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ENLARGE
You've trashed at least one pair of skis, your feet and knees are sore, your back aches and your enthusiasm has dwindled. Relief is beginning to arrive and it's not in the form of an anti-inflammatory.
Skiing the same places and conditions for nearly three months, your mind, body and technique have drifted into a routine and boredom has set in. You need to make adjustments mentally and physically to your skiing in order to be ready for the powder and changing conditions.
We are seeing a change in the weather pattern and conditions are improving with every inch.
Increasing recurrent showers are gradually covering the hard pack, the rocks are disappearing, making it a little easier to uncurl your toes and ease the worry of blowing an edge.
Adapting to these changing conditions requires the right equipment, skills and a positive attitude. All those myths you hear about, how to ski powder and crud, are just that, myths. Using the same skills and balancing used on the groomed, you can ski these variable conditions with some minor adjustments.
How many times have you heard, “I don't like powder and crud”? Maybe you have said this yourself. Generally, it is only human nature that if one can't do something, one will not like it. It doesn't need to be that way. With all the new technology, even a cave man can do it.
Powder can turn a blue run into a black for the intermediate skier, transforming a strong level 7 into a hapless 5. Your first hurdle to overcome is cramping of the brain just by seeing the deep fresh snow a mental block is created resulting in tension, which demolishes your ability to maintain balance.
You're riding the chair and you see skiers and riders flopping around, out of control and cleaning up after the yard sale. By the time you reach the top you've convinced yourself you can't ski the stuff. This is a brain cramp.
Skiing untracked snow is the best feeling in skiing, other than maybe winning gold at the Olympics. Smooth, consistent from turn to turn with few disruption of balance and the awesome floating sensation. Once it has been skied out it's transformed into crud, junk or whatever you want to call it, creating a completely different feeling.
What once was a pristine, smooth, floating sensation has become athletic and will disturb your balance.
Don't fret, that's just the way feels even to seasoned veterans. Experts just ski faster to overcome the balance disruptions and the bounced around feeling.
Skiing deep snow and crud increases a resistance to direction change; using the resistance to control your speed can be your friend. Stay loose and expect to get your balance disrupted. Don't sit back. Ski the steeper trails with small bumps, it will give you lift to aid direction change.
Ski closer to the fall line and don't turn across the hill. If you can see the trees, you've turned too far and will lose momentum, making it difficult to get the next turn started and eliminating that smooth rhythmic turns you had going.
Equipment technology and advancements have made skiing powder/crud conditions easier for the masses than in the past. Just about any ski works in a couple of inches of the light untracked powder, but when the snow gets deeper, dense and cut up, certain skis work better.
Carving style skis will give you the most problems, except for those still riding conventional skis, they are the worst for powder conditions. They're too narrow to float a skier's weight and you'll have to jump up and down, which will end your day early.
Skis with waists of 85-95 mm under foot, wider tips and tails and even flexing are the best for the learning powder skier because they will float up to the surface, making them easy to turn.
Experienced expert powder skiers prefer skis that are 100-110 mm under foot with “rockered” tips and tails but these are limited to mostly powder only and are not as user friendly on the groomers.
Powder and crud creates challenges which are bound to create havoc with technique and stance for even the best skiers. Unless the powder is totally untracked, the ride will not be smooth.
Your ability to stay loose and make constant balance adjustments is mandatory. With lessons, some physical and mental preparation, the adjustments will be minimal. Know what you need to do before you are standing on the edge of a bottomless chute, an untracked, pristine bowl of powder or untracked on-piste trails will make your powder experience enjoyable.
Your ability to adapt to the changing conditions is necessary for good skiing.
A few do's and don'ts, a ski lesson and you'll be grinning like the rest of us. See you next run.
Don Jewkes is a 33-year certified PSIA-RM level 3 Pro for the Ski and Snowboard Schools of Aspen at Snowmass, local resident and owner of Sunset Ski Repair. Drop him a line at donjewkes@comcast.net . Visit his Web site, www.sunsetski.com.
