Powder days...are you worthy?

[campgottagopee]

Of course I get that we all get old and body parts don't work like they used to, yada yada yada...

But, I find that I use a lot more leg strength and also feel a lot more impact on my joints when I'm skiing through crud, groomers, bumps, etc. In non-powder I find that I have to adjust to the terrain a lot more with my legs with constant compression... throw in some chattery icy conditions and now you're jackhammering your legs. That gets tiring.

In the powder I'm still using lots of leg (probably too because I go into the trees and that requires lots of turning), but I can scrub speed a lot easier and with less effort. Powder skiing is just easier on the body.

So... no, I don't get how you can ski a longer day on crud vs powder.

Now... are these 75 year olds trying to ski powder on 210 skinnies?

I know what you mean

And yes, some of the guys have equiptment as old asthey are.

 

[Johnskiismore]

For tomorrow hell yeah! :beer::beer:

 

[JD]

That's debateable for sure

I definitely think you can ski a longer day on groomers than powder though. Far less tiring as you can slack off more on groomers than you can in pow.

Powder can be a farm field, hellbrook, and everything in between. In good powder, skiing is as casual as skiing a green circle groomer.

 

[billski]

For every skier and boarder on this forum, and those I've known through the years, each and every one has their own peculiar likes and dislikes, strengths and weaknesses. We're all not good at everything and all not interested in everything. While the non-snow-lovers tend to lump us all together, when you look under the hood, I find it's really hard to seriously stereotype any of us. The reason we can ski and board together, is that we all tend to adjust our own comfort level to that of a group.

 

[BigJay]

Euler, grab something wider and maybe a little longer = float.

$.01

Agreed. Try a snowboard... A burton FISH is the sweetest thing... floats like crazy and rides like a dream... If you need longer, my 171cm splitboard might do the trick...

Or you can try the "snowboard simulator"... AKA 120mm fat skis!
8)

 

[tjf67]

Agreed. Try a snowboard... A burton FISH is the sweetest thing... floats like crazy and rides like a dream... If you need longer, my 171cm splitboard might do the trick...

Or you can try the "snowboard simulator"... AKA 120mm fat skis!
8)

BaHAHA 120MM FAT SKIES

 

[Hawkshot99]

Powder!!!!!

8):dunce:

 

[KingM]

I have a level I'm comfortable in. Today, for example, in fresh 6-8 inches with continually refreshing conditions, I can't imagine enjoying skiing more. My perfect day is a day with heavy snow, no wind, 4-5 when I start and just skiing down Birch Run and Sunrise at Sugarbush again and again and again, with occasional dips into Sleeper and Deeper Sleeper. I love it.

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

Stop being cheap and buy FAT skis for powder and you won't suck.

I skied powder fine on my old Pre Skis..but fat skis rule..this trip to Jackson is the first time I'm on my NOrdica blowers at 110mm underfoot and they rock hardcore..they're especially good in piles of cut up powder..nothing like straightlining powder or making huge GS turns in it..

 

[GrilledSteezeSandwich]

pow in the east is heavier wetter- more dense- tuf stuff, aint western champaign. Plus the areas are smaller then out west so it gets tracked out fast- so the virgin pow disapears quick- so your goin from virgin to tracks to virgin & back again- a balancin act. Them westerners are spoiled by there sissy snow- i'd like to see em come try to ski some catskill crud. that bein said- 2 sundays ago we got first tracks in boot deep pow rippin through it & leavin a cloud behind- felt like a spoiled westerner. Not gonna add to the good advice alredy here exept to say i keep my toes up & go fast i keep my toes up & go fast

I've skied some really nasty crud and windslab in the west..it's not always light and dry blower in the west....but right now it's sa weet//

 

[tirolerpeter]

