How To Ski In Heavy Snow & White Outs

Posted Tuesday 9^th February 2016

After a slow start winter has hit the Alps and we’ve seen some impressive snowfall. This is great news but does present challenging conditions when its dumping.

One of the great ironies is we all pray for snow but we want the actual process to have finished the day before we arrive so we can ski out onto perfectly groomed pistes. Skiing in flat light can seem daunting but we’ve some tips to help:

Remember What You Know

When the going gets tough the temptation is to forget that we can ski. Perhaps you tense up, revert to sitting on the toilet position or rush your turns? What we really need to do is take a deep breath, remember our lessons and concentrate on the moves we normally make.

• Keep your turns simple.
• Focus on your body position: strong core and weight centred.
• Legs flexed ready for any unexpected bumps.

Use Other Clues

Fog or falling snow refracting the light from all angles causes white outs. Without shadows depth perception and speed becomes difficult to judge.

• Get below the treeline where there are more shadows on the snow.
• Use piste markers to judge the width and gradient of the slope (and check you’re not on the black!).
• Let people overtake you and keep an eye where they go.
• Similarly, follow more experienced skiers down the slope.

Believe You Can Do It

The only person who can get you down the slopes is you.

• Stay positive.
• Remember you can ski.
• Look forward to how great the piste is going to be tomorrow when it’s sunny!