Once you can hold a gliding wedge, you learn to change direction with it, then to link turns into a rounded path down the slope. You steer a wedge turn by turning your legs and feet under a quiet upper body, and as you finish the turn your weight moves gradually onto the outside ski. Linking means rising slightly to start each new turn with your weight even, then sinking as you finish it, and finishing each turn across the slope is how you control speed. The app reads your weight shift, outside-leg bend and leg-versus-upper-body turning on gentle terrain; snow and distance make these partial reads.
Set up
Pick a gentle slope that runs out onto a flat area. Start in a small gliding wedge with a fairly tall stance: a slight bend in your ankles, knees and hips, and your hips and torso centered over your feet.
tall and centered, not sitting back.
Pick a distant target in the direction you want to go, across the slope or on the horizon, never something you could run into. Aim your shoulders, torso and hips toward it.
your chest has a destination.
Steer with your legs
Turn both legs and feet toward the target while your upper body stays stable and keeps facing it. Keep the same size wedge the whole time. Let the turn happen gradually; don't throw your shoulders around to force it.
your feet turn, your chest stays put.
Point your inside hip (the hip on the side you are turning toward) in the direction of the turn. This lets your legs turn underneath a stable upper body.
a slight twist between hips and legs.
Finish on the outside ski
As your skis turn out of the fall line, flex your legs and gently roll your outside ankle and knee inward. Your weight moves gradually onto the outside ski, the one farthest from the turn: the left ski in a right turn, the right ski in a left turn.
more pressure on the outside foot's arch and big toe.
Keep turning your inside leg too, with its ankle and knee flexed, so the inside ski doesn't run straight and the ski tips don't cross.
both legs turning together.
Keep turning until your skis point across the slope, or even slightly uphill. Turning uphill slows you down and can bring you to a stop. Use this, rather than only pushing the tails wider, to keep your speed steady.
speed fading as the skis come across the hill.
Link turn to turn
To start the next turn, rise slightly by extending both legs and let your weight even out over both skis. Turn your legs and feet so the ski tips steer back into the fall line.
up and even as the new turn begins.
As the tips cross the fall line, keep turning your legs toward the new direction, then sink and let your weight move gradually onto the new outside ski. Count "up-2-3" as you rise into the fall line and "down-2-3" as you turn out of it.
a steady rhythm: rise, turn, sink.
Keep the wedge the same size in both directions and keep the turns round and patient. Shift your weight gradually; don't step or lurch from ski to ski.
one smooth S, not a zigzag.
Stay in control
If you feel you're losing control, make a bigger wedge with both feet and keep turning uphill until you stop. Stay centered over the balls of your feet while you push; a wedge pushed from your heels leaves you in the back seat.
pressure along the whole foot, not just the heels.
If you start to fall: arms forward, feet together, hands over your skis. Keep your knees bent and don't try to get up until you've stopped sliding.
stay low and wait.
Feel it
Your legs and feet do the turning while your upper body stays calm and aimed at a target. Each turn starts with your weight even over both skis as you rise slightly, and finishes with your weight easing onto the outside ski as you sink. Linked turns feel rhythmic and round, and your speed stays about the same from turn to turn because you finish each one across the hill.
Fix-its
- You turn with your whole body (shoulders swing into the turn) Aim your upper body at a distant target and feel a little tension in your stomach muscles. Point your inside hip toward the turn so your legs can turn underneath.
- The inside ski runs straight Stay centered over your feet, turn both legs, and keep the inside ankle and knee flexed so that ski stays flatter on the snow.
- You turn too sharply and quickly Be patient. Count "1-2-3 and turn" so the turn builds gradually.
- You don't turn enough and speed builds Start turning your legs toward the new direction as soon as your tips cross the fall line. Aim your upper body slightly right of the fall line for a right turn, slightly left for a left turn.
- Stiff legs, jerky or angular turns Find a centered stance, rise to start each turn and sink to finish it, and keep steering the whole way round. Move your weight gradually instead of stepping ski to ski.
Drill
- Follow a line: have a friend draw a line in the snow that runs down the fall line then curves across the hill, and follow it in a gliding wedge. Do one direction several times before the other.
- Turn uphill to a stop: from a gliding wedge, keep turning one way until your skis point uphill and you stop. Repeat both ways.
- Hands on hips: leave the poles aside, put your hands on your hips, and point your hips at a glove or pole marking where each new turn goes.
- Patience turn: on very flat terrain, press your weight onto one ski while gliding and wait for the skis to turn on their own. Make a bigger wedge if it gets too fast.
- Corridor: mark a lane two to three ski lengths wide down a gentle slope and link turns inside it, counting "up-2-3, down-2-3". Film it from the front or behind to check your shoulders stay quiet.
Sources
- PSIA Education Foundation — Alpine Level I Study Guide, Steps 7 and 9: First Wedge Turns; Linking Wedge Turns in the Fall Line (1996)
- PSIA — Skiing Fundamentals, from the 2014 Alpine Certification Standards (PSIA-NW handout)
- PSIA-NW (T. McLeod, J. Taggart) — Conversation About the Wedge (2009)
- Kurpiers, Gersmann, Reinhart, Eden, Kersting — The Influence of Two Teaching Approaches on Foot Loading in Skiing Beginners, Sensors (2024)
- Vermont Ski Safety — Tips for Knee-Friendly Skiing
Last checked 2026-10-26.