How To: Pow Skiing

By: Susan Medville - Rippin Chix Ski Camps

We get a lot of people at our camps wondering where all the joy and excitement about skiing powder comes from, and how they too can experience those emotions on skis. Camp participants want to know what drives people to climb mountains, stand in a lift line at o’dark-thirty, travel to other countries, or kick down to go cat or heli-skiing – all in the name of deep snow! I think the euphoria of powder skiing comes from a few places. It is often experiencing the joy of floating or weightlessness in soft snow after the jarring of skiing hard snow finally is gone. It is using your skis to paint your own lines on a blank canvas. Often it is sharing these sensations with your friends, that makes the experience so rewarding.

A lot of joy of powder skiing arrives at the point when you are no longer struggling to ski deep snow, and that takes both the right instrument for the job and good technique. I hear skiers asking if they should lean back on their skis or ski with their feet closer together. If you are skiing on long straight skinny skis, leaning back and skiing with close feet can help, but we are lucky to be living in a time where we have tools much better suited for deep snow, than we did 30 years ago. A ski that is at least 100 mm under foot with an early rise or rockered tip, allows you to ski powder in the most efficient of body positions…the “athletic body position.”

Upper body looking down the hill – to sinking into dreamy face shots. Photos: Whitton Feer, Aspen Highlands, Colorado 2024.

Let’s talk upper body first. You are looking down the hill as far as you can, ready for those moments when you can’t see where you are going because you are getting face shots of snow. You are pointing your chest down the hill at all times. Your arms are open and ready, reaching for your next pole plant and not letting the uphill hand fall back behind you. 

For your stance you want your feet to be hip’s width apart for better balance; while flexing your ankles and pushing your shins into the front of your ski boot tongue, as you initiate the turn. In powder you don’t need as much downhill ski edge pressure, so I like to think about working both skis together more than I would on hard snow—especially when going into the unweighting part of the turn to transition to the other direction. This transition part of the turn is where we get the magical floating sensation. It is that moment where your skis have gone from flexing and loaded while going across the hill, to 100 percent pointing down the fall line and you are standing tall and unweighted before sinking down into your next turn. This up and down, into and out of the snow movement is sometimes called dolphining – like the playful motion the fun seeking sea mammal does in and out of the ocean.

And we'll all float on...

Turn radius in powder is a personal preference. Some people love to milk their turns, getting in as many as possible, while others like to make bigger more powerful turns. Whichever your inclination is, remember that momentum is your friend in powder. It helps you keep your speed and keep you afloat as you move through the snow. Hopefully these tips give a little insight onto the how-tos of powder skiing and help you find a bit more jubilation next time you get to ski the deep stuff!

Author Notes

Susan Medville is a heritage professional, coach and co-owner of Rippin Chix, a series of ski camps for women who want to ski off the beaten path and to gain skills, experience and confidence. Folllow Susan for more tips and skiing stoke on Instagram @susanmedville and @rippinchix.