The Parallel Turn

The ski parallel turn is one of the basic parts of a good ski technique. The ski parallel turn is a method for turning which rolls the ski onto one edge, allowing it to bend into an arc. When the ski is turned like this, it allows it to follow the turn without sliding.

Earlier techniques
The ski parallel technique meant a contrast to earlier techniques. One of these techniques was the stem Christie. This technique meant that the ski slides outward from the body to generate sideways force. In contrast, the ski parallel turn generates much less friction but on the other hand, the ski parallel turn is more efficient in maintaining speed and also in minimizing skier effort. By the second half of the 1960s it rapidly replaced stemming for all but very short-radius turns. The evolution of shaped skis in the 1990s advanced the carving turn to preeminence. In these days the ski parallel turns are taught to novice skiers the effect of weighting and unweighting their skis.

What’s in a turn?
In order to execute the ski parallel turn, the skier’s lower leg needs solid contact to the ski to rotate it on-edge. In the early beginnings of the ski parallel turns, this was hard to achieve because of the poor ski equipment which limited the technique to the high performance realm of racing. But after the composite skis, metal edges, reasonable clamping bindings and stiff plastic boots, ski parallel turns were available even with the beginner equipment.