You can't wait to hit the slopes, but you also understand that you are a beginner. This guide is meant to give you some advice that may help you out while you are skiing. 

Keep Your Eyes In Front of You

One of the easiest mistakes you might make is one that you can avoid, which is looking forward. Some beginners may be tempted to look at their skis when they are gliding down a slope. The excitement of controlling your glide might be exhilarating if you watch your skis, but you may miss a drop coming or other obstacles. 

Understand Trail Difficulty

Another important thing to master is what signs means in regard to trail difficulty. Expert skiers have explored these trails and gave them a rating, so that you can run a trail that won't be dangerous to you as a beginner. The following are trail difficulty indicators (for the United States):

  • Green Circle--This is a simple trail that will be relatively slow and won't have too many obstacles.
  • Blue Square--Slightly steeper trail or one with a few more twists and turns that is usually for intermediate skiers. 
  • Black Diamond--A trail for experts that is steeper, narrow, and with obstacles. You might even find moguls or small snow mounts. 
  • Double Black Diamond (or with an exclamation mark)--Very difficult trail that should not be attempted unless you are an expert.
  • Orange Rectangles--This trail contains specialty obstacles, which are extremely difficult and only for experts. 

You should talk to a skiing specialist about other trail difficulty indicators before attempting to ski outside of the United States.

Be Sure You Fall Gracefully

You might fall at times. The best thing to do is train yourself to fall without getting nervous and to fall correctly to avoid injuries. Snow is hard, so attempting to put your hands forward might cause an injury to areas like your wrists or fingers. 

The best thing you can do is fall on your side with the elbow hitting the snow at a 45 degree angle. You will be using your elbow like an anchor in the snow. Make sure you stay calm when you fall because stress tends to tighten your muscles, which heightens your risk of pulling a muscle. 

You can always talk to a skiing specialist about other things that may be helpful to you while you are skiing, but hopefully this guide enlightened you with a few good pointers. 

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