Snow Skills

The use of foot powder in your winter boots of all kinds will help keep your feet drier and warmer during your adventures.
Use any kind of anti-bacterial foot powder in your sock to help absorb excess sweat and pull moisture away from your feet.

It will help keep your foot warm, by absorbing normal moisture expelled from the foot. It also helps to keep the boot smelling okay; be aware that no foot powder can completely remove foot odor from well-used boots, but at least some will help keep the odor manageable.

Note that foot powder in itself will not overcome poor choices of footwear or socks: there’s no substitute for investing in quality insulated boots to enjoy the outside in the winter. For socks, wool or synthetic materials are best and absolutely, positively never use cotton socks in the winter!

Cotton will not provide any insulation once it gets wet and just your normal perspiration is enough moisture to make you cold and wet.

Bode Miller won a World Cup Downhill Victory in Wengen, Switzerland to tie the American individual record of World Cup Skiing victories. The victory was Bode’s 27th overall and a repeat of his downhill victory on the Lauberhorn course last year. The Lauberhorn course is the longest one on the World Cup circuit at 2.8 miles.

Phil Mahre and Bode now share the American record of 27 individual wins. Bode went independent of the U.S. Team last May and trains and tours without their support. A native of New Hampshire, he’s a graduate of the Carrabassett Valley Academy at the Sugarloaf resort in Maine.

Sir Edmund Hillary has passed away at the age of 88 in his native homeland of New Zealand. Hillary and his Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, were recognized as first recognized men to set foot on the summit of Mount Everest on May 29, 1953. Hillary may be the world’s most known adventurer: New Zealand honors him by placing his face on their $5 bill while he was knighted Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire after his summit success.

Here’s Hillary and Norgay, shortly after returning from the summit.

An adventurer in every sense of the word, Hillary gave back to the country where he had his most famous moment by setting up schools and clinics to improve the life of the Sherpas. In a world that seems to shrink as technology advances, his accomplishment on Everest may stand as one of the last great adventures on Earth. His autobiography, View from the Summit, is an excellent read and we recommend it to hikers, climbers, and wanna-be adventurers!

Smartwool’s Lightweight Next-To-Skin Base Layers are a great solution for an all-conditions base clothing for winter outdoor recreation.

These base layer garments are made of 100 percent Merino wool, which is soft on your skin while the moisture-wicking properties help keep you dry in all weather conditions. With less moisture against your skin, dry means warmer, especially in extreme temperatures and winds.
Read the rest of this entry »

For Skiers, remember the basics: put most of your weight on the outside ski.

Here’s a simple tip from a thinking focus:

“Keep your inside leg light.”

When I think about keeping my inside leg light, the outside leg becomes ‘heavy’ in the sense that it’s the primary place for my weight. The ‘light’ focus lets me enter a turn with more balancing on the outside foot than inside, a ballpark of 60% of the balance for a typical turn. The ‘light’ 40% of weight on the inside leg can only be accomplished if I let my body move toward the outside at the top of the turn

Be aware that the percentage of balance mix will vary with snow conditions, terrain, and speed; regardless, thinking about keeping your inside leg light will direct your balance to the outside ski where it belongs.

For Intermediate Skiers, keep your stance hip-width and steady through the turn.

Standing on a level surface, hold your poles straight up and down against the outermost part of your hips. Now create a stance where the outside of your boots is aligned to the inside of each pole. With this hip-width stance, identify how far apart your knees are and focus on maintaining that width. Beware the part of the turn just past where your skis face down the hill; this is the point where the feet tend to want to come closer together. Resist that tendency and improve your turns by keeping your feet hip-width apart.

There’s a terrific outdoor gear cooperative from Canada called Mountain Equipment Co-op.

Though a co-op like REI, the only distinct similarity is that memberships are $5 (Canadian). MEC is much more than an outdoor retailer, in that their commitment to the environment is clear in everything they do. Unlike other outdoor retailers, MEC doesn’t carry every single product under the sun: they only carry a limited number of the very best goods that they believe you need for your outdoor adventures. MEC has its own line of packs called Serratus, of which their bike panniers are exceptional for their strength and function. Their clothing is very warm, durability, and functional, though a bit simple. If you’re looking for an apres-ski piece, go Patagonia. If you’re doing 15 miles of winter hiking, get MEC gear and you won’t be disappointed. Read the rest of this entry »

How will skiing green circle terrain make you a black diamond skier?!? Because the pitch, width, and typically good snow conditions of easier trails will give you the opportunity to break out of your present habits. A green circle trail will provide a comfort zone to allow you to try out new movements and modify ones that have grown too familiar.

An ideal practice trail would be relatively wide (100 ft.), an alignment directly down gravity (without sloping to either side), and have relatively little other traffic. Try working on these improvement tips on green terrain in the morning and then move to black terrain in the afternoon: you’ll find a new level of control and be more successful at changing your skills to match a steeper pitch.

Here’s hoping everyone gets a cold, wet winter in their stocking with which to go out and play!

Happy Holidays from the Snowskills.net staff!

As a postscript to previous posts about the health risks from Nalgene bottles, check out this article on cnn.com.

The article is consistent with what we discovered; there is evidence of risk from exposure to bisphenol A (or BPA) in polycarbonate, but no hard evidence linking such risks to use of Nalgene bottles or similar products.

The recent actions of Mountain Equipment Co-op, the respected, environmentally-friendly outdoor supplier from Canada, simply adds to the confusion: they removed polycarbonate water bottles from their product line, but continue to carry water filters and other products containing the polycarbonate.

At present, the best advice appears to be replace Nalgene bottles about once a year, and more often if you routinely use them for hot liquids.