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Powder Skiing Lesson and Tips



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 14th 04, 09:55 PM
Jay Sitkin
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Default Powder Skiing Lesson and Tips

I'm going out to Park City next week and plan on skiing 4 or 5 different
areas while there. I've skied most of the areas on previous trips but this
time, and with all the new snow that's there, I would like to do some real
powder skiing. Here's the rub. Having grown up and learned to ski in the
east my chances of skiing powder have been limited. My questions a 1)
which area do you think have the best powder skiing instructors? 2) Do you
have any tips on powder skiing in general.

I am an advanced intermediate skier, ski K2 Axis X pros, I feel comfortable
on most groomed blacks and in the bowls but because of a rebuilt right knee
I cannot ski bumps very well because I can't turn to the right very quickly.

Thanks,




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  #2  
Old January 15th 04, 12:11 AM
Bowling_Guy
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Default Powder Skiing Lesson and Tips

Just remember u can't stop or turn on a dime in powder. Just relax and make
longer turns. You'll need to find a rhythm. It's like floating on a cloud.
A great feeling for sure.


"Jay Sitkin" wrote in message
...
I'm going out to Park City next week and plan on skiing 4 or 5 different
areas while there. I've skied most of the areas on previous trips but

this
time, and with all the new snow that's there, I would like to do some real
powder skiing. Here's the rub. Having grown up and learned to ski in the
east my chances of skiing powder have been limited. My questions a 1)
which area do you think have the best powder skiing instructors? 2) Do you
have any tips on powder skiing in general.

I am an advanced intermediate skier, ski K2 Axis X pros, I feel

comfortable
on most groomed blacks and in the bowls but because of a rebuilt right

knee
I cannot ski bumps very well because I can't turn to the right very

quickly.

Thanks,






  #3  
Old January 15th 04, 12:45 AM
Terd Fartingmor
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Default Powder Skiing Lesson and Tips

On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 16:55:40 -0500, "Jay Sitkin"
wrote this crap:

I'm going out to Park City next week and plan on skiing 4 or 5 different
areas while there. I've skied most of the areas on previous trips but this
time, and with all the new snow that's there, I would like to do some real
powder skiing. Here's the rub. Having grown up and learned to ski in the
east my chances of skiing powder have been limited. My questions a 1)
which area do you think have the best powder skiing instructors? 2) Do you
have any tips on powder skiing in general.

I am an advanced intermediate skier, ski K2 Axis X pros, I feel comfortable
on most groomed blacks and in the bowls but because of a rebuilt right knee
I cannot ski bumps very well because I can't turn to the right very quickly.


You'll like the groomed runs at Deer Valley and Park City. Avoid Alta
with it's narrow, ungroomed runs.




This signature is now the ultimate power in the universe
  #4  
Old January 15th 04, 01:23 AM
Alan Baker
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Default Powder Skiing Lesson and Tips

In article ,
"Jay Sitkin" wrote:

I'm going out to Park City next week and plan on skiing 4 or 5 different
areas while there. I've skied most of the areas on previous trips but this
time, and with all the new snow that's there, I would like to do some real
powder skiing. Here's the rub. Having grown up and learned to ski in the
east my chances of skiing powder have been limited. My questions a 1)
which area do you think have the best powder skiing instructors? 2) Do you
have any tips on powder skiing in general.

I am an advanced intermediate skier, ski K2 Axis X pros, I feel comfortable
on most groomed blacks and in the bowls but because of a rebuilt right knee
I cannot ski bumps very well because I can't turn to the right very quickly.

Thanks,





As a skier who also learned in the east but who now resides in the west,
I think I can offer some useful advice.

If you are like most hardpack skiers, you probably don't edge/weight
both skis equally. Even if you've adapted to carving skis and use them
more equally, you probably still use the outside ski for more/most of
your edging.

Also, on hardpack, you're probably accustomed to being able to
recovering pretty easily from getting your weight to far forward or
backward.

Neither of these things will work the same in powder.

