In this lesson I was skiing with Clara from Portugal. The goal was two-fold: improve her technique, and get her skiing all the way from Switzerland over to Italy. The thing holding her back was something a lot of skiers do without realising — lifting the inside ski on every turn. Here's how we fixed it.
The problem: lifting the inside ski
Watching Clara ski, the pattern was clear — on turn after turn she was lifting her inside ski out of the snow. And here's why it happens: because she wasn't fully standing up on her outside ski and committing to it, the inside ski was getting caught in the snow. To turn at all, she had to lift it out of the way.
It's incredibly common. A lot of people on the mountain feel their inside ski catching and think the fix is to lift it to start the new turn. But that lifting wrecks your balance and makes everything less smooth — it's a symptom, not a solution.
The fix: commit to the outside ski by extending
By this point Clara already had her body position, her leg turning, and her timing for committing to the ski. So the missing piece was making the turns genuinely smooth — and that came down to one thing: standing up and extending the outside leg.
As you move onto the new ski, stand on it and make that leg as straight as possible — extend it. When you fully straighten onto the outside ski, the inside ski no longer gets trapped, so there's nothing to lift out of the way.
The key cause-and-effect: the reason you're having to lift the inside leg is that you're not fully straightening to get all your weight onto the outside ski. Straighten the outside leg, and the inside ski frees itself — no lifting needed.
One thing to watch: at first Clara stood up on the ski but still lifted the inside ski out of habit. So we stopped and made it clear — the lift has to go completely. Once she concentrated on fully extending instead, the turns immediately got smoother, she stopped lifting, and the inside edge stopped catching in the snow.
Then add the flex: extend to start, bend to turn
Straightening the leg fixes the catch — but a great turn isn't just a straight leg. Once you've stood up and extended at the start of the turn, you then want to bend the leg as you turn through it. Why? Because your muscles are far stronger when they're contracted.
The jam-jar analogy: imagine a stiff jam jar lid. You wouldn't try to open it with your arm locked straight — you'd bend your joints and twist with power. Your legs are the same. A bent knee gives you far more strength to twist the ski.
So the full movement of the turn becomes: stand up and straighten the leg to start and release the skis, then slowly bend the knee and ankle down as you turn. The bend gives you two things — more range of motion (because you're about to turn the ski hardest) and more strength to drive the skis through the snow.
Put simply: a strong up movement to release the skis, then a down movement — bending knee and ankle — to power the turn. Up to start, down to turn.
Following the turn shape
One last cue that ties it together: following my turn shape down the slope. Rounding the turns out — turning the skis right across the hill — is what controls your speed. And when I'm leading, I throw in little stomps so Clara can see exactly which ski I'm standing on and when I change feet. It makes the weight transfer visible rather than something you just have to feel for.
Switzerland to Italy
With smoother, more committed turns, Clara was ready for the big goal — skiing from Zermatt across the border to Cervinia, Italy. The trickiest part of that route is a narrow, steep red where you really need to turn your skis right across the hill and keep your speed under control. But once you're past that cat-track section, the rest is genuinely easy — all the way to the Italian border. That outside-ski commitment is exactly what makes a pitch like that feel manageable.
The takeaways
- Spot the fault: lifting the inside ski every turn means you're not committing to the outside ski.
- Extend to fix it: stand up and fully straighten the outside leg — the trapped inside ski frees itself, no lifting needed.
- Then flex: bend the knee and ankle through the turn — contracted muscles give you more power and range of motion (the jam-jar lid).
- Rhythm: up to start and release, down to turn and drive.
- Turn shape: round the turns across the hill to control your speed — essential on steep, narrow pitches.
Great skiing Clara — smooth committed turns, and all the way from Switzerland to Italy.
Want to ski Zermatt to Cervinia?
Whether it's smoothing out your turns or crossing the border into Italy, I'll get you there. Get in touch and let's plan it.