Switchbacks: How do you do 'em?

BTW did someone delete the pictures? I only get the descriptions in my browser.

Click refresh. The photos are hosted on alpenglow.org and sometimes the server is finicky.

I am still learning and am not as flexible as I used to be. On steep slopes with deep new snow I do an uphill turn where I get the tip of the ski as far around as I can before it sticks in the slope, then I grab my knee and pull upward and complete the turn. Elegant indeed and it gives me a unique signature in my skintracks. People who follow probably marvel at the crop circles I leave behind.

On steep slopes with deep new snow I do an uphill turn where I get the tip of the ski as far around as I can before it sticks in the slope, then I grab my knee and pull upward and complete the turn.

That's awesome.  With this and the "Dartmouth Turn" we're building a repertoire worthy of the Ministry of Silly Walks .     Roll the videos!

While we are on the topic of skin tracks, location also came up in our conversation yesterday as we were climbing.  I mentioned that I loved this article I found in an issue of "Off Piste" at the NW Snow Summit.  Worth a look:
www.offpistemag.com/themag/pdfs/op27.pdf

How exactly does the issue of moral courage enter a thread on kick turn mechanics?

I watched a member of our party do the stepover "Dartmouth" turn all day a few weeks ago, and my knees ached every time I watched him!

I do it just like you, Lowell, though sometimes in low density snow I plant both poles uphill like Margaret does in the book for support. If the terrain is mellow enough to allow "drawing an arc" with the uphill ski, I often dispense with kick turns entirely.