Jumping on skis comes down to one core skill: the pop. You crouch low as you approach the lip of a jump, then extend your legs and back explosively so your body is fully straight right as the center of your skis reaches the edge. Master that timing on flat ground first, and everything else builds from there.
The Pop: Your Foundation for Every Jump
Start by practicing on flat terrain with your skis on. Bend your knees and hips forward until your back and legs form roughly a 45-degree angle, keeping your weight centered over the middle of your skis. Then spring upward as hard as you can, straightening your legs and back completely before letting them bend again as you land. That’s the pop. It sounds simple, but getting comfortable with it before you ever approach a jump makes a real difference.
When you take this to an actual jump, timing becomes everything. You want to begin your upward extension just before your ski centers reach the lip, pushing down into the snow to build pressure as you straighten. Your body should be fully extended at the exact moment you leave the lip. If you pop too early, you’ll already be losing height before you’ve left the snow. Too late, and the jump launches you before you’ve generated any upward force of your own.
Keep your weight over the center of your skis throughout. A common instinct is to lean back as you leave the ground, but that puts you in what instructors call the “toilet position,” where your knees are bent but your ankles aren’t flexed. This kills your balance in the air and sets you up for a rough landing. The fix is to flex your ankles, knees, and hips together as a unit rather than just bending at the knees.
Pop vs. Ollie
Not every jump uses a straight pop. The ollie is a separate technique borrowed from skateboarding, and it’s useful for clearing rollers, hopping over features, or just playing around on the mountain without a built jump. Instead of springing evenly off both feet, you shift your weight back to load pressure into your ski tails, then snap your legs forward and upward to lift off. The ollie gives you more control over when and where you leave the ground, while the pop is what you’ll use on dedicated jumps with a defined lip.
How to Land Without Jarring Your Knees
Landing is where most beginners get hurt, and the difference between a soft landing and a painful one comes down to how much you bend. Research on impact absorption shows that bending your knees past 80 degrees on landing (think: a deep squat) significantly reduces the force traveling through your joints compared to a stiff landing where the knees only flex to about 63 degrees. Your hips should flex to around 60 degrees, and your ankles need to be actively dorsiflexed (shins pressing forward into your boot tongues) at the same time.
In practical terms, this means you want to absorb the landing like a spring. As your skis make contact, let your ankles, knees, and hips all compress together in one smooth motion. Think of it as catching the ground rather than hitting it. The steeper the landing zone, the easier this becomes, because a downward slope lets you convert vertical impact into forward momentum. That’s why terrain park jumps are built with angled landing zones rather than flat runouts.
Flat landings are the most punishing thing you can do to your body on skis. When you land on a flat surface, nearly all your downward velocity has to be absorbed by your joints instead of being redirected down a slope. Even intermediate skiers reach average speeds around 31 mph on jump approaches, so the forces involved are substantial. Always aim to land on the downslope of a jump, not the flat area beyond it. If you’re not confident you can clear the knuckle (the rounded top of the landing zone), the jump is too big for you right now.
A Smart Progression Path
Resist the urge to start on the medium or large park jumps. A solid progression looks like this:
- Flat ground pops: Practice the crouch-to-extension motion while standing still, then while gliding slowly on a gentle slope. Do this until it feels automatic.
- Natural terrain features: Find small rollers, cat track edges, or gentle bumps on the mountain and pop off them. These are low-consequence and let you practice timing your extension with a real takeoff.
- Extra-small park jumps: Most terrain parks have a progression of jump sizes. Start with the smallest ones, which are typically designed so you only leave the ground by a foot or two. Focus entirely on popping at the lip and landing balanced.
- Small park jumps: Once you’re consistently landing centered on the small features, move up one size. The technique is identical. The only thing that changes is speed and air time.
Expect this to take a few days of focused practice. Freestyle coaching programs typically spend three full days building the foundation before progressing to anything beyond basic straight airs. There’s no shortcut here, and the muscle memory you build on small jumps directly transfers to bigger ones.
Terrain Park Etiquette
Terrain parks have their own unwritten (and written) rules. The National Ski Areas Association uses the SMART framework: start small and work your way up, make a plan for every feature before you drop in, always look to make sure the landing zone is clear before you go, respect other riders and the features, and take it easy by knowing your limits.
The “always look” part is non-negotiable. Before dropping into any jump, stop at the top and visually confirm that no one is standing in the landing zone or has fallen on the feature. Many parks have designated “drop zones” where you can see the landing. If you can’t see the landing from where you are, either hike up for a better view or have a friend spot for you by standing to the side and giving you a signal.
Binding Settings for Jumping
Your binding release settings (DIN) may need adjustment when you start jumping. Standard DIN settings are calibrated for normal skiing forces, but jumping introduces impacts that can cause premature release, especially on landing. A ski popping off mid-air or on a hard landing creates a dangerous situation. Many freestyle skiers bump their DIN up a couple of points on jump days compared to their normal skiing setting, then back it down for regular cruising. If you’re grabbing your skis in the air, higher settings become even more important since the pull of your hand can trigger a release.
If you’re planning to jump regularly, consider bindings designed for freestyle use. Models with higher maximum DIN ranges and lateral elasticity give you more room to absorb off-axis forces without releasing unexpectedly. A ski shop can help you find the right baseline DIN for your weight, height, and ability level, and you can adjust from there based on what you’re doing that day.