PNW Concrete Pow

Ok, so being new to the whole ski thing up here and mostly skiing groomer blues now, I want to get off this and onto more interesting terrain. Right now, I can pretty much just do groomer blues/blacks (if they have blacks). However, you put me in a few inches of powder and I go from speedy mcfly down the slope to a retard with failing hands and pizza turns.

Any suggestions on how you over came the sticky heavy powder here? I have the K2 Wayback ski's so they're pretty fat, not super fat, but can do well from what I hear in all terrain.

Any suggestions so I can experience more terrain and enjoy it more.

Im no expert and generally ski blue groomer inbounds but the first thing i would do is go find good lighter powder and see how that goes. There is good powder (not always but often enough) here if you know how to look at the weather and pick your location right. Other than that only more practice will make you better.

It also helps to know where to go when the weather and avalanche conditions are bad which frequently coincides with good powder.

Read this: Ski the Whole Mountain

Then make sure your skis are tuned and properly waxed.

Then learn & practice.

there's 2 ways to learn:

One way is to learn by osmosis and absorb information by observing others. This takes years to do and the dues you will pay to "teach yourself through observation" is high, both mentally and physically. Of course you aren't paying money for someone to teach you....

the other way to learn is to have a teacher or coach who sees your weaknesses and saves you the time and punishment of overcoming all your bad habits yourself.

I am self taught. It only took me 30 years to get where I am today. Even though the gear is much better today than when I started, I see skiers now who are really advanced after only a few years. I assume they had some coaching....

The idea that there is a single technique to learn to ski well, is about as true as the idea that there is only one kind of snow conditions to ski in. The more you ski, the more you will see that different conditions require different techniques. Understanding that skiing is many different skills based on varying kinds of terrain and snow conditions is key to understanding that skidding around on corderoy is vastly different than hucking into 2 foot deep powder and porpoising downhill through it.... The more you seek, the more you will realize is there to find... (as any good ski porn flick will show you)

If you find the right teacher, they will correct your weaknesses and open your mind,... if you are ready for it....

Lito offers a lot of solid tips in an very short excerpt from his book: www.breakthroughonskis.com/Pages/_ski_in...n/instruction21.html

Memorize what he says, try and refine it in dry powder, then move to the concrete.

there's 2 ways to learn:

... It only took me 30 years to get where I am today. ...

That's typical for old-school tele skiers (LMAO because I was one but I only lasted 25 years before switching to AT, and later, downhill).

I do agree that lessons from a good (PSIA) instructor speed learning unbelievably, especially for tele skiers.  There used to be lots of good tele instructors in PNW from Shelley Butler at Mt. Hood to Nils Larson at Whitewater and a whole bunch in between.

The OP didn't say what kind of skier he was; if tele, lessons are definitely in order.  If alpine, that kind of skiing is sooooo simple, except for stuff like big moguls.  Still, depending on cognitive style, lessons could be the best solution to his problem.  I found the skiing style in the book I recommended so intuitive (even to a non-intuitive like me) that it made learning on the snow really quick.

p.s.: as someone who learns slowly and must understand the physics, physiology, pyschology, and mechanics of skiing, I've read every major instructional text LOL (including Lito's) but the one I recommended was by far the most useful to me, but as always YMMV.