10. May 2021

Heliski; How to Ski Tricky Snow Conditions

The skills to be able to read the snow surface can really help your ability to ski different conditions that can be tricky. Guides will be scanning the snow from the helicopter for signs of instability and to check the snow conditions for skiing.

So what are the types of tricky snow conditions? What do they look like, and how do we ski them?

Breakable crust is often a little wind textured on the surface as a clue. Rockered skis have made skiing this condition easier since the old days of camber, but it still can be challenging. Guides will be looking for dappled areas, where it will be easier to make turns. Try to stick behind the guide and turn where they turn.

When the snow is variable, it is necessary to adjust your technique on the fly. Often the alpine areas can form crusts of varying thicknesses. It’s these types of crusts that keep you guessing whether you will break through or not. Go with the percentages. If you are breaking through most of the time, be aggressive with your turns. If you are staying on top most of the time, try to stay on the surface and ski more gingerly, with less weighted turns.

One of the more challenging snow conditions are what we call an upside-down snowpack. The skis will push through a dense surface layer into a softer layer underneath. It can look deceptively good, until you realize it’s upside down. Probably best described as a feeling of skiing soft snow in slow motion, the density prevents the skis from running freely. Good balance is needed and the ability to be centered over your skis.

Tricky spots like wind slab can catch you off guard, and make you look like a zero pretty quickly. Look out for a chalky appearance on the snow surface. Luckily this condition is typically not widespread, so you can go back to being a hero. Watch the skiers out in front. It’s like someone putting the handbrake on. There will be a sensation of going ‘over the handlebars.’ Either straight line, or make some longer radius turns to power through.

Then there is dust on crust. It is particularly frustrating when there are rain runnels underneath the dust. Your mind tells you it looks good, but your chattering teeth tells you otherwise. Keep your dentures in place and try to enjoy the ride!

Lucky we don’t encounter these conditions too much of the time. Consider them to be a bit of added spice to your heli-ski day. Master deep powder, as well as these other variations, and you will be on the way to being an expert.

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.