Powder skiing is a great liberation from gravity, effort, and worldly cares. But you have to defeat the powder paradox first. The paradox is this: once you know how to ski in deep snow, it seems much easier than skiing on the packed snow; but learning to ski powder is always harder than learning to turn on packed slopes. Here's a simplified approach to get you as quickly as possible past the frustrations of learning to ski powder.
Balance first. Or as I used to tell my students, stability before mobility. You'll need a new sort of balance in deep snow -- standing two-footed, weight roughly equal on both skis. If you stand on one ski, which is the normal mode for hardpack, that weighted ski will dive down while the other one floats up, and whoops! To develop two-footed powder balance, be sure you do a bit of straight running and traversing before you start turning downhill in deep snow. Bounce and flex up and down on both skis as you descend in a straight line, and adapt your stance for better balance by spreading your arms wider than normal.
Slow-motion speed control. Everything takes longer to accomplish in deep snow: skis don't just whip around, they come about slowly and gently. You'll feel as if you are skiing in slow motion. This is normal and is due to the extra resistance from your skis being buried inside the snow rather than just sliding over the top of it. Get used to finishing turns gently and pulling smoothly out of the fall line much slower than normal. A jerky attempt to pivot your skis sideways in powder will inevitably produce a fall. From a steep traverse, sink down and then slowly, smoothly twist your skis uphill while extending your legs and pushing and grinding your heels sideways. Twisting extension is the key to a strong finish for a powder turn.
Launching your turns down the hill. Here we have another powder paradox: for experienced powder skiers, short-linked turns are easiest, but newcomers will find that individual medium- to long-radius turns result in more success. Launch these turns by using a couple of "powder tricks,"; either separately or together. The first trick is to vigorously lift your outside hand as you start your turn. This will help to unweight the fronts of your skis and bank you neatly in the direction of the turn -- a real secret weapon in extremely deep snow and a big help when you're learning. The other trick is more subtle. If it works for you, great; if not, don't give it a second thought. I'm talking about pushing both feet forward as you start your turn. This is a hard-to-observe move, but believe me, good powder skiers do it a lot and often subconsciously. By thrusting both feet forward in the direction of the new turn down the hill, you will be guaranteeing equal weight on both skis, and once again, helping to lighten the fronts of the skis.
And please, don't be too demanding or too judgmental about your performance on your first few excursions into powder snow. Falling is inevitable and, with the right attitude, almost fun. At first, surviving turns in the deep and just staying on your feet is more important than doing them right. After you've proved to yourself that you can make it down a slope covered with a foot and a half of fluff, it's easier to find the confidence to work out the details and ski the same slope better, more smoothly, and more gracefully. Like everything else on skis, powder skiing is a progression. Remember the sequence: First develop a new type of balance on two feet and two skis, then work on a slow-motion finish to your turns, and, finally, master a powerful "lifting"; start to launch them.
And I have one more tip. A secret weapon: fat skis. In recent years, the introduction of extra-wide and slightly shorter powder skis has thrown the door to deep-snow performance wide open. These skis have so much flotation that they never seem to get stuck or "railed"; in the powder snow. Skiers who have never really had the time to go out and practice in deep snow will find these wide skis simplify the whole problem of developing deep-snow balance. You very nearly can't make a mistake on them, and if you do make a mistake, you almost can't fall. Known affectionately as "fat boys"; or "powder pigs,"; these extra-wide skis have become ubiquitous in just a few seasons. Rent a pair the next time you find yourself looking at a foot or more of new snow. You will be amazed and delighted.
And that's the powder story. Soon you'll be connecting medium-radius turns through knee-deep powder that used to psych you out. At first, you shouldn't try to link turns too closely -- that will be your final step. Initially, you'll want to use the space between turns to catch your breath, smile in amazement that you made it, and get yourself together for that next turn. After your first few successes, you'll know why skiers rave about powder. It really is the ultimate. It is very close to flying.
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