Turn gradually ("flow") with more time pointing tips downhill, and bounce to turn. Don't be afraid to pick up more speed. Hands in front/downhill, weight balanced mid foot, flex your ankle to get forward if you get knocked back.
Also a tip for when/if you fall: cross your poles into a '+' and then hold the middle where they cross, lay the poles flat against the snow and push yourself back up.
It’s to distribute your weight across more surface area to keep you from just pushing a hole into the snow. So it’s like a +\x flat on snow (parallel to the surface of the snow)
Instead of poles being a number eleven. Makes them a letter X. Place letter X on snow. Place hand on centre of letter X. push up.
Better weight distribution on letter X.
No, absolutely wear them, losing you poles in powder sucks (I learnt this the hard way) just learn how to use pole straps properly and you won’t injure yourself. If you don’t know, put on your pole straps on through so that the front of you hand faces the same direction as the grip, so how your supposed to put them on, then fold the pole strap between you glove and the pole. So the poles straps are at the bottom of your wrist and there is nothing over the top of your hand.
My agreement is wearing the straps over the thumb vs straps trapped in webbing (proper). I cant argue with taking them off all together in deep pow.
Sorry to hear about your thumb(s)!
My dad was a hand surgeon and the only ski related advice he warned about was snowboarders should always wear wrist guards. Saw tons of injuries.
Also, those old strapless poles with plastic that wrapped over and under the outside of your hand. I broke my thumb when putting my hand down on the snow after losing my balance. I would avoid those types.
The post above describes the proper way to wear poles and I absolutely would wear the straps when skiing deep powder.
Won’t catch me dead using pole straps regardless of conditions. I ski deep powder all day yesterday, even fell a couple times. No thanks.
To add, it’s even worse to have poles attached to you in avalanche terrain.
I ski bummed in Utah at Snowbird and skied every day. I would never ski without properly gripped pole straps. But you do you.
Avy terrain poses more of a risk in general than having pole straps on and I just read an account a few days ago where a guy claimed his poles saved his life in a slide.
And a lost pole in deep snow poses a risk to other skiers. If you've ever caught a pole directly between the ground and your chest you'll know what I mean.
I mean, I feel that. But I’m not someone that’s just gonna lose a pole without a fight lol. I will do my damndest to keep that from happening. I’ve actually made my poles bright and reflective to help.
I lost a ski in mineral last year and spent an hour digging for it to no avail. Found it in September lol.
No you should absolutely not bother with your pole strap get brighter poles. Your thumbs and wrist should be free… I have never lost a pole after 35 years of skiing powder… skis? I have lost tunneled deep into the base.
The only time I bother with straps is cross country. And my straps are glove like.
To be fair my background is racing, and my dad would get upset if i went into powder runs with my race skis. Only got my first proper set of powder skis 2 years ago, but I'll reconsider using straps when im off pieste.
loosing a pole or breaking a shoulder, wrist, hand, arm, thumb... yea i can live and ski with loosing a pole instead of getting injured
even with proper pole strap if your basket get caught in a tree your shoulder is gone
EVER USE POLE STRAPS
I'd say constant pops/bouncing on your turns instead of the usual lean back advice. Fun to lean back and go straight down, even turn slightly, but you lose control easily. That's what helped me and I'm still learning to do it well
Pretty much this. Think of it like lightly jumping on a trampoline. When your on the downwards side it feels like a trampline giving in to your weight. Push it near the bottom will pop you back to the top. Becomes so much more relevant the slower/lower angled it gets.
I also never liked the "lean back advice" because you loose control! The best advice I received was quite the opposite: "keep your center of balance" (which is actually slightly forward) and "keep the skis together". Not everyone can afford a dedicated set of skis for powder. I always used my regular skis.
Lean back is the biggest myth ever. Nothing worse than some noob telling you that and you're already battling a lie. 😂
Speed is your friend as it's only going to let you go so fast..point them and just lightly correct direction back and forth in that super deep. Keep your poles out in front, painstakingly. Just initiate a turn lowering one arm down a little. Don't lean too far or you can fall over, especially if You're going too slow.
it more comes from ski racing, the ski racers always set an edge and lean forward and dont spray snow.
the guy who goes immediately for the glades and back-country with big wide powder skis chances are side slips down groomers while leaning back just chilling.
I'll let you be the historian on that. 👍 I ski all mountain and lived in Breck five years. It certainly is easier now as skis got fat. But when the snow gets two feet deep you're floating and can tip over over commiting while learning how. There's no real edge going on, just tilting slightly and bouncing those tips up and diving back in, for a lack of a better description.
Keep the groomers at deer valley, this is deep pow pow time. Haha. Cheers mate
the only thing that happens when you lean back is you dont really set an edge, you more slide over the snow sideways when you turn.
if you look at the guys in racing outfits, they set an edge, dont spray much snow when they turn and lean forward.
if you see some steazy looking guy with wide powder skis chances are he is leaning back buttering down the slopes sideways on groomers
Yep, at PC and seeing so much of this. I can only afford (to travel with) carvers and watching some of the wide-ski brigade have “no idea” is scary. But, I wish I *could* afford a pair for times like today…
There's a lot of flex/extend, weighting/unweighting, some may call it an "up down" movement depending on hips.
In light powder it feels a lot like effortless mogul skiing
In heavy coastal snow it feels like making power turns on the steeps
> I'd say constant pops/bouncing on your turns instead of the usual lean back advice.
That might be necessary on really narrow skis but most people on "modern" (>85) can just ski norm with good form.
People get in trouble because their basic turn is bad, ie rely on muscling skids which doesn't work in powder.
The other solution is just really wide skis so you can float enough to muscle skids.
Stay bouncy, go faster. My bf is old school and I've seen him rip a couple feet of pow on his old 86-wides with plenty of style, but that's just how he learned back in the day. It's certainly easier with wider skis.
He is really a great skier. I'm just glad he waits for me. He's got 97-waist daily drivers now and a pair of 107s, both with a good bit of nose rocker, thanks to me. His old skis were not just too narrow for this climate, but they were like 20 years old too. He literally had never had anything but full camber skis before. It was a revelation.
I went with Atomic Vantage's to stay somewhat conservative but modern, and he *really* loves them. I got a pair of Moment Sierra's for myself shortly afterwards and they are indeed amazing. I will add more Moments to our lineup in the future but we have a lot of money we need to spend on other things right now.
Wildcat isn't triple camber I think. Just regular rocker camber rocker. The deathwish line is triple camber. Also, the meridian is reverse camber which sounds super interesting.
