The Pedal Turn, At Last
I spent this past week reviewing skis at the 2026 Mammoth Mountain WWSRA On-Snow Demo but who really cares? The big news is I finally cracked the code on the pedal-hop turn!
Oh it has been a long, long wait, with many twists and turns and so very, very many dead ends. But the ramp I built last summer gave me just enough clues (and a lot of opportunity) to generate some new ideas about the technique.
From the moment I started skiing this winter, it was obvious my time on the ramp had changed something. But I lacked access to safe (or "safe") 45+ degree snow so I could put my ramp-generated insights to the test. Finally, Monday morning on Mammoth's upper mountain, I got exactly what I needed: lift-serviced steep-enough snow.
Turns out I was wrong about just about everything. Sorry!
And also, I was mostly right. The Pedal Turn—the real pedal turn, Vallençant's Virage Sauté-Pédale—is an odd and highly-nuanced creature. One that defies simple explanation.
Movements off the uphill foot must be executed in such a way that the natural weight-shifts that occur in doing so don't happen. Effortless, once you figure that out. Impossible, if you don't.
Well, it only took me 40 years of trying.
Here is video of me reviewing skis demonstrating the turn in slow-motion off the Broadway chair. I will put together a series of posts and/or videos explaining how the pedal-hop works, and hopefully offering coherent exercises you can use to figure it out yourself.
And finally, on a more somber note: please be aware Mammoth's upper mountain is hard and fast right now. While practicing technique this week, I was very deliberate in choosing a point along the Dropout headwall where I would not slide over cliffs or into rocks if I fell.
Be safe out there.
— February 7, 2026
Andy Lewicky is the author and creator of SierraDescents