The snowplough turn is a ski braking and turning technique taught to beginners. The front tips of the skis are brought together and the tails pushed wide apart, with the knees rolled inwards slightly. By applying pressure against the snow with the inside edges of the skis speed is reduced, making turning in such a configuration and stopping completely possible.

However, it is much less effective on steep runs, and much less efficient than the parallel turn

Parallel turn

The parallel turn in alpine skiing is a method for turning. It is based on the idea of rolling the ski onto one edge, allowing it to bend into an arc. The ski then follows the arc shape and turns, without sliding. This is in contrast to earlier techniques like the stem Christie, which accomplishes...

 used by advanced skiers.

Terminology

• Uphill Ski refers to the ski that is in a position higher up the hill.
• Downhill ski refers to the ski that is in a position farther down the hill.
• Outside ski is the ski farthest away from the centre of the circle the skier is turning about.
• Inside ski is the ski closest to the centre of the circle the skier is turning about.

At the completion of a turn, the downhill ski is the outside ski, and the uphill ski is the inside ski. When a new turn is initiated, the old inside ski becomes the new outside ski.

Once mastered the skier can move on to the somewhat more advanced turn, the Stem Christie

Stem Christie

The stem Christie is a technique in skiing for turning. It is a refinement of the basic stem technique, where prior to the turn the uphill ski is stemmed from being parallel with the downhill ski to form a V shape....

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