Secrets to Being a Faster Skier #5: Downhills

Now we’re getting into the real meat and potatoes. Downhills are where skiers can get faster with the least cardiovascular effort. While many of you won’t be surprised, I suspect an equal number of you will be surprised to learn that I can race the entire Birkie Classic course without snowplowing. Now yes, I do have an advantage skiing out of the Elite Wave where the snow tracks are just about pristine but I also practice downhills as part of this cross-country skiing sport. If you are someone who dreads the downhills, does lots of snowplowing, or falls frequently on hills, keep reading.

While I’ve generally sought out hills more than avoided them, there are hills that scare me. There are ones I’ve been down hundreds of times but still check my speed (and this is always condition dependent). The things I’m going to talk about to make you better are things I’ve actively done to ski down hills faster and more confidently. These are the things that help me.

What to do when you feel confident: If you are on a downhill where you feel confident, your goal is to generate as much speed as possible. There are three parts to this. First, it’s important to pole (whether double pole or V-2) fast into the hill – even doing 3-4 sprint strokes as you begin skiing down the hill. Second, get into your tuck as quickly as you can after ending your last poling phase. What is the tuck? Well, it’s aerodynamic and ideally not too much of a quad burner. I like to rest my elbows on my quads (see photos below). I find that a deep knee bend is more of a quad burner so find the sweet spot with a little less knee bend. Third and finally, think about when you are going to end your tuck and what technique you are going to do next. This may be a free skate or V-1 or V-2 or alternate or double pole. The trick here is to transition when you can get more from your poling than the glide you get from continuing in your tuck. Note, this is also dependent on the race distance. If I’m doing a 5 km and my tempo and power are both high, I will pole farther into the hill and begin poling sooner than when I’m doing a marathon.

The snowplow police himself demonstrating good tuck position -- back flat, knees bent, elbows resting on thighs, poles pointed back, and feet close together. Minnesota Finlandia 2023. Photo: Dave Harrington

 

Kerrie Berg and I tucking on a downhill. Note how far apart my legs are. It looks like I'm about to snowplow. Obviously I didn't feel completely confident on this downhill. Good thing Dave Harrington captured this photo in the 2023 Minnesota Finlandia so I know what to improve on! Kerrie looks very good here.

 

How to corner: This one gives people lots of trouble. I’m married to the snowplow police; his pet peeve is anyone snowplowing, especially me. Skiers often snowplow to slow down to go around corners. While this can be effective, the snowplow is much slower than the other three techniques we’ll discuss, is less stable, and it wrecks the trail for everyone else.

First technique: if you are absolutely crazy you can ride tracks around all sorts of wicked corners. I’m admittedly terrible at this and freak out at the easiest of bends. I prefer when the tracks get pulled up like they do on the World Cup. But there’s a couple techniques to this. Actively try to turn your feet towards the direction where you’re wanting to go while pushing down and stick your butt towards the outside of the corner. Yes, this is why you see me sticking my butt out so far to the side:) If anyone wants to learn how to do this like a pro, track down Andy Brown or Zach Handler.

Second technique: the step turn. This is the preferred technique as it is fastest. It literally involves stepping around a turn. You can take small steps (Klaebo was doing this last year on the World Cup in Les Rousses when he went outside the berm and step turned around while everyone else skidded) or medium turns, or really big powerful turns. I prefer medium to large turns, making them powerful. As you turn, you want to dig in your inside edges for maximum power push. It’s relatively easy to do this on the outside ski, but think about doing this on the inside ski as well. This can really help with that “lean” into the corner.  

 

Step turning around a corner at Wirth during the 2016 Loppet.

 

But here's some better cornering at the Loppet by teammate Paul. Note his lean and how close his feet are together. Photo: Skinnyski.com

 

And another lean and big step by Alex during the same race, same corner. Pay attention to his good ankle flex on the gliding ski. Photo: Skinnyski.com

But there’s more to technique here. First, you want to assume a position somewhere between the athlete stance (knees bent, shoulders rounded) and your tuck. If you feel very confident and the curve is minor, you may be able to stay in your tuck. The more step turns required, usually the higher the body position. If it’s a 90-plus degree corner, use your arms. I tell people to keep your hands a bit in front of you and down at waist level. This helps with balance and is a good trick. Just watch the pros! If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, read on below.

Third technique: the skid turn. This one may be the most fun and is good for those corners that are “simply” too fast and too big to allow for step turning but does kill some speed. Some people find it easier to get into a short snowplow before engaging the skid turn but the best can go immediately into the skid turn.

