Snow Skills

Steep terrain in itself is not necessarily difficult; it’s the combination of pitch, terrain, and snow conditions which combine to a degree of difficulty at any one moment. As brief examples, the White Nitro trail at Sugarloaf/USA in Maine has a 52 degree pitch, but is usually groomed smooth corderoy from edge to edge. The Broccoli Garden Glade at Sugarloaf/USA has about a 10 degree pitch, but contains endless trees at a 10 foot spacing, undulations in topography, and inconsistent snow conditions. Which trail is more difficult? As we say ‘herah’ in Maine, “Well, it depends.”

Steep terrain will increase the forces on your body due to gravity and also the effect of creating a turn. Most skiers and riders know that these forces feel the strongest at the last half of a turn, from just after your ski tips/board nose is facing down gravity to when you release the edge(s) to start a new turn. Putting yourself in a position to handle those forces mostly has to do with what you do in the first half of the turn, but it’s also common that skiers/riders do things in the last half of the turn which take away control and surrenders to those forces.

Make things easier on yourself by focusing on being patient with your gear in the last half of the turn. As you move past facing down gravity, you probably have begun to move more weight to the outside of the turn, set an edge and begun to increase the angle, and move your balance forward, all of which are positive moves! You can give this all away if you lose your patience and force the skis through the end of the turn with your body.

So, which trail is more difficult? If you’re making good turning movements, have the patience to stick with those moves on a 52 degree, groomed trail and it will probably feel like less of a drama than flatter but more terrain-challenging trails. Strive for steady turning movements which produce a round turn shape and you’ll be more successful controlling your skiing/riding on the steeps.