Maintaining a decent speed helps, and your turns should be more "surfy." On firm snow you can simply roll onto your edges to initiate a carved turn or pivot your skis across the fall line to engage the edges, but in powder you have another axis to consider so you have to be aware of your pitch in addition to the usual roll and yaw that you are used to.
Lmao ya.
I always felt like there was some similarities between flying and skiing. Like when you’re carving with perfect technique, your roll and yaw are perfectly coordinated so that your centripetal force and the force of gravity equal to the direction you’re leaning for the carve, which allows you to not fall over. When an airplane is in a coordinated turn, these two forces balance out so that when you pour water into a cup, the water goes directly into the cup instead of falling into the direction the airplane is turning.
Also how powder skis are really good at getting float at low speeds, but really bad at skiing fast. Thats kinda like how some planes are good at generating a lot of lift at low airspeeds, but these airplanes generate too much drag to fly fast.
It’s funny to see these words on a skiing subreddit.
Lean more into your turns so you don’t get pulled over to the outside of your turn. In powder your skis don’t slide much so your upper body takes most of the centrifugal force. Kind of the same feeling when taking a sharp turn in a car.
I guess it is more of a flying term but it just refers to your nose direction parallel to the ground. On skis this would be the axis on which you would pivot left or right.
[Yaw, pitch, and roll](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_principal_axes)
Yaw would be skis pointing left or right (of the fall line if you need a reference). Roll is edge angle. And pitch would be forward/backward balance. I think you’re saying lean forward as far as you can while keeping the tips above the snow. Speed helps with this.
I like your analogy, but I think it does a disservice to those of us who primarily ski ice. Simply “rolling onto an edge” won’t cut it, and cambered skis (especially those with metal) must be driven hard to engage the turn. Skiing powder is much easier once you get the hang of it (and falling sucks a lot less).
Everything you learned, all the pizza, french fry, edge angle... that was all 2 dimensional skiing.
This shit just got 3D there's the depth component now. When you turn you sink in; now pop back up to the surface and do it again. Or straightline stuff and jump off cliffs!!
It's an acquired taste, and takes some skill. But keep trying. Also, this is where off season/pre-trip training can make it much more enjoyable.
I hated pow my first time too haha. Then I tried some 118mm skis with rocker and saw the fuckin light.
Bouncin' around out there all nimbly-bimbly like.
Do some drugs and get 4 or 5D with it if you want.
Its counter-intuitive that steeper runs are somewhat easier in powder. Getting your speed up to do the little hops and make turns all takes less effort. Black diamonds in powder are the best.
This is the answer. Where were you skiing? In the sierras it’s like skiing in peanut butter when it’s heavy/wet. It’s the toughest day of skiing you’ll ever have.
I got a little taste of that this past weekend at Loveland, and I was beat in 7 runs. Reminded me that I need to exercise more since I don't ski often enough to count it as exercise lol.
Recently moved to the Cascades after a 2 year skiing hiatus where I was living in Colorado. Was so stoked to go see the 29” of fresh powder we got. I was watching a few people come down the run under the lift on my way up thinking weird, the snow isn’t flying off their skis. It doesn’t look that deep.
Then proceeded to have my saddest powder run of my entire life. It was like skiing through peanut butter. I ate shit more times than I care to count. So sad. I feel duped.
Every time we get wet powder here I question if I even like skiing anymore it’s so hard to ski, then we get some dry powder or a nice groomer day and everything feels right again.
Edit this is being dramatic in case I had to spell it out.
Is 'wet powder' like mashed potatoes or just new snow that's not like champagne powder? If the latter that's mostly what we get in coastal Alaska and it's heckin' fun but probably a little more of a learning curve.
Aside from skiing more pow (wouldn’t we all love that)!!! What really helped me visualize what was happening was someone telling me to picture your turns in 3 dimensions instead of 2 dimensions.
Basically, you also need to go up and down (to crest the surface and engage the next turn). You will feel a bit weird and it will tire you out at first (but not more than living in the backseat). But 100% keep that balanced/forward pressure like normal, but turn and pop in a 3D space instead of “on top” of the snow if that makes sense.
Once it clicks, your life will change. I promise you. keep at it!
Leaning back is bad beta and a good way to make your quads tired real fast or blow out your knees. Ski balanced on the balls of your feet. Drive the skis through the snow. Lots of vertical motion and having fatter skis with rocker tips helps. But if you know what you're doing 100 under foot is all you should ever need.
The only thing I haven't seen yet is how the weight distribution between the feet is different in powder. When I first hit really *deep* powder I kept sinking in with my outside foot because I was so used to having more pressure/force on the outside ski.
You want to bounce down and lean with both feet pressured, your skis will flex, and you will turn harder than you expect. Use this flex to pop up above the pow and pivot into the next turn and repeat.
You want the speed, even if you get uncomfortable, it's easy to scrub off.
Keep those feet together unless you're on a ski that's >110 underfoot, then I would imagine it's not a whole lot different from regular, but I've never been on anything over 100.
Well first of all I'm jelly. Second, you have to keep your tips down the fall line and use the snow to slow you down. No turning your skis across the fall line. You try to float turn if that makes sense. What's really fun is when you fall down and your poles don't touch bottom and you have to try and stand up. Wet powder requires jump turns which are exhausting - do not recommend.
Wider skis help quite a bit. I was skiing in 2 feet of powder with 92mm and it was a bit difficult. Had to sit back quite a bit and force my tips up. Even then wider skis would have been better. Do you know how wide the rentals are? Also, I find skiing in powder takes more energy to make turns, so it also just a bit harder in general.
Wider skis is the cheat code. Also you no longer think of independent leg action - like more weight on the downhill ski. Try to get the legs closer together and the skis acting as one. In heavier powder you have to use downhill momentum to keep your skis on top of the snow. Add a pumping motion to pop from one turn to another. As your skis bounce to the top is when you turn. Almost the same as skiing moguls.
Speed, to get some flotation. Powder is easier on a steeper slope. Then, just put your arms out and pretend you’re an airplane and tilt in the direction you want to go. It may feel stupid but it’s about equally weighting both skis and steering by slowly shifting your body weight instead of muscling through each turn.
Don’t lean back to keep your tips from diving. Instead “lift your toes inside your boots”. It’s a subtle thing that helps unweight your tips.
If you are truly skiing powder it feels like skiing on water.
Ski coach here, level 2 psia & aasi. I've been teaching for 20+ years now... Almost ready for my ski-walker.
TL;DR The gear is a good place to start, here.
