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I learned my first 360, or “helicopter” as they were called, at the age of 13 or 14. Lots have changed since then but I’m kind of milking the same trick even today. And I’m forever grateful to the guy (older mate at the freestyle club) that showed me how to do those off some little knobs.

The author “keeping it real” in Le Tour, Chamonix, France - an old school “helicopter”

We here at Homeboyski are old school guys and not worth of much in the realm of tricks and “how to articels” on them. However, we know the basics and 360 is almost as basic as it gets. And still it just won’t age or go out of fashion – do a floating 360 on a decent side kicker and you’ll be considered as a “good skier” among the avarage slope crowd. Backflip is another crowd pleaser for sure but that’s a whole another story. (Eventhough one can argue air time moves not relating to actual skiing at all…I’m not getting into that too much but my humble opinion is that at least knowing how to take some basic airs doesn’t make you any worse!)

Ok, let’s get into the actual move. As I said lots have changed but the basics of spinning have remained the same through the years – it is all about the physics anyway. Styles in the air vary but how to set the spin is pretty simple actually.

But first, before I get into the details few pointers on safety:

- Check the jump always before (landing, take offs, possible “blind spots” etc – it is always a good idea to have “spotter” to show you the landing is clear before you start the inrun). And, yes, especially if you are an aging office person (as we are), prefer soft conditions.

- The size of the jump: always better to start off small. You can spin 360 degrees with suprisingly little amount of air time. 

- If you’re just started to spin, it is a good idea to get a few straight airs at first. Not a bad idea for the more experienced one either…however, I know some freaks that are better at spinned airs and tend to get into that stuff right away (don’t do this at home anyway, heh)

- Helmets!You decide, but helmet doesn’t affect your skiing at all and at least for me the brain is my most valuable tool at work…(think about it: a crash, a lost ski that bounces back to the air — collision with your head. Normal binding and/or binding stopper can make pretty brutal marks and impacts on a human’s skull…)

- Back protectors etc. are not a bad idea either…but I’d sad you  if the landings are soft and you won’t go pro-level huge, not necessary after all

- Gear: your normal skis will do at start (if you are not skiing on 210 GS’s anymore). Twin tips are great at jumping though and you will have much more fun on them anyway (so buy one if you are going to get into the jumps at all). Boots – the same goes here, eventhough freestyle specific boots are much more a specialist tool. Racing boots can be harsh to your legs in bad landings but otherwise boots are not an issue here.

Now the gear and environment check is done. What next. Well, here we go:

1. Take a speed needed to the kicker (at first you will probably come short a few times as it very natural for human mind to hesitate “automatically” before trying something new)

2. Widen your stance a bit just before you get into the kicker (this will help spinning and make you more stable)

3. At the same time “wind up” a bit – this means rotating your upper body and hands to the opposite direction of the spin. The better you get, the less you need this. But this is good to learn at first as it gives you the feeling of how to “set up” the amount of spin needed to complete the rotation.

 4. This one is the hardest part and requires some timing: when you are about to leave the lip of the jumps (roughly as your front binding is just on the edge of the lip, see the pic below), pop a little and start rotating – leading with your opposite hand and shoulder (= right hand if you spin left). Remember that according the laws of physics the amount of spin is pretty much decided BEFORE the take off! This is one of the common mistakes for beginners: they panic at the lip, take off very stiff and try to create the spin while in the air – it doesn’t work, trust me!

Popping from the lip of the jump, turning shoulders into the direction of the spin

5. While in the air keep rotating your shoulders into the direction of the spin. In the first times, don’t worry too much about your skis, they will follow your upper body. At around 180 keep looking over your shouder – this is essencial as you will go where you look (if you don’t believe this, try to bicycle on some “skinnies” and not to look where you’re going!). Try to keep your hands relaxed at the sides, or slightly forward. This is har at first, while you’ll going to feel your hands are whirling everywhere!

6. At around 270 widen your arms to slow the spin (in general, if you feel like overrotating, widen your arms and legs and the spin will slow down). Try to land as if you were landing a straight air i.e not backseated (this is also hard at first)

7. Smile. You’ll going to crash a few times. So, remember flailing human body is a funny sight and nothing is more healthy than laughing to yourself at times!

Watch this a few times on slow motion. I have a pretty old school style but it is all there. The jump is fairly big but this lets you to better pick up the different parts of the jump. I recommend ot start a little smaller though.

Now, you got the basics down. Some more details and style points:

- At the 4. pointer above – some people use the so called “pole plant” (watch e.g. Candice Thovex!). I’ve had a habit of doing this (comes from the moguls) but I only do it very slightly these days if not at all. It is not a very modern style but if you plan to spin in the moguls, it’ll help for sure (it about the rhythm and timing, as you have MUCH less time to set up the jump in the moguls)

- When the jumps gets any bigger, tucking up helps significantly. It lets you to feel the “float” in the air, keep you more balanced, and adds some style. “Pencil steeze”(=totally straight standing spin) is out of fashion anyway (although, if one can do a very large and “floating” old school heli, that never goes out of fashion IMHO, heh)

- While you’re tucking, why not to take a grab? Reaching for a grab will change your balance ever so slightly (the less the better tuck you have) but finally the grabs will come more easily as you think, just practice. Grabs also help you to keep balanced and calm in the bigger jumps, eventually.

- Going for some more rotations: it is essencial to learn to spin from the hips. This means the upper body and legs will go more together in the air. This also stabilises the spin some more. For some tricks/variations though, leading with your shoulders first help. E.g. I have tough time at tail grabs because I tend to spin quite alot from the hips and only look with my head over the shoulder.

- When all this is ok, try to alter the trajectory: drop your inside shoulder for “corked” spin, or outside shouder for “flat spin”(=very demanding), or do not try to pop of the lip just carve from it (this will send you to altered, “corked” trajectory too)…ok, this is next level stuff for sure. But it is not rocket science though, as my friend, an thirty-something ex-racer, proves here, he just learned to do threesixties a couple of years ago and now do these (he carves slightly from the lip at this one):