He wants to know how to ride steeps and how to ride them when things get a little bit icy.

And as a thank you for posting that suggestion, my clothing sponsor, Yuki Threads, are going to sort you out with some freebies.

So in this video, I'm going to explain how it is that we ride steeps, but also why riding steeps is more difficult than riding mellow slopes.

And you might be thinking, well, it's kind of obvious, it's because it's steeper, but there's a few other things that are going on and a few adaptations you're going to have to make to your riding in order to be able to turn on steeper slopes.

And once you understand what those things are, then you're going to know what you're going to need to do, and therefore, you're going to be better prepared to go and ride the steeps.

So first, we're going to start off with what it should look like, so you know exactly what the end product is.

The goal is to have the board running its length and gripping in the snow, not turn sideways and skidding.

We want to control our speed down the slope by using your turn size and shape, and this is going to translate to short radius or small S-shaped turns.

By keeping the turn size small, the board doesn't spend too much time right here in the full line picking up speed.

That makes it easier to keep the board gripping in the snow, and that means at the end of the turn, the board will be traveling across the hill rather than skidding down it.

If you watch my video on early ed changes, then you'll know that having the board gripping and traveling across the slope is essential for getting an early edge change, and you'll know that an early edge change is the only way in which you can create these smooth, rounded, S-shaped turns, which, full circle, are essential for riding steeps.

Before we start moving on to riding steeper slopes, the first thing we're going to do is to see if we can perform that task, small, rounded, S-shaped turns on a mellow slope, because if you can do that, then it's not going to be a case of learning new movements, just better performing movements that you can already make.

Now, if you can't make these turns on a mellow slope, then straight away, I can say with certainty that you won't be able to watch this video and suddenly be able to turn well on steeps.

First, you need to watch this video up here, that I'll also post in the description down below, which completely goes through all the technical movements you need to make in order to achieve short turns.

And once you have that, and you can make short turns on a mellow slope, then come back here and I'll now explain what you need to do in order to get that technique to work on steeper slopes.

So you've got those short turns on a mellow slope, but why is it difficult to now take those movements and make them work for you on a steeper slope?

Well, let's start by having a look and seeing what is happening at the start of the turn at the edge change.

So here, I'm on a mellow slope, and I'm going to show you what happens in a turn.

So this would be kind of where my hips, where my center of mass are.

And as you move your hips, as you move your center of mass over the board, they roll it onto the new edge.

So let's do that again.

So I'm on the toe edge at the end of the turn.

My hips work like a lever, just like this lever is working for me now to flatten the board and then roll it onto a new edge.

And on a mellow slope, this movement isn't very big.

And in fact, I'm going to try and show you, get back up there, how big this movement is.

So I've got my tape measure.

So, this would be the end of the toe side turn.

Hold that still there.

Board flattens.

So a few centimeters to get it flat, and then pull your hips over the board.

And that is it rolling it onto the new edge at the top of the turn.

So it's about 28 centimeters that you've had to move your hips, you've had to move your center of mass over the top of the board to get it to change edge.

Cool.

Whereas now on a steeper slope, I'm going to show you that that movement needs to be much bigger.

So we'll let the board roll flat and then lever your center of mass over the top of the board, onto your new edge.

So it grips and pulls you into the turn and we're up to 50 centimeters here.

And yes, I know this isn't incredibly precise, but it just illustrates my point that on what is only a slightly steeper slope here, you have to make a much bigger movement with your center of mass over the top of the board for the edge to engage in the snow and pull you into the turn.

On a mellow slope, when you flatten the board, it doesn't ride away from you or run away from you too quickly.

But when you get onto a steeper slope, as I am right now, when you flatten the board, it can very quickly start pointing down the slope and you end up picking up speed, getting out of control.

So that means on a steeper slope, not only is this movement over the board to change edge bigger, but you also have to perform it faster to stop the board just quickly getting sucked into the fall line and getting away from you before you're even on a new edge.

