Page 10 - Jan_14

A GRIP!
GET

Though it may seem counterintuitive, the more you lean
down the hill, the better the edge-grip on hardpack.

Six Ways to Ski Better on ‘Firm Snow’

By Lisa Densmore

TO BE POLITICALLY CORRECT in the world of snow reporting, when 1. Pick the right skis. The cool- firm, you may need to tune your skis
the surface of a trail ceases to have flakes on it and becomes very hard and (or have an expert do it) after every two
est skis in the lift line might be the fully
sometimes more blue or green than white, it’s called “frozen granular.” In ski rockered, super-wide twin-tips, but days or so. Once you tune your skis, if
school vernacular, it’s called “firm snow.”
these fatties are performance underdogs they feel “grabby,” dull the tips and tails
about two inches down the running sur-
My sweetheart, Jack, a Montanan who skied in Vermont for the first on hard-pack. To hold an edge, a ski
time four years ago, calls it “loud.” Unfortunately, his debut at a ski area in must be torsionally stiff. Fat skis (more face to help your skis glide in and out of
the Green Mountains was after one of those January thaws when it pours than 90 mm in the waist) tend to be soft. turns easier.

rain for 24 hours then the temperature plummets. What’s more, if the ski is rockered or has 3. Get forward.
“I’d always thought if I could hear my skis I was skidding, making a bad a lot of early rise in the tip, it won’t grip If you feel anxious
turn,” said Jack, “Here, I hear every turn! I thought I had forgotten how as well as a traditionally cambered ski. on ice, you’re probably sitting back,
The party line says the pre-bend in the which gives you even less control. Your
to ski.”
As a lifelong Vermont skier, I had never given skiing’s audio cues a tip helps you enter the turn easier, which shins should be pushing against the
may be true, but a soft, rockered tip isn’t tongues of your ski boots 100 percent of
thought until Jack brought it up. I had become so accustomed to the noise, I’d doing much more than getting out of the the time. Relax your toes! If you clench
ceased to hear it. That said, the slopes in Vermont are a lot quieter than they
were in my formative years.
way. To hold on ice, you must “carve” your toes, your whole body will stiffen
turns, which starts with purposefully and your shins will pull away from your
In truth, this part of the skiing world has an undeserved reputation for engaging your ski tips as you enter each boot tongues. When trying to get for-
firmer-than-desirable snow. Snowmaking systems have become so advanced, ward more, a common mistake is to
the corduroy here is usually on par and sometimes better than in the West. turn, then rolling the ski on edge more
and more as the turn progresses.
bend too much at the waist. Your chest
And with modern grooming machines, a ski area can recover from a thaw- should face forward. If it’s pointing at
freeze cycle usually within 24 hours. However, if it’s less than 24 hours or 2. Tune your skis. your skis, you’re bent too much. An-
You can have
late afternoon on a weekend after lots of skier traffic, things can get a little the best skis in the world, but if your other common mistake is trying to get
scratchy.
edges are dull or burred, they won’t forward by bending the knees more, but
It’s a common tendency for a skier to freeze up as stiff as, well I’ll just hold. Lightly scrape your thumbnail that results in sitting back even further

say it, the ice itself, which greatly hampers performance and kills one’s con- across your edges in different spots. If unless you flex your ankles too. To get
fidence. But if you’re going to ski the Greens, you’re likely going to encounter your nail leaves tiny shavings, you’re forward, concentrate mainly on flexing
hard-pack, so we want you to be ready to ski it the best that you can.
edges are sharp. Your edges should also at the ankles.

Here are six tips to help your ski edges get a better grip.
be smooth and rust-free. If the snow is

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