 Poster: A snowHead
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It depends how deep the powder is, the deeper the powder the further back you need to be, something only really aquired with experience plus a good sense of balance, if you are in any doubt as to just how far it is possible to sit back have a look at some of the pictures of people skiing in really deep powder. It's not something I do anymore because my weight just causes me to sink in powder, if I had a pair of snowboards strapped to my feet I guess I'd be ok but that's not going to happen  However I have in the past skied powder several feet deep without any problems using just this method. But it only works with a good 2 feet or so of powder minimum, at this point you can head down the fall line and not build any sort of speed up because the snow holds you back, you can thus sit back a bit and let the tips of the skis rise up, without falling and staying in complete control, with less snow you need to be much more centered and closer to piste skiing as there is insufficient snow to stop you accelerating rapidly down hill, but possibly too much to allow you to turn easily, this is where the experience comes in 
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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D G Orf,
I've seen this discussion before (on Epicski I think) where two people were actually doing the same thing but explaining it differently. I suspect this may be happening here. One called it "leaning back" the other called it "lifting the toes and weighting the back of the skis"
In the interest of helping all those who wish to ski powder .......
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"Do not lean back
It may seem from photos as if skiers lean back in powder. They don't! Proper fore-aft weight distribution is extremely important, so make sure you keep slight pressure between your shins and your boots' tongues at all times--stay in the Sweet spot!" |
http://www.skismarts.com/extremesPowder/powder_basics.htm
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| "While we are on the subject of weight...keep it centered! Modern equipment is designed to be skied from the center in ALL snow conditions. One of the most damaging misconceptions about powder skiing is that one should lean back. It is of course true that you don't want to lean forward in the powder, that will cause your tips to dig in. But don't go to the opposite extreme, it will exhaust you and really inhibit quick reactions." |
http://www.firsttracksonline.com/welcome2.htm
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| "Don't lean back. Stay in the center of your foot, in the center of your skis. Instead of your usual full turns, try half-turns. That means less carving and more straightaway skiing". |
http://outdoors.coloradosprings.com/snow/fullStory.jsp?id=1563
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"Float and Blast
You can float and blast to control your rate. To do this you would extend your legs out to the side as you steer your skis into the fall line and then sink your tails as you turn out of the fall line. You don't always have to lean back to weight the tails, you can simply lift your toes. If you encounter changing conditions, such as powder to crud, then it might get a little more physical.
Finding the right for/aft positioning will take some experimentation, but look for a centered position (not driving hard forward, but not steering with your tails either). Left and right foot balance has to be worked more evenly. This is no easy task if you have finally gotten the hang of weighting your outside ski. However, doing that here will cause that ski to sink away. If this happens, you can't just go to your inside ski to recover like you would on the packed. Instead, push the inside ski down and force it to go with the outer ski. Skiing off-piste in the powder doesn't always look technically pretty. It is raw and proactive skiing. It is skiing in the real world -- the way things are without grooming or snow making. " |
http://www.epicski.com/Content/TrainingAndHealth/Speedy/Powder/PowderSkiing1.htm
Right, enough reading you know how to do it so go get those face shots 
Last edited by Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person on Fri 4-03-05 17:01; edited 1 time in total
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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DB, yep it's the same thing just explained in a different way.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Think I'll be better off in a kayak . . . . why do I keep thinking of Frank Zappa 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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On my 5th day skiing I had the free use of a pair of B2's from the Rossi test centre for a couple of days. Although rated as an expert ski they just seemed to give me so much confidence. Ok - I'm a fairly sporty ice climber and love thrashing sports bikes at high speed so even though my tech expertise was at the low end was chucking myself off things with gay abandon. As said prev - use the ratings intelligently and apply them more as to how you will use the skis. Bought my own bandits for my 2nd week of skiing and I am now sooooo hooked on the sport - just wish I'd found it many years ago.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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Indeed, I think we are saying the same thing, just in a different way. It's not like your weight shifts back but your skis stay parallel to the slope: your weight goes back a bit, but your ski tips go up, so you stay centered over the skis. Basically what is covered DGOrf and DB's posts.
Edit - if the powder is shallow enough that you ski it with piste-like technique, it's not really powder, just a dusting of a few inches of snow. Basically I consider it powder if it slows you down a bunch naturally, you turn with the whole surface of your ski/board instead of just the edges, it feels like you're floating, and you will faceplant if you ski/board with aggressive/forward piste technique.
Edit 2:
In this picture http://www.cmhski.com/images/ski/trips/powder_masters/p1_powderMasters.jpg you can see what I'm talking about. His weight is back, but the tips of his skis are up, so he is actually centered over the ski.
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I don't doubt that the C140s were probably not designed for locking you into a nice carve, but having just recently demoed a pair of Elan SXs that were duller than an anvil and taken them back for a pair of Elan 12S, I have to say that just having dull edges can certainly ruin a skis performance. Having binding position too far back can also cause the skis to perform poorly. Having both these features would definately make one write off a ski.
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ponder, that picture shows exactly what I was trying to say so we are in total agreement, that and the fact that the change of stance is only effective in deep powder, of course the trick is to know when to switch from regular to powder techniques, sometning only really aquired with experience
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