Think about keeping your weight *centred*; forward/backward, but
particularly left/right. Put significantly more weight on one ski than
the other and you'll find instant trouble. g

You don't have to keep your feet welded together, but a wider stance
will accentuate the difficulties if you get your weight onto one ski. So
keep your feet close.

Use your forward/backward positioning to control your speed (to an
extent). Move back on the skis a little and they will move through the
snow at a greater "angle of attack" and you'll go slower. Move forward
and you'll go faster.

Hope this helps.

--
Alan Baker
Vancouver, British Columbia
"If you raise the ceiling 4 feet, move the fireplace from that wall
to that wall, you'll still only get the full stereophonic effect
if you sit in the bottom of that cupboard."
  #5  
Old January 15th 04, 01:58 AM
sjjohnston
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Default Powder Skiing Lesson and Tips

"Alan Baker" wrote in message
...

... Think about keeping your weight *centred*; forward/backward, but
particularly left/right....


This seems like good advice to me. My experience is more with packed snow or
unpacked crud, as opposed to the *real* powder you should be finding in
Utah. What Alan Baker says about staying centered is key. One sort of
"mental imaging" device that has helped me (no guaranty it will help you, or
anyone else for that matter) is to imagine that you are standing not on
skis, but on one of those round saucer-type things that kids use as sleds.
When you turn, you'll tip the disk slightly ... but if you tip it too much,
or stand entirely on one foot, or tip it forward or backwards, you're going
to fall right off of it. You need to make big, gradual turns, and you have
to have the confidence to hurl yourself into the void and pick up some
speed. For me, I also keep my feet a bit closer together than I would on
packed snow, though that of course depends on how close together you've got
your feet to start with.


  #6  
Old January 15th 04, 02:03 AM
foot2foot
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Posts: n/a
Default Powder Skiing Lesson and Tips

"Jay Sitkin" wrote in message
...
I'm going out to Park City next week and plan on skiing 4 or 5 different
areas while there. I've skied most of the areas on previous trips but

this
time, and with all the new snow that's there, I would like to do some real
powder skiing. Here's the rub. Having grown up and learned to ski in the
east my chances of skiing powder have been limited. My questions a 1)
which area do you think have the best powder skiing instructors? 2) Do you
have any tips on powder skiing in general.

I am an advanced intermediate skier, ski K2 Axis X pros, I feel

comfortable
on most groomed blacks and in the bowls but because of a rebuilt right

knee
I cannot ski bumps very well because I can't turn to the right very

quickly.

It's all about balance when you have nothing to stand
on or push against. It really is like trying to walk on
water.

You must have equal weight on each foot, a new
wrinkle for many people.

As with any kind of skiing, hand position is absolutely
critical.

The first thing you'll want to do is to find areas where
you can just go straight in the stuff to a runout.
You'll get used to the balance that way, as well as the
feeling of speed in it. As you go straight, hop a bit, sink
(flex the legs), extend (straighten the legs), work fore
and aft a bit, try to get the feeling of it. If you start to
lose control or get too much weight on one foot or the
other, (one legs sinks in the pow, and the other leg floats
to the top) then just flex the knees to sink into the stance
again, or hop on both feet. This likely will put you back
in a two footed stance. Then extend back into a more
upright stance. Then continue.

The most basic way to turn in powder, if you have
room, is to simply raise the outside hand a bit. This
banks your skis just that right amount to initiate a large
radius turn, as well as crossing your body over just that
right amount. You see people do this a lot in powder
films.

The fatter the skis, the more irrelevant the technique
gets, so if the stuff is deep, maybe go for the demo
fatties.

If you want to go for an intermediate cat ski learning
session, for sure get fatties.

As you go to learning to turn in it, make sure it's some
place where you have lots of room, that is, not in dense
trees or such where you have to turn to live. That sort
of thing tends to psych a person out, thus inhibiting
progress. Plus, getting up from a fall in powder is
purely exhausting, so make it as easy on yourself as
you can.

Most people like to just stay in the fall line and link
turns in the powder, I like to play around with different
size turns, and being able to make one or two turns to a
stop.

