Skiing untouched powder is one of the best feelings in the world. The exhilaration that comes from floating down the side of the mountain is one of the closest things in the world to flying.
But skiing in powder is very different to skiing on piste. It requires an almost entirely different technique and, without it, your hopes and ambitions of floating effortlessly down a backcountry run will be lost in a flurry of snow and shattered dreams.
So how do you ski powder? These are Skiing Unlocked's top tips on how to ski powder, so you can unlock all of your off piste adventure.
1. Close Your Legs
When you ski on piste, you are expected to leave a little gap between your knees and ankles; you should have your feet just outside hip width apart. Similarly, as you ski, your skis act independently of each other, with your body weight shifted entirely to your outside ski and moving the inside ski slightly forward.
However, skiing like this in powder won’t work. You need more flotation in powder, so to successfully ski off piste you need to start by bringing your ankles and knees together, and skiing your skis almost as one.
Note that “almost” is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence. Whilst they are together side by side, you still need to shift your weight and move your inside ski forward, but everything is scaled back massively compared to skiing on piste. For more on this, scroll to point 5.
Keeping knees and ankles together is really useful for trying to ski powder, as is demonstrated here.
2. Lean Back …
Ski technique tells you to drive with what I call the “toe edge” of the ski; this is the forward edge of the ski in front of your big toe on your outside ski. To really elevate your on piste skiing, you need to be working really hard to drive this toe edge into the snow particularly through the middle third of your turn.
But in powder, driving with the toe edge doesn’t work – again, you need to find flotation, and if you dig in with this front edge then all you are doing is creating an anchor that slams on the brakes and sends you face first into the snow in front of you.
The solution? Lean back. By leaning back in your stance, you pull the tips of the skis up and increase your ability to float through the powder. This is a really critical difference to allow you to ski powder.
Look at how far back I am in this video - but importantly, still driving with the forward edge of the ski.
3. … But Not That Far Back
So, I know, I just told you to lean back to create floatation. However, under no circumstances must you fully fall back into the back seat. When you are trying to ski powder, you are shifting the sweet spot to drive the ski from the toe edge to a point somewhere under the binding of the ski.
To complicate matters further, you still need to drive with the toe edge of the ski. But you are doing this from the mid-point of the ski instead. This is perhaps the biggest hurdle to overcome when trying to ski powder, both mentally and physically; you need to pull your ski tips up, but still need to drive with the tips to help the skis do what they were made to do.
4. Exaggerate Up and Down Movement
This is one of the single biggest tricks to make powder skiing easier. When you ski, no matter the snow you are skiing on, you are shifting your weight up and down; driving down through the ski during the turn, the up to help “release” the edge and turn the ski back the other way at the end of each turn.
The same happens off piste and in powder. Only this time, you need to exaggerate especially the up movement to more cleanly release the ski edge from the snow. I mentioned this was one of the single biggest tricks to make powder skiing because I know that from experience. When out skiing with a guide a couple of years ago, he advised doing just this, and it was a full-on lightbulb moment. All of a sudden powder skiing clicked for me, and I was confident I knew how to ski powder.
My long body makes it really obvious to see the up-and-down movement when it is exaggerated, as it is here.
5. Easy Does It
Whatever you do off piste and in powder, take it easy. There can be no sudden movements, especially when turning or coming to a stop. I cannot count the number of times I’ve tried to come to a stop and caught an edge, sending me head over heels into the snow in front of me.
Your turns need to be smooth, and you need avoid using any edge whatsoever as you go. Your weight shift needs to be steady, avoiding the urge to jerk into position. A good trick is to focus on your breathing and apply a kind-of yoga style pattern; in as you drive into a turn, and out when you release back out. It helps to focus the mind and the body into ensuring you know just how to ski powder.
Final Thoughts
Skiing off piste and in powder is very different to skiing on piste. But by slowing everything down and take a fraction of a second longer to react to the information your brain is processing, you can have an amazing time!
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