All Mountain Performance / Basic tips for carving turns

THIS MONTHS SKI TIPS.   Carving turns 

What is carving ?

Carving is a form of ski turn that is non skiddy, ie using the shape of the skis and only two of the three steering elements (pressure, edging and not using rotation). If correctly applied, the skis will cut through the snow smoothly tracking forwards around an arc.

How to carve and initiate the turn:

Start skiing in a straight line on a suitably flattish piste with your feet at hip width apart. Without turning your feet, tilt both your skis in the direction you wish to turn. At the same time stretch your outside leg to push the ski against the snow. Feel the skis grip and allow time for the skis to start carving.  

How to hold the carve:    Resist the desire to rotate your legs and feet. let the pressure build up. As the pressure increases in the arc, you can increase the amount of edge tilt to tighten the carve.

How to finish the turn: When you feel the turn is complete, simply release the pressure built up in the turn by softening the outside leg, this will allow the feet to come naturally back underneath the body.

How to transfer to the initiation of the next turn: With a stretch down into the snow of the new outside leg, resist the new temptation to turn your feet and skis, using the tilting motion and stretch of the leg to create more pressure on the outside ski – so repeating the process used in the turn before.

Linking clean carving turns is a great sensation, it's fast but feels stable. We hope you enjoy the tips.

Mark Gear and Simon Halliwell ( BASI level 4 ISTD) All Mountain Performance Chamonix

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Every month this season AMP will be giving 4 top tips on chaletsdirect.com for better skiing.

4 top tips from  AMP for tuning your skiing back in at the start of the season.

It's always best to start on an easy piste, greens or blues are sufficient –even pros don’t hit the blacks until dialled back in!

1)Look ahead, just like driving a car, look beyond the bonnet/ski. Try to feel your skis against the snow rather than looking at the tips. Get into the habit of reading the ground ahead of you. It’s better to feel what your skis are doing, encouraging you to work from the ground up for more natural skiing.

2) Be centered Work on centralising the weight down through the middle of the foot. Try to become aware of where the weight is being transmitted onto the sole of the boot. Standing with your weight centered on the skis gets the skis working as they are designed.Being too far back or too far forwards on the skis does not work as well.

3) Go for smooth, linked turns. Try not to have any abrupt movements. This will help to keep you in balance and allow your skiing to flow.

4) Get the outside ski working in the turn to have more pressure than the inside one. Pressing early on the outside ski makes a good start to your turns. Do this by stretching the leg slightly to push down through the sole of the foot.

Simon Halliwell and Mark Gear run All Mountain Performance in Chamonix and are qualified to the highest level,(BASI 4 ISTD)

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The 4th of December and already 40cm of snow in Argentiere. We are all looking forward to skiing this weekend at the Grands Montets.  We look forward to see you all there soon.

All MOUNTAIN SKI CLINICS IN CHAMONIX

Learn to ski the whole mountain with control, versatility and expression!

Our off piste / all terrain ski clinics provide our clients with high quality ski coaching in small groups by some of the worlds most elite ski teachers. Offering ski clinics / courses for intermediate, advanced and expert skiers The aim of each course is to develope your control and  versatility in a variety of snow conditions and terrain. We also offer transport for skiing with each group and video feedback after skiing to help further your progress. Check out our range of ski courses and clinics in our menu.

OFF PISTE SKI CLINICS AND COURSES IN CHAMONIX FOR INTERMEDIATE, ADVANCED AND EXPERT SKIERS

  Chamonix off piste skiing.  '' More than a lifetimes worth   of off piste skiing descents amoung the most dramatic mountains in the Alps.''

 Chamonix town, at 1035 meters above sea level, sits at the foot of western Europes highest peak.  Mont Blanc towers above the valley floor at a current altitude of 4810 metres. The summit elevation can vary by a few metres depending on wind and precipitation over a period of time.

  The Chamonix valley is forested and deep,  the mountains are very high!  There are more 4000 meter peaks here than any where else in the Alps. The lift system in Chamonix , for off piste skiers and alpinists, is a massive acheivement in enginering with many cable cars and telecabines taking skiers to altitudes of up 3842 meters.

 There are 5 main ski areas in the Chamonix valley offering what is said to be more than a life times worth of off piste skiing routes.  With a vertical drop for off piste skiing of up to 2807meters and a great lift system, Chamonix  is with out a doubt one of the best off piste skiing destinations in the world.

Chamonix off piste area by area

Les Grands Montets / Chamonix off piste

  Les Grands Montets is a massive mountain with undoubtedly some of the best off piste skiing in the world. This is where famous freeriders hang out.  Glaciers on the upper sections lead down to wide open bowl skiing with steeps and couloirs. This is Chamonix off piste skiing at its best. The tree skiing and into valley couloirs are also great for expert skiers. This place is where we often ski 10000 vertical metres per day on our expert ski courses and freeride courses. A great lift system opens up 3 sides to this amazing off piste skiing mountain. Best spots. Le Grand Mur, Pylones, Point de Vue, La Combe de la Pendant, Combe de la Rachasse. The Magic Forest/ Dream Forest also offers very good typical Chamonix off piste tree skiing.

