Heli Ski Carving – Common Problems and How to Solve Them

We know how affordable heli skiing can actually be, compared to package ski holidays, when you compare how much vertical skiing you get to do in each. In fact, many of our clients choose only to heli ski nowadays, shunning the typical two-week resort vacation.

If you are planning on brushing up your skills in resort before committing to a heli ski holiday, then improving your carving should figure somewhere in the agenda.

Carving down a wide long run can be one of the best feelings associated with skiing. On any kind of snow, this skiing technique is exhilarating; practicing in resort before getting in the heli can be a good idea, as much of the technique is the same from groomers to softer, more powdery snow. Here are a few of the common issues people encounter when starting to carve, and the solutions for them.

One problem that commonly occurs, mainly on firmer snow, is that the outside ski tracks away from the inside one at the beginning of a turn. This turn initiation phase is where all the control is set; badly judged fore-aft pressure control will result in a skittish carve. If we translate this to powder carving, you will find an imbalance in pressure throughout the turn. Although the softer snow will compensate, those long, flowing carves will be harder to maintain.

On all types of snow, try not to forget the basics. Pressure control can be difficult to time correctly throughout the turn. Practice getting this just right, and notable improvement should follow. Aim to understand how much you need to lean your body into a turn at different speeds, and different turn radius’. Especially in the powder, trying to correct your balance when you have too much lean on a long carve, is extremely difficult.

On smooth snow many people find that their tail of the outside ski often breaks loose at the end of the turn. The issue here is usually to do with, again, the timing, and also, the shape of the turn. Instead of aiming to carry as much speed as you can into the turn, apply pressure here instead. This will help reduce the chance of needing to hit the brakes as you complete your turn, scrubbing speed, losing momentum and rhythm.

We all would love to make effortless looking, powerful turns, but the truth is they can be tricky to master. There are many causes that hinder us from achieving this goal – learning to control your edge angle more effectively can help us along our way.

The greater the increase of your edge angle, the more powerful your turns are going to become. However, with more of an angle comes a greater risk of sliding out, or being unable to readjust sufficiently coming into the next turn. Build up to this, increasing your speed after each run. Or, for a more advanced exercise, practice increasing or decreasing the size of your turns throughout one run.

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