Glossary
S
sidecut
Sidecut Radius Sidecut refers to the curvature along the side of a ski. Manufacturers craft sidecut into their skis by designing the tips and tails to be wider than the ski's center. The amount of sidecut a ski has is designated as its radius. The more sidecut a ski possesses, the smaller it's radius designation, and the sharper the turn it will be able to carve when tipped on edge.
That's one of those terms in skiing that probably should be discarded because it doesn't really convey the right message. What it refers to is the inside foot/ski getting too far ahead of the outside foot/ski. Scissor blades do not stay parallel when they open, they V. When skis scissor they stay parallel. Bad term.
Ski Scissoring
Stacked, Structurally Aligned stance.
In it's simplest meaning, Stance width refers to how far apart you feet are while skiing. In an Athletic Stance, the feet maintain a separation that allows the skis to rest flat on the snow without having to contort the legs. The specific amount of separation that allows that will vary between individuals, depending on their body type. An average would be around hip width.
In more dynamic forms of skiing, where carving is being done on high edge angles, more separation of the feet may be needed to allow room for the legs to be tipped more.
Stance Width
Stacked, Structurally Aligned, Long & Strong outside leg.
Overly flexed stance. Tires a skier quickly.
Also called Structurally Aligned, it's a stance in which the leg bones, and sometimes the spine, are aligned such that the forces of skiing that attempt to drive a skier's body into the snow are resisted by the compression strength of a skier's bones. In this stance, muscles are allowed to relax. Just slight flexion of the knees, ankles and waist are employed, to maintain fore/aft balance, and keep the body supple as it encounter undulating terrain. Even when hip angulation is used to promote lateral balance, the torso moves out of structural alignment with the legs, but the bones of the outside leg can still be stacked to provide optimal force resistance strength. This is called maintaining a Long & Strong outside leg. Skiers who ski in stances that are consistently over flexed will tax their muscles and tire more quickly. Stacking is what a skier does when assuming an Athletic Stance. Ski boots must be set up properly to the feet and body of a skier for optimal stacking to be possible.
stacked
This is a rotational state in which the pelvis and torso face the same direction the skis point. In it's purest form, skiing square is not something that often done, because the benefit of outside foot pronation is lost. At least a small amount of counter is needed to properly pronate the outside foot and direct pressure to the turning edge of the outside ski. As a contrast drill, used for feeling and becoming competent skiing in various rotational states, it's a valuable thing to practice. When skiing low edge angle turns, whether steered or carved, positions close to square that contain only the minimum amount of counter needed to pronate the outside foot is a very efficient rotational state to employ.
Square
Skid angle of a turn refers to the difference between the way you are travelling and your skis are pointing. If I employ a large skid angle my skis are pointed more across the direction I am travelling and so I make a wider track and travel slower. A traditional sideslip down the falline has a 180 degree skid angle
This refers to how far the skis are deflected and pointing away from the skier's actual direction of travel as they go through the turn. The larger the skid angle, the wider the skid track that will be left in the snow, and the slower the skier will go. Skid angle skills are an important speed management tool to possess. By managing your skid angle, you can ski any shape turned you like, at any speed you desire.
skid angle
Steering is a manual twisting of the skis that, when edges are engaged, acts to point the skis in a new direction and produce a turn.
Executing a turn by using your legs to manually twisting your feet and make your skis turn. The harder you twist, the sharper you turn. Steering leaves a skidded track in the snow. This is in contrast to carving, where the sidecut of the ski does all the work of turning for you, with no foot twisting involved, and a thin carve track is left behind. Steering provides a wider spectrum of turn shape and speed control options than carving does. Steering can be done in various forms, including Wide Track Steering, and Narrow Track Steering.
steering
Skating
