Tips for tele turns in deep powder?

[spopepro]

What kind of skis are you on? If they are skinny and the trees are tight you may not be able to get up to the speed that you need to get the skis to turn before hitting a tree. I only ski steep trees when they have deep powder and with powder boards.


Sometime when skiing tight trees on steeper terrain I turn with almost all my weight on the lead ski. It feels kinda like going down stairs. The turn happens quick and then you step into the next one.

I’m on V6s. So not pure pow boards, but plenty capable. And I run into zero issues when I have space to let them rip. I just find tight control finicky. I’m 100% sure putting all my weight on the front ski will result in my back ski shooting out in random directions… but I’m gonna think about this more next time I’m out in the fluffy stuff.

[Montana St Alum]

What kind of skis are you on? If they are skinny and the trees are tight you may not be able to get up to the speed that you need to get the skis to turn before hitting a tree. I only ski steep trees when they have deep powder and with powder boards.


Sometime when skiing tight trees on steeper terrain I turn with almost all my weight on the lead ski. It feels kinda like going down stairs. The turn happens quick and then you step into the next one.

I’m on V6s. So not pure pow boards, but plenty capable. And I run into zero issues when I have space to let them rip. I just find tight control finicky. I’m 100% sure putting all my weight on the front ski will result in my back ski shooting out in random directions… but I’m gonna think about this more next time I’m out in the fluffy stuff.

I wouldn't interpret LAA's comment as saying you should have 100% of your weight on the front ski during the entirety of the turn. I often see people get into situations like trees, narrower chutes and moguls, where you have to make turns dictated by circumstances, who get intimidated and start moving their CG aft. That usually results in the front ski becoming less effective at arcing a tight turn in powder. The weight shift is subtle, but the results aren't. It's often a case of committing to the turn by staying forward (not necessarily 100%) during the entirety of the turn.


V6's have enough rocker that I'd guess you can steer them quite well in powder, Vs. just riding them. As you get the ski on edge, it's not turning in quite the same way that it does on hardpack. That rocker profile will engage and pull the ski around really nicely. In deep, I'm on 182cm M-Free 108's that are fairly stiff but turn very tight in areas like trees if I keep my weight biased onto the front ski to bend it. And the turn isn't quite as instant as on groomers, so you have to be a little patient. Your brain works fast, and sometimes a tenth of a second lag, when you're pointed at a tree can seem like a looong time and you'll start recoiling back. If I get back much at all, losing weight - and bend - on the front ski these skis straight-line like they're shot out of a cannon.

[lowangle al]

What kind of skis are you on? If they are skinny and the trees are tight you may not be able to get up to the speed that you need to get the skis to turn before hitting a tree. I only ski steep trees when they have deep powder and with powder boards.


Sometime when skiing tight trees on steeper terrain I turn with almost all my weight on the lead ski. It feels kinda like going down stairs. The turn happens quick and then you step into the next one.

I’m on V6s. So not pure pow boards, but plenty capable. And I run into zero issues when I have space to let them rip. I just find tight control finicky. I’m 100% sure putting all my weight on the front ski will result in my back ski shooting out in random directions… but I’m gonna think about this more next time I’m out in the fluffy stuff.

I wouldn't interpret LAA's comment as saying you should have 100% of your weight on the front ski during the entirety of the turn. I often see people get into situations like trees, narrower chutes and moguls, where you have to make turns dictated by circumstances, who get intimidated and start moving their CG aft. That usually results in the front ski becoming less effective at arcing a tight turn in powder. The weight shift is subtle, but the results aren't. It's often a case of committing to the turn by staying forward (not necessarily 100%) during the entirety of the turn.


V6's have enough rocker that I'd guess you can steer them quite well in powder, Vs. just riding them. As you get the ski on edge, it's not turning in quite the same way that it does on hardpack. That rocker profile will engage and pull the ski around really nicely. In deep, I'm on 182cm M-Free 108's that are fairly stiff but turn very tight in areas like trees if I keep my weight biased onto the front ski to bend it. And the turn isn't quite as instant as on groomers, so you have to be a little patient. Your brain works fast, and sometimes a tenth of a second lag, when you're pointed at a tree can seem like a looong time and you'll start recoiling back. If I get back much at all, losing weight - and bend - on the front ski these skis straight-line like they're shot out of a cannon.

The V6 is a very pivoty ski, probably the best scaled ski out there in the trees, so you're in luck there. As far as those turns with all my weight on the lead ski, I'm sure it's not 100%. To be more accurate I should have said the turn is 100% on the lead ski. These turns are very quick and aren't held long. A lot of problems can be avoided by getting out of your turn as early as possible. Staying in a turn too long can put you too perpendicular to the fall line making it harder to get into your next turn, preventing you from getting into a good rhythm.

I think the take away here is that when you really need to make a quick turn it's OK to heavily weight the lead ski. If you don't get enough weight on it you may face the scenario of that MSU describes above and pick up too much speed very quickly.

[JB TELE]

I'm skiing on s-bound 98s or hypervector bc's with merrel ultra leather boots.

Not having enough speed makes sense. So far I've been on low angle terrain, not moving very fast at all, where I could easily just straightline the whole thing. Trying to intentionally turn for practice when I don't need to. I'll try and build up some speed before trying to turn next time.

Sounds like different people have different thoughts on stance and technique. I probably just need to experiment with different things. Hard to get many turns in when BCXC on rolling terrain. Maybe I'll try and hit up the resort on a powder day and find some untracked snow.

Maybe a lurk would be useful for skiing in trees at lower speeds? Dig that thing into the snow combined with a parralel turn? I've been meaning to try a lurk and the san juan stick looks sweet but expensive.