The step turn on skis: consciously step from the old to the new outer ski at the turn change – for balance, speed control and tight spaces on the piste.
In the step turn you change turns by actively stepping from the current outer ski onto the new outer ski: you lift the new outer ski briefly, set it down parallel beside the other and load it. The change happens through a small step instead of by sliding in.
Why that is useful: you learn to bring your weight consciously onto the outer ski when the turn demands it. In the teaching-practice topics for "improve turn change", the German Ski Instructors Association explicitly lists the step change as one of several change movements – alongside edge, weight and curve-lean change [1]. The 2025/26 continuing education also covers the "two-footed push-off for the turn change in small turns" and weight change in larger turns [2]. The step turn is therefore a drill that isolates the step change.
How hard is it? If you ski the parallel turn securely, the first step turn is often surprisingly easy – the difficult part is dosing. How long you need for "clean" is individual; I know of no robust learning-time studies.
Ski a turn and clearly load the outer ski. Feel how it carries the pressure. Milestone: you ski five turns in which the outer ski clearly carries more load than the inner ski.
In the turn, briefly lift the inside ski a few centimetres. If you do not wobble, you stand stably.
At the end of the turn you lift the new outer ski and set it down parallel into the new curve. The step is small, the track barely widens. Your centre of mass moves forward and into the new turn direction [1].
Step at every change: left, right, left. Your speed stays constant. Milestone: eight step turns in a row without stopping.
In short turns you can keep the legs closer together and turn the step into a two-footed push-off, as the association describes for small turns [2].
Fix: small steps, set down parallel, weight forward and into the curve.
Practise the step first standing on the slope. Standing across the slope, alternately lift one ski and set it down parallel next to the other. That way the feeling for the small step becomes a reflex before you need it while skiing.
A practice plan for one session (practice, no study evidence):
Stepping becomes clean when balance is right – not when you get faster.
A turn in which you actively step from the old to the new outer ski at the turn change. You lift the new outer ski, set it down parallel and load it.
It trains balance, weight change and speed control. According to the DSLV, the step change is one of the change movements in the turn change [1].
Bring weight onto the outer ski, lift the inside ski briefly, set the new outer ski down parallel at the turn change and repeat calmly. Practise standing first.
Not excessively, but good balance. Practise single-leg stands off the slope; agility and balance were linked to injury risk in recreational skiers [4].
The Dynamic Parallel Turn: Your Bridge to Carving