You guys, I am so BAD at powder.

[floatingyardsale]

I've been skiing four seasons, but almost none of it has been in deep powder. I think I have two days in powder out of 150+ skiing? It's been a dry few years! This season has been mostly behind my kid who was slow to remember that the skis need to point downhill, so I'm reinforcing all manner of bad habits, specifically using tails as a rudder to cut speed.

Today we had 17" of powder, and while I had fun, man, I am BAD at it. I feel like I can't get out of the backseat and apparently I don't know how to turn without getting my skis on edge which was NOT working. I think in general I need more speed and to make gentler turns. I didn't fall but I felt out of control the whole time.

I had one good run where visibility was awful so I was using pole plants, which I'm not great at, to reach down the hill sort of like I was feeling my way. But I was actually making turns around bumped up soft moguls while my hamstrings screamed at me for my life choices. So that worked?

It didn't help that the light was flat and I ski like a baby deer in bad light.

I'm hoping to get lessons this season but I think what I need are some mental cues to help me deal with choppy/deep snow. What works for you?

 

[mustski]

Welcome to skiing powder! It is such a rare experience - at least that smooth, untouched, not cut up stuff. I am just barely becoming somewhat competent in powder. It is much harder to ski because there is so much movement around the foot in 3D snow; so, the first question is ... are your feet well secured in your boot or is there foot movement?

If the boots are good, then I have suggestions:
1. take some lessons for bump skiing AND use every terrain opportunity to practice bump skiing
2. get some fatter skis for powder days. For most fresh snow days, I am using my Volkl Secrets which are super surfy and and slidey so they are very versatile. For deeper days though, I bought a powder ski which has a 116 waist and a severe rocker profile. You don't need to buy one but, if it's more than 10", considering renting a powder ski to see how it feels.
3. Don't feel like you have to ski top to bottom without stopping. When it's choppy, make 3 turns and stop. Get your footing and start again. Eventually, you will be able to ski 6 turns, then 12 turns, and so on.
4. Plant your poles next to your boots in chop. Don't reach forward. I don't know why this works, but it does.
5. Quit when you are not having fun! Give yourself permission to call it a day.

 

[floatingyardsale]

Boots are great! I have Atomic Vantage 97C which I increasingly dislike on hardpack (I bought carving skis last year, too) but float pretty well, I think. Big front rise.

Moguls are definitely on the list this year. I can sometimes manage two or three good turns and then I wind up stuck in the troughs.

I think what I'm reacting to is not being able to feel the ground, if that makes sense.

 

[Mudgirl630]

I've been skiing four seasons, but almost none of it has been in deep powder. I think I have two days in powder out of 150+ skiing? It's been a dry few years! This season has been mostly behind my kid who was slow to remember that the skis need to point downhill, so I'm reinforcing all manner of bad habits, specifically using tails as a rudder to cut speed.

Today we had 17" of powder, and while I had fun, man, I am BAD at it. I feel like I can't get out of the backseat and apparently I don't know how to turn without getting my skis on edge which was NOT working. I think in general I need more speed and to make gentler turns. I didn't fall but I felt out of control the whole time.

I had one good run where visibility was awful so I was using pole plants, which I'm not great at, to reach down the hill sort of like I was feeling my way. But I was actually making turns around bumped up soft moguls while my hamstrings screamed at me for my life choices. So that worked?

It didn't help that the light was flat and I ski like a baby deer in bad light.

I'm hoping to get lessons this season but I think what I need are some mental cues to help me deal with choppy/deep snow. What works for you?

Hope this helps.

 

[mustski]

Boots are great! I have Atomic Vantage 97C which I increasingly dislike on hardpack (I bought carving skis last year, too) but float pretty well, I think. Big front rise.

Moguls are definitely on the list this year. I can sometimes manage two or three good turns and then I wind up stuck in the troughs.

I think what I'm reacting to is not being able to feel the ground, if that makes sense.

