Article by Simon Dewhurst
For nearly forty years I’ve been teaching beginners in the ski school. Their main form of sustenance during the early learning process has been the snowplough or wedge – that ungainly, somewhat contorted position where both legs and feet twist inwards and make the skis into a V shape. Depending on the amount of V the skier can control his speed, stop and even turn.
As far as I’m concerned the snowplough sucks.
Back in the late fifties the observant gurus who wrote our teaching manuals discovered that very small children naturally adopted the snowplough position. Made of rubber they could career down practically any slope at eye watering speed without ever coming out of it. It was only as they got bigger that they started to ski parallel.
Before I get kebabbed on a ski pole let me say that when the manuals were being written the snowplough was a jolly good idea. With skis up to two feet longer then than they are now it was almost impossible for a beginner to turn on a ski without the snowplough, but now there are much simpler and more effective ways to turn the short and hugely responsive modern skis.
Well, why do we still teach it to beginners? Goodness knows. There are perfectly adequate alternatives. My theory will certainly not be a popular one among ski schools. Keep the snowplough and you keep the pupil. After all, the longer you have a pupil doing something that extends the teaching process, the longer he will keep you in business.
It’s my fault that I’ve waited this long to come out. Until two years ago I was on skis that were 207cm long. The ones I have now are a foot shorter at 175cm, and both the simililarities and differences in performance are extraordinary. Because they are so much shorter there is no longer any need to start beginners off with the snowplough. Very simply, all they have to do now to slow down is twist one leg inwards until they stop. If they want to turn, they can twist alternate legs.
So is it time for the snowplough to go in the garbage can? No! The snowplough is still very useful on narrow paths, very busy pistes, and approaching lift queues, but it should be taught to adults at a later date.
As a final thought let me throw this in. A month ago I went on a course to upgrade my qualifications. The mainstay on that course was the snowplough and I couldn’t do it! In September 2009 I’m due for a new hip as both have advanced osteoarthritis. Bizarrely, I could do everything else – the bumps, steep off piste in thigh deep powder snow and all sorts of different turns down the piste – but not the snowplough.
This was obviously a sign from above. The time has come to ban the snowplough and bin it!
Simon Dewhurst has taught downhill skiing in North America, Scandinavia and the European Alps for 35 years. He currently runs a ski chalet agency in the French Alps. His book “Secrets of Better Skiing” can be found at http://www.ski-jungle.com If you have any comments about the above article, he will be happy to answer them.
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