TPS Archives

Reprints From The Professional Skier

Spring 1997 - "Kick It Up To Get To The Top" by Mickey Stone

This article is reprinted from The Professional Skier. All copyrights apply. Please see our copyright and disclaimer notice page.

The diagonal stride is a great way for nordic skiers to negotiate hilly terrain, but bow many times have you been climbing up a slight-to-medium grade when all of a sudden one foot seems to make a break for the bottom of the bill and your nose is kissing your other knee?

You quickly recover by catching yourself with your poles, taking a more upright stance, shortening your stride, and getting that runaway foot and leg back underneath you. However, by this time you have expended a little too much energy and are feeling a bit fatigued in the triceps and legs. You may even slip again, relying too much on your poles for compensation. The hill seems to become steeper and your stride becomes shorter and shorter until you feel like you are almost walking. Finally you bail out into the old reliable herringbone.

Regardless of your skiing proficiency, you've probably found yourself in this dilemma from time to time. And certainly, your students have encountered this slip of a ski that's supposed to grip. If you want to make sure that a slip won't be the undoing of your uphill momentum, try modifying your style. The following checkpoints should help you improve your strategy for climbing a hill in the diagonal stride. Once you've perfected the steps yourself, share these tips with your students.

1. Adjust your stance so that your feet are under your hips. Keep your torso more upright; in other words, avoid breaking at the waist. Tilt your hips forward so they stay under your body. With your hips tucked a bit under your body your spine will be in a "C" configuration from your shoulders to your hip.
2. Shorten your stride as you move into the hill. This will allow you to keep your body in the more upright position you've just established, while maintaining pressure on your gripping ski so you will not slip out of position.
3. Make a clean weight transfer by redistributing your weight quickly and completely from foot to foot. This will more completely compress the kick wax or scale zone of your ski into the snow for better grip.
4. Allow your driving or weighted leg to drive forward far enough so that you are standing on your heel for the glide phase before you "set" your wax for the next stride. In short, let the driving ski pass beneath your center of mass while keeping your heel in contact with the ski.
5. Keep your ankle and knee on the driving leg supple and slightly flexed. This will allow you to compress the ski down into the snow to "set" the wax pocket while kicking the other leg into the next stride.
6. Quicken your turnover (i.e., shorten the duration and timing of your movements) from one stride to the next. A faster tempo will develop due to the shorter stride length and quicker weight transfer.
7. Try not to allow your poling to dominate. This will unweight your skis and cause more slipping to occur.
8. Think of bounding into the next stride. This allows for better weight transfer and forward momentum.

If you're having trouble on the hills, practice these eight points. Try mastering one before moving onto the next and then, finally, blend them to achieve their overall advantage. Begin practicing on gradual hills, and as you become accomplished, seek out steeper terrain and see how far you can go before breaking into that good old standby herringbone. Practicing first on well-set tracks is also helpful.

When working on your hill-climbing skills, kick wax your skis well so that your grip is firm. Once you feel accomplished, try it with less wax and see what your skills can do for you.

Mickey Stone is the program director for Adult Skier Development at Mt. Snow Ski Resort in Vermont. A PSIA-E Nordic coordinator and examiner in track and Nordic downhill, he is also a member of the PSIA Nordic Team.