Second day skier proud of her longer short skis

Short Ski Method

SHORT SKIS 

The Short Ski Method starts you on skis that are only 70cm long. We give you slightly longer skis each day and after a few minutes the longer skis feel just like the shorter skis felt. By the end of your three weekend course you ski with normal length skis.

DIRECT PARALLEL TURN

The parallel turn is a turn in which the skis stay parallel to one another throughout the turn. It is the goal of beginner skiing and the basis for advanced skiing. Direct Parallel or Direct To Parallel indicates any beginner teaching method that starts directly with the skis parallel rather than in a wedge. Parallel Skiing's Short Ski Method is a Direct Parallel Method.

To start with the skis parallel, the teaching method must make the skis easier to turn. Foegger in the 1960s started with jumping to turn the skis and Harb starts with stepping to turn the skis. We at Parallel Skiing and the Skischule Nordbayern make the skis easier to turn by starting with short skis and physical support from the instructor to make the skis easier to turn. The learners are just having fun and don't even think about what movements they make. No thoughts about edging, rotation, pressure, or balance; it is all subconcious. Each day skiers graduate to slightly longer skis and continue making the same parallel turns by just envisioning themselves heading back the other direction as if nothing had changed. That the skier learns to ski subconciously makes Parallel Skiing's Short Ski Method the best way to learn to ski and the easiest way to learn to ski.

ANSTEIGENDEN SKILÄNGEN -- GRADUATED LENGTH METHOD

The short skis make possible a more appealing teaching method; you learn by goofing off and playing silly games. Parallel Skiing's Short Ski Method is based on Martin Puchtler's Ansteigenden Skilängen and Clif Taylor's Graduated Length Method.

TEACHING WITH PARALLEL SKIING'S SHORT SKI METHOD

If you want to learn more about teaching direct parallel turn to beginners with Parallel Skiing's Short Ski Method, you can view our Excerpt from Direct Parallel Instructor's Manual or the German version Ausschnitt aus Direkt Parallel Skilehrer Handbuch or contact Parallel Skiing to order the full paper version (in English or German) with 200 pages and 400 drawings. It costs 20 Euros plus postage.

Plus you can read a technical report on a controlled experiment that proved that beginners learn faster with the short ski method Proven: Short Ski Method Better than the Standard Ski Teaching Method or the German Version Bewiesen: Kurzskimethode besser als Standard Skilehrmethode.