Make best use of your thighs when skiing off-piste

When you’re skiing on perfectly groomed terrain you can feel how easy it is going from turn to turn with almost no resistance around the skis. As soon as you venture onto ungroomed snow, you’ll feel resistance from all the snow around the sides of the skis and even on top of them. As a result, simple foot steering isn’t enough: you need a stronger steering mechanism to drive your skis through the snow. For freeskiing, you really need to steer with your whole leg, not just your foot – which means making use of your glutes and thighs. This makes sense, as the upper leg obviously has more muscular power than the lower leg. Most leisure skiers, however, are taught to steer from the feet instead of the thighs. This is weaker and can actually put unwanted torque on the knee. A great way of training your legs to steer correctly is to build up the muscles you are going to need. The video clip explains exactly how. One method is to use an exercise called ‘Thigh Steering’. We use this exercise at the Academy, as part of a morning’s warm-up routine on the mountain to get the muscles prepared for skiing. You can also do this exercise at home: if you work on it for several weeks, you will find a definite development in the endurance and strength of the rotation. Once you are in resort, it’s a good idea to practise your new technique on the piste, starting off at lower speeds. Later on, try it on off-piste terrain – starting in conditions you can comfortably cope with. Over time, you will gain an ability to ski faster, steeper and heavier snow without feeling vulnerable – and will ultimately be making bigger-radius freeride turns and getting the full use of your big mountain skis. Warren Smith is one of Britain's leading professional freeskiers and an internationally certified performance coach and ski instructor. He is one of the few British skiers to become a part of the Völkl International Free Ride Team. He also rides for brands such as Scott Sports and Swiss International Air Lines. His methodology combines coaching in skiing technique with insights from biomechanics and physiology. He also runs the Warren Smith Ski Academy