Want to ski like a champion? Here are the steps you need to know in order to excel.

Step One: Your Monetary Value

You’re going to have to spend some green to get into skiing, and it’s not cheap.  Getting into the skiing lifestyle is hard, but maintaining it is easy. If you’re serious about the sport, you know you are going to be skiing a lot.  Getting into skiing is going to cost you between $1,800-$2,000 simoleons.  But after the initial buy in, its smooth sailing, spending around $500 a year depending on the mountain and your activity in the sport.

Step Two: Gear and You

Your ski gear defines you as a skier, as a person, and as a human being.  If your gear isn’t up to par with your ability, you might as well not even ski.  First, let’s talk…

Skis:

Your skis and your jacket are the two most important pieces of your outfit.  Your skis are like Bono and your jacket is The Edge.  The rest of your outfit, is U2. First things first, let’s get your lingo up so you don’t look like a rookie when you go the Sports Authority looking for discount skis.

The type of skis you want are twin tipped, full camber, (insert preferred brand name here) skis. These are a bit advanced but you’d rather have a big learning curve than having to buy a new pair of skis two years after your first set.  You also want a solid brand. No knockoff, unknown brand that you buy from Skis’R’Us.

Some good companies to look into are Rossingol, Atomic, Armanda, Fischer and Volkl.  You also want a design on your skis that is unique. Whether it be bright colors, crazy designs, awesome pictures, or even art pieces, make it stand out, and own it!  You don’t want to be shredding some snarly powder with some bland black and gray skis.

The next piece of gear to focus on is your…

Jacket:

Your jacket is the first thing people are going to recognize on the slopes.  Jackets are mostly personal preference but there are a few rules to follow.

1: Don’t be a tool and wear a long sweatshirt down to your knees. Nobody likes that. You look stupid and freezing. There are literally icicles falling off of your jacket. You cannot possibly be warm.

2: Don’t wear a mega heavy super-duper “I’m going ice fishing in Alaska” type winter coat. Although you are going to be out in the cold, you are still exercising, and that will make you sweat; you will have a heat stroke if your jacket is too big.

3: Look stylish. You don’t want to be that guy skiing down the mountain in a pink and blue jumpsuit from the 80’s. You might as well be listening to a Discman with a headband over top of your perm. Good color choices are dark ones like black and grays. Or you can go all out with bright reds or blues. Stay away from pinks and yellows, looking like a crossing guard is not stylish.

4: Goose down feathers are godly. If you can find yourself a nice, cheap, goose down jacket, buy it immediately. No matter what mountain you are on, all you will need to wear is a long sleeve shirt, and your personal insulated blanket, also known as a goose down jacket. That is mostly all the gear you really need to worry about. Just try to match your snow pants as best as you can, and always wear a face mask and goggles.

Step Three: The Basics

I’m going to cover this very briefly because skiing is the easiest to learn if you guys get out there and try it yourself. Taking lessons is a very good idea and most mountains will offer them to all age groups. I’ll give you a few pointers when starting.

1: Falling is your friend. You can’t learn how to improve if you don’t know what you need to improve on.

2: Know your limits, but don’t acknowledge them. Skiing is about having fun and pushing yourself to do more. Know what you can and can’t do but don’t let your limits stop you from trying newer, harder things. Chances are, the first time you go off from a jump, you will fall. It’s going to happen, but you will need to know how it feels. Eventually, you will be more prepared and learn what was done wrong helping you add more skill to your skiing repertoire.

3: Big jumps are easier than little ones. Little jumps hurt because when you go off of them, you land flat on the ground and all the pain goes through your body.  With big jumps, the take offs are scary and falling will be inevitable. But when learning to maintain balance in the air, landing will become easier. This is because big jumps are  normally on steeper hills so when you landing, instead of slamming the ground, you gently glide into a downward slope, where your feet barely hurt at all.

4: Keep your balance in the air. When you go off a jump, your instinct is to freeze up because it’s scary being out there with no control.  When you hit a jump you usually lean back and will fall backwards after landing on a bad angle. While you’re in the air you need to get past that lock up stage and lean forward a bit, lining up your skis parallel with the mountain’s face. Keep your knees bent; you don’t want broken shins on your first jump.

Those are my tips on how to ski like a champ. It may not be a complete guide to skiing, but it might serve as a reference guide to some of the subtleties of the sport. So get out there, fall, hit jumps, and tear up those slopes brah!