 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
You all seem to love this powder than comes down, I just wondered as a piste skier whether I'll ever get a chance to experience it or do the piste bashers do their best to flatten and compress it on a piste?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
Megamum, After a big dump, the piste bashers often do not groom all the pistes straight away. There was a lot of powder on the pistes at last year's MSB.
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
Stop the brutal grooming. 
Basically it depends where you ski. Some resorts deliberately leave some pistes ungroomed so that you can experience powder snow when it is available, and most resorts have black runs that are too steep to groom, so they will get powder on them, but both of these types of run will get skied out, so you have to be quick.
Part of the joy of powder is being somewhere where noone else is though, far from the maddening crowds (or so it may seem!), ideally on a slope that has no tracks on it at all, so that you can put first turns on it.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
Just the sound of powdery snow under foot is awesome. The prospect of putting first tracks in, is like taking the snow's virginity - I guess  - so it's a very attractive prospect.
I'll be in Wengen the week after you MSBers, so please be nice and leave some for me.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
|
You get some ski trails that are managed by resort.
Alternatively you can ski in America/Canada where the ski system is slightly different as the whole area is patrolled and deemed safe(er) hence fresh stuff can be found inbounds.
It is possible to ski off piste safely though..
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
Patience patience Megamum! How many days have you spent on snow?
You may say now, "I'm a confirmed piste skier, I've no interest in going off piste" but just so long as you keep skiing, keep trying to improve, take a few lessons from talented instructors, you will get to that and anyway, as people have said, you're not precluded from experiencing fresh snow on the piste anyway.
There are degrees of powder experience. Firstly, a hard packed piste is transformed by just a couple of inches of fresh snow on it; softening the feel; deadening the sound of the skis. No more scraping noises, rather your skis start 'shooshing'.
Once the new snow gets a little deeper, say 4-6 inches, as let your speed increase a little, you start spending time out of contact with the solid ground. You're still touching down most of the time but it's like walking in water that comes up to your chest; you just float a little between steps.
As the fresh snow gets deeper, you spend more and more time out of contact with the firm base until you reach a point where it's deep enough that you're floating all the time. There's still feedback on your skis but it's altogether more gentle and you start thinking in curves and waves rather than lines and angles.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Megamum,
There is powder and powder, IMV
The easiest to ski is new fresh stuff...... which is falling or has just fallen with no temperaure change at all. Any ski instructor worth his salt should take you through this if it snowing during your lesson, IMV as it is an opportunity to debunk any mystique about it. And any turn will do as long as you are gentle and don't try to fight the forces of the turns too much. A good old fashioned snow plough will go through this.... so don't go thinking you don't have the turns for this type of stuff. The deeper it gets the more work you have to put in but mainly you are trying not to turn too quickly.
After that, there are many grades of snow that will be affected by change and they may be heavier..this needs more skill as you need to trust speed..which is your friend, 'cos it might be deep and you need to get forces working on your side...but your instinct is to not want to go that fast.... catch 22....sort of...
Then there are other sorts of off-piste which needs other skills. Anyone can ski fresh stuff and it is this that I personally call powder, when the snow gets older and goes through its life cycle, you get other stuff...I file this as deep snow ands that can be a whole new ball game, IMO
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Megamum, I haven't done a lot of off-piste, mainly because of difficulties obtaining insurance to cover me (I know there are policies that will cover you, but because of my medical condition, most insurers won't cover me at all, let alone for off-piste). However, I have enjoyed those days when there was powder on the piste, particularly when it was actually snowing, so most people stayed indoors. In Austria last year, there was a lovely large dump of over a foot, and the snow was coming down so hard that the bashers couldn't keep up - so we got to ski deep powder on almost deserted pistes, with empty lifts and no queues. It is a lovely feeling floating on the snow, but I have to confess to also loving fresh corduroy, sharp race skis and aggressive turns. But then again, I like bumps too....it's all part of skiing!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
|
Sounds great folks - from what I've read about skis if I were to get some on piste is it true that most skis (inc. mine) will ski it OK-ish to a certain degree? Yes, I understand that wide skis are made for it, but most skis will ski it won't they?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Get up early after a snowfall and enjoy the soft snow before the masses and the piste bashers (the French call them "engines de damage" for a reason) flatten it all. I try and ski a lot of off piste but have had some wonderful powder on piste after it has snowed.
Resorts have plans for which areas get groomed and when. Occasionally I have seen the plan published at a tourist office. Basically it was just a list of pistes and their grooming dates. If you find such a list the night before a big snow fall you will know which pistes are likely to be soft and fluffy and fun.
