LEXICON: pivot turn

A low speed turn used as a training tool to promote technique for challenging steeps. The fundamentals of this turn are to move from having your skis parallel and facing in one direction across the mountain, similar to the sideslip position, then planting the downhill pole and moving your skis through 180 degrees by letting you hips fall over your feet, flattening your skis and allowing them to turn and point down the fall line and then back across the mountain. Once the fundamentals are understood and repeatable, this can be used in a series of linked turns in steeps or moguls.