Is Powder Your Favorite Condition?

[tequiladoug]

My fav is powder in the woods (which I found last Friday at Stratton!)

 

[tjf67]

There is nothing better than skiing untracked powder. The deeper the better. That rythm you get into. Getting scaps leftover is OK but it is nothing like first lines. What drives me crazy is when some yahoo takes an untracked trail and does big arcing gs turns down it. The use up all the snow. Use proper edicate if you ever get the chance. Carve out your six foot wide swath and have at it. If done properly on trail 60 feet wide can provide freshies for ten 20 people if they ski it properly.

Got first tracks in a few spots this weekend. Drifter I heard you were up on the top of lower sky. Great first tracks there. Somebody told me they hiked up parens and got upper sky. They told me it took them a 1/2 hour to hike up. I told them they were full of sheat it takes 2 hrs to get up there. And thats skinning not post holing knuckledragging.

 

[jaywbigred]

Untracked powder on a steep enough slope = boner

spring bumps, hero bumps, soft bumps = boner

fresh chord in the AM = boner

Crusty-topped, skied-off powder = notboner

icy bumps, too-steep-to-rip** bumps = notboner

Afternoon boilerplate (chord wash out) = notboner



** "too steep" for me that is; I am sure BMM, 2Knees, etc...would have a different take on this...

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Powder is definitely my favorite condition...

Spring corn..soft but still fast is my second favorite..closely followed by fresh cord..

My least favorite is large death cookies..

 

[2knees]

icy bumps, too-steep-to-rip** bumps = notboner

** "too steep" for me that is; I am sure BMM, 2Knees, etc...would have a different take on this...

not me, i would agree with you 100%.

 

[SIKSKIER]

Look,the reality is that as an eastern skier we see very little true deep powder snow.What we consider powder here in the east is basiclly a heavy dusting out west.In my 35 years of skiing I have never seen true bottomless powder in the east.So most of the time I'm ripping hi-speed groomers but if we had the true untracked bottomless powder like I get every year in catskiing in BC,there is no comparison.Hands down powder.The limited amount of "powder" days here are fun but it doesnt take long for that to get all beat up.AZer's,if you really love powder you must once in your life go to the Monashees in British Columbia and go Heli or Catskiing.It's like nothing you've ever experienced here in the east.This is the place I've been going to for the last 8 years.I'll be there in 2 weeks. Check it out! http://www.mustangpowder.com/

 

[ta&idaho]

Vast fields of untracked snow in-bounds are obviously amazing but also pretty rare, even places that get far more consistent snow. The more interesting question is when the obvious lines are cut up, do you stay and enjoy the developing soft bumps and crud or head into the trees or hike/traverse to nab fresh stashes. To put it another way, would you prefer a steady diet of good snow or hold out for less frequent bites of blissful freshie?

Back when I could easily ski every weekend and skip school on powder days, I was firmly in the latter camp. Now I'm probably in the former...

 

[ta&idaho]

Getting scaps leftover is OK but it is nothing like first lines. What drives me crazy is when some yahoo takes an untracked trail and does big arcing gs turns down it. The use up all the snow. Use proper edicate if you ever get the chance. Carve out your six foot wide swath and have at it. If done properly on trail 60 feet wide can provide freshies for ten 20 people if they ski it properly.

I have to take issue with this view. Back in the day of powder 8 competitions and skinny skis, sticking to quick turns on a narrow swath of snow might have been totally fine. With the development of modern technique, fatter skis, and snowboards, its unreasonable to expect neat little rows of small-radius turns. Feel free to be driven crazy if someone sideslips or snowboard-plows through what could have been your fresh line, but have some tolerance for accomplished skiers and riders that prefer to cut wider lines. A wider range of turn shapes actually preserves powder conditions--although not perfectly untracked--better than short-radius turns, which turn hacked powder into bump lines pretty quickly.

 

[mattchuck2]

Powder is the pinnacle.

But I might just be saying that because we don't get that much of it in the east and everytime we do, it's like christmas.

Also, it's important to distinguish between terrains. I love powder, but that doesn't mean I want thigh deep on a 15 degree pitch. If the runout to the lift is groomed, and the trees and steeps are blanketed in powder, that's the ideal scenario.