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
I've done it on my old skis, which are remarkably narrow for a modern ski, okay, I looked a little like a floundering fish at times, but that was because it was my first few times. For the powder you'd get on-piste any ski will be fine, it'll rarely be deep enough to warrant a proper fat ski.
|
|
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
I've skied on fresh powder on top of piste at Val Thorens a couple of times, a couple of inches is just pleasant decoration but when you get up to 6-12" it's quite a different (fantastic) experience. My on-piste carvers disappeared below the surface and I appeared to be gliding around on my feet, trying to turn became a different sort of problem and everything was quiet. I did fall over a few times - but that was fun too!
You can certainly get around on bog standard on-piste skis in powder; chatting to Austrian ski instructors they tend to look at you a bit funny if you suggest special skis are required for skiing powder or off-piste.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Megamum, Your skis will be fine for powder on the piste, as there is a firm base underneath. Once you get more skilled, you could venture off piste with them to feel the difference, and you'll see why fatter skis are popular. They float near the surface 
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
I agree with most of the above, especially the 'sound and feel' of powder. Plus, it doesn't hurt so much when you fall over! 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
Do any of you skiers ever wish you were on a board when it has dumped 50cm fresh overnight? 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
hd,
| Quote: |
Do any of you skiers ever wish you were on a board when it has dumped 50cm fresh overnight?
|
Er no!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
Well said JP, well said
|
|
|
|
|
|
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?
|
hd, sorry no I don't.
It may be easier to master the basics of riding deep snow on a board than it is on skis but having acquired the requisit skills, modern freeride skis are so much more adaptable and give you far more opportunity for variety of experience IMO.
At one end of the scale, tight 'S' trails are exhilarating as U find your rythm and U reach the bottom to count your turns or marvel at the figure 8s your mate has formed over your tracks. It's like prcisely etching your mark onto the mountain. It's also a very efficient and considerate way to use the powder as dozens of people can ride a single face and never cross another person's tracks.
At the other end of the scale U have huge open carves allowing U to take a path like some kind of 'sentient liquid' flowing over the contours of the hill. This is more like the Boarding experience but is just one of many on skis.
IMV skis are just that much more manouverable and there's also the not inconsiderable advantage that, finding yourself 6ft too low for that perfect line, you can side step your way up on skis which is obviously not possible on a board.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
|
|
bloxy
bloxy
Guest
|
| hd wrote: |
| Do any of you skiers ever wish you were on a board when it has dumped 50cm fresh overnight? |
So we can stand on our heel side and side slip all the way down and turn it into a piste?
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
|
hd,
ha ha ha.... you'll lose so much height on the traverse in and you lose so much time on the walk out..... yep, always.................NEVER...!!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The problem then is that it's bloody impossible to get back up.
|
|
|
|
|
|
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
|
|
As a person who has taken up skiing again rather late in life the main problem I have with my off-piste skiing efforts is that you will fall over a lot more and therefore in my case get tired after a few falls. This year I have tried to get really fit to overcome this problem as I really love the feeling you get in powder snow and off-piste snow.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
hd, sometimes yes, because I have skied with people who ski some days and board other days, and I can see that it could be great fun ripping a line on a powder day on a tray. What I cannot understand is why anyone would want to be on a board when there is no powder.
I lerrve powder,
|
|
|
|
|
|
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
|
|
|
|
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
|
|
Megamum, just keep your weight forward as you have been taught and you will be fine. On a board just point it forward and ride the magic carpet
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
On the subject of Powder this was particulary nice POW !!
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=5952446633&oid=2204845778
I think I made this video open for all to view?
In terms of the post, just get up early after a fresh fall and find some "baby" powder next to the slope. Fall over many times until it clicks....then you are away
Alex
|
|
|
|
|
|
You know it makes sense.
|
|
Alex A, It wants me to log in and get a password.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
|
Megamum, A Swiss guide said to me that once you have made 3 linked turns in bottomless powder you are hooked for life, so true, so true. I now find myself riding the lifts just looking for some untracked pitches. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poster: A snowHead
|
|
II, Can't imagine the mess on a piste using one of these after a long lunch eating raclette and several red wines - avoid the bumps
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
|
|
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?
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
Interesting - that could be fun for a run or two. It isnt very nimble though - needs wide open empty flat pistes.
(mass is all spread out so wont turn quickly & you are not using big leg muscles to control.)
There isnt much opportunity to move and react to the terrain.
It could be good for leg disabled people I assume.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ
Being intermediate and cautious by nature, I tend to stick to areas that do have a few tracks and are close to the piste. For me the best kind of pow is that that falls on well groomed pistes just before the lifts open... asking a lot, but it happens occasionally - then head for the long blues and reds before the ski-school gets going 