Skiing: How to Kick Turn

Kick turns are an effective way to change directions on skis and learning to do them is a key skill for exploring off-piste terrain. In this REI Expert Advice video, Mac Lyon, from the Professional Ski Instructors of America, explains the steps involved in doing a kick turn, including where to place your poles, how to bring your downhill ski around, shifting your weight and how to bring your uphill ski around.

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Transcript:
I'm Mac Lyon from the Professional Ski Instructors of America. Kick turns are awesome tools to be able to use to change direction without losing any sort of elevation. I use kick turns whenever I encounter terrain that I don't want to ski. Whether that be cliff, or if the snow conditions aren't very good.

To do a kick turn, what I want to do is I want to take my downhill hand and pole. Place it uphill and behind me. I'm using both of my poles and my uphill foot to really establish my balance point. I'm trying to place my weight evenly amongst those 3 points. I want to kick my downhill leg, move it forward and upward, in a sweeping motion until my downhill foot is facing the opposite direction. I want to shift my weight onto that downhill leg. Once you've found that balance point, pick your uphill hand and foot, step them around to match the foot that you moved originally, and push on out of the terrain.

Kick turns are incredibly necessary in steep, technical terrain, but are used everywhere on the ski hill. If I'm at the lodge and I want to turn around quickly without running into anybody, I'm going to use a kick turn. If I get off the chair, I'm facing the wrong way, and there's people strapping in, I'm going to use a kick turn. It's really, really useful for day-to-day skiing.