Wedge Turns

I often see wedge turns taught in a variety of ways.  Some more effective, some less effective, and some which may create barriers preventing skill development further down the line for the student.  What is the main skill/fundamental of a wedge turn?  In the novice-beginner zone, the main fundamental we teach is turning, pivoting and steering the skis with leg rotation.  Before our students even click into their skis, we teach them how to draw bow-ties in the snow with their boots, how to herringbone and eventually make a wedge.  All these skills require leg rotation.  So let's break it down.

Before I teach a student to make a turn, I've laid down a foundation that should make the progression easy.  Boot drills, moving around on flat ground with one and two skis, a straight run, gliding wedge, wedge change-ups, and maybe a braking wedge.  Take your time in this zone and allow your students time to practice.  By this point, the student has a solid understanding of rotating the whole leg in the hip socket to turn the ski.  Specifically, the rotation of the ski happens around the middle of the foot and not by the student pushing their heels out to make a large wedge.  The tip and tail of the ski should rotate equally.

A straight run to gliding wedge is a nice segway to a wedge turn.  When teaching a gliding wedge, start with a straight run and have them steer the ski tips together to make a wedge.  The width of their stance should not change much.  This is why I tend to steer clear (pun intended) of a braking wedge as it encourages students to push their heels out into an unnaturally wide stance, which can be difficult to un-teach down the line and prohibits further skill development.

Now here's the bread and butter of a wedge turn.  Start by having the student make a straight run and then turn only ONE ski to make a wedge.  I.e. turn the right ski towards the left to make a lopsided wedge.  The student should naturally start to make a left turn, and have them glide to a stop with their skis facing across the hill.  Note that the inside ski will be leading, and the outside ski tip will be pointing at the back of the inside ski tip.  If the outside ski tip is leading, it's a good indication the student is using whole body rotation to turn the skis.

9 times out of 10, steering the outside ski will naturally cause the student to shift more of their weight to the outside of the turn and make a smooth turn to a stop.  The 1 time it doesn't, you can begin coaching the student to balance more of their weight against the outside ski as they are probably favoring the inside ski.

Next: Getting out of the wedge and into parallel.