IF YOU’RE DETERMINED to improve your technique, or rise above the performance plateau which will be all-too-familiar to every keen skier, then there’s no substitute for professional one-to-one ski coaching. Which is great when you’re away in the mountains, but hardly practical (dry-slopes and snow-domes aside) when you’re at home. Could a course of DVD-based lessons be the answer — and even help beginners? This season we decided to find out...

Warren Smith is one of the most experienced ski-trainers around, and his Ski Academy runs programs in Verbier in the Winter, Saas-Fee in the Summer, New Zealand late Summer and UK Ski venues in Spring and Autumn. The results of Warren’s teaching methods speak for themselves.

However, no matter how many air-miles he clocks up, he can’t reach everyone in person. If you want his undivided attention whenever you feel up for some learning, a practical alternative could be to arm yourself with a series of Warren Smith’s Ski Academy DVDs, which are designed to enable skiers to progress in skill and experience from intermediate right up to instructor level. On first viewing we couldn't resist the temptation of running through the whole of a disk, and soon found ourselves overwhelmed by the sheer volume of information and advice which was coming at us. This taught us to take it easy and stick to one specific area from the four categories on offer: Carving, Steeps, Moguls and Freeride.

Seen, as intended, like this, things became much clearer. As we progressed we began to make important connections as the underlying principles of each demonstrated technique started to make sense. Then if anything still got by us, we simply replayed it until it finally went in. Compared to personal, one-to-one teaching, the cost-effectiveness of the multimedia approach is clear enough.

The Warren Smith Ski Academy DVDs Lessons 1-4 are designed to allow you to progress at your own pace through ever-more advanced levels.

And there’s another, less-obvious advantage which comes with combining several different technique areas in each disk. You may never intend to veture off-piste, but all it takes is one heavy snowfall after the groomers have done their work and you’ll find yourself in unfamiliar deep powder, at which point some freeride technique suddenly becomes well worth having, after all. The same goes for moguls, steeps... you never know what you’ll encounter on the mountain, so it pays to be prepared. A balanced set of staged lessons in all four technique areas is therefore a great idea. And be honest — would you ever get around to booking lessons with an instructor to learn disciplines which sound like they interest you least..?

Proof of these benefits came during our very next ski visit. We were surprised by just how much had gone in, and constantly found ourselves with 'that voice' in our head talking us reassuringly through certain tricky situations which would previously have merely exposed gaps in our technique. You can get by for just so long, but having extra skills and techniques in your skiing repertoire makes all the difference to your sense of security and personal achievement. Since DVD players are pretty small these days, it’s possible to watch some next-level tuition in the ski-apartment during the evening. No, it’s not the most lively form of après-ski, but improving your skiing can become pretty addictive.

Humbler Beginings...

Talking of which, remember how it felt when you put on your first pair of skis? So can we — and if we'd known a little more before we even got to that point then it would probably all have made a lot more sense a lot sooner. Which is where Warren’s book ‘Go Ski’ comes in. For anyone starting out today this little jewel is perhaps as comprehensive an introduction as you’ll find anywhere. Publisher Dorling Kindersley employs its trademark upbeat combination of clear visual guidance and bite-sized text to get every aspect across as rapidly as possible (after all, we want to ski, not read a book). But there’s more to this package, in the form of a slick, surprisingly comprehensive DVD which not only illustrates each step of the new skier’s journey towards a solid technique, but encourages them to go further. In fact, it’s so compelling that it almost makes us want to start all over again.

© MountainPassions