Skill School – How to ski powder
by NIGEL HARRISON CSIA III, CSCF II
Okay, you’ve put the miles in on the groomers, you’ve tasted them with fresh snow and even forayed into the trees beside the slope once in a while. Every instructional tip in Ski Canada has been read and stored. Now, guess what? You’re ready to join your friends in the great Canadian backcountry.
Skiing powder is simple. As long as you stay centred over your skis and maintain sufficient speed to allow the ski design to function, you’ll be laughing or at least smiling broadly.
No matter how steep or deep it gets, no matter how little you can see due to exploding snow or poor visibility, keep this simple tip in your mind: Reach down the fall line as far as you can each time you go to plant your pole.
This one little tip will help you to create angulation at the bottom of the turn, keeping you balanced on your turning ski so the ski will continue to turn.
Remember, your ski is just a piece of wood and metal. It neither knows nor cares how steep or powdery the terrain is. If you use it the way it was designed to be used, by preventing you from sitting back and instead balancing over the middle of it, it will continue to function as you wish.