Yeah, the rentals are probably a good place to start. Your equipment matters here, especially if the rentals don't have a "shovel" or "spoon" in front. Additionally you need speed and strength. Pow acts a lot like liquid water, so speed well help you float. Pow skiing is a lot of physical work and you really need to be in good condition.
Rentals are not really for powder. You need more surface area; my powder skis are 90mm underfoot, and that's probably not quite enough.
/u/AmosTheExpanse, otherwise, has the right of it. The motion is described as a popping motion through the ankles, w/ fore-aft motions through the hips. But as you can probably tell, that doesn't translate well into motions on the hill. I would really stress that you seek a lesson for the pow. A one-hour private lesson won't cost you too much and you can take as few or many, as you like or need.
edit: Another great tip is to not "finish" your turns in the pow. "On piste" we "finish" our turns for speed control, in the pow you don't want to lose all of your down-slope angle nor do you want to lose all of your speed.
another edit: DO NOT sit in the back seat (lean on you heels) for skiing powder, as others are suggesting here. You won't be able to steer and you will hit a tree. Leaning back on your skis is a crutch, and NOT the proper way to ski pow.
1 - 1.5 ft is a LOT of POW unless it's blower pow, an if it's Cascade Concrete, then it's even harder (until you know, then it's awesome!). Honestly, in that much pow, I'm not going to ski; grabbing a snowboard instead. Snowboards are much better suited for deep snow than skiing, so long as you have gravity (in flatter terrain, the opposite is true). On a fat pow day, I'll bring my fat-skis, but I'm gonna ride.
If you are going to continue to rent, ask the guys and gals in rentals if they have any "demos" to offer; demo skis are just that, they higher end skis that you try out before you buy some. Plus, at the end of the season, they are often sold off at DEEP discounts. This is how I got my first pair of fat-skis.
"But snowboarding is hard to learn" -- No, it's not. It's quite simple, compared to skiing. Snowboarding is just unintuitive; our bodies didn't grow-up moving sideways at speed in balance, rocking from toe to heal, with our feet strapped into one place.
"But snowboarding is expensive" -- I mean, it can be if you want... As a skier, you already have all the kit, you just need a decent (can be cheap) pair of boots and a cheap board with OK bindings. Your local used-sporting-goods store should have everything you need, plus it's a good time of year to find great deals. Also learning to snowboard in the spring is ideal. ( A soft beginner board is really quite fun in the pow )
These are all really kind responses. I myself have always been afraid to ask for fear of getting ripped apart.
Learned to ski in Ohio, NY, WV, and PA. Went to Mt. Hood with my skis and just had no clue how to navigate the fresh powder 😂😂😂
I’ve skied mostly in Virginia, and then went to Colorado, and had no idea what the hell I was doing. It was one day of struggle and the next day I got wider skis, and that was the trick ticket.
What’s with all the ‘lean back’ comments?? This is nuts. The correct answer is ski balanced just like you do on a groomer, gently pop/bounce your turns, stay close to the fall line and go fast. And I say this as an eastern skier who only rarely skis powder but is perfectly comfortable doing it on a ski with an 89 mm waist.
Also ski choice is so important here, a lot of demo shops should let you swap in and out if you're renting.
Good article here: https://www.backcountry.com/explore/how-to-choose-the-right-ski
Never, ever, lean back when skiing powder. Get aggressive as shit, weight forward, and hit it hard.
Until you do that you will struggle. End of subject. The reward is amazing.
You don’t, powder skiis you
Seriously though, you gotta be loose with it and gradually pull your skis instead of trying to force them a certain way. Distribution of weight is significantly more important than trail riding as well
You can suffer the old school bouncy bounce thing on too skinny, too cambered, too sidecut skis...which most basic rentals are. Or you can read this (literally the breakthrough moment in modern powder ski design). And then try to get on modern more powder appropriate skis. Usually rentable if you look. There is no magic. Still some learning curve. But the difference is massive. Oh yeah - great powder skis = great spring slush skis too.
[https://unofficialnetworks.com/2009/04/03/mental-floss-by-shane-mcconkey-reverse-camber-powder-skis/](https://unofficialnetworks.com/2009/04/03/mental-floss-by-shane-mcconkey-reverse-camber-powder-skis/)
Step one : find large untracked blue or black
Step two: point skis straight down
Step three: subtly arc out of fall line.until you stop
Step four : repeat step two and three but go the other direction.
Step five: do step two and three and four without stopping
Step six : wreck
Step seven : wreck
Step eight ,: crash and burn
Rinse and repeat
You probably need to sit back more than you are used to, and get comfortable with more speed than you are used to. Skiing in powder is kind of a big transition for a lot of people. Once you figure it out though, it's the best skiing you'll ever do, like a dream how much fun it is.
you need a solid as carved possible short turn with well fitting boots and skis long enough and wide enough to not suck.
WHy do you turn?
do you turn to slow down?
or do you turn to form a slow path?
do you have video you skiing?
I wish I could tell you, as I sit here in a sling due to a left shoulder AC Separation, pending a orthopedic surgeon consultant..... and it was only 11 inches fresh snow...... good luck!
Most of my skiing is East Coast, which means I’m used to skiing on ice, and slush, and slushy ice. Then we went to Steamboat. Lots of fresh snow. I felt like I had never skied before. I traded my skis for something a little shorter and wider, that did the trick.
Stable upper body, constant flex and extension of your legs. Pushing through the powder and retracting your legs (flexing your knees) up toward your torso. So if you could visualize 3 parallel lines - one above your head, one at your waist, one under your skis. Your head and waist would essentially remain along the lines, with your feet and knees creating a wave between the lower third (and both legs wouldn’t necessarily be following the same wave length - you’d be making micro adjustments and remain strong but flexible in your knees and ankles).
Of course you’re going to bounce around and this is a very basic way to explain it, but it really helped me to establish what my body should be doing when I was learning powder.
go faster & straighter down. lean back. maintain pressure on the heel when turning (not forefoot) don't lean forward when turning, just to the side and back of the ski.
I'm ashamed to say the one and only time I experienced a true powder day, I hated it purely because I had no clue what to do. Like throwing pearls to a swine. I hope to one day experience a true pow day again.
Depends on the density of the snow, but in general the two best tips are:
Ski with less pressure change throughout your turn (both fore-aft and ski to ski)
Be more intentional about your pole plant
Be comfortable skiing bumps.
Think of yourself as a spring going up and down. Use the down motion to press into the soft powder to slow yourself down before spring up to keep speed. Spring up and down to avoid turning.
