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#1
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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
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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
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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
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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." |
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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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