Stem Christie - Technique

Technique

Having brought the skis into the V shape mentioned above, more pressure is applied to the uphill (or outside) ski which causes the skier to turn in the other direction.

Once the turn has commenced, the new uphill ski is stepped (lifted and rotated) to be parallel with the stemmed ski as the turn is made so that at the end of the turn both skis are parallel and pointing in the new desired direction of travel.

When properly applied, the leading stem on the outside ski is blended seamlessly into the lifting of the inside ski. In this case the skis will remain parallel throughout the turn. A perfect stem christie is thus difficult to distinguish, visually, from a true parallel turn. The techniques are very different in action, however. The stem christie is applied largely by shifting weight onto the uphill ski to start the stem, while the parallel turn is started by moving the lower leg to roll the ski onto its edge. Parallel turns are often helped by lifting weight off both skis to help initiate the turn, further confusing the two techniques as seen by an outside observer.

Read more about this topic:  Stem Christie

Famous quotes containing the word technique:

    The mere mechanical technique of acting can be taught, but the spirit that is to give life to lifeless forms must be born in a man. No dramatic college can teach its pupils to think or to feel. It is Nature who makes our artists for us, though it may be Art who taught them their right mode of expression.
    Oscar Wilde (1854–1900)

    Irony in writing is a technique for increasing reader self- approval.
    Jessamyn West (1907–1984)

    A successful social technique consists perhaps in finding unobjectionable means for individual self-assertion.
    Eric Hoffer (1902–1983)