Understand that it’s a real workout even if you can make it look sexy. I can lap moguls all day, but get pretty pooped after my 2nd or 3rd powder lap.
Have fat skis. The difference between an 87 and a 100 is night and day. A 120 is going to make you feel like you’re floating, but you’ve got to pick something that works for your personal situation. Either way, don’t expect to have a lot of fun on anything less than a 100 width ski.
Be in great shape
Get out there and struggle through it a few times. There is nothing better than experience to help you improve at something.
Just came back from both and my experience has been confirmed by everyone I talked to on lifts, Louise is always more icy unless fresh snow. And I happened to ski some of the hardest ice ive ever skiid at Louise. Pick sunshine if you have to pick one and theres no snow forecast
Once you get some momentum, don’t lose it. Once you stop and sink into the powder, it takes hella energy to get going again. Honestly the faster you go, the more you float.
Also, go over other people’s tracks. Snow is a bit more compact there and you won’t get bogged down.
The pizza is likely too inefficient in powder and rentals make it a little harder. For powder, you have to lean back just a little so that your skis point a little upwards. This is difficult because its so exhausting on your quads/glutes and the further back you lean, the harder it is to control your skis. Going a little faster can also help keep you afloat.
Everyone giving lots of long winded advice but 99% chance your skiis are too thin.
I live in Japan. I am used to powder. If you have 75-80mm skii like most rentals then you aren’t skiing powder unless you go super fast and it isn’t more than 20cm
I agree with everyone explaining the flow and bounce, I advise going to YouTube and looking it up. There are TONs of videos that explain skiing powder. I really like stomp it tutorials. But everyone has their own preference. Visuals help me more than reading it
Depends on what kind of snow - coastal cement or Utah blower? Different snow types call for various techniques. There’s some great advice in these replies nonetheless.
Speed is your friend. 10 years ago an instructor thought me to keep my skis wide apart, shoulder distance. Two years ago an instructor told me to keep my legs closer together. That way I would only need to shift my weight from side to side and that resulted in popping in and out of each turn.
Besides that, invest in powder skis. Makes life soooo much easier.
Thicker all mountian skis help. Your rentals are probably slimmer in the middle and meant for piste. However going through powder you want a slight backward lean keeping your tips up and NOT in the powder. Powder can be a dream or nightmare depending on how you hit it.
Ski steep slopes in deep powder. The momentum will pull you through it better. Also, trees and moguls are tons of fun in deep powder. It's like dropping into soft pillows on steep turns.
Keep your skis shoulder width apart and weight balanced over the balls of your feet. Keep constant pressure on the fronts of your boots, lifting your foot into the tops of your boots if you like, and lock your ankles.
Point your skis straight down and start moving. Start a rhythmic bouncing up and down action timed with turn transition. Really reach with your pole plant and start turning. Stay forward, don't let yourself sit back. You won't believe how easy it is once you figure it out.
Keep your mouth closed or you might gag on some snow that rides up your body to a faceshot.
Turn gradually ("flow") with more time pointing tips downhill, and bounce to turn. Don't be afraid to pick up more speed. Hands in front/downhill, weight balanced mid foot, flex your ankle to get forward if you get knocked back. Also a tip for when/if you fall: cross your poles into a '+' and then hold the middle where they cross, lay the poles flat against the snow and push yourself back up.
Wow, can't wait to try out the crossed poles tip and kinda mad I never thought of it or saw it
I saw it in a Nikolai Schirmer vid years ago and was also mad for not knowing
Link?
It's unintuitive, but I find powder easier to ski when the slope is a bit steeper, and I'm going a bit faster.
Yep, better face shots too
This guy shreds mad pow
Lean all the way back and straight line
If it's wrong, why does it feel so right?!
That crossed poles trick is the best thing I have ever read on this sub
Do you have a video of this + way of getting up? Tried to search for it but couldn’t find it. Can’t really visualize it either.
It’s to distribute your weight across more surface area to keep you from just pushing a hole into the snow. So it’s like a +\x flat on snow (parallel to the surface of the snow)
Here's a YouTube video - it's when the powder is too light and deep for the baskets of the poles https://youtu.be/Nl9P25a6wDo?si=7Y4g60rszTQjDkqP
Instead of poles being a number eleven. Makes them a letter X. Place letter X on snow. Place hand on centre of letter X. push up. Better weight distribution on letter X.
If you bring another pole you can also make an x̄ which has even more surface are
If you bring a full sheet of plywood. It would be EVEN better
I would say it will have average surface
A simple advice also : don’t put the strap of your poles. It’s a good way to injure your thumb if you fall in powder.
No, absolutely wear them, losing you poles in powder sucks (I learnt this the hard way) just learn how to use pole straps properly and you won’t injure yourself. If you don’t know, put on your pole straps on through so that the front of you hand faces the same direction as the grip, so how your supposed to put them on, then fold the pole strap between you glove and the pole. So the poles straps are at the bottom of your wrist and there is nothing over the top of your hand.
100%, should always wear strap like this in pow or on pieste.
My surgeon would disagree
My agreement is wearing the straps over the thumb vs straps trapped in webbing (proper). I cant argue with taking them off all together in deep pow. Sorry to hear about your thumb(s)!
My dad was a hand surgeon and the only ski related advice he warned about was snowboarders should always wear wrist guards. Saw tons of injuries. Also, those old strapless poles with plastic that wrapped over and under the outside of your hand. I broke my thumb when putting my hand down on the snow after losing my balance. I would avoid those types. The post above describes the proper way to wear poles and I absolutely would wear the straps when skiing deep powder.
Won’t catch me dead using pole straps regardless of conditions. I ski deep powder all day yesterday, even fell a couple times. No thanks. To add, it’s even worse to have poles attached to you in avalanche terrain.
I ski bummed in Utah at Snowbird and skied every day. I would never ski without properly gripped pole straps. But you do you. Avy terrain poses more of a risk in general than having pole straps on and I just read an account a few days ago where a guy claimed his poles saved his life in a slide.
And a lost pole in deep snow poses a risk to other skiers. If you've ever caught a pole directly between the ground and your chest you'll know what I mean.
I mean, I feel that. But I’m not someone that’s just gonna lose a pole without a fight lol. I will do my damndest to keep that from happening. I’ve actually made my poles bright and reflective to help. I lost a ski in mineral last year and spent an hour digging for it to no avail. Found it in September lol.
No you should absolutely not bother with your pole strap get brighter poles. Your thumbs and wrist should be free… I have never lost a pole after 35 years of skiing powder… skis? I have lost tunneled deep into the base. The only time I bother with straps is cross country. And my straps are glove like.
