Getting up after a fall on skis: put the skis across the slope, hands uphill, push up through your legs – plus the mistakes that keep you sliding in circles.
The easiest way to get up after a fall is to park both skis across the slope below your body, support yourself uphill with your hands, and push up through your legs. You hardly need strength – you need the right order.
The honest answer to "How often will I fall?": often, at the start. Skiers on their very first day are over-represented among the injured by about a factor of 2.2 compared with their share on the slope [1]. Falls come with the territory. If you handle them calmly, you lose less time, nerve and energy.
Getting up is also a safety skill: FIS Rule 6 asks you to clear the slope as quickly as possible after a fall in narrow places or where visibility is limited [2]. That means you have to be back on your feet fast. You can learn this properly in one hour on flat terrain.
Stay down for one breath. Does anything hurt, did you hit your head, is everything spinning? Then do not get up – call or wave for help; every skier is obliged to assist [2]. If all is fine, carry on. Milestone: you check yourself before you stand up.
Pull your legs in and turn so both skis lie across the slope below you, i.e. downhill next to your body. Skis across the slope do not slide away. Skis pointing down the fall line start moving as soon as you stand.
If the skis are crossed, free them first: lift one ski at a time and lay it parallel to the other. Milestone: both skis lie parallel and across the slope without you sliding.
Take both poles in one hand or lay them across under the skis. Do not grip the poles tightly when you support yourself with your hands: a fall onto an outstretched hand that is still holding the pole causes skier's thumb – a common thumb injury [3]. In the snow, support yourself with an open hand.
Shuffle your bottom as close to the skis as possible. Support yourself on the uphill side with one hand (or with both poles planted across the slope) and straighten your legs. Your centre of mass has to come over your feet, not behind them. Then push up and rise through your legs into the basic stance.
Milestone: three attempts in a row where you stand up without sliding and without help.
Stay on the uphill side of the ski, stamp the snow flat with your boot, set the sole cleanly on the ski and click in. If the ski lies downhill, plant it in the snow on the uphill side or hold it until you are clicked in.
Here only surface area gets you up. Lay your poles flat across the snow and press yourself up as if on a board. Leave the skis lying across the slope. This is tiring – plan breaks.
Fix: skis across, bottom close, hands flat.
Practise getting up on purpose, not only in an emergency. Sit down on flat terrain, lie on your side and get up ten times. In the first rounds, even turn the skis the wrong way deliberately and free them. Once you have done that, you learn on the side how much strength your legs have.
A practice plan for one session (practice, no study evidence):
Ten minutes of training saves you minutes and energy every time during a ski day.
Pull your legs in, lay both skis parallel across the slope below you, support yourself on the uphill side with a flat hand or poles placed across, and push up through your legs. Skis across the slope do not slide away.
Lay your poles flat across the snow and lean on them like a small board. The skis stay across the slope. Plan breaks – getting up in deep snow is tiring. Breathe calmly, keep the order, no hectic attempts to free yourself.
Lift one ski and lay it parallel to the other. Then put both across the slope. You cannot load crossed skis without sliding or twisting a binding.
Only if nothing hurts. Stay down briefly and check head and joints. With pain or dizziness, wait for help. If you lie in a narrow or blind spot, clear the slope as soon as you can [2].
The Side Step: Climbing Uphill Safely on Skis