How to Ski Powder | 10 Tips for Beginners

What you will Learn in this Tutorial

This video provides beginner skiers with 10 tips on how to ski powder safely and improve their skills. It emphasizes the importance of practicing on slopes with powder and using ski slopes marked for avalanche control. The key skill for skiing powder is rotating or steering the feet, which can be practiced through various drills. Skiing in 3D, going up and down the snowpack, is also crucial and can be practiced on ridges. The video highlights the significance of avalanche safety and recommends taking avalanche courses. The importance of equipment such as skis with rocker and wider width, poles with large baskets, and carrying safety gear like a transceiver, probe, and shovel is emphasized. Jens also mentions the relevance of the pole plant in skiing powder and suggests increasing speed and experimenting with turn shapes. It concludes by mentioning the availability of ski technique camps and freeride camps for adults to further improve powder skiing skills.

Highlights

  • Powder skiing combines peace with the potential risk of causing avalanches.
  • Practice skiing powder on slopes with powder and controlled avalanche marked runs.
  • The key skill is rotating or steering the feet to control the direction.
  • Practice rotating the feet through drills like dracash or pivot slips.
  • Skiing in 3D, going up and down the snowpack, can be practiced on ridges.
  • Taking avalanche courses is crucial for exploring the whole mountain and for safety.
  • Start skiing powder on any ski, but skis with rocker and wider width are ideal.
  • Poles with large baskets help maintain stability in deep snow.
  • Carrying safety equipment like a transceiver, probe, and shovel is essential.
  • The pole plant helps with rhythm, body positioning, and turn initiation.
  • Increasing speed can make powder skiing easier as it feels firmer.
  • Experiment with different turn shapes, with banana-shaped turns maintaining speed better.
  • Skiing the whole mountain can be learned through ski technique camps.
  • Freeride camps are available for improving powder skiing skills in a playful manner.