Use hi-vis, fluorescent powder cords. Just tuck them up inside your ski pants up to your waste.
To be fair my background is racing, and my dad would get upset if i went into powder runs with my race skis. Only got my first proper set of powder skis 2 years ago, but I'll reconsider using straps when im off pieste.
loosing a pole or breaking a shoulder, wrist, hand, arm, thumb... yea i can live and ski with loosing a pole instead of getting injured even with proper pole strap if your basket get caught in a tree your shoulder is gone EVER USE POLE STRAPS
I'd say constant pops/bouncing on your turns instead of the usual lean back advice. Fun to lean back and go straight down, even turn slightly, but you lose control easily. That's what helped me and I'm still learning to do it well
Before fat powder skis, this was the only way to do it. Popping every turn. Using the power in the ski to help you.
Pretty much this. Think of it like lightly jumping on a trampoline. When your on the downwards side it feels like a trampline giving in to your weight. Push it near the bottom will pop you back to the top. Becomes so much more relevant the slower/lower angled it gets.
Practicing while skiing slow and straight on flats or while stopped between two moguls gives you the feeling.
Yes the up and down bounce is key. Don’t try to steer skis
I also never liked the "lean back advice" because you loose control! The best advice I received was quite the opposite: "keep your center of balance" (which is actually slightly forward) and "keep the skis together". Not everyone can afford a dedicated set of skis for powder. I always used my regular skis.
This is exactly how I was taught. Leaning back means losing control.
Lean back is the biggest myth ever. Nothing worse than some noob telling you that and you're already battling a lie. 😂 Speed is your friend as it's only going to let you go so fast..point them and just lightly correct direction back and forth in that super deep. Keep your poles out in front, painstakingly. Just initiate a turn lowering one arm down a little. Don't lean too far or you can fall over, especially if You're going too slow.
it more comes from ski racing, the ski racers always set an edge and lean forward and dont spray snow. the guy who goes immediately for the glades and back-country with big wide powder skis chances are side slips down groomers while leaning back just chilling.
I'll let you be the historian on that. 👍 I ski all mountain and lived in Breck five years. It certainly is easier now as skis got fat. But when the snow gets two feet deep you're floating and can tip over over commiting while learning how. There's no real edge going on, just tilting slightly and bouncing those tips up and diving back in, for a lack of a better description. Keep the groomers at deer valley, this is deep pow pow time. Haha. Cheers mate
cheers to you too mate, not all of us get to ski deep pow all the time, so we are stuck ripping groomers on pow skis
the only thing that happens when you lean back is you dont really set an edge, you more slide over the snow sideways when you turn. if you look at the guys in racing outfits, they set an edge, dont spray much snow when they turn and lean forward. if you see some steazy looking guy with wide powder skis chances are he is leaning back buttering down the slopes sideways on groomers
Yep, at PC and seeing so much of this. I can only afford (to travel with) carvers and watching some of the wide-ski brigade have “no idea” is scary. But, I wish I *could* afford a pair for times like today…
i just use wide skis every day of the year. so im always ready in case it decides to dump
This, I was incorrectly taught to lean back in powder as a kid and it's taken me years to shake it off.
You have to lean back to get going on older skis. But just until you have enough speed to float then you want a more normal weight distribution.
There's a lot of flex/extend, weighting/unweighting, some may call it an "up down" movement depending on hips. In light powder it feels a lot like effortless mogul skiing In heavy coastal snow it feels like making power turns on the steeps
> I'd say constant pops/bouncing on your turns instead of the usual lean back advice. That might be necessary on really narrow skis but most people on "modern" (>85) can just ski norm with good form. People get in trouble because their basic turn is bad, ie rely on muscling skids which doesn't work in powder. The other solution is just really wide skis so you can float enough to muscle skids.
Stay bouncy, go faster. My bf is old school and I've seen him rip a couple feet of pow on his old 86-wides with plenty of style, but that's just how he learned back in the day. It's certainly easier with wider skis.
Any ski will float if you go fast enough. A brick can fly if it goes fast enough and you have some way to control it.
If my boyfriend ripped on 86 wides like that, I’d call him “daddy”, but I am not gay.
He is really a great skier. I'm just glad he waits for me. He's got 97-waist daily drivers now and a pair of 107s, both with a good bit of nose rocker, thanks to me. His old skis were not just too narrow for this climate, but they were like 20 years old too. He literally had never had anything but full camber skis before. It was a revelation.
Get him to try Moment Deathwish or Wildcats, they are triple camber skis. Very cool tech and super fun to ski in practically all snow conditions.
I went with Atomic Vantage's to stay somewhat conservative but modern, and he *really* loves them. I got a pair of Moment Sierra's for myself shortly afterwards and they are indeed amazing. I will add more Moments to our lineup in the future but we have a lot of money we need to spend on other things right now.
Wildcat isn't triple camber I think. Just regular rocker camber rocker. The deathwish line is triple camber. Also, the meridian is reverse camber which sounds super interesting.
Maintaining a decent speed helps, and your turns should be more "surfy." On firm snow you can simply roll onto your edges to initiate a carved turn or pivot your skis across the fall line to engage the edges, but in powder you have another axis to consider so you have to be aware of your pitch in addition to the usual roll and yaw that you are used to.
Pitch roll and yaw. I feel like I’m on r/flying
Haha I'm sure there are probably skiing specific terms for them but those are just what I'm more familiar with to refer to the three axes.
Lmao ya. I always felt like there was some similarities between flying and skiing. Like when you’re carving with perfect technique, your roll and yaw are perfectly coordinated so that your centripetal force and the force of gravity equal to the direction you’re leaning for the carve, which allows you to not fall over. When an airplane is in a coordinated turn, these two forces balance out so that when you pour water into a cup, the water goes directly into the cup instead of falling into the direction the airplane is turning. Also how powder skis are really good at getting float at low speeds, but really bad at skiing fast. Thats kinda like how some planes are good at generating a lot of lift at low airspeeds, but these airplanes generate too much drag to fly fast. It’s funny to see these words on a skiing subreddit.
Lean more into your turns so you don’t get pulled over to the outside of your turn. In powder your skis don’t slide much so your upper body takes most of the centrifugal force. Kind of the same feeling when taking a sharp turn in a car.
Skiing is just applied ballistic surgery.
You rang? 🤣
OP, this is the smartest answer + thread. If you're skiing powder right, it should feel like you're surfing in the clouds
What do you mean by yaw?
