UKC

As the title.
I can ski reds on piste. I can ski off piste [in Scotland] given 'suitable conditions] [I've been doing it on and off for many years] but I'm hopeless on off piste powder [and breakable crust if it comes to that. I can manage icy neve better than either of those.
I suspect my technique is the main issue. I think I tend to 'stem' even on piste sometimes. I've also been told just recently that wider skis help, mine are 85 cm at the waist I think. I've looked at videos and read stuff on line but not making any progress.
I imagine my best next option is to have some lessons. I live in Fort William and can get to Aviemore easily.
Just looking for helpful suggestions.
JW

In reply to John Workman:

Considering your vast age, stick to the bridge.

In reply to John Workman:

have sent you mail

In reply to John Workman:

Try Off Piste Performance -

http://www.offpiste.org.uk/courses/ski-performance-scotland/

In reply to Max Hunter:

Another vote for Alison Culshaw - Off piste performance

In reply to John Workman:

go fat and get some decent boots. powder took a couple of seasons on a variety of ski/boot combos to get right. skiing properly takes both time and money but i think the investment is worth it.

In reply to John Workman:
Unlearn piste skiing. Skis closer together and more pressure on uphill ski. Makes the skis more 'at one' so minimising the variation felt across the skis.

In reply to John Workman:

Don't stem, stand up straight this flattens the skis gravity does the rest. Once the skis are pointing down the fall line move your hips to put them on edge. The skis will pull you around ready for the next turn. Stemming tries to force the skis around the turn, won't work in powder.

In reply to John Workman:

It seems your just struggling on powder as icy pistes are just hard pistes with the same technique.
Breakable crust is hard for everybody and much harder than powder, almost impossible at times, with a kick turn being the only safe option sometimes.
It's about time on powder snow, and when you can do it , it's easier than piste skiing, no shortcut, just get out when there's lots of powder.
85 is a bit narrow, but it's all a compromise.
You can't unweight one ski in powder without the spectacular egg beater fall...
Don't waste money on lessons, spend it on a powder holiday somewhere reliable....

In reply to John Workman:

As you can see from this thread and the mix of advise, get some lessons!

The main thing to remember with all skiing is that you need to adapt to the terrain and your speed. .

E.g. The faster you're skiing, the wider you your stance, the steeper the terrain, the narrower your stance, the bumpier the terrain, the narrower your stance etc. as the snow changes, your ideal weight position for and aft changes (faster, further forward, deeper snow, more central).

On and off piste skiing are not totally different beasts, just different locations on the broad spectrum that is "skiing" and skills learnt doing one are applicable to the other. Eliminating your stem turn on piste will aid your ability to turn off piste.

In reply to gromit:

Hey Gromit - I said helpful suggestions - you young pup.

Wallace

In reply to John Workman:
Thanks for the replies. Some helpful advice. Better get out there again tomorrow then.

In reply to mysterion:

Succinct and good advice.
Too much weight on the outside ski (as taught) and that ski will plummet into the deeper snow.

Be gentle, start on the edge of the piste and feel the snow.........

In reply to John Workman:

Get hold of Warren Smith's Ski Academy dvds (the ones for intermediate/expert level) and practise hard. My gf is a shit hot off-piste skier, and even she found the exercises and tips really useful.

JW

In reply to John Workman:

My 2p. Think you are skiing two skis as a single platform rather than two separate skis i.e. Don't push too much on one ski. Be gentle and get some rhythm and bounce off the platform on each turn. And go somewhere where there might be powder to practise. And go again, and again etc.

In reply to John Workman:

I'm cr*p on powder as well, but Peter Cliff has 4 tips which I understand will work - I've felt it! - though never practiced enough. 1) Skis close together otherwise changes in texture will separate them bigtime. 2) Skis equally weighted. 3) Before a turn, 'bounce' on your skis to gain confidence and establish a platform, and, best of all, 4) At the start of a turn, imagine someone standing on your tips facing you and ... use your outside fist to bash him on the nose! I.e. use the momentum of your arm swing to help run, just like they used to do in the old days before metal edges.

I can feel the theory, haven't had enough practice to consistently apply it. My eldest son's advice may be equally appropriate (and doesn't contradict): 'bouncy bouncy bouncy!'

In reply to Dave:



Get a snowboard!

In reply to robbo99

dam , you beat me to it .

In reply to Gael Force:


The official advice on breakable crust, as summarised by me from Alison's teaching :

1. The perennial group bugbear - surviving in breakable crust! (in all its various repulsive forms)

Small jumps to get out of crud and break through it on landing.
Pole plant, about mid point of ski (not too far forward, wrist fulcrums rather than arm going forward to place)
Keep weight centred (may need to press shins against front of boots to achieve this)
Start turn with uphill ski
Land evenly on both skis
Skis relatively close together
Don't always need to break the crust, sometimes better to ride on top of it
If your knees won't permit the jumps, start a turn with a small element of snow plow on the uphill ski
Become a better skier - er, yes, but ....


Money on good lessons is not wasted at all, money on useless ones on the other hand ...

In reply to John Workman:

No one has mentioned the most helpful tip of all (IMO). Get up to a decent cruising speed (not TOO fast, but definitely not slow) before you attempt to turn, this gives you "float" and suddenly everything is much easier. You need confidence for this so practise practise practise until you're comfortable heading straight downhill at middling speed in the pow.

Tip 2 Turn through a smaller radius and get some bounce of the back of your skis as you complete a turn, which raises and readies you for the next. Simples.

In reply to robbo99:

Yes he could get a board but he would then spend days walking and go everywhere slowly. Split boards are rubbish and massive faf. I have two legs also.

In reply to John Workman:

Right, here goes with my piece of advice...not enough in isolation but....
As others have said probably much easier to get some lessons than try to use ANY advice on the forum, but anyhoo...
Ride like your riding a Harley...hands low and forwards.
Do this as an experiment: Initiate some turns off piste. Can you see both hands at all times? If the answer's 'no' then you're probably losing sight of the uphill hand as you're finishing the turn, meaning you're over rotating. Kind of feeling like you're 'skiing from the back seat'. Once you get in the back seat it becomes all but impossible to recover and get set up for the next turn. So how to correct? I was taught to think of it like this: your uphill hand controls the rotation of your downhill ski. Overrotate with your uphill hand and sure enough you'll find yourself in the back seat at the end of a turn. So as you're finishing turns fight hard to keep your uphill hand from swinging away upslope and out of view. Experiment with really exaggerating pointing the uphill hand downslope as you finish the turn and feel the effect on the downhill ski..
If the 'backseat' analogy strikes a chord, another correction exercise is to punch forward and fight hard to stop the uphill hand, and hence the downhill ski, from over rotating.

In reply to John Workman:

Had a 3 hr lessons at Cairngorm yesterday - some on powder.
Lots to work on now.
{ski-ing was really good by the way]

Thanks for the tips. [!]