Are You Really an Expert Skier? Ski Instructor Breaks It Down

Skiers love numbers and metrics.

Ski boot flexes, binding settings, ski widths, snowfall totals, wet bulb temperatures. If it’s measurable, skiers will measure it.

Perhaps no metric is more important—or more debatable—than skiing skill. Every rung of the ladder, from beginner to elite, means something different, depending on who you ask.

To clear up any confusion, Avoriaz Alpine Ski School recently released a video explaining what each level of skier should be capable of, with some help from ski instructor George Treble. 

The risk in watching the video is that viewers might realize they aren’t as good at skiing as they thought they were. But there’s a silver lining. Perhaps, all these years, you’ve been underselling yourself.

The Intermediate Plateau

As Treble explained, skiers can progress through seven levels, starting at lower beginner and hopefully, someday, reaching expert.

The first four phases of their journey are introductory. First, skiers master sliding down gentle slopes. Then, they begin to make turns that mix parallel and wedge ski positions. 

By the time they reach the strong intermediate level, Treble said, they can make parallel turns on runs that aren’t too challenging, and have started to use pole plants. Their posture is becoming more dynamic, instead of rigid. 

But when these skiers encounter mixed or bad snow, they might temporarily lose their gains in technique. This is where most skiers are on the skill spectrum, Treble said. He called it the “intermediate plateau.”

That isn’t necessarily a bad thing, though. With the tools of a strong intermediate at your disposal, you can still visit and ski at beautiful places around the world.

What Makes an Advanced Skier?

Lower and upper advanced skiers are developing or mastering the highest-level ski techniques.

They can oscillate between carved or skidded turns, Treble explained. Carved turns involve digging your edges into the snow, leaving narrow train tracks behind. During a skidded turn, skiers slide their skis through the arc, kicking snow into the air and controlling speed. Each turn type is useful in different situations (carves are, of course, also tons of fun).

Another element of advanced skiing is body separation. Those who know what they’re doing on the slopes can break their body into two parts—upper and lower—that move independently. Watch a skilled skier, and you may notice that throughout the turn, their torso remains facing downhill while their legs twist below them.

The Pinnacle: Expert Skiing

To Treble, expert skiing is largely about taking the techniques learned through the earlier stages of development and applying them to a niche.

That might involve throwing tricks in the terrain park or planning a backcountry descent outside the boundaries of the ski resort.

He also noted that being an expert can also simply involve “being able to ski everything perfectly with efficiency and skill.” 

What about elite skiers, though? Who are they?

Professionals, mostly—think alpine racers or freestyle medalists. Treble made an astute observation about this tier of skiing expertise. The skill gap between expert skiers and elite skiers is larger than the gap between expert skiers and beginner skiers.

That might sound bizarre at first, but I’m with Treble on this one.

I’m a lifelong skier and can ski down most (but not all!) runs I encounter with decent style—that makes me an expert or advanced skier.

The difference between what I can do and what Mikaela Shiffrin can do on the race course is enormous, though. I’m not great with math, but I’d say she’s at least 500% better at skiing than I am. In contrast, I might be 100% better at skiing than a beginner.

You could something similar about trick-oriented freeskiers. I can land a backflip on the right day. X Games gold medalist Miro Tabanelli can do a double cork 2340—that’s two flips and six and a half full body rotations.

Related: U.S. Ski & Snowboard and Utah’s Westminster University Renew Partnership