Tips for Powder Skiing

Tips for Powder Skiing Male 1: In all of skiing, there’s no sensation as great as floating through powder. People jaunts for this stuff. They’ll fly half a world away to get a few days of it. But the weird thing about powder skiing is until you get the technique, the powder’s enjoyable as wrestling an 800-pound gorilla. With just a few simple adjustments, we’re going to obtain that gorilla in giving the keys to powder skiing ease. Male 2: That’s an expression, right? But has anyone ever wrestled an 800-pound gorilla? I think the match would last very long. And I could guarantee you that our writer didn’t wrestle any 800-pound gorilla. Male 1: We’re not doing wild kingdom here. Male 2: Okay. But the point is, powder skiing is tough until you get the knock. I mean it’s easy to freak. You can’t see your tips and you can’t feel the bottom but take my word for it, once you get it, you’ll never want to see your skis again. So, how do we make this big breakthrough? First, change your mindset. We’re not going to thrash the powder into submission. Male 2: Instead, think about caressing and finessing your turns. Create a platform. Distribute your weight evenly. Balance your stance. Extend into the turn, unweight and float. Look at this historic footage. Now, this guy might be in a wheelchair by now but he sure was supple back in. Watch as PSIA demonstration team member Megan Harvey skis the powder at Snowbird. Bring your skis a little closer together to create a single platform for a better floatation. Distribute your weight evenly over both feet. See how she weights both feet the same? Down to your stance, don’t press too far forward on the tongues of your boots and don’t sit back on the hills of your boots. Watch how her weight distribution stays the same as on any other type of snow. She’s balanced, centered, on the balls of her feet. Notice she’s not sitting back. There’s no need, unless, the snow is really sticky and you have to in order to keep them going over the bars. Stir the skis into the turn and extend your legs as you do. Watch as she stirs. She extends and pushes off the platform she has created. This gives that wonderful floating sensation between turns that everyone’s after. Here’s another look. [Demonstration] These days, many powder skiers are on the new fat and mid-fat skis. Because there’s more surface area and more floatation with these skis, it’s less important to create narrow stance. Because fat skis float better, skiers are also able to ski faster through powder and make their move—which means less upper body movement and less pumping with the legs through the turns. Male 2: So, the keys to powder skiing are: Male 1: Change your mindset, create a platform, distribute your weight evenly, balance your stance, extend into the turn, unweight and float. Male 2: All right, more stoke. [Demonstration]