stopping

Question
Hey there!

I had a question in regards to stopping. I'm a pretty new beginner, and am still in the wedge position while skiing. I've been trying to successfully stop while on the hill (the bunny hill) and no matter what I do, I just can't come to a complete stop. I roll my edges in, hold proper stance, and dig until I'm kicking up tails. Somehow, I still can't stop.
I was hoping you'd know some advice on common stopping mistakes, or something new I can try for stopping?
Thank you so much!

Nickie

Answer
Hey Nickie,

The thing to do to help your edges dig in when you are in a wedge position is to drop your hips and roll your knees in towards each other. Dropping your hips will help push your tails out. Rolling your knees inwards will dig the edges deeper into the snow. To practice these exercises, get yourself positioned pointed downhill. When you start moving forward, drop your hips to slow yourself. Raise your hips to move forward again, drop your hips to slow down. Work on this for a run or two to get your muscle memory working for you. Soon it will become a natural thing to drop your hips to slow down.

As you progress, you will soon realize that dropping your hips is a very natural part of skiing at any level. When they start talking about weighting and un-weighting your skis, it is simply raising and lowering your hips at the correct time to help the skis do what you need them to do.

Hope this helps.
Keep on skiing,
Windlover