Post by QikTrnz on Feb 1, 2008 22:35:46 GMT -5
O.K. , First of all I realize I'll take a lot of heat from the "Purists" who will not accept anything less than the best, most ideal way to ski powder and crud ....
But ....
There you are, at the top, gotta' get down, beginner or breaking into intermediate and the whole hill is covered in a thick mantle of 8 inch Eastern tracked-up , hacked-up sticky porridge (or at least it seems that way) ....
Whaddya' do now ...
The problem is that going from a tracked portion to an un-tracked portion represents a huge difference in the resistance to forward motion, so when your skis are on the tracked area, they glide over the compressed surface..... then.... when they hit the thick, un-tracked areas, the resistance increases instantly, slowing the skis, legs and lower body while the upper body wants to keep on going due to momentum. The result is predictable ... you go head first over tips into the fluff ...
Here's how to cope ... in short form ....
1) SLOW DOWN SO YOU CAN JUST ABOUT STOP AT ANY TIME USING A SNOWPLOW... speed can kill in these conditions.
2) Be prepared to use an "OLD SCHOOL" skidded turn technique... it is unlikely you can "carve" in these conditions, 100% of the time.
3) Close your stance so your knee's are tight together and your feet are together as well..... this gives you a "platform" to support or "float" your weight, ...particularly when you are going from a compressed, packed area to an unpacked, still deep portion where you need to break through a little wall of snow, as you hit the high resistance This helps keep both feet and skis going in the same direction, without having one ski "dig in", and toss you.
4) Sit back a little bit ... this is the "cheating" part ... because the experts will tell you that you should stay centered, but ... the "experts" have a very finely tuned sense of fore and aft balance and they are capable of very rapid compensation, so no problem for them .... The inexperienced, however, need a little help in that area and that's what sitting back a little bit does.... As you pass into the high resistant snow, you have a micro second longer to compensate for the shift and that's all you need to correct the forward motion of your upper body that wants to keep going forward. Caution here though, as if you get too far back, you will not be able to execute turns and you will eventually get thrown.
4a) Stay low and compact.... this will lower your center of gravity and reduce the leverage your upper body has over your lower body when you hit an area of high resistance.
5) Keep your hands forward, don't let them drop .... !!!! ...as soon as you let your hands drop yer' gunna' fall eventually..... upper body balance is controlled by hand position, so keeping hands up and forward is critical to managing balance, drop your hands .... drop your balance .....
6) "Wiggle" the turns by throwing your butt sideways back and forth over your skis ... if you can ... while keeping your shoulders over the skis as much as possible.
HAVE A GO WITH THIS AND IF YOU HAVE AN QUESTIONS ... ASK HERE....
But ....
There you are, at the top, gotta' get down, beginner or breaking into intermediate and the whole hill is covered in a thick mantle of 8 inch Eastern tracked-up , hacked-up sticky porridge (or at least it seems that way) ....
Whaddya' do now ...
The problem is that going from a tracked portion to an un-tracked portion represents a huge difference in the resistance to forward motion, so when your skis are on the tracked area, they glide over the compressed surface..... then.... when they hit the thick, un-tracked areas, the resistance increases instantly, slowing the skis, legs and lower body while the upper body wants to keep on going due to momentum. The result is predictable ... you go head first over tips into the fluff ...
Here's how to cope ... in short form ....
1) SLOW DOWN SO YOU CAN JUST ABOUT STOP AT ANY TIME USING A SNOWPLOW... speed can kill in these conditions.
2) Be prepared to use an "OLD SCHOOL" skidded turn technique... it is unlikely you can "carve" in these conditions, 100% of the time.
3) Close your stance so your knee's are tight together and your feet are together as well..... this gives you a "platform" to support or "float" your weight, ...particularly when you are going from a compressed, packed area to an unpacked, still deep portion where you need to break through a little wall of snow, as you hit the high resistance This helps keep both feet and skis going in the same direction, without having one ski "dig in", and toss you.
4) Sit back a little bit ... this is the "cheating" part ... because the experts will tell you that you should stay centered, but ... the "experts" have a very finely tuned sense of fore and aft balance and they are capable of very rapid compensation, so no problem for them .... The inexperienced, however, need a little help in that area and that's what sitting back a little bit does.... As you pass into the high resistant snow, you have a micro second longer to compensate for the shift and that's all you need to correct the forward motion of your upper body that wants to keep going forward. Caution here though, as if you get too far back, you will not be able to execute turns and you will eventually get thrown.
4a) Stay low and compact.... this will lower your center of gravity and reduce the leverage your upper body has over your lower body when you hit an area of high resistance.
5) Keep your hands forward, don't let them drop .... !!!! ...as soon as you let your hands drop yer' gunna' fall eventually..... upper body balance is controlled by hand position, so keeping hands up and forward is critical to managing balance, drop your hands .... drop your balance .....
6) "Wiggle" the turns by throwing your butt sideways back and forth over your skis ... if you can ... while keeping your shoulders over the skis as much as possible.
HAVE A GO WITH THIS AND IF YOU HAVE AN QUESTIONS ... ASK HERE....