Get Your Skis Apart! - Page 2
By Todd Murchison, February 7, 2001

Modern skis simply need to be tipped onto an edge and weighted, and they will turn. They no longer have to be forced into a turn. We are now free to use our body in a more natural and efficient fashion. The human body when walking and running is a miracle of efficiency, grace, and balance. The stance that you assume when walking and running is the most powerful stance you can use when skiing as well.

When you stand with your feet locked together you rob yourself of three major things: balance, proper edging, and agility. Balance declines because if you are standing with your feet together you have a narrower base of support than when they are spread apart. Proper edging suffers because when you pull your booted feet together you tend to stand on the outside edges of your skis - exactly the opposite edges you need to be using. You lose agility and speed because you have to move a greater amount of mass to put a ski onto edge, two legs instead of one. You can twitch one leg onto edge much more quickly than two. Another function of agility that is inhibited by using the feet as a single unit is lateral movement, stepping movements from one foot to another.

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