The snowplough turn (or wedge turn in North America) is the most straightforward of all turns. It is effective and reliable, and you'll see even experienced skiers use it when the visibility is poor, or when it's their turn to carry the picnic. It is initiated from the snowplough position by steering your skis into the fall line with your feet and legs. As you turn, the pressure you apply through your feet must move to your outside ski, just as the back seat passengers in a car are pushed against the door in a tight curve. To balance against this force, you must set your outside ski on a strong edge and push against it.

Start in a gliding snowplough across the slope.	Steer your skis towards the fall line with your feet.	Sink slightly and allow the pressure to shift to your outside ski.
Push your outside knee forwards and into the turn.	Keep pushing against the outside ski until you come right out of the fall line.	As you finish your turn, rise back up into the gliding plough, before beginning the next turn.
[Photos: ifyouski.com]

Practise exaggerated edging of your outside ski by pressing both hands against your outside knee. [Photo: ifyouski.com]

Exercises

• Hold both poles out in front of you with the baskets in one hand and handles in the other, to keep your upper body calm.
• Tighten your turning radius by making a short slalom course out of ski poles. For a longer string of turns, force yourself to turn on a certain count. Start on ten, then reduce the time between turns by turning on nine, eight, seven...
• Press both hands against your outside knee while you turn (see below). This helps you to apply pressure to your outside ski and use your edge correctly.

Tips

• Your skis know how to turn better than you do. Start the turn with gentle steering, the rest should follow.
• Don't use your shoulders to start the turn: although you may force your skis around, the turn is hard to control and you risk over-rotating and ending up facing uphill. At this stage, don't worry about planting your poles.
• Learn to accept the frightening acceleration as you turn into the line. Don't lose your nerve.
• Make sure you begin your turn before running out of room at the edge of the piste.
• Try to get into a turning rhythm, starting each turn as you finish the last: rise and start, sink and finish; rise and start, sink and finish.

To Snowplough Or Not To Snowplough

The goal for most skiers is to perform parallel turns in all terrains. You probably want to achieve this as soon as possible. Several teaching methods have been designed to avoid snowplough and stem turns altogether. Some skiers find these helpful as they don't later have to unlearn a tendency to plough or stem their skis in turns.

Snowplough turns, however, are not a blind alley leading off the road to good parallel turns: they are a valuable step along the way. They teach the independent use of your skis, good edge control and steering with your outside foot and leg.

Given the choice between building towards good technical skiing and quickly learning an indifferent parallel turn, it is worth working on your snowplough turns.

Practise on a very shallow slope. Get a feel for steering your snowplough into the fall line and allowing your weight to transfer to your outside ski. Make sure your upper body stays calm.