Read Part 1 of Skiing the Steep if you haven't done so already as it will be very helpful!.You have arrived at the entrance to your chosen couloir or have moved in under the overhang of a cornice from the base of which the slope drops away in a disappearing curve towards the valley below.To get you into the mood take a few deep breaths and admire the view. 'Oh look.

Isn't that the Matterhorn over there? Let's do that after this. Oh look. There's the North Face of the Eiger. Let's do that after lunch'.I really must emphasise this - a smooth steep slope looks intimidating, but you will be surprised how easy it is once you make that decision to go!.To understand these instructions fully you should know how to do short swing turns which you can find in the two articles entitled 'A Basic Short Turn' Parts 1 and 2.

So, you have taken a few deep breaths to relax, smeared a liberal smearing of factor 90 all over exposed parts, and are now carefully traversing and side slipping into your chosen starting point. Stop. Look. Imagine the line you are going to take which should be as close to the fall line as possible. You are going to go as slowly as possible doing linked braking turns. You are going to start each turn with a perpendicular pole plant about 18" (yes, 18") down from the front of your lower ski boot.

This will ensure that you get your weight well down the hill.As a general rule, the steeper the slope, the further down you should make your pole plant. This means simply that your weight is always ahead of your skis. You can imagine that if you planted the pole next to your boot, the skis would have more chance of sliding away from you as you brought them round.

Your weight would then be uphill and behind your skis.You are now standing with your skis at right angles to the fall line. They have created their own little ledges, because you are angulating slightly with the edges dug in.

To maintain complete control at the end of every turn, the skis will finish up in this position for an instant before the start of the next turn.To understand these instructions fully you should know how to do short swing turns which you can find in the two articles entitled 'A Basic Short Turn' Parts 1 and 2. Let's make a turn. You must angulate down over your lower ski boot, and make the pole plant like you would in the bumps, except that it is perhaps 18" down from your boot.

To get the skis around you are making a slow down and quick up unweighting, and a jump round the pole. As the skis pass the fall line your weight will start to come down over the lower ski, and you will angulate down again to make the next pole plant. Although this will need quite an effort to start the first turn off from a stationary position, it must be done as smoothly as possible.Concentrate on keeping the skis in contact with the snow, and minimize the jump around. This will encourage a smoother braking as you start to go down for the next pole plant. Try to link five or six of these turns before stopping for a rest.

Make sure the skis are braking at 90 degrees against the fall line to minimize any forward traverse. This will ensure you are moving down the mountain in a narrow corridor not much wider than the length of your skis. You will realise that your upper body is always facing down the mountain during these turns, and will help the skis to rotate a little.

When you feel confident enough you can then try that narrow couloir running under the cable car. For that particular couloir there is no need to take a friend as someone in the cable car is bound to call for the ski patrol.

He currently runs a ski chalet agency in the French Alps. His book "Secrets of Better Skiing" can be found at http://www.ski-jungle.com If you have any comments about the above article, he will be happy to answer them.

By: Simon Dewhurst