Chopped Powder Skiing

Chopped powder skiing is much the same as deep powder skiing as the skis are held closely together. The weight is slightly back and again all motion is done in the knees. During extension, the knees are bent to further lift the skis out of the snow giving room for steering. Steer the skis to initiate the turn by crossing the skis under the body. Pull the skis up and push them to the side as the center of mass or pelvis moves over the top of the skis toward the downhill side.

Chopped powder is tricky because one minute a mound of soft powder can slow down the skis, while the body stays at the same rate of speed, and the next minute, the skis speed up by hitting an icy spot while the body is left behind. As the drift is encountered, the body gets thrown forward by the resistance of the snow. The upper body lunges forward because the feet travel slower through the snow than your upper body. Chopped powder is like skiing through a bunch of drifts. It's a series of speed variations all affecting speed and balance. The expert knows how to ski through the drifts with little affect because he has learned the balance trick necessary to ski it smoothly.

The secret is to think of balance originating from the waist: not the feet. Try not to think to much about what the feet are doing. They will instinctively return to the optimal spot for balancing the body. When the drift is encountered, move the feet forward as the resistance increases. This is usually done by pushing hard against the snow just as you hit it. This trick will keep the feet underneath your body and maintain balance. Try to make your feet float along underneath until contact with the snow mound. Then, force them forward through the drift. Keep your knees bent and focus on keeping the skis underneath the hips.

Alpine Skiing School section in english version of WWW.SKI.BG is based on
"A Guide To Becoming An Expert: From First Time To A Lifetime"
by John Mukavitz Copyright © 1998