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Technique when skiing switch

Nick

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So.... I've always enjoyed messing around; normally on the lower grade slopes coming off the lift or getting to a run-out, of going switch (normally never mid-run unless I'm skiing with my wife or other newbies) .... anyone have technique or advice for that?

My only normal technique is that when going switch or returning to normal skiing I "flatten out" the base so I'm not riding on an edge anymore and then it becomes easy to spin either way.

I've never had twin tip skis (and thus the sweet rooster-tail) but even my normal skis (atomic crimson TI and prior to that Atomic Beta Ride 9.22) I've been fine going switch. The Crimson Ti's aren't that great though for arcing a turn backwards.

PS: This has nothing to do with being a park rat and landing switch ... more just general 'going backwards' technique.

PPS: Is switch possible on teles? Just occurred to me.
 

gottabelight

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i caught an edge the other day trying to show off riding switch, I ate it really hard and it was pretty embarrassing! I've just started messing around with riding switch, hopefully someone on here can lend some technical advice
 

Nick

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Has anyone caught a tail on a none twin tip ski? That's never happened to me although like I said earlier I'm usually only doing it on moderately flat grades that are well groomed
 

bdfreetuna

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I have cambered twin tips skiing switch on them is lots of fun and pretty easy. It's easiest to do long parallel turns going backwards. Never had any luck trying to really carve or do anything too fancy. Most often I ski switch if the trail is either pretty flat and otherwise boring or if I need to turn around and converse with somebody and want to keep skiing.

Do you guys smear to rotate into switch or jump a 180? I usually smear it but sometimes jump if I'm going sort of slow.
 

Nick

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Smear, that's what I was thinking earlier. I kind of "flatten out" so I'm not on either edge of the ski and then just let it spin out and get back on the edge once I'm backwards.
 

MadMadWorld

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Simple, the best way to learn how to ski switch is to start the same you originally learned to ski!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AlpineZone mobile app
 

elks

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My advice: ski forward while you still can! Another 3 seasons and you'll be skiing switch all season while trying to keep an eye on your son. I swear last season, I feel like I spent 80% of my time skiing backwards (it was worth it -- today, he skied his first black diamond leading the way and is starting to have some rhythm!).
 

Cornhead

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My advice: ski forward while you still can! Another 3 seasons and you'll be skiing switch all season while trying to keep an eye on your son. I swear last season, I feel like I spent 80% of my time skiing backwards (it was worth it -- today, he skied his first black diamond leading the way and is starting to have some rhythm!).

+1, when my Son first started he stuggled on his first post lesson run. I had just started skiing again after years of not skiing, so I wasn't comfortable skiing backwards. An instructor saw him struggling, skied backwards in front of him, and got him over the hump. He was good to go after that, till he "switched", pun intended, to the darkside. He boards switch all the time, goofy footer.
 

gottabelight

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how do you guys stop when riding switch? I usually smear it around to switch and can get going pretty good then I kind of smear it back around to going forwards again to stop. I haven't quite mastered the re-smear to going forwards again, it has ended with my head slamming back into the snow more than it has been successfull lol
 

bdfreetuna

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Hockey stop works in reverse. Otherwise the smear 180 and stop going forward.

If your smear isn't quite down, practice going down a green or blue slope making constant rotations all the way around and around and around. Until you get dizzy =D

Then practice going in the reverse direction and do the same thing. Then switch rotation at random intervals.

You'll have the move mastered in no time. Might be trickier on some skis than others.
 

gottabelight

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Hockey stop works in reverse. Otherwise the smear 180 and stop going forward.

If your smear isn't quite down, practice going down a green or blue slope making constant rotations all the way around and around and around. Until you get dizzy =D

Then practice going in the reverse direction and do the same thing. Then switch rotation at random intervals.

You'll have the move mastered in no time. Might be trickier on some skis than others.

thanks for the help freetuna, I worked on it today and got a lot better at it.
 

mattchuck2

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Alpine switch is easy. I agree with the guy who said to learn it the same way you learn to ski forward. Start with a backwards wedge, then go to backwards wedge christie, then open parallel, then parallel carves. The hardest part is looking over your shoulder on upper level carved turns. You have to alternate which shoulder you look over (left turn, look over left shoulder, right turn, look over right shoulder).

Tele switch is more difficult. The lead change is backwards (the downhill ski is the one with the heel higher off the ski), and it's really important to make sure you have equal pressure on both skis (you really have to pressure the boot cuffs to drive both skis, even though you're going backwards). This guy makes some nice switch tele turns:

 

Glenn

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I ski switch on the Kendos from time to time. They're traditional mount, but have a slightly upturned trail. I think the "smear" is the best way to describe switching direction when going from switch to regular. You kinda need to shift your weight a bit as you spin around. The key is to keep things even so those edges don't dig in. I'm certainly no switch expert, but I've gotten better as I try to do it a few times a day. A lot of it it just getting comfortable with your skis pointed that way and your body weighted correctly.
 

bdfreetuna

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The way the guy in the telemark video was skiing switch is actually sort of a good way to turn going backwards even fixed heel.

Extend your outside leg a bit during the turns. Also practice smearing into and out of switch at increasingly faster speeds.. because if you're skiing switch at some point you might get in over your head (in reverse) and suddenly find it very beneficial to quickly be going forwards again.

Then practice jumping 180s to switch, mainly because it looks a lot slicker and maybe the kids in the terrain park will give you a hit off their spliff. Be careful doing this at speed until you have it down, it's a good way to take a digger. Myself, I am just starting to master this move. Only at low/medium speed so far though.
 

witch hobble

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The hardest part is looking over your shoulder on upper level carved turns. You have to alternate which shoulder you look over (left turn, look over left shoulder, right turn, look over right shoulder).

This is the truth. 99% of the switch I've done is on tele gear, so that is my frame of reference. But looking over your outside shoulder while turning towards the center of the trail is a bit disorienting. And then transitioning from one turn to the next requires a lot of the upper body rotation that most expert skiers have worked so hard to eliminate. The guy in the video is really smooth, you barely notice his transitions, which I think is what we are all striving for.
 

Nick

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Alpine switch is easy. I agree with the guy who said to learn it the same way you learn to ski forward. Start with a backwards wedge, then go to backwards wedge christie, then open parallel, then parallel carves. The hardest part is looking over your shoulder on upper level carved turns. You have to alternate which shoulder you look over (left turn, look over left shoulder, right turn, look over right shoulder).

Tele switch is more difficult. The lead change is backwards (the downhill ski is the one with the heel higher off the ski), and it's really important to make sure you have equal pressure on both skis (you really have to pressure the boot cuffs to drive both skis, even though you're going backwards). This guy makes some nice switch tele turns:


That was a cool video!
 

gottabelight

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^agreed, that guys was bombing switch, i've got some work to do before I can go that fast in reverse
 

BenedictGomez

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Has anyone caught a tail on a none twin tip ski? That's never happened to me although like I said earlier I'm usually only doing it on moderately flat grades that are well groomed

No. In fact, I think it's easier to ski backwards on non twin tips.

I learned to ski backwards on non twin tips before there was such a thing as "switch" skiing, you know, back when you were just skiing backwards, and last year I got my first pair of twin tips (Line Prophet 90s).

I nearly bit it hard the first time skiing backwards on them because I wasnt used to the acceleration, which should have been obvious. Duh. It's pretty much the same as skiing forwards, so I realized you start to ski backwards much faster much quicker on the twintips. Lesson learned. Quickly.
 
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