Snowboards were made for powder. Snowboarding in powder is much easier than skiing in powder and snowboarding in powder is also much easier than snowboarding on groomed or packed snow.
I live for snowboarding in powder. I learned to snowboard in powder before I learned to snowboard on packed snow and of the two, learning on packed snow was much harder. If you already know how to snowboard on packed snow learning how to board in powder will be easier than what you’ve already learned.
But just cause it’s easy doesn’t mean that you’ll just get it straight away. There are a few things to learn before you get good at boarding in pow-pow. Let me outline just a few tips to get you started.
So how do you snowboard in powder?
Learn the different types of powder
Keep in mind that the word powder could mean 100 different things. There is sticky pow, fluffy pow, Styrofoam, heavy, light, and so on. To add more complexity there is variation in the depth of the powder. To bring it all together there are often different types of powder at different depths. That is to say, there are usually layers of different types of powder stacked on top of each other. Add to all that the powder in one part of the hill can be different than the powder on a different part.
That means to get good at snowboarding on powder, you are going to have to be able to adapt to different conditions, and that is going to take some time and experience. But nice consistent powder, you should be able to get comfortable in that after just a few runs.
Learn what to look for
When you’re just learning to ride in powder your best off on a medium to steep slope. The inertia that is readily available on a steeper slope will help you push the powder around, and thus not let the powder push you around.
If you go too slow in powder you will:
- Sink
- Get stuck in your own track
You need to keep your speed going in powder so that you don’t sink and get stuck.
Powder will also slow you down so a steeper slope will help you keep a decent speed. Power is slower than packed snow and sometimes it’s a lot slower. Steep slopes are a lot easier when they have powder on them, especially with the added benefit that falling in powder is way better than falling in hard-pack.
Learn the technique
1. When you first get started in powder you will need to lean back to keep the tip of your board out of the snow. This is not a graceful way to snowboard but it will get you in the game. Just start linking turns while leaning back until you get comfortable with that and are ready to move on to the next step.
2. As you start getting comfortable, transition from leaning back to keeping your weight on just your back foot.
The difference is:
- When leaning back you are actually pulling up on your front foot.
- When you keep your weight on your back foot, you’re not pulling up or pushing down on your front foot, or you doing a little of both as you enter and exit each turn. Pulling up on your front foot to initiate a new turn, and pushing down in mid-carve.
Another way to explain this flow is that at the bottom of your turn, you are pushing all of your weight onto the board and spraying snow. If your loading all of your weight on your back leg, you will effectively be packing the snow under your board at an angle that will ramp your board out of the snow as soon as you bend your knees to initiate the next turn. By bending your knees you are now taking some weight off the board and if you were pushing down with your back leg, the board should now ramp out of the snow. This is your opportunity to turn the board while it is up, out of the powder. Once it’s turned you can straighten out your legs (mostly the back one) and push your board into the snow. You’re now at the bottom of the turn, where you were just a second ago, and now repeat the process of pushing your back leg down, packing a ramp under your board, and then bend your knees and let your board ramp out of the snow again.
Read that last paragraph a couple of times to really memorize the flow. That way once you do it for your first time on the snow everything will click. Once it clicks for the first time it’s on. Once you get the feel for it you’re pretty much a powder pro. Like I said in the beginning, snowboards excel in powder and it’s just a matter of linking turns on a couple of powder runs until off to the races.
I hope this helps but one word of caution – no joke – once you start linking turns in powder you’ll be a lifelong addict. Ask anyone and they’ll tell you the same thing. So if you have room in your life for a new addiction then learn to ride powwow, but if you don’t, turn back now!