Learn the hop turn: extension unweighting with pole plant, rotating in the air, landing softly. Built on the piste; steep terrain and couloirs only in a course.
The hop turn is a turn in which you unweight both skis with a small jump, rotate them in the air into the new direction and land again. The honest answer to “Why do I need it?”: for situations where a ski can’t glide or edge, such as in breakable crust or very steep, narrow terrain. On the normal piste you don’t need it – but it is good training for unweighting, timing and landing.
This guide teaches you the movement on a groomed, moderately steep piste. Steep slopes, couloirs and breakable crust are deliberately not described here as a how-to to imitate. Why? There, terrain and avalanche assessment decide, not technique. The German Alpine Club itself says its information does not replace a ski-touring course or avalanche training [7].
How hard is it? It is a pro skill: you need short-turn confidence, dynamic leg work and a clean landing. How many days you need, no study tells.
The basis: approach with bent knees, extend the legs, rotate the upper body downhill and plant the pole into the turn centre [2]. This is the “classic extension unweighting” that is also used to initiate deep-snow turns [2]. Milestone: you initiate ten turns in a row with extension unweighting without skidding. Number and criterion are practice, not a study value.
The extension becomes a small jump: the skis leave the snow, the take-off is minimal. For skiing in breakable crust the DAV describes this as a “large vertical range of movement” through dynamic straightening up and very dynamic leg extension [1]. On the piste a hop that merely unweights the skis is enough.
Rotate the skis in the air above the snow into the new direction. The DAV mentions strong rotation of the legs above the snow surface for breakable crust [1]. Rotate the skis only as much as the terrain demands: on moderate gradient a small angle into the new direction is enough, the rest follows in the glide (practice).
An open ski stance gives stability when taking off and landing [1]. Bend your knees, put both skis down at the same time. Milestone: you land five times in a row in the basic stance without backseat.
The aim is to link turn to turn without a traverse to brake [2]. You control speed through the radius: large radii = fast, small = slow [2].
Don’t jump higher, jump cleaner. At its core the hop turn is unweighting timing. The order according to the BASPO: into the knees, extend the legs, rotate the upper body downhill, pole into the turn centre [2]. Say it aloud while practising: “knees – extend – rotate – pole”. Try it on a wide, moderately steep piste with video: do you see your skis rotating only just above the snow? Then the landing is soft (practice).
A turn in which you unweight both skis with a small jump, rotate them in the air into the new direction and land again. The DAV describes similar movements with dynamic straightening up for breakable crust. On the normal piste you don’t need it, but as training for unweighting and landing it is good [1].
With extension unweighting: approach with bent knees, extend the legs, rotate the upper body downhill and plant the pole into the turn centre. This is the classic turn initiation that also works in deep snow. Make sure you land with forward lean – shin against the boot [2].
On a groomed, moderately steep, wide piste with little traffic. The BASPO recommends internalising practice forms for off-piste skiing on the piste and adapting steepness and slope size to ability. Keep your knees bent on landing and do not land in backseat [2][3].
Only in a course and with a companion. From about 30 degrees of slope, slabs and avalanches can release, and terrain matters more than technique there. Avalanche awareness and the emergency kit with transceiver you learn in a course that can assess your ability and the conditions [6][7].
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