Skiing: Powder Skiing

Power skiing 

Skiing powder snow is a very personal experience, as you develop an intimate relationship with the snow and the mountain. It is clearly exciting, exhilarating and pleasurable. I feel that powder skiing is to skiing as ballet is to dance, for it requires an artistry and finesse of movement, coupled with a strength of the body and fluidity of motion. 

The basic turn for powder skiing is the short- swing turn I described in my previous blog. All that is necessary to use this turn in powder is to modify the body stance and weight distribution and exaggerate the flexion-extension-flexion movements. Once you know how to do this, the next step is to experience the feeling of ridding on a soft cushion beneath the skis rather than on a solid surface, and overcoming the fear of not being able to see your skies under the snow. 

To learn how to ski in powder i therefore recommend that you first learn the modified body stance and then practice traversing and turning uphill in deep snow to experience the feeling of ridding on a soft cushion. 

Powder skiing is mostly for advanced skiers, mostly because most powder trails are for advanced and experts due to the fact that the grooming machines can't go on trails that are too steep. 

There is also another turn specifically done on powder snow called the The Powder Turn. 

The powder turn is a very tireless way of skiing. The powder turn does not cause the skis to turn rapidly across the fall-line, this turn does not slow you down as much as most other turns do, and hence is best skied on intermediate-grade slopes in powder which is at least knee deep or on steep resistance of the snow against the body is used to prevent you from going too fast.

"The powder turn makes use of momentum and the pull of gravity to help get the skis through the turns, and hence is most often used when skiing quickly or dynamically" (Heckelman, 172)

Skiing: Advanced Skiing turns

In advanced skiing turns start to become faster and shorter radius'. When skiing on advanced trails you need to make smaller turns so you keep your balance and you don't put too much pressure at a time on a leg because that can cause a lot of pain the next day. As I said before in beginner skiing you learn how to use the upper body for balance and the lower body for skiing. Now in advanced skiing, the upper part of the body is always facing down the fall-line and remains relatively still while the work of turning and steering the skis is done by the feet, ankles and knees. In advanced skiing, there are different types of turns to help you get down the trail.

These turns should be practiced on beginner's slopes to get used to the movement of the turns without getting out of control on the slopes.

1. Short-swing Turns (Steeps)- turns performed on a downhill run the enables you to take the slopes at a steeper angle. At first the turn is done with the skis kept very wide apart and with exaggerated flexion-extension-flexion under-weighting movements and then as you become more at ease with the maneuver, the skis are brought together and the amount of flexion-extension-flexion is substantially reduced.


2. The counter-turn (S turn)- On a steep slope, a very useful maneuver for controlling your speed without losing your smooth rhythm is the counter turn. In this movement, you use your knees and ankles to steer your skis up the hill just prior to executing a downhill turn. By turning your skis up the hill, you slow them down. Since the skis are continually turning on their edges, this is a smooth way of controlling your speed without slide-slipping.

Wedeln Turn

3. Wedeln Turn- This turn is essentially a short-swing turn executed quickly with the skis held close together, the weight on both feet at all times, very little down-up-down movement and with very little edging. This turn is mainly done on gentle, smooth slopes. The Wedeln turn is basically hoping on your skis as you make a turn.


4. The Jet Turn- The Jet turn maneuver teaches you how to bring your weight forwards again and regain control so that you can end the turn in a correct position, leaning against the fronts of the ski boots. The Jet turn is also an enjoyable ski maneuver when you're playing around on the slopes.

"The key to making good turns is to allow the skies to turn, not to force them" (Heckelman, 87)