Skiing the same places and conditions for nearly three months, your mind, body and technique have drifted into a routine and boredom has set in. You need to make adjustments mentally and physically to your skiing in order to be ready for the powder and changing conditions.
We are seeing a change in the weather pattern and conditions are improving with every inch.
Increasing recurrent showers are gradually covering the hard pack, the rocks are disappearing, making it a little easier to uncurl your toes and ease the worry of blowing an edge.
Adapting to these changing conditions requires the right equipment, skills and a positive attitude. All those myths you hear about, how to ski powder and crud, are just that, myths. Using the same skills and balancing used on the groomed, you can ski these variable conditions with some minor adjustments.
How many times have you heard, “I don't like powder and crud”? Maybe you have said this yourself. Generally, it is only human nature that if one can't do something, one will not like it. It doesn't need to be that way. With all the new technology, even a cave man can do it.
Powder can turn a blue run into a black for the intermediate skier, transforming a strong level 7 into a hapless 5. Your first hurdle to overcome is cramping of the brain just by seeing the deep fresh snow a mental block is created resulting in tension, which demolishes your ability to maintain balance.
You're riding the chair and you see skiers and riders flopping around, out of control and cleaning up after the yard sale. By the time you reach the top you've convinced yourself you can't ski the stuff. This is a brain cramp.
Skiing untracked snow is the best feeling in skiing, other than maybe winning gold at the Olympics. Smooth, consistent from turn to turn with few disruption of balance and the awesome floating sensation. Once it has been skied out it's transformed into crud, junk or whatever you want to call it, creating a completely different feeling.
What once was a pristine, smooth, floating sensation has become athletic and will disturb your balance.
Don't fret, that's just the way feels even to seasoned veterans. Experts just ski faster to overcome the balance disruptions and the bounced around feeling.
Skiing deep snow and crud increases a resistance to direction change; using the resistance to control your speed can be your friend. Stay loose and expect to get your balance disrupted. Don't sit back. Ski the steeper trails with small bumps, it will give you lift to aid direction change.
Ski closer to the fall line and don't turn across the hill. If you can see the trees, you've turned too far and will lose momentum, making it difficult to get the next turn started and eliminating that smooth rhythmic turns you had going.
Equipment technology and advancements have made skiing powder/crud conditions easier for the masses than in the past. Just about any ski works in a couple of inches of the light untracked powder, but when the snow gets deeper, dense and cut up, certain skis work better.
Carving style skis will give you the most problems, except for those still riding conventional skis, they are the worst for powder conditions. They're too narrow to float a skier's weight and you'll have to jump up and down, which will end your day early.
Skis with waists of 85-95 mm under foot, wider tips and tails and even flexing are the best for the learning powder skier because they will float up to the surface, making them easy to turn.
Experienced expert powder skiers prefer skis that are 100-110 mm under foot with “rockered” tips and tails but these are limited to mostly powder only and are not as user friendly on the groomers.
Powder and crud creates challenges which are bound to create havoc with technique and stance for even the best skiers. Unless the powder is totally untracked, the ride will not be smooth.
Your ability to stay loose and make constant balance adjustments is mandatory. With lessons, some physical and mental preparation, the adjustments will be minimal. Know what you need to do before you are standing on the edge of a bottomless chute, an untracked, pristine bowl of powder or untracked on-piste trails will make your powder experience enjoyable.
Your ability to adapt to the changing conditions is necessary for good skiing.
A few do's and don'ts, a ski lesson and you'll be grinning like the rest of us. See you next run.
Don Jewkes is a 33-year certified PSIA-RM level 3 Pro for the Ski and Snowboard Schools of Aspen at Snowmass, local resident and owner of Sunset Ski Repair. Drop him a line at donjewkes@comcast.net . Visit his Web site, www.sunsetski.com.
