Powder skiing with skinny skis?

T

Theskiingguy

Member
Hey guys, just have a quick question.

My dad (50, 6'5", 200lbs) has some "racer" 180cm, 70cm under foot skis, and he only likes the groomers. I've tried to take him into powdery areas and into the trees but he doesn't like it/enjoy it, not even the wide open powder areas.

I think it's because, A. He doesn't really know how to ski powder and being older he's working to hard. and B. he has skis that would be terrible for powder (especially since he doesn't know the proper way to ski it). He's really used to the groomers where you can edge and turn on a dime.

Do you guys have any tips or drills for him so powder would be more fun for him? I've always wanted to take him to the trees and powder to show him what I can do but he refuses.

Please let this thread die once someone helps me out.

Thanks you guys! PS we ski on Mt. Hood so it can get kinda wet
 
Tell him to pretend he's still on the groomers. Weight forward, hands in front, etc. People skied pow on skinny, straight skis for 100 years before Shane came along.
 
he's gotta want to do it. 90% of skiing is wanting to learn. of course you can ski pow with super skinny skis, it's actually kind of fun, you get way more face shots, but if he doesn't want to he won't be able to. you could try to get him some fatter skis but once again if he doesn't want to learn new skis that won't work either.
 
Unless its uber light utah pow, hes going to have to work a bit harder at first. Here are some basic tips to start with.

#1 "attack" the mountain. Actively ski, not passively float. Get his shoulders out over his toes, and keep the legs close together. On a fatter ski you want just within shoulder width apart, but on skinny skis you want a close together base. Don't let him ski like a pussy. You should be able to see him putting effort into every turn, pushing the snow. Don't let him lean too far forwards or get lazy and lean too far back.

#2 Steeper is better. The heavier/deeper the pow, the steeper you want to ski. This allows you to keep your shoulders pointed downhill and out over your toes. The flatter it is, the more leaning back has to be done to keep the tips from diving, especially on skinnier skis. Be able to identify the fall line and ski down that so you don't have to fight horizontal pull from gravity. Once he gets better this will matter less and come naturally.

#3 Be ready for a workout. Skiing pow well takes a lot of effort. Not much more than skiing a groomer with good form, but the pow takes away the ability to ski lazily that most people employ. Flexing, extension, tip and turn. Repeat. Any other method is going to suck, and this method will kick your ass if you don't do it on groomed runs regularly. This vid shows the method on groomers, but you need to apply it to pow too. This step needs to be combined with #1.

#4 Start easy. Get him to learn this shit on a smaller pow day. 6" of med water content is great to get started. Dont make him learn on a 20" day or he will just get tired pissed and confused.

#5 Demo some pow/all mountain skis. Its usually pretty cheap and he can try out a non traditional camber ski. You still ski the same way, but it makes pow turn initiation and flotation much easier. It makes pow more fun and less work, but it isnt a must. However for a beginner pow skier it will make his life easier by 10x. I like to think good floaty skis start above 105mm waist, but with unique side cuts and cambers you can find a skinnier ski that still floats well.

#6 Know that all pow isnt created equal. almost all pow, even wet heavy stuff, can be fun to ski. But the wetter and heavier the harder it is to ski. It can also be too light, if its 12" of super dry on top of ice chunks hes probably going to sink down and just be skiing on ice chunks. Somewhere in between will be best. I see you live in Oregon, so you will probably encounter a vast majority of pow variations. Each breed of pow needs to be skied slightly differently, and trial and error is the best way to figure it out.

 
Skiing pow on skinny skis is like using a condom. Sure, you're doing the act, but something just seams off.
 
my dad's 64 and tip dived pretty hard in like 6" of snow. luckily he's a cool dude and laughed hysterically when he penguin slid down the hill.

i tried to teach him and my mom how to carve and they weren't into it cause they started going too fast. in the end, there's only so much you can do, especially when they're older. can't teach an old dog new tricks, especially if they're not willing. you have to realize that at that age they aren't really into the thrills as much. I just like skiing groomers switch with them; everyone has fun.
 
Wow! Thank you so much man, honestly, couldn't of asked for a better response! 10000/10 if I could haha. I will use your advise for sure and hopefully get him to venture out a little bit, but if not it doesn't really matter.

To everyone else though, he does want to learn how to ski powder. He just says he's never been able to figure it out and now that he's older he doesn't have the incentive because of getting hurt. I just wanted to try and help him get there.

Thanks again everyone for the replies! Let this thread die please
 
If you ski Hood, take him on a tour of your local ski factory and then go pick up a pair of demo ON3P's from one of the shops in the area next powder day.
 
my dad wont ski with me unless there's 6" of fresh haha.

But seriously have him demo some rockered sticks on a deep day. when i first put my dad on some Rossi S3's, he outskied me in 10" of wet oregon pow, and had a blast.

honestly in oregon its too wet for 70 waist skis. Unless you're always on double blacks, I can see why he doesn't like it off the groom. get him some proper gear if hes going to shred off piste regularly.
 
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