It does make sense! I always have this sense of "non feeling" in powder which scares the crap out of me. As for moguls ... @KatyPerrey gave me a tidbit at Copper one year and it changed my life in bumps. She said: "keep losing altitude. I tended to traverse and turn and traverse and turn. Losing altitude taught me to slide a bit at the end of a turn and slide as needed to get to where I needed to be before making my next turn. Think of it as turn and sideslip a bit. It helps a lot. It opens up a whole new line. The reason bump skiing helps in powder is that powder gets cut up really fast - true powder runs are at opening and it's a feeding frenzy! I call it 15 minutes of fun! After that, It's about skiing soft bumps and chop.

 

[Chuyi]

Get some fat skis 100+ little longer then ur usual skis. enjoy the float. Then crush the chop.

 

[AJM]

4. Plant your poles next to your boots in chop. Don't reach forward. I don't know why this works, but it does.

I was told this last season and I think its got something to do with getting your upper body facing dowhill. I'm sure @liquidfeet @snoWYmonkey and @nopoleskier will know

 

[SallyCat]

For powder, I go super wide: 250mm. Nothing's more fun in powder than a snowboard, and it's SO EASY!

 

[SarahXC]

What works better for me than trying to edge turns (and admittedly I’m a powder beginner too with just a half dozen days under my belt) is to think about weight transfer from foot, the “walking” or “bicycle riding” type of turns that some instructors have described.

 

[snoWYmonkey]

Oh powder! What kind of powder? Know that there is fun powder, and then new snow, a little or a lot, especially wind compacted, that is just a nightmare to ski, and not fun at all. Heavy powder is always work and deserves a wider ski, light fluffy champagne pow, that came in warm then cooled down, and is essentially bottomless is bliss. Sometimes listening to experienced skiers in lift line, will give you a sense if it is issue of lack of experience or technique making it hard to ski, or the snow itself. Once taught a women's camp with maybe 60 participants on day one, all going down the same run after the early access lift. It looked liked a weird nuke had gone off. I suspect at least 40 ladies were strewn face first on the first pitch, including instructors. It was 100 per cent the snow.

I hesitate to add too many comments as I may go fully against the previous suggestions and what I think sounds odd, may actually be a fantastic approach for another skier.

My key points are:

Try to ski the middle of the ski, and gently readjust to center, when the tips as they are shovel shaped, naturally want to push you into the back seat. The idea is to not work those quads so hard that you have to stop a lot. But gentle is key. If deep, a rapid forward adjustment will cause you to endo, aka go over the handle bars, and do a front flip. Have done it many times, especially powder skis, that tend to be very soft in the front. I go up a full 10 to 15 cm in length with powder boards if they are soft.

In terms of side to side weight distribution, I think of a more 50/50 balance throughout my turns. While I keep my legs close{r} I do not want them touching ever, as I still want independent movement of each leg and ski, but I try to imagine a monoski.

In terms of turn shape, I do not finish my turns much at all, the opposite of a mogul turn shape. I often make either wide unfinished turns, or almost straight line, tiny direction changes on flatter terrain. The snow itself acts as the brake. This approach of course only works in untracked powder. As soon as it is tracked I have to add back my turn shape for speed control, and think of myself as a strong, slow, steady freight train instead of a high speed bullet train, as I need to bust through piles.

In terms of pressure management, I do the opposite of my carvy turns where I try to maintain constant snow contact, I somtimes, not always, depending on turn size and type, allow for some upward bounce. It is easier to change edges and direction, when the skis are not super deep down in the pow.

I think of being patient at the start, and remember that my skis will react to any input with some time lag. Gravity will win unless you are entoombed in snow which is a horrifying feeling. ACL tears are the most common powder injury as the skier twists faster than the skis that are still moving in their old trajectory path.

As for the poles swing and direction, I have actually never really applied the along the ski versus down the hill direction of the touch. In steep terrain I would still want to reach down as I do not want to ski over my pole. Maybe it has to with not having to make the chicken wing powder swing, where I have to do a weird raising of the elbow to even get the basket out and above the snow for my new poles swing. I confess to not having heard of that technique before.

Last but not least, I am always focused on where to look. If my turns are less finished to maintain flow and speed in deep powder, I need to remember to look further down the hill. If I look across at the end of the turn, I will get stuck and stop and loose the ability to go from turn to turn.

 

[Iwannaski]

Once taught a women's camp with maybe 60 participants on day one, all going down the same run after the early access lift. It looked liked a weird nuke had gone off. I suspect at least 40 ladies were strewn face first on the first pitch, including instructors. It was 100 per cent the snow.

