Good powder skiing footage to learn from?

[HeluvaSkier]

This one is my favorite.



It shows how powder skiing and groomer skiing are connected, and sheds a new light on what is possible with powder skiing.

[Gary]

J2R....if you can apply 2 footed skiing as we talked about pow skiing earlier and apply it on groomed and chunked up broken snow..you can apply it in powder.

As far as being in the right place at the right time for those big dumps...if you like me do not live in a snow belt....you gotta hope for luck...and once in awhile, the snow gods will smile!

The other thought is that during groomed snow conditions, usally later in the day, play in the snow along the edges...you know about that 15 feet from the edge that gets all that pushed up granular snow.  4- 6 inches of that is a great place to practice engaging both skis at the same time. Practice makes perfect...do it there and I guarantee when the boot high and above pow falls, you'll be ready.

G

[Liam]

Twice that 4ce cut the wind promo video has come up in this thread.  I'm going to `make an unopular comment here (surprise surprise, huh?):

It's a great video and it is great skiing by great skiers, I love watching it, too....But, don't use it as a model to learn to powder ski.  I mean, really?  High speed super g turns on wide open, helicopter access only slopes?   Damn impressive, but not really something you're going to emulate, I bet (I mean, hell, I've watched HH's and Diana's  and Heluva's powder skiing clips, it doesn't look anything like what those Japanese free skiers are up to, yes, they're all carvy, and skilled in their approach, but that's the only similarity!).

Seriously, where do you think you are going to learn to ski like that??  Your next exclusive for four heli-trip to New Zealand? 

The nice thing about Bushwacker's videos, is that they take place in terrain accessible from just about any lift in the USA (for those willing to work a bit to take advantage of it). And they demonstrate the sort of real world skills and powder techniques an aspiring expert might pursue.

Also, For all the knocks on todays ski-**** stars as models to learn from, check out any of Sage's lower angle tree/ powder skiing, if you remove the big air you'll see a technique that is not beyond the average skier's ability to emulate (not to his level,perhaps, but certainly to some fairly enjoyable approximation thereof).

Check out the videos on this page,:
http://www.catskiing.ca/reviews/tags/video

It's just some videos of people (great and not so great) skiing the terrain serviced by Big Red Cats out of Rossland, BC.  The snow is great, the terrain mor etypical of what you might encounter as a typical adventurous skier and the skiing more accessible than 4ce cut the wind.

[Gary]

Great Video Liam...and I saw a lot of fantastic skiing in the video Heleva posted that was highly skillfull...I also saw alot of big toe edge, down hill edge dominant turns, it's just not at least how I would ski that run...certainly not that fast. BUT

Guys,...I really think we're saying there are guys that can and do ski lines that fast...certainly open lines or bowls make creating those kinds of turns. Those truly skillful can make them in the glades as well.

It's just not how I ski them...I'm more upright, relaxed for me and just making every turn mouthwatering in pow.

It's not that I won't let it rip in lines like in Max's photo it's just when the snow get's up above the boot...my approach changes...but that's me.

My hats' off to the guys that can rip like the video and the pics' anywhere on the mountain....BUT no doubt, all of us...receive great pleasure out pow skiing no matter what our approach.

We don't want to deter those interested in how to ski pow by demonstrating only one way to do it...like Bush, and many of us have said here...get your basics down on the groom and go play in the pow...bring YOUR best tools....just don't jump in my line!!!

Best,
G

[HighAngles]

In spending the past week skiing powder every day, I think my primary observation about powder skiing (especially Sierra deep snow conditions) is that skiers who rely on a highly steered pivot move in their transitions are generally rendered helpless in deep snow.  It takes a great deal of balance and aggressiveness to pull off that kind of movement in deep dense snow and sometimes even the best skiers get themselves into trouble skiing it that way.  Do yourself a favor and learn how to transition to your new edges without a pivot, while also re-centering (strong foot pullback) and flexing to release.  The RTE (release, transfer, engage) is just as important, if not more so, in deep thick snow.

Skiing deep snow or thick crud will definitely reveal to you if you are still pivoting the entry into your turns.

[Johnny2R]

Do yourself a favor and learn how to transition to your new edges without a pivot, while also re-centering (strong foot pullback) and flexing to release.  The RTE (release, transfer, engage) is just as important, if not more so, in deep thick snow.

Skiing deep snow or thick crud will definitely reveal to you if you are still pivoting the entry into your turns.

I would say that I don't pivot my turns. As I said, I'm pretty much a PMTS follower, and that's the way I try to ski. Not as well as a lot of you guys, for sure, but I'm not a steerer-pivoter kind of skier, so that helps. I think the area where I could probably benefit the most is by working on my flexing to release, being a bit more dynamic with that.

[LivingProof]

I would say that I don't pivot my turns. As I said, I'm pretty much a PMTS follower, and that's the way I try to ski. Not as well as a lot of you guys, for sure, but I'm not a steerer-pivoter kind of skier, so that helps. I think the area where I could probably benefit the most is by working on my flexing to release, being a bit more dynamic with that.

While you may not pivot your skis on hard snow, when you finally get into powder, your technique will probably change as you figure out how to make turns. Said another way, you will figure out what needs to get done, and, you will revert to rotation movements when the snow gets heavy or slope gets steep. Flaws in your technique surface very quickly, I learned my turn to the left needs work. It's also higher energy sapping, so fatigue becomes an issue.

Having just returned from 5 straight days of skiing new snow, sometimes deep and heavy, my observations are that higher skilled skiers take those skills into powder and just ski so much better in 3D. I have a newly found high respect for High Angles skiing as I watched him just slay 3D very easily, but, his skiing does not change from skiing harder snow. I would concur that deep flexing and free foot pullback are two PMTS movements to lock into normal skiing that transition into powder. Slow one and two foot PMTS release drills will also help you get the turnshape you need.

When you finally experience powder, just enjoy the experience and I hope your first encounters are in lighter snow.

[Johnny2R]

When you finally experience powder, just enjoy the experience and I hope your first encounters are in lighter snow.

That would indeed be nice! I actually have quite a bit of experience skiing in bad snow - heavy, wet snow, chopped up crud, crust, whatever - because I've got into the habit in the last couple of years of skiing as much of the time in those areas off to the side of, and between, the pistes, as on the pistes themselves. Some people would call it masochism, I call it fun! (At least, it's fun if you have the right skis, like the Scott Crusades I was on last time).