skiing a bowl

Hi,

I am an advanced skier, not expert. I tried to ski a bowl at Copper, Union
Jack, it's a single/double diamond, and I got onto a steep portion of wind
blown crust. I broke through the crust with about 3 feet of soft shown under
it - my skis stopped and I didn't, and you can guess what happened - I went
downhill a ways and had to fight my way through that deep snow to go back
and get my skis.

What is the proper way to ski a steep with crust like that?

Thanks,

--Randy Starkey