l find myself skidding and/or snow plowing when I am going down the blue runs (which is where l stay most of the time). How can l correct this. Next time l go l plan to take an intermediate lesson but in the mean time I am just curious what causes these kinds of things and how to improve them.

When you turn, keep your skis parallel and dig your edges in to the snow and you wo not skid so much

usually you do it by accident maybe when your mind is thinking of something else, or ur nervous. you can improve it by pretending you are stoping in the parellel stop. (if you can do that) that will probably fix the problem!

If you watch professional skiiers, they combat this problem by sort of ''hopping'' down tricky parts by going from parallel half-stop to parallel half-stop.

If you're talking about skidding when you are turning, the back of your downhill ski is at a bad angle to your uphill ski. Keep the skis parallel to eachother and dig in with the inside edge of your downhill ski to control your turning motion. Keep your weight on your uphill leg. Snow plowing is not a bad idea if you are just starting out.it helps control your speed. As you get better you wo not need to do that.

If you are skidding you are turning too far uphill, that is you are pushing the tails too far. To correct this lean over your feet, do not lean back into the hill.
Do not push with the backs of your feet, you can feel the weight transfer from the balls of your feet to the heels of your feet.
You should be turning the skis with the pressure on the front not the back end.

There can be many causes of ur skidding ur turns on any run. The cause usually breaks down to a combination of several things that include
1. Balance is wrong.
2. Your control of ur edging is not precise.
3. Inclination of the body versus angulation of ur body.
4. Anxiety of '' l gotta get around NOW.''
5. Dull edges.
All in all, u need a qualified professional instructor who knows & can analyze the problems.
Your equipment u can check by taking the skis & ur boots to a professional ski shop, get the skis tuned, & ur boots checked for fit & balance & u checked for ramp or delta, also get checked for canting.
After this is done, take a series of lessons on what & how to make a ski carve through the turn. This may require several private lessons.

Carve your turns more, and if the problem is not that the conditions are icy, then its that your edges have gotten dull and arent catching, in which case you should get your skis tuned.