Except for the very rare day when the snow is (relatively) light and fluffy, eastern powder simply packs down way too quickly for anyone who has limited access to skiing to master and actually begin to enjoy it. It also wants to grab your tails unless you put extra effort to get them around in a turn. In all the years I skied in the east I too looked forward to "powder dumps" but struggled to ski it and expended much energy in doing so. Skiing well enough to enjoy any and all conditions requires spending time on the slopes. Many easterners simply don't have the luxury to invest that time. Limited snow events, family committments, work, and travel time to the slopes create time limitations that reduce the ability to work on skiing powder. I'm in my second full season here in UT (Ain't retirement great?). A combination of fatter skis (110mm waist) and numerous low moisture powder dumps have given me the opportunity to really learn to enjoy powder. It sounds like a cliche but I'm addicted to "steep and deep" now! I now find that the width of my skis is actually starting to matter less and less. Once you get comfortable in the soft stuff, you find that it is skiable regardless of your ski width. Of course, the wider the ski, the easier (and more enjoyable) it is to ski the truly deep stuff. As to age and effort....I see (and often ski with) "older" men and women in their 70's who float through the "Pow" with great abandon. I say "older" because I am 62. Once you master it, the effort level in powder drops below that needed to rip around on the scratchy packed hard stuff! I hope you all get some great powder days this season and get a chance to work on enjoying it when they happen. In the meantime, you are all welcome to contact me any time you get a chance to come west to spend some time on my "home turf" in LCC.

 

[BigJay]

See, i went west only once... Do i miss it... Kind of... But the east coast as great snow if you're willing to earn it... I always get good snow in the backcountry after the resorts are scraped off... Up here i think snow is as reliable as out west... And the trees help keeping people away from it... Heck, we were riding in almost waist deep snow last weekend... 15mins from home... Do i need to go out west to get that... Nope! I'll go out west this spring for mountain biking... Dirt is reliable in the desert...

 

[tirolerpeter]

See, i went west only once... Do i miss it... Kind of... But the east coast as great snow if you're willing to earn it... I always get good snow in the backcountry after the resorts are scraped off... Up here i think snow is as reliable as out west... And the trees help keeping people away from it... Heck, we were riding in almost waist deep snow last weekend... 15mins from home... Do i need to go out west to get that... Nope! I'll go out west this spring for mountain biking... Dirt is reliable in the desert...

I can understand your point of view since you live near Jay Peak and have easy access to powder. Most eastern skiers who live far from places like Jay just don't get the opportunities to ski powder they way you do. In fact, since I lived on Long Island, Jay was a monumental effort to get to. The two times I tried to ski it I got stopped. The first involved two days of "wind hold." Luckily, we then discovered Mt Sutton and Owlshead up in Canada. The second try involved "wind hold" coupled with -15 degree temps. They had one green trail lift open! We bailed on a two night stay and went south to "balmier" Killington. It was just too hard to consistently score decent powder from a distance for guys living in the NY metro area.

 

[soulseller]

I just got 3 powder days in a row at Mammoth/June. Wasn't always pretty but it was always fun.

 

[gmcunni]

confirmed - NO.

tried deep untracked powder in the woods @ magic, failed miserably

 

[bvibert]

confirmed - NO.

tried deep untracked powder in the woods @ magic, failed miserably

:lol: Same here... :lol:

 

[Marc]

:lol: Same here... :lol:

Would that have been dense, windblown? Or actual powder snow?

Remember that untracked != powder, necessarily.

 

[Andrew Caffrey]

to me, it's all in the moisture content
i was at magic last thurs too after the big storm, and I too, got my butt kicked in the woods. that powder was heavier and denser than most, because of the high moisture content in the storm--the sleet line of the storm was just below magic.
so i'm using that an one excuse to explain my poor skiiing. I've been in similar glades elsewhere (Jay) that were just as deep, but the colder temps kept the snow lighter, and easier to power through and made it feel more like a true powder experience.
i remember my first trip to utah they had gotten 33 inches the day before and closed both canyons for a day. but it turned out to be one of the wettest snows they got that year, and when we hit the mountain it was like skiing through broken cement that hadn't yet dried. took two days of sun to soften the topsheet enough... and I learned a lot about my inabilities then.

 

[andyzee]

Powder is way to hard too ski, trust me.

Stay home, it isn't worth it.

Agreed, it sux, stay home.

 

[bvibert]

Would that have been dense, windblown? Or actual powder snow?

Remember that untracked != powder, necessarily.

The untracked stuff in the woods seemed pretty light and fluffy, but it may have just been that it was lighter and fluffier than the wind and skier packed powder we were finding on the rest of the mountain. It was probably relatively dense all around.