It looks pretty impressive when you see others effortlessly sailing through the air in the snow park, but it’s not always as easy as it looks!
We join our freestyle expert Charlie Beach for a few tips on how to try your first park trick, the humble 180!
Start by taking off your skis and standing just in your ski boots in a flexed position, with your feet about a shoulder width apart. From here try seeing which direction you can jump further aiming for 360 degrees if you can, to the left or to the right– take a look at Charlie’s video to see how this is done!
Now you have worked out which way you’re naturally inclined to spin, continue to practice off skis for a few tries the same way as before. Look over your shoulder in the direction you are intending to spin, counter-rotate and then jump, letting your shoulders lead the way. On your practice jumps you’re aiming this time for a 180 degree spin, and landing looking back up the slope and spotting your landing.
Once you feel comfortable spinning without your skis, put them back on and try the 180 jumps on a flattish groomed slope; ideally chose one that isn’t busy until you’re more practiced and confident. Before taking your new trick to the park you want to feel confident with the movements on these easy flat slopes.
When you’ve mastered your new jump on the flat, you’re ready to hit the park. Hit the easiest jumps first; you may even want to have a run through just going straight over the jumps so you can gauge how much speed you will need to pop off the jump first, as this can change day to day depending on the conditions.
Remember, you’ll be landing in switch, so you want to be confident enough riding in switch so that you can ride out a little way after landing before turning back around. Once you’re ready you can also start hitting the jumps in switch too and linking features together.
Good luck and see you on the slopes!
