How To Ski Powder | Ski Tips For Deep Snow

[@KneeLMah]

This is just the tip of the iceberg that is Brenna Kelleher. Imagine this video in person. Brenna has single-handedly changed the way I ski and how I view skiing. Carv, you couldn’t have found a better human coach than Brenna. Life changing!

[@CarvSki]

Brenna is a great coach!

[@lorensaunders6034]

One of the best Carv videos yet! Beautiful skiing and area wow!!

[@CarvSki]

Thank you!

[@KKSkiAndRide]

Excellent instruction. Brenna communicates well with simple logical skier tips. Every time I ski with her I get smoother. Plus, she's just a nice person :)

[@CarvSki]

She’s a great coach!

[@Landwy1]

Call me old...but I remember skiing on old Head DH and Dynamic mV2 skis that were metal and fully cambered (not rockered) skis of 210 cm length or longer, and I could make short radius powder turns without any problem. I think what has happened to ski width with modern skis has really defeated the pleasure of skiing powder. Brenna mentioned the up and down sensation is what makes powder skiing so pleasurable. With a ski having a sidecut greater than say 100 mm makes the ski float too much. There is nothing wrong skiing powder or breakable crust with the whole ski staying below the snow surface. The advantage of a wider ski is that it is just less exhausting. Making short turns in the fall line is slower and you get tired quickly. What has been done at ski areas as of late is to increase the skier density with high speed and load capacity lifts. With the wider skis the speed of the skier has increased and therefore, the virgin powder is all gone by 10 am. If people skied the fall line and didn't traverse, the powder would last much longer. Most of us can't afford snowcat or heli sliing, so the average joe rarely gets to ski powder. I've skied about every terrain and snow condition imaginable, and I now ski at mostly at small to medium sized ski areas. I can always find powder at these Mom and Pop hills and don't want giving my money to a multinational like Vail. Besides, I want to stay away young males with testosterone poisoning doing stupid things.

[@CarvSki]

Powder skis really have made powder more accessible

[@dirk2518]

Powder skiing is like jumping a trampoline. You FIRST dive in the snow (trampoline) to engage a rebound. The more you dive in, the stronger the rebound. The most difficult in powder is your forward balance certainly in slopes with changing gradients. The steeper the slope the more you shift your weight forward. Also keep your elbows away from your body and use your arms as a pivot to keep your turns and body really smooth. Keep your ski’s together so they follow one and the same track.

[@CarvSki]

Great tips

[@vrriedo9827]

Very helpful, thanks.

[@CarvSki]

Glad it was helpful!

[@48crabapple]

Bien Pedro!!!!

[@jeffreydevine2810]

Absolutely excellent video. Well done thank you for your help! Keep up the wonderfully intuitive videos

[@CarvSki]

You're very welcome

[@bionicsjw]

In the late 70s I was training freestyle while in college at CU Boulder. Our area was Lake Eldora which had night skiing. During a couple of bigger snowstorms we got off the lighted runs and skied the unlighted runs. There was enough light to see trees but not enough see bumps and other small terrain features. Although it wasn't the smartest thing, it was the ultimate powder experience. Just feeling your way down while floating. It was awesome, but I'm older and wiser now and wouldn't do it again.

[@CarvSki]

Sounds amazing!

[@Jordan-ck9qv]

This is a great video

[@CarvSki]

🙌

[@pierreneron9903]

Good job!

[@CarvSki]

Thanks!

[@scottponiewaz1316]

This is awesome! ⛷️

[@MarcoFD]

as we say in austria, there are no friends on powder day ;P.

[@CarvSki]

🤣

[@TARiiiQmusic]

Is my 96 mm park/all mountain gomma cut it for true pow? Im goin to revelstoke in a couple months!!

[@misterfunnybones]

Practical advice. I recommend fat skis or a snowboard if you're riding pow regularly & want to be able to survive all day. Most people become exhausted quickly in deep snow especially wet, heavy "powder." ⛷️🏂👍 (Also, use pow straps or tethers in deep snow)

[@IStMl]

no way Carv now works off-piste Can't wait for decent weather to try Carv 2 when I see further than 5 meters

[@CarvSki]

It does indeed!

[@monoralph1375]

Stay in the fall line. Exaggerate the up/down motion and turn turn turn.

[@CarvSki]

Great advice

[@YM-ay24S]

2 more weeks till I spend 2 weeks in Niseko with my new Carv!

[@CarvSki]

We're jealous

[@austinpratt1923]

I don't think you mentioned keeping skis closer together in powder....but all else right on. I find it helpful to use arms for balance as needed.

[@CarvSki]

Great tip!

[@petervarnberg9671]

Could the reason for you to juse your arms for balance be, to narrow stance?

[@SJK-uc6lf]

0:16 Channeling the Warren Miller vibe.

[@CarvSki]

🙌

[@Jeffrey_Wong]

As an east coast native... I'm just jealous of all the powder in this video

[@CarvSki]

It was a fun shoot

[@mogglie]

Just go fast. Powder is slower than hard snow. So make sure to get some lift. Don’t lean back. And some rocker skis are a good idea.

[@CarvSki]

Speed can help for sure

[@nicklauritzen7804]

Is it possible to have carv powder ski assistance even with the first carv device?

