Ice Ice Baby

I once had a trainer tell me he loved the ice. He said that it gave him external feedback as to whether he was balanced on his skis. While I certainly wouldn’t go as far as to say I enjoy skiing on ice, there are ways to it less painful.

First, it’s important to determine if what you are skiing is, in fact, ice. Sometimes skiers refer to hard pack as ice. It isn’t. Hard pack is snow that is packed down so hard that there is no loose snow on it. It is white. Ice is when you can see your reflection. Ice sparkles in the sunlight. Neither are particularly fun to ski but at least with hard pack, you can carve through it. Well tuned skis certainly help.

One strategy with ice is avoidance. Some runs will always be icier than others. These are usually those that funnel through a lot of traffic. For the same reason, icy spots are generally found in the middle of runs. These spots can be avoided by skiing as close to the side of the run as you are comfortable. Steeper pitchers are often icy because of skiers and boarders of lower abilities who push the snow to the bottom side slipping rather than carving the run.

If a patch of ice is unavoidable I think of skiing it “lightly”. While the natural reaction is to try and dig in, if it is truly ice and not hard pack you will not win that battle. It is better to get over it as quickly as possible while trying not to allow it to disrupt your rhythm. Concentrate on this good rhythm and on continuous movement (bending and extending) in your legs as ice often causes one to freeze up (pardon the pun).

The better balanced you are over your skis, the less ice will throw you. So on icy days, as on any other days, focus on balancing over your feet with your feet flat in your boots .

Like any new situation, skiing ice gets easier with practice so try not to give up and quit early on an icy day. You may never love it like my trainer but you will get more comfortable with it. And if all else fails you can exact your revenge on ice by consuming it in your après ski cocktail!