How to do this? Well, this is probably the least natural of the ways to turn and has taken me some practice. I often find myself instinctively skidding these days without thinking about it when I decide to turn late at a trail intersection. Essentially you want to put weight on the inside edges of your skis simultaneously. This is easier said than done so start practicing, first at lower speeds, then increase your speed.

This technique can also be fun on a wide but steep trail to curb speed (think Psycho trail at Galena in Idaho or if you ever bring your skinny skis to a downhill area).

What to do when you don’t feel confident with speed or turning: First, assume the athletic stance. Round the shoulders, then get the hips slightly forward by flexing the ankles and bending the knees. Bounce a couple times, arms swinging gently at the sides.

I think the best way to gain confidence if it’s a two-way trail, is to start at the bottom of a hill you aren’t comfortable with, ski up a ways, and then ski down and gradually increase this by going 5 feet higher up the hill each time until you feel confident in the tuck position (and going around corners using one of the techniques listed above).

This isn’t always possible though if you are skiing somewhere that is one-way. Thus in the case of a one-way hill, I advocate for repeating the same process but controlling your speed on the upper part of the hill until you feel confident to let it rip. Usually it’s most effective to control speed by snowplowing but you can also stand up tall and put your arms out to the side (poles dangling vertically, not sticking out horizontally). Or, this is a good time to work on your skid turns before then working on feeling comfortable at high speeds in the lower part of the hill. Think the upper reaches of Boulder Ridge on Hyland's manufactured snow loop.

Similarly for cornering, first try step turns on hills with gradual corners that only require a couple steps. Work up to the hills that require multiple steps. If this is daunting, control your speed BEFORE getting to the corner, then step turn around the corner at a speed that feels good to you. The more you do this, the faster you will be able to go around corners step turning. Also, the inside of the corner often gets icy. Hence I like to step turn around the outside of the corner, particularly if I think the inside will be icy. Yes, this is slightly slower BUT it provides me confidence and control. If there is a big berm on the corner from a bunch of people snowplowing before you, usually there is adequate room to ski on good snow outside the berm.

Snowplowing: Even though I’m married to the snowplow police, I still advocate for (and use myself) some judicious snowplowing. The wider the snowplow, the slower you will go. Consider a narrower snowplow. I’m a fan of the “pulse” snowplow where I use brief but effective snowplows (by digging in both my inside edges) just enough to slow me exactly how much I need. I also try to NEVER snowplow around corners because this technique is completely out of control. The step turn is far superior.

If you’re still having trouble, talk to yourself out loud. If you don’t believe this works, check out Chapter 8 of my book.

Confidence is paramount. Lacking confidence? Talk to yourself out loud. Bounce with a knee bend on your skis. Get your hands low and in front of you. This last advice alone should make you confident.

Pay attention to your poles and whatever you do, DO NOT stick them out to the side lest you make everyone else around you mad. This also screams that you suck.

There’s nothing I love better than doing some hard step turns around a corner, leaned in, on the verge of my limit, getting that rush skiing slightly beyond my ability.

Secrets to Being a Faster Skier #2: Free Skate

 Perhaps an underused technique other than by Jessie Diggins (check out her win in Obertsdorf during the 2021 Tour de Ski), the free skate is simply skating without poling.

OK, so we will make it more complicated.

Use this technique on fast flats or gradual downhills when you’re either going too fast to pole or fast enough that you don’t have the technique to benefit from the poling. If you find yourself casually gliding or flailing, this is the place to free skate. Think long gradual hill coming back from the Willow Loop at Hyland or just about anywhere with a gradual descent at Elm Creek on the manufactured snow loop.

But don’t just casually cruise along.

Here’s how to do it effectively.

First, get down in an aerodynamic position. This assumes some bending at the waist, slightly hunched shoulders, good ankle flex, and resulting knee bend.

Second, use your legs. You’ll have to play around with what works for you. If you’re going in for the sprint, a really fast tempo might be best. Otherwise I’d recommend a little slower tempo. I like to put in a little extra “push” or “hop” as I switch skis.

Third, definitely swing your poles like the speedskaters do. Arm swing speed should match leg speed and can be a good way to add in more power.

This should be relatively easy to practice on rollerskis so start giving it a go if you don’t already. Again, it’s a good way to improve your ski times!