There are two basic ways to turn in it, one would be to
cross your body over just that right amount, start
standing tall, then sink to initiate the turn, (or the next turn),
then extend and twist the legs to complete the turn. Then
sink to initiate, cross over and change edges, then extend
to finish. Then repeat as necessary. This technique is
gaining favor because many think it's easier. Sink, (down
unweight) with twisting extension at the end of the turn.

The other tried and true old time technique is to simply
hop. Cross your body over just that right amount, then
sink through the turn, then extend to cross over and change
"edges" and start the new turn, then repeat. The old
"up unweight" that still holds true in so many situations.

Remember, it must be a two footed stance, equal weight
on each foot.

Really, it's all in the balance.

Perhaps others have other suggestions, I'm not all that
good at the powder yet myself, but I've gotten to the
point where I can see what it's going to take. And by
now, I've gotten a fair amount of experience in it, the
definition of "powder" being that you must use a two
footed stance (equal weighting on each foot), or else one
foot will sink and the other will rise in the snow, thus
causing a fall.

I would then say, the answer to your most basic question
is, look for someplace that has an intermediate cat-ski
learning operation. It might be more that time on the
snow is more effective than is any instructor.

Be *sure* you're in very good condition. Work
yourself as hard as you can before you go on the
trip. Lots of legs, abs, and cardio.

The perennial problem is, to learn it, you have to have it,
and it's not there every day. But, I always keep looking.

Maybe I *should* take that cat ski job...


  #7  
Old January 15th 04, 02:45 AM
Jeff Davis
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Default Powder Skiing Lesson and Tips

In article ,
Jay Sitkin wrote:
east my chances of skiing powder have been limited. My questions a 1)
which area do you think have the best powder skiing instructors? 2) Do you
have any tips on powder skiing in general.


You carve turns in powder just like carving turns on groomers. I can
teach any intermediate skier of average athletic ability to carve turns
in powder in a week. I hope it snows for you. We've been under a high
pressure ridge for a couple of weeks now. I was out cruising goomers
with Jeremy Nobis and Micah Black today. They carve turns on groomers
just like they carve turns in powder.
--
According to John Perry Barlow, "Jeff Davis is a truly gifted trouble-maker."

  #8  
Old January 15th 04, 02:47 AM
Jeff Davis
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Default Powder Skiing Lesson and Tips

In article ,
Bowling_Guy wrote:
Just remember u can't stop or turn on a dime in powder. Just relax and make
longer turns. You'll need to find a rhythm. It's like floating on a cloud.


Why? What makes you say that?
--
According to John Perry Barlow, "Jeff Davis is a truly gifted trouble-maker."

  #9  
Old January 15th 04, 03:27 AM
Jay Sitkin
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Default Powder Skiing Lesson and Tips

Thank you all for the advice. Makes pretty good sense to me. I'll print
these off and read and reread them on the plane. Maybe I'll have them
imprinted in my mind by the time I hit the slopes.

Now, if the Eagles win on Sunday night I'm sure the week will be perfect. No
offense to all you Carolina skiers. :-)

"Jay Sitkin" wrote in message
...
I'm going out to Park City next week and plan on skiing 4 or 5 different
areas while there. I've skied most of the areas on previous trips but

this
time, and with all the new snow that's there, I would like to do some real
powder skiing. Here's the rub. Having grown up and learned to ski in the
east my chances of skiing powder have been limited. My questions a 1)
which area do you think have the best powder skiing instructors? 2) Do you
have any tips on powder skiing in general.

I am an advanced intermediate skier, ski K2 Axis X pros, I feel

comfortable
on most groomed blacks and in the bowls but because of a rebuilt right

knee
I cannot ski bumps very well because I can't turn to the right very

quickly.

Thanks,






  #10  
Old January 15th 04, 03:32 AM
Richard Henry
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Posts: n/a
Default Powder Skiing Lesson and Tips


"Jeff Davis" wrote in message
.. .

You carve turns in powder just like carving turns on groomers.


I did not know that.


 




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