The Pole Plant: Unlocking your Turn

Everyone loves a good pole plant … just me? Okay, good to know.

The pole plant is a massively under considered part of the turn for many skiers. First taught to skiers pretty early in your learning process, for many of us it is something that is then filed away and forgotten about.

But if done well, it can unlock a massive upgrade to your skiing. It comes down to two things; timing and placement. Get these right, and your performance on piste can go through the roof. At the same time, if you are skiing steeper terrain, your pole plant can safely see you round tight turns, especially where you may be hemmed in such as in a couloir.

Henry @ Skiing Unlocked shares his thoughts on the pole plant, and advice on how to use it to unlock your turn.

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Pole Length

The first step to consider is that your poles are the correct length.

You can see if your poles are the correct length by flipping them upside down and placing the top of the handle – now at the bottom – on the floor. Grasp the pole directly under the basket, and hold it in a natural position. Your arm should form a perfect 90-degree angle at the elbow.

If the pole is too short, that angle will open out; too long, and it will close up.

That is all … kinda irrelevant? Whilst ultimately a good starting point, you may find you prefer a different length than what is “right”. Over time, I’ve come to realise that the “right” length pole for me is actually wrong – I’m a tall guy at 6’2” (at least according to my mother), and I need to work really hard to pull my chest down to my knees to help my technique. The “right” length pole I’ve come to realise keeps me too upright, and I can’t break my body in half at the hips even with a good pole plant.

Therefore, I’ve set my poles to 10cm shorter than what my “right” length should be. Immediately this has made it easier for me to pole plant on piste, greatly improving my technique, but more than that, when skiing in difficult terrain, it gets me really forward – making it easier to jump turn, pivot my skis, or just generally stay afloat.

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My pole is already coming round to plant in the snow to begin the next turn, and I've barely finished the current turn.

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Technique

In theory, pole plant technique is really simple.

Let’s start with timing. The pole plant is the first thing you do in your turn. You’ve finished your last turn, your weight is equal across your skis, your body has returned to a nice, balanced position, and, if on flatter ground, you are allowing a little bit of speed to build up.

Then you being your next turn. This comes from the pole plant - look to reach out place your basket at around one to two o'clock down the hill, depending on your position relative to the fall line. Skiing completely perpendicular across the fall line? Then you'll want to aim more for two o'clock, but if you are heading downhill closer to parrallel to the fall line then you'll want to close things up and aim more for one o'clock.

Here's where you can really make a difference. Use the pole plant to pull your torso forward, down, and pivoted down the hill, towards where you have planted your pole. It is really important to do all of these things when skiing and beginning your turn, and your pole plant is the key to unlocking all this.

By actively reach forward and down the hill, you pull your body forward. This pulls you out of the back seat, which you could have ended up in after a hiccough on the last turn, and shifts your weight forward onto the front of the ski - that is, where you have the most control over your skis and your skiing.

If, like me, you are quite tall, again by reaching out and forward you can do a lot of work to pull your chest forward towards your knees. This, again, helps load weight onto the front of the ski, but it also lowers your centre of gravity and makes it easier to find the sweet spot in your skis, making your skiing and pivoting easier.

Finally, your body will start the turn facing at a slightly different angle to your legs and your skis. Good. Fix it at this angle, and instead of turning your whole body to turn your skis around, just turn your legs. This is incredibly reductive, and this is a skill that needs to be learned separately to just merely pole planting, but its the pole plant that unlocks the body position that unlocks pivoting.

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In this short video of me skiing powder, watch my poles; I'm using them at the start of each turn to plant and position myself appropriately for the next one.

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Steep Terrain

What's the key to unlocking skiing in steep or difficult terrain? Body position.

What's the key to unlocking good body position?

Go on, guess.

Yup, our dear beloved pole planting.

I covered this in the section above so I won't go into great depth here. But at a basic level, a good pole plant pulls your forward, pulls your chest down, and pivots your torso to angle down the hill.

This is all critical as it make it so much easier to control your weight and pivot your skis beneath you, helping shorten turn length and time taken to complete the turn. If you are in steep terrain, your skis can quickly run away from you down the fall line, so staying on top of your speed by turning effectively is critical to staying in control.

On difficult terrain, such as in trees or couloirs, executing a small turn is critical, even so far as a jump turn that is a really good way to get out of tricky situations. You simply can't execute a good jump turn or short turn without good body position, so use your pole plant to set you up for success.

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This video by Warren Smith of the Warren Smith Ski Academy, created for the Ski Club of Great Britain, demonstrates well the necessity for a good pole plant when executing a jump turn.

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Final Thoughts

Your pole plant can be a critical part of executing a good turn, because it is a really effective way to unlock good body position pulling you forward and down the hill. Whether you use it to recover from a back seat position or need to set up for a short or jump turn, don't ignore the pole plant to unlock your skiing.