Learning to Freeride with World Champion Nadine Wallner

World Champion Nadine Wallner and Chris Zarfl give you a few tips for your first turns off-piste.

N: Hello, I'm Nadine Wallner and I want to give you a few tips on freeriding. Anyone planning to go freeriding should take safety equipment with them.
This includes: an avalanche transceiver, a probe, a shovel, a First Aid pack and an airbag.
It's also a good idea to get a guide, if it's your first time on the terrain.

When off-piste skiing, bend your knees to take the pressure off the ski - by stretching your legs you push the snow downwards.

VO: That way, the snow is compressed under your skis, and a counter-pressure is built up which presses your skis upwards. By bending your knees you'll now float over the snow surface, and it's incredibly easy to turn and edge-switch the skis.

N: When skiing through deep snow, try to keep your upper torso as still as you can, and only make movements from the heel. One of the most common mistakes in deep powder snow is leaning backwards too much. If you do that, your upper thigh gets tired very quickly and riding quickly becomes exhausting. By leaning back you also very quickly lose control of your skis.

VO: For a central position above the ski boots, it helps to keep your arms and hands in front of your body.

N: In this position, with your hands in front of your torso, you're prevented from leaning backwards at all in the first place.

To get good buoyancy when skiing in deep snow, it's important to note a few things:
With a good wide ski you get more lift
Also very important in deep snow is to keep your skis quite close together - to have good buoyancy and to be able to control both skis.

To get used to the new material, start out by practicing on terrain that isn't too steep, rocking your skis in the deep snow and playing with the build-up of pressure.

VO: In the next exercise, you shift your body weight alternately to the ski tip and ski tail. Balancing in the middle position will then help you to find the right central position above the ski boots later on.

N: Once you've found the centre of gravity and you've got perfect body balance, you can start doing gentle turns.

VO: To start off, it's best to do the slight changes of direction during a traverse - here you turn only slightly towards the fall line and then straight back again.

If that works you can now make your first turns near the fall line.

Once you feel comfortable, you can increase speed and play with the radii. The higher the speed, the wider apart your skis need to be. That gives you more stability and safety.

Have fun freeriding! Your Bergfex team.


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