14. November 2020

10 tips to ski better on your heli ski day

1. Flying in for your first run, look at the tracks for an indication of the snow conditions.

If you are seeing deep ski trenches off the landing, expect a very good day of powder skiing. If the snow has been textured by the wind, expect a day where you will be adjusting your technique to suit the snow conditions.

2. Start slow

Even the best professionals will warm up, and so should you. It will also give you time to feel out the snow conditions.

3. Adjust your technique to suit the snow conditions.

No day will be the same with regards to conditions. In fact, each run may be different due to changes in aspect and elevation. Watch how the skiers in front of you ski the changing snow to prepare how you will ski it.

4. Ski behind someone just a bit better than you are.

Everyone has a different style and technique, but mirroring someone who skis well might help your own technique.

5. Alternate going behind the guide and going last.

To maximize your rest time at stops, alternate between going near the front, and then going near the back. You will have a longer rest if you arrive just behind the guide, and depart as the last member of the group.

6. Use your peripheral vision

To see up ahead for any obstacles while using direct site for seeing what is right in front of you. Obstacles may be rocks or half buried shrubs.

7. In flat light conditions

Use the ski tracks ahead of you as a reference and to help you see and ski better.

8. Skiing between the trees, focus on the gaps, not the trees.

If you are focused and looking at any object, chances are you will ski towards that object. Don’t focus on the trees, but on the spaces between the trees.

9. If you are going to fall, don’t fight it.

It can be much harder to get out of the deep snow in an awkward position. If you are off balance and about to fall, try to end up seated in the snow.

10. Ski within yourself

Know that you aren’t skiing in a resort where obstacles are marked. Skiing conservatively allows you to avoid any obstacles that you may not have seen.

about the writer

Chuck started out as a skier on the small island of Tasmania riding rope tows with nut crackers. A dream to ski in distant lands took him to Japan and Canada in pursuit of the powder dream. The best place he knew how to ski more powder was to work in the heli-skiing industry. After 4 years of working on the side of heli-ski operation management, he moved in to heli-ski guiding in Canada and New Zealand, where he worked for 9 seasons. He operates Hokkaido Powder Guides on the northern island of Hokkaido during the northern hemisphere winter. He is a qualified ski guide with the New Zealand Mountain Guide Association.