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.