Tips for Skiing Heavy Powder

Dani-B

Dani-B

Member
Save for the occasional trip out west, I predominantly ski/tour in central Ontario and when we get a snow dump there it's often on the heavy side. Toss trees into that and I really fall apart with my technique. Any tips for getting better at skiing the deep and heavy stuff? I grew up focused on on-piste carving, so getting into glades this past year has thrown me (literally and figuratively) because the technique is so different. I had an easier time of it at Revvy in January because the snow was drier and more forgiving.
 
it's a different technique than hardpack for sure, and yeah heavier snow makes it harder. the good news is that you don't have to worry about your speed as much in soft snow so an easy way to get used to how the turns work is to let yourself go straight a little more than normal, carry some speed, and then take that speed into some surfy turns and it makes it way easier. then as you get the feel for it you'll get better at it at any speed. just feel it out
 
Carving you focus and weight the inside edge of your outside ski the hardest it seems. If you try that in pow you'll sink a ski and it'll be hard to turn.

Focus more on making turns exclusively with the inside edge of the inside ski, it will force you to keep your feet together and it'll make turn initiation easier in heavy snow
 
14508676:ASSholebomber22 said:
Carving you focus and weight the inside edge of your outside ski the hardest it seems. If you try that in pow you'll sink a ski and it'll be hard to turn.

Focus more on making turns exclusively with the inside edge of the inside ski, it will force you to keep your feet together and it'll make turn initiation easier in heavy snow
Click to expand...

Thanks. Do you recommend lifting one/the inside leg or hopping on both legs when initiating a turn? Or not necessary if you can keep the speed? Hope that made sense, lol
 
14508837:Dani-B said:
Thanks. Do you recommend lifting one/the inside leg or hopping on both legs when initiating a turn? Or not necessary if you can keep the speed? Hope that made sense, lol
Click to expand...

Lifting a ski is what makes skiing pow hard. You really want to weight both skis evenly but the inside edge of your inside ski will do most the work and/or has the most chance of hitting the bottom of the snow.

People have trouble in pow because they want to lift up their inside ski to pivot but that only makes your outside ski sink then you lose control.

When you focus on initiating the turn with the inside edge of the inside ski, your inside ski will sink and your outside ski will be right there to keep you afloat in the turn.

Once you master using your inside ski only to initiate a turn on hard snow, pow will be a lot more intuitive
 
Thanks! Weighting the outside ski too much is probably a big contributor to my problems and why I feel like I am 'back to square one' in the pow. I will think about the inside ski more next time I get out.
 
Obvious but relevant question- do your skis have any rocker? Aside from the mechanics of skiing powder, skiing a full camber ski in powder is much more challenging.
 
14508856:Turd__Authority said:
Obvious but relevant question- do your skis have any rocker? Aside from the mechanics of skiing powder, skiing a full camber ski in powder is much more challenging.
Click to expand...

Yes: "70 percent camber with 30 percent tip/shovel rocker"
 
Don’t be afraid to get some pow skis with a lot of rocker and taper. People will tell you this type of ski is useless in the east, but the reality is that if you are skiing through the trees in wet heavy snow, you want a ski that can surf and pivot as much as possible.
 
Buy long, wide skis with lots of tip rocker and mount them sensibly so the tips rise when you weight the ski. Ski with poles and pole plant to initiate turns.
 
Thanks guys, I'll work on it. Just got to put the time and thought in, and go a little faster! Not looking to expand the quiver at this time but appreciate the setup advice too.

14508899:CoolChillGuy420 said:
Its honestly not that hard.
Click to expand...

That's why I left early
 
2 easy steps to be a pro at deep powder skiing.

step 1: go ski bumps in ontario. I mean spend all say, every day in the moguls, only zippering them in full control.

Step 2: Now use that technique, but hyper exagerate the bending and popping of the legs on every turn.

Voila! Now you can ski powder like a pro!
 
14508899:CoolChillGuy420 said:
Its honestly not that hard.
Click to expand...

