Plow with parallel (PwP) is the name in Pro(fessional) Ski Instruction (PSI) for pflugsteuern (German for plow steering) and wedge christie (most English sources). To learn it, you must first be able to do proper plow turning, especially to make wide plows.
And just as that technique, PwP is a slow-turning technique, for rather slow speeds, and suited for slopes up to medium steep. However, advanced skiers need it as well sometimes, when the visibility is so low that they have to feel the bumps on their path (with their feet) rather than seeing them.
In its easy form, PwP looks like this:
The instructor doesn't demonstrate the weight shift as clear as the one on Plow Turning. But in the turns, he still has his weight fully on the outside ski. And what he does demonstrate very well, is the turning out of the new outside ski before the turn, and to a relatively wide plow (it's an easy slope).
That will give you comfortable speed control, which will make you await the turning rather then hasten it (by a jerky shoulder girdle movement). If you'd still go too fast for comfort, steer more uphill between turns. This then is the basic instruction:
Plow with parallel
- Start with a plow turn from a side of the slope.
- When coming out of the turn, make the uphill ski match the downhill ski and traverse for a shorter or longer distance. If necessary, steer a bit uphill to control your speed.
- To make a new turn, turn the new outside ski out before the turn, put your weight on it (lean over it if necessary), and wait for the turning to happen.
Technical Reference
This is how the Austrian School tries to teach plow & parallel (pflugsteuern):
In real life, that's rarely copied by learners because it demands way too much of them. Instead, they brace. They do that because they're asked to start the turn with too much speed. Even asked to do an up & forward movement, which increases their speed even further.
Instead, they should transfer their weight to the new outside ski as soon as that is turned out. Also, the PwP doesn't have to be perfect for the learner to continue to the short turn, which is the next step in New Ski Instruction (PSI). The purpose of PwP is that they can descend down medium steep slopes with an uneven snowdeck, without bracing.
Continue to The Parallel Short Turn, method 1 →
Change log
- V. 1.1: shortened text.
- V. 1.2: shortened and edited text, added videos.
- V. 1.3: changed parts about medium steep slopes.
- V. 1.4: shortened some parts; adjusted Continue to link to the new order of steps in PSI.
- V. 1.5: changed video and adapted text; adjusted Continue to link to the new order of steps in PSI.
