What is smearing in skiing?

Smearing is skidding a turn in powder, which just wasn't possible on narrow skis. Skidding—or drifting—gives you options. At speed, it allows you to delay a turn—to avoid an obstacle, for instance.

What does crud mean in skiing?

Crud is the by-product of skiers cutting up un-groomed powder, often found at the sides of the piste. Skiing crud is hard work. It involves navigating your way through alternating snow consistencies, that may have become icy, bumpy or remained soft and fluffy.

What does Slarve mean in skiing?

The Slarve is a sliding carve, or skid steer, where the tips pivot and the tails slide adjacent and wash out creating a deep angled crescent moon shape.

How do you ski ungroomed?

Get Off the Groomed: 5 Tips for Skiing Fresh Snow

PICK YOUR LINE. When skiing natural terrain, looking where you are going is super important. ...
KEEP THE BASKETS, LOSE THE STRAPS. ...
PUT YOUR FEET ON THE SAME PAGE. ...
SKI DOWN, NOT ACROSS. ...
GET THE RIGHT TOOLS ON YOUR FEET.

What is choppy snow?

Choppy Powder.

This usually happens later in the day when the fresh powder has been ridden over and 'chopped' up into troughs and banks. As more and more skiers ride through the powder and whip up the powder it clumps up in areas.

39 related questions found

What are the bumps on ski slopes called?

What are Moguls? Moguls are bumps that you'll find on some groomed slopes at downhill ski areas. They can be constructed purposely by the ski area, but more often they form naturally as skiers carve turns down a slope.

What is chalk snow?

Chalk: Dry, easily edgeable snow that often forms when it's consistently cold and often windy.

What is a forgiving ski?

A "forgiving" ski simply allows for grosser body movements without instantaneous reactions. Say you regularly let your hips fall behind your feet; a forgiving ski will give you time to regain your balance without repercussions, while an unforgiving ski will dump you unceremoniously on your rump.

What is turning called in skiing?

A carved turn is a skiing term for the technique of turning by shifting the ski onto its edges.

What does corn skiing mean?

Corn refers to the snow during the time window when it has become soft and forgiving, but not too wet and slushy. In other words, it's the “Goldilocks” of snow—not too hard, not too soft, but just right.

What is aggressive snow?

In French or English, there is aggressive snow, which is so cold that skis can't run smoothly over it.

What is a gaper in skiing?

Gaper [gey-per] noun: 1. A skier or snowboarder who is completely clueless. 2. An acronym meaning Guaranteed Accident Prone on Every Run. (

Can you carve on green runs?

Find a blue run: A less steep (green) slope requires you to expend less effort to carve turns on it, but you need enough incline to give your skis some initial momentum and tilt. So you'll have to go beyond the bunny hill.

Are wider skis harder to turn?

Wide skis, on the other hand, have more surface area and therefore provide more flotation (think snowshoes as an example). This means that they perform great in powder, but take more effort to turn and are harder to control and sloppier on groomers.

What is the benefit of a wider ski?

With better torsional stiffness wider skis perform exceptionally well on groomed and hardpack conditions. The torsional stiffness decreases chatter at higher speeds, and allows the ski to have increased edge hold on hardpack snow. Another huge advancement in the progression of wide skis are the ski bindings.

What does ski stiffness do?

STIFFER SKIS. Generally speaking, skis that have a stiff flex will feel stable at speed and have good precision on hard snow. Stiff skis grip better on hard snow, too, because they maintain full-edge contact and don't bounce off the snow. However, a ski that is too stiff will buck you around and burn out your quads.

What is muddy snow called?

Smud: Brown or muddy snow usually resulting from warmer weather.

What does powder mean in skiing?

Noun. Definition: Shorthand for the word 'powder', the term 'pow' is probably one of the most commonly written down words in skiing slang and can be heard on days when the snow is good and the face shots (see point 10) are flowing. “The pow today is absolutely out of this world.”

Why is spring snow called corn?

This time of year something magical begins to happens to the snowpack and creates what is called “corn.” These little beads of snow get their name from the fact that they look like frozen corn kernels.

Why is it called mogul skiing?

Mogul skiing arose soon after aerials in an effort to navigate the large bumps, called moguls, on many ski slopes. Competing on a steep (22°–32°), 200- to 270-metre (660- to 890-foot) course, the skier is scored on speed, turn techniques, and two mandatory upright jumps.

Why do my skis wobble?

Most intermediate skiers experience "wobble" as you describe it when the skis are too flat on the surface. If you can carve on a piste and transfer from edge to edge with little effort then skis will ride the edge to help you.

How do ski butts live?

– HOW TO BECOME A SKI BUM –

#1. Get Rid of Your Car. Cars are expensive and unnecessary to a real ski bum. ...
#2. Do NOT Work During Winter. The whole point to being a ski bum is to ski during the winter not to work during winter. ...
#3. Live On $10 Per Day. During winter, live on $10 per day. ...
#4. Live With Other Ski Bums.