Secrets to Being a Faster Skier #1: Side Abs

 While I wouldn't define myself as an “Elite” skier, I’m well aware that I’m a competent Master who usually finishes around the top 10% in the combined men’s and women’s field of the Classic Birkie. This means I see lots of skiers who could benefit from improved ski skills. In the following posts I’m not going to belabor specific techniques (i.e. double pole, striding, V-1, V-2, V-2 alternate) but rather fill in gaps to develop confidence on skis and rollerskis.

This series (yes, I know, I still haven’t finished my Analysis Series yet) I’ve already determined will have six posts, unlike when I started my Crossroads Series and didn’t know when it would end.

Over a decade ago, I overheard a personal trainer telling someone that the secret to a six pack was to do side abdominal exercises. Wanting said six pack, I immediately started doing side abs once per week with two other days per week doing more front abs as I had been doing. While ten plus years later I still don’t have a six pack and have at best some resemblance of model abs, the improvement in my core stability for fast cornering was marked and I haven’t stopped doing them since. While I know this isn’t anything to do on skis, take this post as a building block for the next ones to come.

Here are the exercises and sequence I do on each side, each of these for 1 minute and then I repeat on the other side. I always start with my left side since it seems weaker and do this routine every other week because I don’t want my abs to get used to them.


Low side plank

Side V-up

Side crunches on back

Leg lifts, dropping leg to the opposite side you are working on

Low side plank

Side V-ups


This is the hardest ab workout I do and find blasting music helps. I’m partial to Wildest Dreams by Taylor Swift to get me started. To make it harder, either hold planks for longer, do more planks, or for the ultimate challenge do 1 minute of low side plank, 1 minute of high side plank, and then 1 minute again of low side plank all on the same side.

To make this easier either decrease the duration of each exercise (30 seconds instead of 1 minute) and/or alternate sides instead of doing all one side at the same time.

Here’s photos and descriptions of the exercises including two bonus exercises that I work into other ab days. 

Low side plank. This is working my right side abs. I prefer to do a low versus high (on the hand) plank because I have weak shoulders. You can do either just make sure to keep your elbow or hand directly below your shoulder joint. I also raise my opposite hand to make it slightly harder. When this gets hard think about pushing the hip that's into the air higher to make sure you aren't collapsing.

Side V-up rest position. Start the exercise (this one is the only one I'm showing for the left side) on your side.

 

Side V-up active position. Use your hands to support your neck. Crunch with the side abs to both raise your shoulders off the ground and your feet off the ground.

Side crunch on back rest position. This will be opposite elbow to opposite knee. Again this position works the right side abs.

Side crunch on back active position. Again, only use your hands to cradle your neck, not to pull on it. Focus on squeezing your abs to get towards your knee. No worries if you can't touch your knee.

Leg lift rest position. Press your back into the floor using your transverse abs throughout this exercise. Start with your legs together and up in in the air.

Leg lift active position. Now "drop" or lower your legs to the opposite side of the abs you are working (working right abs so legs go to the left) and then bring your legs back to the starting position, keeping the legs together and keeping your back pressed into the floor.

Bonus exercise: standing anti-rotation press with anchored resistance. I learned this one recently from my physical therapist. Either use an exercise band or a cable machine. Keep a wide stance, with slightly bent knees. Keep core stable. Stand and hold resistance band/cable with both hands that is anchored to your side. Press arms forward. Hold briefly, then bring back to your core. Repeat 15-30 reps until you feel a good burn in the side of your abs pointed away from the anchor point. Don't let your trunk rotate while doing this exercise.

 

Bonus exercise: dumbbell side bend. This is one of my favorite exercises to do in preparation for a canoe race with portages (think Red Bull Urban Portage). I find that a 30 pound dumbbell is about right for me. Here again I'm working my right abs. While tightening my right abs, I lower the dumbbell I'm holding in my left hand about 6 inches. Then squeezing my right abs, I raise the dumbbell back to neutral position seen in the next photo.

Bonus exercise: dumbbell side bend. I find that I get more from this exercise if I hold in this position for 3-5 seconds before I repeat. This is because even in this position the right side abs remained engaged in a static hold more similar to a plank.

Start cranking out this (or some rendition of) workout once weekly and I’ll be back in a couple weeks with the next post.

Secrets to Being a Faster Skier #3: Play on skis

This is largely intended for beginning or intermediate skiers who don’t feel comfortable on skis or rollerskis or who feel (or have been told) they look “stiff.” These are some precursor drills to true agility drills. At the end I’ve included some more advanced skills to play with technique. If you feel “too advanced” for these, I’d recommend going through them quickly just to make sure and then tuck them away to teach to newer skiers.

Since it’s rollerski season, I’m going to go through these specifying rollerskis but they can easily translate into being on skis on snow.

