• Don't do this exercise if you have any existing injuries or physical problems.

Begin with your skis off

Out of the way of traffic, plant your poles on either side of you.

Holding your upper body, pelvis, and shoulders steady, hop and twist your feet to point toward one pole. Then, hop again and twist the feet to point to the other pole.

• Keep your upper body stationary and facing straight ahead throughout the exercise.

After hopping, stand still for a moment and notice the twist of the legs in relation to the upper body. Feel a pinch on the downhill side of your body and a stretch in the back on the uphill side of your body.

With poles planted, hop a few times, then try adding a pole swing with the hop. The pole should touch the snow upon landing. When you hop up, swing the poles.

• Use the flex in your legs upon landing to absorb some of the energy and act as a "coiled spring" to get you into the next hop.

With skis

What you have done without skis is exactly what you will do with the skis on--start with your skis only slightly out of the flow line, on shallow terrain. Hop your skis with shallow direction changes.

As you find a bit of rhythm and really get some air, redirecting your skis becomes easier. Hop your skis further across the hill.

• Try to keep a rhythm from hop-turn to hop-turn.
• Gradually tone down the hopping while maintaining the energy, so that you are aggressively flexing and extending throughout the turn.

Tips:

• Keep your upper body facing straight down the flow line.
• Swing the pole down the flow line.
• Flex in the legs (not the waist) as you make your landing, in order to propel yourself back up again.
• Allow one movement to flow into the next.
• Don't try too hard.

Once you've got the hang of it, progressively take the hop turn onto steeper terrain. As you go steeper, notice that you'll have to compensate as follows:

• Make sure you retract your legs fully--and make sure that your tails don't get stuck in the steep snow.
• When you initiate a new jump, move your upper body sharply DOWN the hill. Jumping straight up won't allow room for your tails to come around.