I love this visual so much, @snoWYmonkey

 

[SallyCat]

Once taught a women's camp with maybe 60 participants on day one, all going down the same run after the early access lift. It looked liked a weird nuke had gone off. I suspect at least 40 ladies were strewn face first on the first pitch, including instructors. It was 100 per cent the snow.

Lol, OMG! When I came back to skiing in 2006 or so, after last being on snow in the early eighties, I saw snowboards and snowboarders for the first time. The first time I came around a corner and saw a big group of boarders sitting and kneeling and sprawled all over the trail, my first thought was "Oh no! There's been an artillery strike!"

 

[floatingyardsale]

Wow, that's really helpful! Today I used "lose altitude" in some bumpy snow and thought 'bicycle' (which is my other sport) on some tracked up drifty snow. I only wiped out once but that mogul totally reached up and grabbed me.

I think a bit part of my problem is that I have a bad habit of making very sharp traversy turns -- it's due to following the kids a lot and having to cut speed constantly or skiing wide behind them in a 'prevent defense'. I clearly need a better habit behind them. I usually have to talk myself into making bigger arc turns on my own and when I do I find my form gets better, but it's early season and yesterday was only my second day out by myself.

The powder was nice, I think? Not heavy but not champagne -- it had drifted in spots a little. It was pretty chewed up when I got there. My experience today tells me that at least half of the problem Monday was the light. The first two runs today were soft snow and sunny and I skied like a different person --- I think because I could actually see down the hill!

 

[AJM]

Wow, that's really helpful! Today I used "lose altitude" in some bumpy snow and thought 'bicycle' (which is my other sport) on some tracked up drifty snow. I only wiped out once but that mogul totally reached up and grabbed me.

I think a bit part of my problem is that I have a bad habit of making very sharp traversy turns -- it's due to following the kids a lot and having to cut speed constantly or skiing wide behind them in a 'prevent defense'. I clearly need a better habit behind them. I usually have to talk myself into making bigger arc turns on my own and when I do I find my form gets better, but it's early season and yesterday was only my second day out by myself.

The powder was nice, I think? Not heavy but not champagne -- it had drifted in spots a little. It was pretty chewed up when I got there. My experience today tells me that at least half of the problem Monday was the light. The first two runs today were soft snow and sunny and I skied like a different person --- I think because I could actually see down the hill!

The struggle is real if the light ain't bright !!! x

 

[Elizabeth.I]

Make sure you point your skis down the fall line long enough to feel them start to float in the snow before making your first turn. Making my first turn too early was my big mistake when learning powder! And unless you have crazy fat skis, you need to get your speed up a bit. Also, try to ski a bit more centered instead of aggressively driving your tips!

 

[ilovepugs]

For powder, I go super wide: 250mm. Nothing's more fun in powder than a snowboard, and it's SO EASY!

Like surfing on fluffy clouds! The best!!!!

 

[echo_VT]

Yaaaassss

 

[echo_VT]

In all seriousness, I ski powder about a few times a season. The one thing that’s helped me is platform skiing. Usually when I ski frontside pressure is 80% outside ski and 20% inside ski. In powder it’s more like 60/40 for outside/inside ski. The skis are slightly closer together but not a lot bc my skis are 105 instead of 68 underfoot. It’s almost like a totally different sport. But really it’s all technique.

you can try platform skiing on the frontside so you can get used to it. I will ski like that for a day at least just to get used to the motions even though the snow is not powder. With chopped up snow with some soft bumps it’s great terrain to practice with.

and like everyone else has said, snowboard in powder conditions. It is the best. Lol.

 

[floatingyardsale]

What is platform skiing? (Google wasn't helpful.). That sounds like something I could do.

 

[mustski]

There are 2 types of powder skiing - big mountain where you get lucky and can find fresh untracked all day AND regular resort powder which is 15 minutes of feeding frenzy followed by cut up chop and then lovely soft bumps on piste. There will still be plenty of untracked in-the trees, but this becomes similar to bump skiing. So, to ski powder successfully, one really needs to know how to respond to a variety of conditions.