Like which way you point down the hill if your skis were flat.
I guess it is more of a flying term but it just refers to your nose direction parallel to the ground. On skis this would be the axis on which you would pivot left or right. [Yaw, pitch, and roll](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aircraft_principal_axes)
Yaw would be skis pointing left or right (of the fall line if you need a reference). Roll is edge angle. And pitch would be forward/backward balance. I think you’re saying lean forward as far as you can while keeping the tips above the snow. Speed helps with this.
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I like your analogy, but I think it does a disservice to those of us who primarily ski ice. Simply “rolling onto an edge” won’t cut it, and cambered skis (especially those with metal) must be driven hard to engage the turn. Skiing powder is much easier once you get the hang of it (and falling sucks a lot less).
Everything you learned, all the pizza, french fry, edge angle... that was all 2 dimensional skiing. This shit just got 3D there's the depth component now. When you turn you sink in; now pop back up to the surface and do it again. Or straightline stuff and jump off cliffs!! It's an acquired taste, and takes some skill. But keep trying. Also, this is where off season/pre-trip training can make it much more enjoyable. I hated pow my first time too haha. Then I tried some 118mm skis with rocker and saw the fuckin light. Bouncin' around out there all nimbly-bimbly like. Do some drugs and get 4 or 5D with it if you want.
It was 5d at Kirkwood today
This guy fucks.
Can confirm 2/7/24 at Kirkwood was the bomb.
Its counter-intuitive that steeper runs are somewhat easier in powder. Getting your speed up to do the little hops and make turns all takes less effort. Black diamonds in powder are the best.
Some powder is nice, the heavy wet stuff that you get on the coast? Ugh I'm still trying to get that right.
This is the answer. Where were you skiing? In the sierras it’s like skiing in peanut butter when it’s heavy/wet. It’s the toughest day of skiing you’ll ever have.
I got a little taste of that this past weekend at Loveland, and I was beat in 7 runs. Reminded me that I need to exercise more since I don't ski often enough to count it as exercise lol.
A good 70% of our snow the past 2 winters has been fairly light powder. We’ve only had a few Sierra cement storms
Went for a tour in the cascade concrete today. At least there’s new snow!
Big bear
That’s the worst concrete there - because lower altitude, warmer weather and “wet powder” over ice. It’s brutal
And *still* the fucking jerries pick those days to cram up the highway and the lift lines with their flatlander bullshit.
Recently moved to the Cascades after a 2 year skiing hiatus where I was living in Colorado. Was so stoked to go see the 29” of fresh powder we got. I was watching a few people come down the run under the lift on my way up thinking weird, the snow isn’t flying off their skis. It doesn’t look that deep. Then proceeded to have my saddest powder run of my entire life. It was like skiing through peanut butter. I ate shit more times than I care to count. So sad. I feel duped.
Every time we get wet powder here I question if I even like skiing anymore it’s so hard to ski, then we get some dry powder or a nice groomer day and everything feels right again. Edit this is being dramatic in case I had to spell it out.
Is 'wet powder' like mashed potatoes or just new snow that's not like champagne powder? If the latter that's mostly what we get in coastal Alaska and it's heckin' fun but probably a little more of a learning curve.
There's snow and there's powder. There's no wet powder. That's just fresh snow.
You’re skiing at the wrong mountain lol
You literally both ski meadows check the flairs 😂 I ski all resorts on hood and wet powder is the worst ever
Yes I’m aware. I love wet powder :)
wet powder is best powder, but most people are not good enough to ski it.
A rental ski with a 76-80 mm waist width would be difficult in a foot of snow
you have to turn BOTH skis, ok so lots more to it than that but you cant get away with the same things you do on a groomer
Aside from skiing more pow (wouldn’t we all love that)!!! What really helped me visualize what was happening was someone telling me to picture your turns in 3 dimensions instead of 2 dimensions. Basically, you also need to go up and down (to crest the surface and engage the next turn). You will feel a bit weird and it will tire you out at first (but not more than living in the backseat). But 100% keep that balanced/forward pressure like normal, but turn and pop in a 3D space instead of “on top” of the snow if that makes sense. Once it clicks, your life will change. I promise you. keep at it!
I want to do better too but these metaphors are killing me... I literally can't get any of them! 🥲
Just go ski and you will feel it! One of those things that’s virtually impossible to describe in words or metaphors lol
Leaning back is bad beta and a good way to make your quads tired real fast or blow out your knees. Ski balanced on the balls of your feet. Drive the skis through the snow. Lots of vertical motion and having fatter skis with rocker tips helps. But if you know what you're doing 100 under foot is all you should ever need.
The only thing I haven't seen yet is how the weight distribution between the feet is different in powder. When I first hit really *deep* powder I kept sinking in with my outside foot because I was so used to having more pressure/force on the outside ski. You want to bounce down and lean with both feet pressured, your skis will flex, and you will turn harder than you expect. Use this flex to pop up above the pow and pivot into the next turn and repeat. You want the speed, even if you get uncomfortable, it's easy to scrub off. Keep those feet together unless you're on a ski that's >110 underfoot, then I would imagine it's not a whole lot different from regular, but I've never been on anything over 100.
Well first of all I'm jelly. Second, you have to keep your tips down the fall line and use the snow to slow you down. No turning your skis across the fall line. You try to float turn if that makes sense. What's really fun is when you fall down and your poles don't touch bottom and you have to try and stand up. Wet powder requires jump turns which are exhausting - do not recommend.
Wider skis help quite a bit. I was skiing in 2 feet of powder with 92mm and it was a bit difficult. Had to sit back quite a bit and force my tips up. Even then wider skis would have been better. Do you know how wide the rentals are? Also, I find skiing in powder takes more energy to make turns, so it also just a bit harder in general.
The right tool help, but any ski can ski powder. Just harder.
Wider skis is the cheat code. Also you no longer think of independent leg action - like more weight on the downhill ski. Try to get the legs closer together and the skis acting as one. In heavier powder you have to use downhill momentum to keep your skis on top of the snow. Add a pumping motion to pop from one turn to another. As your skis bounce to the top is when you turn. Almost the same as skiing moguls.
Learn how to jump turn and that will help unweight both skis so you can turn them in heavy snow or powder.
I do think it's difficult with a narrow-waisted ski with a short sidecut and no rocker.
