Cheese
New member
Hey whatever gets you through the chute... for me, I have learned to focus on what I need to do and where I need to turn rather than on what will happen if I don't make a turn and get blown out of the line. Sounds simple, but it took me years to master my fears.
The only reason I mention edge angles and self arrest is it's nice to have a backup plan. For me, it's stop first and go once I know everything worked. It's really easy (for me anyway) to release the edges or preform another jump once I know I'm good. Keep in mind the feedback received that I'm safe is often very quick and it might not even appear that I had an opportunity to call it quits.
An exception might be waterfalls where the initial landing may just be a take-off point for the next jump turn. In that case usually there's a plan for two jump turns in a row and an evaluation of what will be done if the second take-off point breaks loose, has a buried obstacle or doesn't go as planned.
Truth is, I'm very sensitive to self arrest. I haven't had a problem but sadly I've watched a half dozen deadly slides that could have ended horribly. I never expected any of these expert skiers not to realize they needed to set an edge or else so I'm oversensitive about planning the stop first and the continue on only after they're safe.
Yes, it's condition dependent. If it's a chute that empties out into a bowl, by all means turn however you wish as the slide will end humorously. If the chute ends in trees or cliffs out, just do yourself a favor and stop first and continue on as a secondary priority. I'd rather not witness another slide.