Le Tour / Chamonix off piste

 Le Tour at the high end of the Chamonix valley is great for all levels on piste and off piste. The front side is easy terrain for beginner off piste skiers. This is an ideal place for us to take intermediate level ski courses on the first couple of days of the course. The back side offers very nice terrain for more advanced and expert skiing. Best spots. All of the back side area and off the Possettes drag lift for some classic Chamonix off piste.

L' Aiguile du Midi / Chamonix off piste

 The Aiguile du Midi lift takes skiers and alpinists from Chamonix town to an impressive altitude of 3842 meters. This is not a ski area for piste skiing. All the runs are off piste and on a glacier making the skiing more serious. A High mountain guide is advised for this.

Le Brevent and La Flegere / Chamonix off piste

These areas are linked together and offer very good couloir and open bowl off piste skiing. Most of the off piste in this part of Chamonix  is south facing so avalanches can be frequent on warm afternoons. Best spots. La Floria, Brevent summit, Col Cornu. Combe Lachanal for more great Chamonix off piste skiing.

Les Houches / Chamonix off piste

Les Houches is situated as at the lower end of the Chamonix valley and offers very nice tree-lined piste skiing and some shorter off piste runs. Best spots. Under the Prarion cables, The hidden meadows and secret off piste spots that only us locals know about.

Chamonix piste map and more info about Chamonix off piste

http://www.allmountainperformance.com/photos/piste-map/chamonix-piste-map

 CHAMONIX OFF PISTE / OFF PISTE SKIING CHAMONIX

If you are thinking of skiing Chamonix, here is some info about the type of skiing the valley has to offer.

 Chamonix is the world capitol of off piste and freeride skiing. There are 6 extensive ski areas offering a huge amount of easy to acess off piste routes. Chamonix off piste is great for all levels of off piste skier from powder puppy to powder hound. This makes Chamonix the ideal place for us to run our off piste / all mountain ski courses.

 Each Chamonix ski area offers a different type of terrain. Le Brevent and la Flegere are great for couloirs and bowl skiing for all levels of off piste skier.

 Further up the Chamonix valley Les Grands Montets is a massive mountain with undoubtabley some of the best skiing in the world. This is where famous freeriders hang out.  Glaciers on the upper sections lead down to wide open bowl skiing with steeps and couloirs. The tree skiing and into valley couloirs are also great for expert skiers. This place is where we often ski 10000 vertical meters per day on our expert ski courses and freeride courses. A great lift system opens up 3 sides to this amazing ski mountain.

 Le Tour at the high end of the Chamonix valley is great for all levels on piste and off piste. The front side is easy terrain for beginner off piste skiers. This is an ideal place for us to take intermediate level ski courses on the first couple of days of the course. The back side offers very nice terrain for more advanced and expert skiing.

 The Aiguile du Midi lift takes skiers and alpinists from Chamonix town to an impressive altitude of 3842 meters. This is not a ski area for piste skiing. All the runs are off piste and on a glacier making the skiing more serious. A High mountain guide is advised for this.

Les Houches is situated as at the lower end of the Chamonix valley and offer very nice tree-lined piste skiing and some off piste. This the where the mens world cup combined event the Kandahar is held. The best skiers in the world race in downhill and slalom over a 2 day event.

 Chamonix is just 1 hour drive from Geneva airport .

Skiing Chamonix this winter season.

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Click here to view/download the full sized version

Chamonix piste map

This Chamonix piste map shows the valley as a whole and is an artists impression of the Chamonix valley and ski areas. The ski area seen in the forefront on the piste map is Le Tour This is great for beginers and intermediate skiers. Its also a great ski area for expert skiers to practice high speed carving on the wide open well groomed pistes. The back side chair lift offers access to amazing off piste descents into Switzerland.

  If you follow up the left of the Chamonix valley the next ski area is the brilliant and huge mountain of Les Grands Montets. This ski area  is a mecca for hardcore skiers. Extreme ski movies have been shot here. The mountain is vast and generally steeper than the other Chamonix ski areas offering Glacier skiing at the very top and open bowls and gullys running into the treeline where some great tree skiing can be found.

Then towards Mont Blanc is the Aiguile du Midi. This is the highest lift in the Chamonix valley at 3842m. This lift is used to ski the Chamonix and world famous valley Blanche. This is all completley off piste and on a glacier making it a serious mountain intinery. A guide is necessary but not compulsory.

At the far end of the Chamonix valley and piste map you can see the Les Houches ski area. This piste map does not give Les Houches justice. It makes it look smaller than it is. In Les houches alone there are 95km of ski pistes.

Coming back along the Chamonix valley on the piste map to the right you can see the ski areas of Le Brevent and La Flegere. These are the ski areas more local to Chamonix town. These ski areas are south facing and linked together offering amazing on piste and off piste skiing for all levels.  Watch out if you are skiing off piste here in the afternoons. Avalanches are frequent when the warm sun hits the slopes.

All together this Chamonix piste map gives someone who has never skied the Chamonix valley a reasonably good idea of what the Chamonix Valley looks like. However each ski area has its own piste map giving a more detailed impression of the mountains, pistes and Chamonix ski areas. These piste maps are available at the bottom of each ski area at the ticket desks.

We hope you enjoy this Chamonix piste map.