‘Right, we’re starting with snowplough turns,’ says our instructor, Ewan. ‘But this isn’t the beginners’ class,’ we chorus. ‘I’d rather you ski good snowploughs than bad parallel turns,’ he replies, so it’s back to basics for a while – and it works our thighs and brains hard!
After ‘mastering’ snowploughs, we focus on carving turns. To get the turns right, your body has to move correctly, we’re told, so we work on getting rid of our bad habits. Abandoning our poles at the top of the chairlift, we face down the slope and, as we ski into the carved turn, we put both hands on the outside leg while we turn, then swap our hands to the other leg as we make the next turn. It feels a bit odd…
