Powder Skiing

It dumped down all last night and you've opened the curtains to a few feet of freshies. Are you ready to feel the freedom of floating?

Powder skiing or boarding is one of the purest forms of riding snow. The soft stuff is forgiving, fluffy and fabulous and can lift you to a whole new realm of riding, provided you're prepared.

Big Wednesday. Epic Friday. Mental Monday. I can remember every single one of the truly epic powder days I've ever ridden. From the fabulous feeling of freedom from floating through virgin powder fields, to the laugh-out-loud moments of being buried up to my chin in the fluffy stuff, powder days stay with you and they're what make snowsports so untouchably special.

Mind you, if you're just venturing out for your first taste of the deep stuff, you might beg to differ. Skiing or riding on powder feels utterly different from sliding down groomed pistes. To love the soft stuff, you'll need to learn to relax and ride in a whole new way.

EARLY CALL

The most important rule for riding powder is get up early. The best start to any powder day is being there when the lifts open to get first tracks. Nothing can beat the primal feeling of being first to make tracks in the snow.

When you are at the top of the run, you'll soon find that powder snow is pretty forgiving, no matter how you ride it. If you're a total beginner, the steeper slopes will seem easy on a powder day because powder slows you down and, more importantly, breaks your fall. Even if you don't normally feel comfortable on a slope with a bit of a gradient, seek them out on a powder day. You will find it much easier to ski through the soft stuff if you have a bit of speed from a steeper slope.

Next, just push off. On skis, you'll need to lean back or be in the centre of your skis and turn just as you start to pick up some speed. You'll soon see how forgiving powder snow can be - just let the skis do the work for you and try to relax as much as possible. If you're fighting to turn and driving your skis hard, you'll wear yourself out in no time.

Snowboards love the powder, but again, it can take a bit of getting used to. Because it's deeper and lighter than your average snow, powder may make you sink and lose your snowboard if you go too slowly, or have a tough time standing up if you fall. Once you've dug yourself out of thigh-deep powder with your feet strapped to a board 3ft under the snow, you'll never want to make that mistake a second time, believe me.

Pick an open slope with a decent gradient for your first powder run and point your board straight down the fall line. You'll probably find the nose of your board wants to bury itself, so lead back slightly onto your back foot and let it fl oat. Once you're floating, bounce your board gently and let your knees do the work as your upper body enjoys the float.

SPEED IS YOUR FRIEND IN THE POWDER

You really don't want to slow to a halt in stuff this deep. Once you have enough speed, your board will start to plane on the surface instead of sinking underneath. It only takes minimal effort to turn in powder and all your mistakes will be minimised by the forgiving nature of the snow. Just tilt from edge to edge gently to make turns and let your board do the work as it surfs through the snow. Once you get used to the feeling of floating, head for a steeper slope and make more exaggerated turns so that you begin to bank and send up a spray of snow on each turn.


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