[@CarvSki]

Yes - it uses the same software!

[@RVDS1996]

Sick video, sick skiing. Ps: clean the lens 😉

[@CarvSki]

Thanks for the tip!

[@KahluaBomb]

The most difficult part for me at least, is lacking the confidence of being able to actually come to a stop when I want to. I can't get a good hockey stop so I end up traversing or pointing back up the hill to slow it down. I can get a few good turns in, but once the speed picks up (which I have no problem with on groomers) my brain shuts down and says "you can't stop, this is a bad idea" and it ends up being a bad idea.

[@CarvSki]

We hope Brenna's bouncing drill can help you with this

[@andreniessen3867]

I went heli-skiing last March in BC and had the same problem, leaned back constantly, and came in way too hot when the group was stopping to re-group lol.

[@gnork973]

I have stiff slalom ski, 69mm wide at the middle, and a strongly bent chamber design How would I best use this ski in powder? This bouncing doesnt really work with them. They just dip in… theyre bent downwards and powder doesnt normally provide enough force to bend them up But im sure theres a way to ski with slalom skis in powder efficiently

[@petervarnberg9671]

Use a lower stance, push your skis out to the side at the same time as you steer them in a smoths circle, works on every ski

[@gnork973]

@@petervarnberg9671 out to the side? you mean i initiate a turn while pressing the outside ski further outside? provided i had a low enough stance to push it further out? kinda like roller skating? theres a carving exercise like that - so im not quite sure what you mean

[@nadakidd]

8-10" of pow is one thing. 2-3' is another with regard to keeping tips up enough..

[@Chris-bg8mk]

If my ski just constantly submarines, could it be I have the wrong ski and not a powder ski? Volkl mantra M5. It’s 90+ under foot. But still not a dedicated power ski.

[@src248]

Mantras aren't great in pow but it's possible to make them work. Narrow your stance, keep the tips facing downhill, and get some speed

[@CarvSki]

You can definitely ski powder in a Mantra, but a wider ski might make learning easier

[@dirk2518]

My tip is to treat powder snow as a trampoline. You first have to dive in the snow(trampoline) before you can rebound. People lack confidence to dive in the snow. So the mantra’s are fine (most suited for heavier strong skiërs). So you need a stronger push diving in the snow. They are more stable at higher speeds.

[@michizer0]

I would buy carv but only without that subscription.

[@Minipera]

What happens when you have narrow skies like 72-76mm? It feels like my skis are going so deep in snow and then I fall, the only way I can stay up is by leaning backward which is the first "no to do" haha

[@TAH1712]

I ski at 72 mm underfoot and have a ball skiing new off piste snow - the most essential skills when skiing such narrow skis is to have a slightly narrower stance but not locked feet , keep centered over both skis and 'think' you have only one single ski that can't be split into two - you really have to keep both legs acting as a single unit and NOT allow them to split apart. As your moving through the snow rather than over it, a little more speed is needed and stronger 'twin legged' unified action may be necessary until you have a good speed. 'Strongly think' about skiing on a single 144mm single ski . You have to actively keep both legs acting as one and not let them have independence at low speeds in deep snow or they'll split apart. I can do 20 ~ 30 cm's under fresh snow like this, but once moisture gets into the snow, it gets much harder because more momentum is needed to disperse the snow. Then skiing over the snow, not through it is much easier on wider skis.

[@CarvSki]

Narrow skis make it harder for sure

[@Minipera]

@@TAH1712 thanks for the long reply! can't wait to test again

[@T.K5555]

I'm afraid to lean forward, to jump to the slope is more scary 🫣🥹😭

[@CarvSki]

Bouncing will help you feel more comfortable being balanced

[@michizer0]

Not sure if that massive jumping is really good style

[@petervarnberg9671]

Dude you are so right, look when the ski for real at the end of the video, no jumping/bounching what so ever

[@michaelblythe9739]

@CarvSki - I'm curious if we should treat the bouncing as a drill then the movements are just more subtle in your skiing?

[@CarvSki]

We find the best skiers in the world are actively moving their feet up and down while skiing powder

[@Benzknees]

Unfortunately off piste is usually nothing like that. It's mostly highly variable, chopped up, mogully stuff with buried rocks just beneath the surface. And no amount of standardised tips are going to help you with such.

[@CarvSki]

We can’t always get first tracks true

[@lukecico5155]

Sure. Kill our dreams. Dream killer.

[@Goggleboxing]

That's why you hire a guide or talk (a lot) to the locals, patrol and lifties for the more accessible areas. If you're off in the rocks you're doing it wrong. Similarly if you're ploughing through everyone else's crud you're not putting in the effort to earn your tracks. That said being able to ski the crud securely is part of the skill set. Where there is higher risk you need greater skill and knowledge to mitigate it.

[@lukecico5155]

Hi @benzknees. My initial bad attempt at a joke aside… I think you’re right. On piste is a paid to have a curated experience. Your description of off piste is kind of what we would expect. It’s nature. That type of skiing takes skill and adaptability. Here on the east coast / New England weather, even on piste, is rocky, icy, messy stuff. But it’s all good. What you describe actually sounds good to me!