I also like spring corn and soft bumps, but they don't hold a candle to untracked pow on a steep trail.

 

[daboystipsheet]

POW is King - I fondly recall a 4 day trip to MT Bachelor

in Oregon. Skied in wast high POW all day everyday I was their. It was amazing. All you had to do was point them downhill and shift your weight from on ski to the other and let the snow hold you up in an envelope -- when you needed to slow down all you had to do was sink your hips and more snow packed in around you. Only real issue was when I fell and had to dig out - read find, a ski that came off. Worked up quite a sweat and steamed up my gogles but is was heven. Have not had another trip like that but I am on the lookout.:beer:

 

[tjf67]

I have to take issue with this view. Back in the day of powder 8 competitions and skinny skis, sticking to quick turns on a narrow swath of snow might have been totally fine. With the development of modern technique, fatter skis, and snowboards, its unreasonable to expect neat little rows of small-radius turns. Feel free to be driven crazy if someone sideslips or snowboard-plows through what could have been your fresh line, but have some tolerance for accomplished skiers and riders that prefer to cut wider lines. A wider range of turn shapes actually preserves powder conditions--although not perfectly untracked--better than short-radius turns, which turn hacked powder into bump lines pretty quickly.

. I try to leave as much for the next guy as I can. As far as your theory about chopping up the powder think about it for a while and get back to me.

 

[Brettski]

yes

 

[Bumpsis]

Look,the reality is that as an eastern skier we see very little true deep powder snow.What we consider powder here in the east is basiclly a heavy dusting out west.In my 35 years of skiing I have never seen true bottomless powder in the east.So most of the time I'm ripping hi-speed groomers but if we had the true untracked bottomless powder like I get every year in catskiing in BC,there is no comparison.Hands down powder.The limited amount of "powder" days here are fun but it doesnt take long for that to get all beat up.AZer's,if you really love powder you must once in your life go to the Monashees in British Columbia and go Heli or Catskiing.It's like nothing you've ever experienced here in the east.This is the place I've been going to for the last 8 years.I'll be there in 2 weeks. Check it out! http://www.mustangpowder.com/

Looks like Mustang Powder rocks!! Thanks for the link. Not a reality for me in the near future but I just put this up on my "must do" list.

 

[thinnmann]

I think the "best condition" goes beyond the snow. It is an interaction between the snow, the sun, the air, the pitch of the slope, your equipment, your condition, the people you are skiing with. All those things come together to make for the condition of the day.

 

[cbcbd]

It is now since I've seen real powder for the first time and "got it".

 

[ta&idaho]

I second the cat-skiing recommendation. Here's another great (and relatively inexpensive) option: http://www.brundage.com/the-mountain/snow-cat-adventures.aspx. Brundage gets a ton of light, dry snow and very few skiers, so you're likely to find plenty of powder in-bounds as well.

 

[riverc0il]

It is now since I've seen real powder for the first time and "got it".

Word to that. I had the same revelation five years ago.

 

[catskills]

Does a bear make pooh in the woods?

Does a spaceman's fart smell in his helmet?

Well yeah!

 

[SIKSKIER]

Looks like Mustang Powder rocks!! Thanks for the link. Not a reality for me in the near future but I just put this up on my "must do" list.

Bump,the terrain there is incredible and vast.Mustangs area is 90 sq miles with 2 cats of 12 plus the lead and tail guides.In 8 years we have had fresh tracks every run.There are so many aspects that they always find great snow.Unbelievable steep and deeep trees.This is true bottemless powder skiing which is great until you fall.Getting back up sometimes can be very difficult cuz you can't reach the bottom of the snow.I know,it sucks.Do this at least once in your life.You deserve it.

 

[MichaelJ]

I'm still learning how to ski powder. Yesterday I was in untracked stuff up on the top of Waterville Valley and it was hard on my legs, but I really enjoyed it. The only turnoff was being all alone up there, in the snow and fog. There was plenty down low, too, but that was easier to manage as it was being torn up and I had a better idea of how to take a line down it (plus more assurance of a snow base underneath, as opposed to rocks and grass).

That said, I do love making first tracks on a blue or black groomer, screaming down the hill. After that, bumps. Powder still ranks as a novelty for me, but when I get the hang of it, I'm sure I'll be searching for freshies everywhere I can.