How To 540

So you've learned how to 360 on skis and now the hunger for progression is telling you that you want to spin more! Well tune in and take notes from Dean's advice in this one, as he demonstrates how you can tack on an extra 180 to your dialled in 3's with ease!

Don't have a pair of Tramp Skis yet? You can still practice the motions of the 540 in your socks, but the Tramp Skis will teach you to adapt to the swing weight that skis will give you while rotating!

(Narrating/Riding: Dean Bercovitch Filming/Editing: Vince Emond. Filmed At: Airhouse, Squamish)

Before We Begin

Before getting started, it's important that you have your 360's and switch 360's on lockdown. How do you know it's locked in, I hear you say? Well, can you 360 with several grabs, shifty's and with varying amounts of airtime? If the answer is yes, let's smash out the 540! If you're not feeling quite ready yet, take another look at our How To 360 tutorial. 

Dean making it look (st)easy. Ha!

Just Do It - nike. - Shia LaBeouf.

Some skiers find spinning natural and are able to visualize this by simply remembering to add an extra 180 to the end of the 360. This isn't always the case though, which is also the reason that you're reading this right now.

So lets break this down! The main cause of struggling to stomp 5's to begin with is usually due to a disconnect between your hips and shoulders on take-off. Lets go over some steps so that you can stomp your first 540 in no time. 

One Step At A Time

For these exercises, you should use the T-Set take-off, which is used for spinning as this will help you to set your rotation better and will also help you to hold your control and balance during the spin.

"I believe I can fly.."

The first routine is the 180 followed by a switch 360 on the following bounce. The Switch 3 is done while looking over your leading shoulder immediately on the landing of your 180. Through making this switch to be looking over your leading shoulder, you'll be able to keep your eyes on the landing throughout your 360 and allowing you to keep sight while landing switch.

Seeing is believing.

The second routine to get you on your road to stomping the 540 is to change this up so that you're throwing the 360 first followed by a switch 180 on the next bounce. This will train your body to remember to throw at least a stacked 360 on take off before adding the last 180. Once you land your 360, maintain eye-sight on the end of the trampoline throughout the last 180 to simulate landing switch in the 540 again. 

To get one step closer to landing the 540, add in an extra 90 to your 360 so that you become comfortable at throwing 450's. Achieving this is as simple as setting your 360 and at the end of it, shift open your hip beside you to bring around the additional 90. 

360+90+90= 

So close! Now you're only a mere 90 off having the 540 in your bag o' tricks. With a 5, having a small wind up to the opposite direction can be helpful if you need it. Remember though to finish your 360 first before adding more spin at the end through using a shifty like motion to complete the spin.

Don't pre-wind too much! The more wind up that you give your rotation, the higher the chance of having your shoulders and hips disconnected is, causing you to spin off balance. 

Stay connected.

Now that you have the basics down, there is one piece to the puzzle, before taking these to snow. By practicing 5's with style and grabs, you'll be able to lock these in even better and will achieve better muscle memory and air awareness! Now go out and shred!

Take this to snow or progress even further with the 720 in our next tutorial!

Ollie Barbour
Ski Addiction
Helping You Ski Better

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