge change, steering the skis round the turn, and
skidding at the end to control speed - and show you the turn as a
whole.
As usual, I suggest exercises (falling leaf, skid to a stop). 'By the
way' sections include pole plants, posture, and drag lifts.
Skiing Made Easy, Looking Ahead
The explanations and exercises in Skiing Made Easy, together with
quality ski instruction, should give you a great foundation for your
skiing.
Being able to do parallel turns is a brilliant achievement, but it
doesn't mean you've learnt everything there is to know about skiing.
In the short 'Looking Ahead' chapter, I simply mention the more
advanced skiing techniques beyond basic parallel turns. They are
carving, short turns, bumps and off piste.