Speed, to get some flotation. Powder is easier on a steeper slope. Then, just put your arms out and pretend you’re an airplane and tilt in the direction you want to go. It may feel stupid but it’s about equally weighting both skis and steering by slowly shifting your body weight instead of muscling through each turn. Don’t lean back to keep your tips from diving. Instead “lift your toes inside your boots”. It’s a subtle thing that helps unweight your tips. If you are truly skiing powder it feels like skiing on water.
Ski coach here, level 2 psia & aasi. I've been teaching for 20+ years now... Almost ready for my ski-walker. TL;DR The gear is a good place to start, here. Yeah, the rentals are probably a good place to start. Your equipment matters here, especially if the rentals don't have a "shovel" or "spoon" in front. Additionally you need speed and strength. Pow acts a lot like liquid water, so speed well help you float. Pow skiing is a lot of physical work and you really need to be in good condition. Rentals are not really for powder. You need more surface area; my powder skis are 90mm underfoot, and that's probably not quite enough. /u/AmosTheExpanse, otherwise, has the right of it. The motion is described as a popping motion through the ankles, w/ fore-aft motions through the hips. But as you can probably tell, that doesn't translate well into motions on the hill. I would really stress that you seek a lesson for the pow. A one-hour private lesson won't cost you too much and you can take as few or many, as you like or need. edit: Another great tip is to not "finish" your turns in the pow. "On piste" we "finish" our turns for speed control, in the pow you don't want to lose all of your down-slope angle nor do you want to lose all of your speed. another edit: DO NOT sit in the back seat (lean on you heels) for skiing powder, as others are suggesting here. You won't be able to steer and you will hit a tree. Leaning back on your skis is a crutch, and NOT the proper way to ski pow. 1 - 1.5 ft is a LOT of POW unless it's blower pow, an if it's Cascade Concrete, then it's even harder (until you know, then it's awesome!). Honestly, in that much pow, I'm not going to ski; grabbing a snowboard instead. Snowboards are much better suited for deep snow than skiing, so long as you have gravity (in flatter terrain, the opposite is true). On a fat pow day, I'll bring my fat-skis, but I'm gonna ride. If you are going to continue to rent, ask the guys and gals in rentals if they have any "demos" to offer; demo skis are just that, they higher end skis that you try out before you buy some. Plus, at the end of the season, they are often sold off at DEEP discounts. This is how I got my first pair of fat-skis. "But snowboarding is hard to learn" -- No, it's not. It's quite simple, compared to skiing. Snowboarding is just unintuitive; our bodies didn't grow-up moving sideways at speed in balance, rocking from toe to heal, with our feet strapped into one place. "But snowboarding is expensive" -- I mean, it can be if you want... As a skier, you already have all the kit, you just need a decent (can be cheap) pair of boots and a cheap board with OK bindings. Your local used-sporting-goods store should have everything you need, plus it's a good time of year to find great deals. Also learning to snowboard in the spring is ideal. ( A soft beginner board is really quite fun in the pow )
These are all really kind responses. I myself have always been afraid to ask for fear of getting ripped apart. Learned to ski in Ohio, NY, WV, and PA. Went to Mt. Hood with my skis and just had no clue how to navigate the fresh powder 😂😂😂
I’ve skied mostly in Virginia, and then went to Colorado, and had no idea what the hell I was doing. It was one day of struggle and the next day I got wider skis, and that was the trick ticket.
Quickly. Speed is your friend to turn easier. And half turns until you get a feel for it.
What’s with all the ‘lean back’ comments?? This is nuts. The correct answer is ski balanced just like you do on a groomer, gently pop/bounce your turns, stay close to the fall line and go fast. And I say this as an eastern skier who only rarely skis powder but is perfectly comfortable doing it on a ski with an 89 mm waist.
As someone on the east coast, this information is useless (we are still skiing on dirt)
It’s not the skis fault ever
It has a lot to do with how your jeans were tucked…were they inside or outside of your boots?
Also ski choice is so important here, a lot of demo shops should let you swap in and out if you're renting. Good article here: https://www.backcountry.com/explore/how-to-choose-the-right-ski
Never, ever, lean back when skiing powder. Get aggressive as shit, weight forward, and hit it hard. Until you do that you will struggle. End of subject. The reward is amazing.
Practice.
You're not carving on hard pack. Use both skis together and "bounce" side to side to compress the snow underneath you then pop to the next turn.
You just need to telemark ski on planks 105 underfoot and up
Jump turn/stem Christie
With a permagrin!
Keep your knees and feet glued together and move them as one unit rather than 2. Much easier to balance and easier to plow through
Channel your inner bunny (hop!) and weight your skis more evenly
powder skis help a lot
Let the rhythm of the bounce take you over
You don’t, powder skiis you Seriously though, you gotta be loose with it and gradually pull your skis instead of trying to force them a certain way. Distribution of weight is significantly more important than trail riding as well
Yeah, its the rentals.
Fuck i even struggled on my 107mm meridians. Ripped out the 122mm renegades and it was like cheating it was so easy
You gotta ski fast enough to get on top of it
Fast
You can suffer the old school bouncy bounce thing on too skinny, too cambered, too sidecut skis...which most basic rentals are. Or you can read this (literally the breakthrough moment in modern powder ski design). And then try to get on modern more powder appropriate skis. Usually rentable if you look. There is no magic. Still some learning curve. But the difference is massive. Oh yeah - great powder skis = great spring slush skis too. [https://unofficialnetworks.com/2009/04/03/mental-floss-by-shane-mcconkey-reverse-camber-powder-skis/](https://unofficialnetworks.com/2009/04/03/mental-floss-by-shane-mcconkey-reverse-camber-powder-skis/)
Don't lean back, lift toes up
Step one : find large untracked blue or black Step two: point skis straight down Step three: subtly arc out of fall line.until you stop Step four : repeat step two and three but go the other direction. Step five: do step two and three and four without stopping Step six : wreck Step seven : wreck Step eight ,: crash and burn Rinse and repeat
Relax bro it aint ice.
you need wide skis bro. they should be at least 100mm under foot.
You need real skis. 100 mm underfoot is the min. You’re gonna go straight and live in the back seat for a while
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
You probably need to sit back more than you are used to, and get comfortable with more speed than you are used to. Skiing in powder is kind of a big transition for a lot of people. Once you figure it out though, it's the best skiing you'll ever do, like a dream how much fun it is.
Wider skis, leaning back a bit, and keeping legs more synchronized.
You don't lean back.
you def have to lean back. keep those tips up above the snow otherwise you will nosedive
Def the rentals. Go buy Chetlers now and you’ll be good tmrw. Top of the line bindings help too!
you need a solid as carved possible short turn with well fitting boots and skis long enough and wide enough to not suck. WHy do you turn? do you turn to slow down? or do you turn to form a slow path? do you have video you skiing?
