PNW Concrete Pow

Mofro's tips for being an expert skier:

1. keep a neutral and balanced stance
2. keep your hands forward and upper body quiet at all times

Consistently adhering to rules 1&2 will allow you to ski any snow surface with confidence....

Mofro nails it!

Mofro nails it!

Only if he adds "lift your toes" if you feel you are sinking your tips in powder (unless of course you are a tele-skier, then in deep light powder, as demonstrated to me by the legendary tele-skier Nils Larson--don't tele, parallel [and lift your toes]). LMAO

In a more serious vein, a thoughtful ski guru once wrote that soft boots (soft forward flex) are important for skiing powder, because a stiff boot won't let your ski tips rise easily in response to the the pressure exerted by the snow.  Similarly, soft shovels (like my Kastle LX92s and Dynafit Manaslus, etc.), early rise (like my Manaslus and many others), and tip rocker (most moderns skis), and tails narrower than tips, with tail rocker (like my Rossi S7, etc. etc.) make skiing powder easier whereas very stiff skis with traditional camber (like my 2011 Volkl Mantras and Dyanfit 7-summits) tend to sink more readily than rise up so USE THAT TOE LIFT!

THE ANSWER:

A must-buy accessory


Might also be good if you break your bindings LOL

Besides formal lessons, which are not in the budget for a lot of people,

This point is always ironic to me in light of the activity we're speaking about. 
People will spend a grand on the newest tech boots to make the up-track 3 minutes faster, replace the 105mm waist skis (which once felt fat as hell) for the fancy new ski of the season, chase the snow around the state on 5 & 6 hour car day-trips (at $3-4/gallon) but will not invest a little money (relative to what will hopefully be a long ski/climbing/etc. life) in improving the fundamental problem(s) affecting their success and sometimes as a result, safety. 

Unfortunately I sometimes think it's the ego that is contributing to this mistake.  We don't want to be told how bad we suck at something, especially when we love that something so much.  My ski mentor acted as both a teacher and coach who could both give me one skill at a time when I was ready, and prepared me for the bruises my ego would also take sometimes when he really let me know how bad it stunk (eternal gratitude as always FD).

I think it often seems to be the 'easy' out to just want a bro to teach you, hook up with TAY posters, etc---but when the rubber meets the road (like yesterday, today and tomorrow at the pass!) and the skiing is top-notch the qualified instructor/guide is not going to ditch you for 'powder rules' (like I make clear to my novice friends) because their job and honor is dedicated to you.

Internet forums are for chit-chat, digital 'bar talk', etc. and not a ski lesson.  My advice to the OP is to do some real homework of ski schools, guide services, etc--begin a dialogue with these places to find the correct match of desired skills and rapport, take 4 or 5 less trips to Rainier and get ready to be the skier you desire.

Oh I forgot, be very serious!

So, skiing Crystal on Friday with 3ft of pow really made a man out of me. Some good falls and some fun yard sales I had. Think I need to notch up my DIN a bit more just because I was poping out on some stuff I feel I shouldn't be.

Though, I did get some used to speed and used to doing some nice jump turns in some steep narrow chutes.

fun times!