So we've seen what's different at the edge change when you're riding on a steeper slope.

Now let's work our way through the rest of the turn to see what else is different.

We'll start at the top part of the turn right there.

I call this the lazy part of the turn because all you're doing is going with gravity and just letting the board pull you down into the fall line.

And what's different on steeper slopes for this section is that basically you're just going to accelerate faster.

You're going to pick up more speed than you would on a mellow slope.

As we come into that lower section down there, that's where gravity and your momentum is going to keep pulling you down the slope and you're basically trying to fight against that.

You want the board to grip and come across the slope and finish the arc of that turn.

And because you're on a steeper slope, those forces are just going to be much, much stronger.

They're going to pull you down harder so you're going to have to work harder to fight against that.

And this means that if you're riding on a mellow slope and your posture isn't the best, let's say your weight isn't really in the best place, you might be able to get away with that because the forces acting against you aren't too strong.

But if you take that weak posture onto a steep slope, it's not going to hold and you're going to skid out at the bottom.

Or if when you're riding a mellow slope, you don't make much of a lateral movement to lean your center of mass onto the inside of the turn, again, that might hold on a mellow slope, but it's not going to hold on a steeper slope.

Because the slope is steeper, there's more forces acting against you and also you're picking up more speed.

So basically, you just need to get everything spot on.

And thankfully, the progression for riding steeps couldn't be simpler.

I deliberately didn't make this video too technique heavy.

The technique is short turns, which I've previously described.

And all you need to do is learn how to make short turns on a mellow slope.

And once you have those, you can gradually work your way up onto steeper slopes.

In a moment, we'll get to the second part of Rui's question that was all about what to do when those steep slopes get icy.

But first, I just want to say that whilst I hope you can glean some useful information from these videos that I'm making, the best thing to do is to get out there and have a lesson with a real instructor.

And whilst, yes, you can come and have lessons with me if you're able to come to my home resort, that's not always possible for all of you that are dotted all over the place.

So I want to shout out the booking platform, Ski Bro.

Lots of my fellow instructor friends are on there and they use that to advertise themselves.

And you can look at the resort that you're going to be visiting, see what instructors are there, have a look at their profile, know what qualifications they have, so you know exactly what you're getting before you arrive.

I'll paste the link to that website, Ski Bro, down below.

Now let me address Rui's point about riding icy slopes.

So let's assume, followed all the previous steps, you're doing everything as best as you can, getting your weight in the right place, all of that, but the board is still skidding.

Well, unfortunately, that can just be the nature of ice.

Ice sucks, and when you're on icy piece, especially steep ones, it can be difficult to get grip.

But what should be evident from everything that I've been saying is that the most important part is making sure that at the end of the turn, the board is gripping and going across the slope because that's the only way that you're able to get this early edge change.

And it's by getting the early edge change that you give yourself the best chances of success throughout the turn.

So even if you are skidding, let's assume this piece is really icy, even if you're skidding down after the turn, you can gradually slow yourself down, get the board to grip, and then once it is gripping and going across the turn, you can then make the edge change.

You're skidding on the ice again, slow yourself down, get yourself in a strong position, then when you feel the board gripping, edge change.

Skidding on the ice, find the grip, make the edge change.

So yes, you will lose a bit of height on the slope when you do this, but it allows you to stay in control, and then when you do get the grip at the end of the turn there, then you can go into the next one.

Learning to ride steeps isn't easy, and it's not going to be something that you can instantly do.

And factors like ice only go to compound the difficulty of steeper slopes.

But take the movements that we've learned in these short turns, and apply those movements to gradually steeper gradients of piste.

And you will make errors, and you will slip out, but know that it is through failures that you actually open your brain up to learning new movements.

So embrace those failures, and you will get there, okay?

You understand what the goal is, you know what the movements are, but now it's kind of up to you to put in the practice and work on riding steeper slopes.