Here is an interesting experiment that you can play with to explore how you start a turn. A garland is a fancy sort of traverse where you slide across the hill, initiate a turn, and then before or just as your skis are pointed down the fall line, return toward your original direction of traversing; the garlands make a pattern in the snow that looks like verhead power lines draped over their poles. The garlands are a great place to explore just what movements cause your turn to initiate. 

So, here’s the scenario. You are in a tele stance, fairly low as you just finished a turn and you are traversing slowly across the slope with both uphill edges engaged; Your leading ankle (downhill leg) has a good amount of flex and your upper body is square with your skis. You rise and let your skis flatten out on the snow and here is where the experiment starts: Sample A: you rotate your upper body so that your chest is starting to face down the hill.  Sample B: you do your best to keep your upper body facing across the hill and rotate your downhill leg towards the fall line (let the uphill leg rotate too but focus on the downhill leg – symmetry is the goal)  Sample C: combine A and B. Play with it – its sort of like the ‘wave’ at a ball game, with the wave either starting at your feet or starting at your head. What happens if you don’t do the wave and start to move all the parts toward the fall line at once? Have fun and consider joining others for more guided discovery during the February Telemark Program.