If you don’t feel comfortable doing these on pavement, do them on grass first and then progress to pavement. You can use these are a warm-up or do them after your warm-up. If you really don’t feel very comfortable, I’d recommend even repeating this during your session. 

Don't worry...we won't do anything quite this advanced:) Not sure who took this photo circa about 2006 of my friend Jordan who was cheering during the City of Lakes Loppet

First with poles off, go through the following drills:

Side steps: simply step side to side (about 3 steps) without getting any glide.

Weight shift: shift your weight from ski to ski, again without any glide.

Make sure your legs are about shoulder width apart, you have rounded shoulders and a very slight hunch in your upper back. This is the “athletic stance.”

Keep a “soft knee”. To achieve this, bounce on your skis. You shouldn’t get your skis off the ground but instead feel the flex in your rollerskis as you flex your ankles forward and you knees bend.

Now shake out your arms by actively shrugging your shoulders and then letting them drop quickly.

Double check, do you still have a soft knee?

Swing your arms.

Put your hands on your hips and twist from side to side. Your core should be tight but your knees should be soft.

Bounce again.

Now grab your poles. Start by doing some lunges (works best on skate skis).

Then do double pole starts: practice “falling” onto your poles and let them catch you. Don’t actually pole. Just let your poles catch you.

Now balance on one leg and get a good knee bend, flexing at the ankle, like you would at the bottom of your V-2.

Now do V-2 starts by practicing falling onto your poles on only one leg. Again, don’t actually pole so you can do a number of these. Just catch yourself with your poles after you crunch your abs and “drop” onto your poles.

Finally, get on a grassy hill and practice just running up the hill. 

This is why we practice running on skis -- for those once-in-a-lifetime downtown sprints! Photo: Skinnyski.com

 

Now you’re ready for the advanced drills:

Try to do a speed skating start by taking quick skate steps without getting any glide. Try this first on a steep uphill. I honestly can’t quite get it.

Play around with super slow V-2. Think about slowly bringing your non-gliding leg back under you.

Do the “locked and loaded” drill whereby you pole with only your core but keep your arms locked out at about 90 degrees.

Practice some slow but very powerful V-2 strokes.

Here’s my latest “trick” which is doing “tuck the feet under” as I call it, used for world cup sprint starts. I’ve began implementing this into some of my general double poling, particularly up hills, and I feel some extra power and Ahvo tells me I look good:) 

Screenshot from this year's video technique session w/ Ahvo where I'm practicing the tuck my feet under. Kinda blurry cause it's from a video.

And to appease Erik, end with the frog ski: double pole with your legs together and then let them drift wide. When they get about as wide as is comfortable, jump to bring your legs back parallel and pole again.


Happy playing!

Secrets to Being a Faster Skier #4: Watch the pros

YouTube some World Cup or World Champs or Olympic footage of sprints. I’ve embedded some links below as I discuss particular sprints. 

We’ll focus on sprints here because it shows agility, power, and tactics well in keeping with the theme of this blog series. Specifically note the following when watching the skiers:

• Their stability. They usually have their body weight directly over their skis. They rarely bobble. They rarely sway side to side. This is due to that side ab strength.

Watch skate skiing. Note where they free skate. This is often done when coming off downhills onto flats. If you don’t see any free skating, the course probably isn’t conducive to this technique and consider watching a different race.
 

Next watch the agility and the “playing” on their skis.

• For skate sprint starts, watch how they tuck their feet behind them for the starting double pole.

• For classic sprint starts, notice how most athletes take a few quick running strides off the line.

• See how some skiers utilize the jump skate.

• Watch how they run up steep hills on their classic skis.

In the next post, I’m going to talk about skiing downhills. Specifically when watching the athletes note the following about downhills:
 

• What they do before starting down the hill or as they crest the hill before the downhill. Usually they put in some extra power and even continue poling into the downhill.

• Tuck position is very aerodynamic.

• Watch their downhill cornering: step turns or skid turns. Pay attention to their arms. Note that they usually have their hands low.

• Note the occasional snowplows, standing up to decrease speed, and how Kleabo will step-turn around the burm where everyone else skids (particularly during the World Cup race in Les Rousses France in 2023. I was unable to find any video of this on YouTube though).

And for the next-next post:

• Pay attention to their cornering technique on flat terrain.

• See how often and fluidly they change tracks.

• Note when they decide to use the different techniques (double pole, kick double pole, striding for classic and free skate, V-2, V-2 alternate, and V-1 with skating); see how this changes on different courses.