When doing the parallel turn, do I need to apply pressure on the uphill leg?

Question

Or, should I apply whole weight on the downhill leg?

Answer 1

Your answer really depends what you're skiing on and in. It will very depending on groomed run vs. off-piste, corn vs. powder, etc. With new ski technology on groomers you pretty much just need to stay balanced.

Answer 2

Keep your self balanced   dont put all your pressure on one leg

Answer 3

Before shaped skis came out, the rule of thumb was around 80% downhill / 20% uphill weighted.

Now, all you need to do is stay centered and balanced. You don't necessarily need to weight the downhill leg more. Once you start steering a turn, both skis engage in carving. If you have never skied on skinny skis, you don't know what you have with the shaped skis. The difference is so amazing.

However, once you get in the crud, or the steeps...everything changes. The 50/50 weighting is really for groomers when you are just carving out turns. Off-piste stuff takes a more dynamic approach, which may include placing 100% of your body weight square on your head if not careful!!

Answer 4

When making any turn, apply more pressure to the downhill or outside leg. the edge of that ski should be pushed into the snow to cause a carving action.  The uphill or inside ski should have some weight on it, and the edge should be engaged.  Very seldom is ALL of your weight on one ski, usually the hill will determine for you how much weight is applied. Keep both feet under your hips about 2 ski widths apart.  As you ski steeper runs more weight will go to the downhill ski as long as both knees are bent equally.

Answer 5

No. What u want to do is keep your body at an uphill angle. you might feel that ur putting pressure on your uphill ski buts that normal. If you do mogals keep the wight even..Trust me you don't want to put like have of yuor weight on one leg and have like nothing on the other. You'll fall and it Will hurt that way.

Answer 6

I agree with 'Let it snow'. Back in the old days of straight skis shifting weights was big factor in turning. But not with modern shaped skis. Now, carving and the shape of the skis does that for you so you don't need to shift weight much. So, on groomed runs you pretty much keep balanced weight on both legs.

One additional tip I can give you is that with modern shaped skis, you don't want your skis too tight together. Shaped skis have shorter turning radius. If you have them to close together when turning, they will likely to collide into each other and mess up everything. One foot gap between the skis is close enough. Wider gap on steeps is fine. If you pay attention to modern racers in slow motion, you will notice that their legs spread more than those from 20 years ago.