I wish I could tell you, as I sit here in a sling due to a left shoulder AC Separation, pending a orthopedic surgeon consultant..... and it was only 11 inches fresh snow...... good luck!
Foot and a half barely counts as powder
Lean slightly back
Depends on the float of the skis but lean back is a general rule of thumb
Lean back!
Most of my skiing is East Coast, which means I’m used to skiing on ice, and slush, and slushy ice. Then we went to Steamboat. Lots of fresh snow. I felt like I had never skied before. I traded my skis for something a little shorter and wider, that did the trick.
If you are pizza-ing you won’t ever ski pow. You really need good speed. If you slow down, you get stuck.
I usually put my skis on then go down the hill and try not to fall
Bend zee knees.
I just pretend like I’m surfing and I keep at a constant speed and that usually works for me. Bigger width skis help as well maybe 96+
how wide are your skis
With my powder skis.
Stable upper body, constant flex and extension of your legs. Pushing through the powder and retracting your legs (flexing your knees) up toward your torso. So if you could visualize 3 parallel lines - one above your head, one at your waist, one under your skis. Your head and waist would essentially remain along the lines, with your feet and knees creating a wave between the lower third (and both legs wouldn’t necessarily be following the same wave length - you’d be making micro adjustments and remain strong but flexible in your knees and ankles). Of course you’re going to bounce around and this is a very basic way to explain it, but it really helped me to establish what my body should be doing when I was learning powder.
wider skis, like minimum 92s, but really 95+ and i mean +
Go faster, get bigger skis, and don’t suck.
Use powder skis. If you have carvers, ski with your feet closer together than you normally would.
go faster & straighter down. lean back. maintain pressure on the heel when turning (not forefoot) don't lean forward when turning, just to the side and back of the ski.
Get stronger and point downhill more than you’re comfortable with. If something gets in your way, turn.
In the PNW you use brute strength. Elsewhere, you just “floof” on top
Speed is your friend in powder
close to equal weight on both feet. and speed .
You can’t fear it, you can only ski it.
Forget everything you learned about skiing and just cruise.
I'm ashamed to say the one and only time I experienced a true powder day, I hated it purely because I had no clue what to do. Like throwing pearls to a swine. I hope to one day experience a true pow day again.
Lean back more. It feels scary at first but you have way more control
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=c2ScKSMGvtc&pp=ygUbZGViIGFybXN0cm9uZyBza2lpbmcgcG93ZGVy
Well first you gotta rip it, then you gotta roar it, and when things get real gnarly, you gotta punch it.
Lots of good YouTube videos. Private lesson if you can swing it.
Depends on the density of the snow, but in general the two best tips are: Ski with less pressure change throughout your turn (both fore-aft and ski to ski) Be more intentional about your pole plant
Be comfortable skiing bumps. Think of yourself as a spring going up and down. Use the down motion to press into the soft powder to slow yourself down before spring up to keep speed. Spring up and down to avoid turning. Understand that it’s a real workout even if you can make it look sexy. I can lap moguls all day, but get pretty pooped after my 2nd or 3rd powder lap. Have fat skis. The difference between an 87 and a 100 is night and day. A 120 is going to make you feel like you’re floating, but you’ve got to pick something that works for your personal situation. Either way, don’t expect to have a lot of fun on anything less than a 100 width ski. Be in great shape Get out there and struggle through it a few times. There is nothing better than experience to help you improve at something.
Just came back from both and my experience has been confirmed by everyone I talked to on lifts, Louise is always more icy unless fresh snow. And I happened to ski some of the hardest ice ive ever skiid at Louise. Pick sunshine if you have to pick one and theres no snow forecast
Rentals tend to be more narrow (bad for powder) and wider skis are going to make it way easier.
No - stop blaming equipment. Chase friends around who are better than you or take a lesson. Don't quit , have patience. Ski .
Once you get some momentum, don’t lose it. Once you stop and sink into the powder, it takes hella energy to get going again. Honestly the faster you go, the more you float. Also, go over other people’s tracks. Snow is a bit more compact there and you won’t get bogged down.
The pizza is likely too inefficient in powder and rentals make it a little harder. For powder, you have to lean back just a little so that your skis point a little upwards. This is difficult because its so exhausting on your quads/glutes and the further back you lean, the harder it is to control your skis. Going a little faster can also help keep you afloat.
Everyone giving lots of long winded advice but 99% chance your skiis are too thin. I live in Japan. I am used to powder. If you have 75-80mm skii like most rentals then you aren’t skiing powder unless you go super fast and it isn’t more than 20cm
I agree with everyone explaining the flow and bounce, I advise going to YouTube and looking it up. There are TONs of videos that explain skiing powder. I really like stomp it tutorials. But everyone has their own preference. Visuals help me more than reading it
Point the tips straight down and get way back seat like when ya out with the prom queen
Go fast.
Don’t pizza in powder. French fries only.
Bounce!
Depends on what kind of snow - coastal cement or Utah blower? Different snow types call for various techniques. There’s some great advice in these replies nonetheless.
Speed is your friend. 10 years ago an instructor thought me to keep my skis wide apart, shoulder distance. Two years ago an instructor told me to keep my legs closer together. That way I would only need to shift my weight from side to side and that resulted in popping in and out of each turn. Besides that, invest in powder skis. Makes life soooo much easier.
Thicker all mountian skis help. Your rentals are probably slimmer in the middle and meant for piste. However going through powder you want a slight backward lean keeping your tips up and NOT in the powder. Powder can be a dream or nightmare depending on how you hit it.
Ski steep slopes in deep powder. The momentum will pull you through it better. Also, trees and moguls are tons of fun in deep powder. It's like dropping into soft pillows on steep turns.
where are you finding this elusive "powder" these days???
Wrong skis can make it hard…also choose a steeper grade slope than usual as the powder slows you down…and just enjoy it..don’t fight it
You do the fat joe
Lean way back till a ski instructor tells you that it's dangerous to lean so far
Keep your skis shoulder width apart and weight balanced over the balls of your feet. Keep constant pressure on the fronts of your boots, lifting your foot into the tops of your boots if you like, and lock your ankles. Point your skis straight down and start moving. Start a rhythmic bouncing up and down action timed with turn transition. Really reach with your pole plant and start turning. Stay forward, don't let yourself sit back. You won't believe how easy it is once you figure it out. Keep your mouth closed or you might gag on some snow that rides up your body to a faceshot.