Learn the traverse on skis: edge uphill, upper body facing downhill, weight on the downhill ski – so you hold your line and build the base for every turn.
In a traverse you ski in a straight line diagonally across the slope with parallel skis that are slightly edged uphill. Your upper body faces downhill, and most of your weight sits on the downhill ski – then you hold your line instead of sliding sideways. It is the counterpart of the straight run: instead of going with the fall line, you use your edges to stay across it.
The German Ski Instructors Association lists "traversing and side-slipping" as its own learning goal on Learning Level Blue, right after the first wedge turns [1]. In the teaching-practice topics for instructors this covers "strengthening and varying edging movements (foot and knee tilting)" and "deepening the central position, increasing stability" [2]. For you that means: it is about edge and balance, not strength.
Physics has long looked at the traverse as well: a model by ski mechanics researcher Komissarov describes traversing as skidded travel with high resistance, a result that agrees with skiing practice [3]. The basic principle: you only get as much hold as your edge bites into the snow.
Pick a target on the other side of the slope: a marker pole, a tree. That is the line you want to ski. Start straight from where you are and angle to the right or left across the slope.
Stand in the basic stance. Knees are bent, hands forward. Consciously shift your weight onto the downhill ski. It carries you. The uphill ski is a companion, not a support.
Tilt your knees slightly toward the slope and the feet follow: that sets the uphill edges. The steeper the slope, the more you need. Too much edge brakes and can make the skis catch. Too little edge and you slide downhill. A simulation of the carved turn showed that higher edge angles and loading both skis raise the resistance against shearing of the snow [4] (TRANSFER to the traverse: more edge, more hold).
Milestone: you ski 30 metres across without the skis visibly sliding sideways.
Turn shoulders and gaze downhill, the hips stay with the skis. That keeps your body from tipping into the slope. The posture feels slightly "leaning against the slope" – that is a feeling, not an angle.
First ski only on the uphill ski (briefly lift the downhill ski), later only on the downhill ski. Then ski with more or less edging. You feel how pressure and edge depend on each other.
Milestone: you hold the line on one ski for ten metres.
Fix: load the downhill ski, knees toward the slope, eyes and shoulders downhill.
Ski the traverse with "hot soles". Imagine the sole of the downhill ski getting noticeably warmer on its outer edge. You create pressure where the edge grips. That is feeling, not dogma – but many notice at once that the ski runs more calmly.
A practice plan for one session (practice, no study evidence):
That turns the traverse into a feeling you draw on in every later turn.
Tilt your knees slightly toward the slope so the uphill edges grip, shift your weight onto the downhill ski and turn shoulders and gaze downhill. The steeper and harder the snow, the more edging you need [1][2].
In side-slipping the skis deliberately slide sideways downhill. In the traverse they travel forward in a diagonal line. Both belong to Learning Level Blue [1].
Usually you have too little edge or too little pressure on the downhill ski. Tilt the knees more toward the slope and load the downhill ski consciously. On ice also reduce speed [6].
You do not need them to hold the line. The poles help balance, but you do not lean on them.
The Uphill Christie: Turning Uphill and Stopping Under Control