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"SKIING
IS A SLIDING SPORT":
Tactics for Terrains and Snow Textures--Skiing Hard Snow/Ice
by Bill Jones, Ski Instructor
Certified Professional Ski Instructor (Registration #110478)
In the West, skiers often complain of icy ski slopes. Eastern skiers scoff at
this, for to them ice is like what you put in a cocktail drink. They brag of
reading a page of The New York Times over which they have stopped, frozen
under a slope of clear ice. Western snow can be hard, too, and is occasionally ice if there has
been a long snow-less spell with repeated freezing and thawing. Continual
skier/boarder traffic over a ski slope can also produce an icy snow surface, as
with each passage of a slider the snow's crystal delicacies are melted only to
freeze again after the slider passes. Another ice situation occurs where a
groundwater spring seeps up into the snow and freezes. And there can be a
surface stream that has run amok or a broken water line for a snow gun that
spews water that then freezes on the slope, or the gun itself could have been
badly calibrated or malfunctioned and generated the wrong mix of water and air that then
sprayed onto the slope and froze.
A tactic for ice is to avoid it when you can, or be a racer and love it for
the speed it will give you. Ski edges that are smoothly filed and with a smaller
base edge bevel and a larger side edge angle may help, creating bevels on base
and side that generate an overall corner that is more acute. For ice, ski bases should
have no convexity that would make edging less sure, although some add a slight
concavity to the base so the edges touch the snow more than the base. (See Ski Equipment/Ski
Edges for a fuller discussion of edge bevels and edge maintenance.) Some skiers use skis that are stiffer
longitudinally for ice, but all should prefer skis that are stiff laterally so the ski
holds firmly when tipped. Boots should be firm and buckled well, and power
straps should hold boot liners firmly against shins. Pole tips should be sharp
so they will not slip when touched on the surface.
If the slope is partly hard snow or ice and partly softer snow, use the
softer areas for as much of your turns as you can; your skis' edges will grip
there better, and drift with flatter skis across the icy areas. If a large patch of ice occurs and
your edges slip out, you can either go faster and edge harder so your skis
will slice into the ice and hold (the racer's choice) or reduce your edge angle
and drift across the hard surface, maintaining a balanced stance. Firm but
progressive movements of the body are vital, for more rapid or forceful
movements are likely to break the skis off whatever edge grip they may have
attained and cause the skis to ski or skid more.
A final word: Eventually, after selecting the tactic to apply,
you must "Point the skis down the
hill; let them buck; the mountain will teach you!"
Contents of "TACTICS FOR TERRAINS and SNOW
TEXTURES":
Overview
Skiing Groomed Snow
Skiing Hard Snow/Ice--you are here
Skiing Gates/Racing
Skiing Among Trees
Skiing Narrow trails
Skiing Moguls
Skiing Powder Snow
Skiing Cold Snow-Warm Snow/New Snow-Old Snow
Skiing "Spring" Snow
Skiing Steeps
"SKIING
IS A SLIDING SPORT"--a skiing web manual: Skiing
Web
Manual Contents Why Read
This Skiing Web Manual That
First Lesson A
Little Skiing History
A Little Skiing History Motion
in Skiing
Conventional Skiing Wisdoms
Skier Excuses Fear
in Skiing
Conditioning for Skiing How Skis
Work
Equipment and Technique
Skiing Equipment
How
to Develop Balance on Skis
A Skiing
Turn Simplified TACTICS FOR TERRAINS and SNOW
TEXTURES
Skiing Tips and Tales--a potpourri
Children
and Skiing
Gender & Skiing Age and Skiing
Culture & Skiing Skiing Ethics and Slope Survival
Slope Safety Skiing
Environment Glossary Acknowledgements
SkiMyBest Website Contents
This "Skiing Hard Snow/Ice" page last modified
12/10/2008: \SkiMyBest\skitact.htm.
Copyright © 2010 William R Jones.
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