All powder is not equal. There is heavy powder, which is difficult for me to power through and requires power turning, not my forte. There is powder on top of frozen crud---which means, you have to respond to two or three layers of different snow types. There is powder with wind drifts, which means terrain varies in depth and crystal make-up (soft, crunchy, slick). There is the dream pow (this April week in Utah) of bottomless, dry, fluffy powder that is the most fun and exhilerating of all.
Personally, I feel powder takes less skill than bumps and steep hard pack conditions which take a high degree of technical skill. Powder is great---if you are willing to go steep, traverse to the best stuff, and relax and take it slowly---you just cannot force a turn. In fact, I maintain the traverses to the best pow shots are much more difficult than the pow shots (the reward) at the end of the traverses.
I think the above are both great descriptions.
First, I agree that powder can mean a
lot of things. Fluffy and deep on top of soft snow is the most fun. . . and the most rare. Moderate depth powder on top of *mystery meat* or alternating with stretches of wind compacted snow can be fun. . . but also frustrating. And the light, cold stuff is a WHOLE different beast from the deep, wet stuff (Sierra cement in CA), and all take different levels of skill, different techniques, and a different mind set.
Powder, when the *good stuff,* can take less skill than, say, bumps or technical steeps, with tight spots and drops. BUT, the skills you learn in the bumps and tight spots (quick feet, smearing turns when necessary, trusting your feet when you can't see what's next) can come in REAL handy in the non-optimal powder conditions. So there's a real relationship between the two.
I grew up skiing in the midwest and NE, and I never want to go back. One, because I am pretty sure I have lost some of my ice skiing skills (which you do have to acquire, through practice, just like bump or deep snow skills) and two, because the difficult stuff out here is just so much more FUN! (And there are a lot less people.)
When I first came to the west, I skied a lot of groomers, because I was intimidated by deep snow-- good stuff or pushed around. (Especially the CA deep snow.) Gradually, though, I have come to hate the
groomers. Unless it's one of those days with creamy soft corduroy and empty slopes, and then I'll rip a few with a big grin, just like anyone else.
If I can (i.e., the snow is good enough), I spend the whole day on variable condition runs and bumps, and avoid groomers like the plague. For me, I equate bumps, pushed around snow, and powder runs to trail running. I always preferred trail running to just running on the road, because every step is different, and there is mental and physical challenge (avoiding rocks, jumping over roots, adjusting your stride to avoid destroying your knees on steep downhills) in every step. Off-piste skiing (and bump skiing) is much the same for me. I learn something new or cement a skill with every single turn, rather than just chilling with the same or similar turns over and over again. Does that make any sense?
I don't know much about powder. Isn't deep powder hard to ski?
It just seemed harder at first, but it really was just a different feeling.
