7 Tips for Beginners
Skiing is an exciting winter sport that not only offers physical activity but also a lot of fun and adventure. If it’s your first time on skis, there are basic first steps in skiing everyone should know:
We advise every beginner skier to book a ski course to learn the basics of skiing with the correct skiing technique, prevent injuries and avoid learning incorrect movements and mistakes.
First steps in skiing
1) The right equipment
Before even hitting the slopes, you want to make sure you have the right equipment. This includes skis, ski poles, ski boots and appropriate ski clothing. Wearing a helmet, sunglasses or ski goggles is also part of the required equipment.
The best ski boots for beginners should offer comfort, support, and the right fit to enhance your experience on the slopes. Look for features like adjustable buckles and insulation to keep your feet warm during those first runs.
The skis should be adapted to your body weight, height and skiing experience. As a beginner, we recommend shorter skis (between chest and chin height) that are easy to turn and forgiving of mistakes. Advanced skiers have different requirements for their skis and therefore they need different skis.
In general, for all your skiing gear we suggest seeking advice from a winter sports shop.
2) Safety first
Safety always comes first! It is strongly recommended to wear a helmet to protect your head from injuries. A back protector can also be worn. In addition, you must always be considerate of other skiers and adhere to the piste rules.
In the ski area Hochzeiger there is a piste-regulation path on which the FIS-piste-rules (comparable to the road traffic regulations only for ski slopes) are presented in comic style and can thus be taught to children in a child-friendly manner.
3) The right posture
The correct posture is the most important thing when skiing and is crucial for learning success. With the correct posture on skis, the ankle, knee and hip joints are slightly bent. Body weight should be distributed centrally on the ski and distributed across the entire sole. The ski poles are held in the hands with the tips pointing backwards and the arms are kept slightly bent at the sides of the body.
4) Learn to brake
After you get used to the skis by trying to “glide” the skis on flat terrain while still maintaining your balance, you can try to stop. The snow plough is needed for this.
For advanced skiers, there are additional speed control and stopping techniques.
Important: A very flat slope, which is only a few meters long is sufficient for learning how to stop with the snow plough. The run-out must be flat in case braking does not work as desired.
5) Learn how to make turns
Once you’ve mastered braking/stopping, you can take it one step further – turning! As a beginner, turning can also be done in the “snow plough”.
Adults and children have different turning techniques. While children trigger the curves by changing pressure based on their physical requirements, adults use a change in load.
To learn these techniques properly and later be able to ski safely on the slopes, it is essential to take a ski course. The ski instructor can use his trained eye to assist with helpful exercises so that you can ski with the right skiing technique right from the start.
6) Patience and practice
Skiing is a beautiful sport that requires time and practice to be able to say “you can ski”. If you want to learn this sport, you need some patience and you also have to give yourself time to learn this sport. Don’t be discouraged if you fall at the beginning or if you can’t brake or turn right away. Over time you will become more confident and better, until then it’s practice, practice, practice!
7) Take a ski course
As already mentioned at the beginning of this blog article, it is particularly recommended for beginners to take a ski course. Our qualified ski instructors are happy to teach everyone the basic techniques of alpine skiing. Fun and safety come first!
All ski courses can be easily booked in advance via our online shop.
Conclusion
Skiing is our passion and is a wonderful experience for everyone if you know the basics. Follow these first steps, continue to learn and enjoy the beautiful mountain landscape that opens up to you while skiing.
Have a great time on the slopes!
