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MCNEIL: Deep snow takes deft touch

By Craig McNeil, Rocky Mountain News

Published January 22, 2008 at 12:45 a.m.

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Keeping your feet together is one of the most important aspects of being able to turn in deep snow.

Photo by Special To The Rocky

Keeping your feet together is one of the most important aspects of being able to turn in deep snow.

Maintaining your balance over your feet in deep powder will help you stay on your feet.

Photo by Jack Affleck / Vail Resorts

Maintaining your balance over your feet in deep powder will help you stay on your feet.

Use ski poles to stabilize your upper body and to help with the timing of your turns.

Photo by Special To The Rocky

Use ski poles to stabilize your upper body and to help with the timing of your turns.

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I recently skied Vail's back bowls, which offered some of the deepest snow I've seen in Colorado in the past 20 years. With storm after storm dumping copious amounts of white gold, Vail has gotten more than 15 feet and sports a 50-plus-inch midmountain base.

The day I skied, there was yet another foot of fresh powder, and the back bowls had what I call "bottomless snow" - conditions where so much snow accumulates that there's no "bottom" or "base" layer. In other words, if you push your ski pole down through the surface layers, it just keeps going. Lose a ski or fall in such conditions, and you'll find yourself wallowing for what might seem like an eternity as you try to get back on your feet.

Where most green and blue runs are groomed, you'll find bottomless conditions on ungroomed black and double- black runs. And that's fitting because, in snow so deep, it's almost impossible to move on less-steep runs; ski a run that's somewhat steep and has a continuous pitch or you'll come to a grinding halt.

And herein lies the challenge for the common skier. It takes confidence, know-how, technique and strength to successfully handle such snow depth.

The simple act of moving through such conditions takes a certain amount of physical energy. Wallowing around in it for any reason can suck the energy out of a skier in short order.

Tips for success

* Keep your feet together. When your feet are together, they cut the snow as one. When they come apart, either at the beginning of a turn or at any time throughout the arc of the turn, you're headed for trouble because it's easier to lose your balance and fall.

* In deep snow, you must ski off the fall line (down the slope, making continuous turns) in the same manner as a snowboarder. Traversing across the slope only shows a lack of confidence in your technique or timidity in your ability.

* Use a powder ski, which can range from 75 millimeters to more than 100 millimeters underfoot. All-mountain powder skis are wider underfoot and provide greater flotation on the snow. These skis provide more "float" and can make turn initiation and completion much easier in the deep stuff. If you don't have a pair in your quiver, rent them from a ski shop.

Balance is key

* Distribute your balance over both feet (no sitting back), keeping your weight distributed over the ball and arch of each foot.

* The principles of tipping to the little-toe edge remain the same and are actually more effective in deep snow. Tip the foot in the direction you want to turn and extend your legs through the arc of the turn.

* It takes more strength and energy to fall than it does to stay on your feet. For the neophyte and expert alike, lose your balance and you're toast. Wallow in any significant depth for any length of time and, after a few falls, you'll be exhausted.

Use stabilizing pole plant

* Using your ski pole is one more way to help maintain balance. Your pole plant, which should be made down the fall line, is your cue to release the skis from the previous turn.

* The stabilizing pole plant is held longer and with more weight on it. Your arms and poles do not create the release; they create the timing for the turn and help stabilize your upper body.

* After the pole plant, punch that same hand forward to keep from over-rotating your upper body. If your hand falls behind your body, it's easy to lose your balance and fall.

Craig McNeil is a certified Primary Movements instructor. To order his book, How to Ski the Blues and Blacks without Getting Black and Blue, or to contact him, go to his Web site, HowToSki.net.