Some mountain offer great snow condition pretty often but what to do when the condition become a little bite harder. Must of the slope become firm and icy when they don't have fresh snow on for a long time and have been ski many times. The skis edges need to be sharp but this will not be enough to hold on ice.
It is not easy for anybody to keep your balance on this condition. A wider stance will help you to be more stable. In normal slope the distance between your feet should approximately the same than your shoulder, on this case go for little bite more space between your feet. Add a lower position to this by flexing your legs and not your back. The athletic position with the stomach (six pack or keg) kept contracted is the best position in every situation.
Now that you have your body stable, keep your shoulder pointing downhill. Your uphill hand should point toward the bottom of the mountain. The waist and the hips should be the separation between the upper and lower body. Your balance should be over the ski who are in the outside of the turn which mean downhill at the end of the turn. Again it is all the same technique you should have in every situation but really crucial on this kind of situation. A movement from your upper body will result quickly to have your back facing downhill.
Be patient, trying to put all your energy at the end of the turn will give extra pressure on your skis tail and skid the ski over the snow, built your balance from the beginning of the turn and spay out this energy from the upper part of the turn to the end of the turn. At the moment the ski start to grip on the ice it is already the time to start your next turn, the ski will not hold you a long time at the same place in the same position but if you change from a little grip to the next one it will allow you more control. Expect speed and use the little amount of snow on the slope to make a turn to slow you down.
To get the right image of this puzzle ask a ski instructor to help you reach your goal to improve your technique and feel more confident on this kind of terrain. You can find a snow pro on line at Ski Pro Connect.
Robert G.
Ski instructor at Whistler-Blackcomb for a third seasons. Certified CSIA III CSCFII, I teach since 1996. The mountain I taught at Sunshine Village (Banff), Mont Tremblant (Quebec), Crested Butte (Colorado), Sahoro (Japan) and Coronet Peak (Queenstown). Sharing my passion for skiing is what I do everyday that I have my ski boots on.
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