Skiing pow is very challenging, as it's an aspect you can not easily practice...

When you get the opportunity to shred pow. you have to be ready to work twice as hard as for your turns. The term powder legs comes to mind , and I can feel the burn flashing back... Your first days , you will be re-learning to ski.

Start with easier pitches, although you can't ski the deep, if it's not steep...

If there is pow on the side of a bunny trail, that's your low hanging fruit, go charging in, keep your tips up and legs/knees ready to flow. You will float on top right away with a bit of backseat to keep your tips afloat. Like mentioned, if you are on pow skis it will happen a bit easier, but real skiers did it thirty years ago on 205's, so respect it.

Once you have surpassed floating, you have to go back to a basic technique of skiing bumps and hollows on man made terrain. This motion will allow you to pop out of deep snow, initiate body weight into turning motion, and dive into said turn... Immediately follow with multiple slash turns and nose butters,

Enjoy
 
14508968:thankagaper said:
Skiing pow is very challenging, as it's an aspect you can not easily practice...

When you get the opportunity to shred pow. you have to be ready to work twice as hard as for your turns. The term powder legs comes to mind , and I can feel the burn flashing back... Your first days , you will be re-learning to ski.

Start with easier pitches, although you can't ski the deep, if it's not steep...

If there is pow on the side of a bunny trail, that's your low hanging fruit, go charging in, keep your tips up and legs/knees ready to flow. You will float on top right away with a bit of backseat to keep your tips afloat. Like mentioned, if you are on pow skis it will happen a bit easier, but real skiers did it thirty years ago on 205's, so respect it.

Once you have surpassed floating, you have to go back to a basic technique of skiing bumps and hollows on man made terrain. This motion will allow you to pop out of deep snow, initiate body weight into turning motion, and dive into said turn... Immediately follow with multiple slash turns and nose butters,

Enjoy
Click to expand...

Why did you write me an essay? No, still it is not that hard. You guys just don't have the basics down.
 
14508988:CoolChillGuy420 said:
Why did you write me an essay? No, still it is not that hard. You guys just don't have the basics down.
Click to expand...

I just watched videos of you trying to shred pow , granted they were 2016... You can't ski powder at all. It seems you try to float, slash turn a powder shot and fall... That's not skiing, not at all.

Please reread the essay, learn how to walk, then talk.
 
14508899:CoolChillGuy420 said:
Its honestly not that hard.
Click to expand...

sure it is. especially if you don't ski it often. just because you're powder privileged doesn't mean that you should marginalized snow deprived communities.

OP stay backseat, get speed to make turns and keep the turns shallow
 
the fore/aft balance is totally different than carving. Instead of driving the tips hard, you instead need to find the sweet spot where you can keep your skis floating and your tips from diving, which depends on the skis you have and how they are mounted. You also need to weight the skis more evenly side to side, and be patient bc engaging a turn can be slower (especially if you are moving slowly)

Hope this helps
 
I cut my own glade so I could learn how to ski powder. Its in the back country of the ski hill I frequent. But I am realizing that there is a lot of other areas around my glade that are skiable, and have some really cool terrain (drops, pillows, that kinda stuff). I don't know where in Ontario you are, but if you are near the Quebec border get out there and drive through the mountains. Here is the website for the Quebec lidar map so you can plan where you are going to a fairly high degree of accuracy. My point is that it is impossible to learn to ski powder when there is no powder, and the back country (yes even in the east coast) has powder. For example last weekend I was skiing knee deep powder only an hour from Ottawa, so get out and explore.
 
One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet. Where you are mounted makes a huge difference. I have 2 sets of skis that are basically the same, one mounted -2 and the other at recommended (-4). Having skied true center and both of those in powpow, its a huge difference. Floating on the -4 skis is effortless and lets you focus on just your turns and controlling your movements. The -2 ski is ok but I still have to pull back more than I should which can be problematic... And if you're true center, just don't bother unless you like uncontrolled dub fronties
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top