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3 top tips to improve your off piste skiing – by heli ski guide Roko

You wake up, look out of the window, and there’s a pristine blanket of fresh white snow covering everything in sight. To make the most of those unforgettable powder days, here are some top tips to help improve your off piste skiing & heli skiing techniques – pulled together with the help of one of CMH heli skiing most experienced guides, Roko Koell.

1. Rhythm is the heartbeat of powder skiing
Rhythmic up-and-down motions are key when it comes to how to ski off piste. Begin with the ankles, knees and hips comfortably compact. Then extend upward, gradually flexing and extending the ankles, knees and hips, but stopping before the body is fully erect.  Create a consistent up-and-down rhythm while moving only within this range, always keeping your hands forward. If you stand up too tall your body will hang back whilst your skis accelerate forward – causing the infamous backward lean and resultant burning thigh muscles.

Top tip: the more equal both skis are weighted, the easier it is to maintain balance and to link turns together harmoniously and therefore the easier it is to off piste ski. The first turn is the most important turn, as it helps set your rhythm right; concentrating on proper pole plants will help you to maintain you rhythm and link your turns together.  Just following these simple instructions will greatly improve your off piste skiing technique.

Heli-Skiing with CMH
 

2. Timing is everything: patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet
When off piste skiing in the powder you need to exaggerate your movements, ski with longer turning movements and feel the sensation of skiing in slow motion. Patience and persistence are crucial factors when turning in deep snow to improve your off piste skiing technique. You need to push your feet gradually and continually against the snow in order to complete each turn. If you give up on your turning movement too soon, your skis will accelerate and run away from underneath you, resulting in an incomplete turn, the dreaded backward lean, and loss of control.

Top tip: to make nice round turns in the powder, count slowly to yourself “One, two, turn.”; be patient when beginning the turn and assertive when completing it. Resist the urge to force your turns to happen too soon, as this causes you to over-rotate.

3. Remember – speed is your friend
Just as an airplane is able to lift off at a certain speed and a speedboat rides on top of the water, skis float up and out of the soft mass of snow when propelled by proper speed. Powder snow produces resistance against our skis, boots and lower legs, making balancing and turning a great challenge for the novice powder skier. The solution is reaching a proper skiing speed, which reduces resistance between skis and the soft mass of the snow.
This “up-floating” speed promotes turning and balance (equal weighting over both skis) and allows you to get a rhythm going.

Top tip: until the appropriate speed is established with confidence, all effort and exercise is hard work and physically exhausting – don’t despair, have the confidence to get your speed up; think about skiing with a guide or instructor for a couple of hours to help build your confidence up and pull you out of your comfort zone.

Roko Koell is a CMH Heli Skiing guide and founded CMH’s Powder Introduction programme. Roko is a fully qualified U.I.A.G.M Mountain and Ski Guide, Level 4 Ski Instructor and Ski Racing Coach.

Check out Roko’s CMH Heli-Skiing Powder Introduction film…

For more information and details of our trips, check out our heli skiing trips and our off piste skiing trips.  Or, to find out more have a read of our what is heli skiing page.

Posted by: Charlie Brooksbank

Off-Piste Skiing: Your Questions Answered

  If taking on challenging terrain sounds like a thrilling adventure, then off-piste skiing may just be the ideal outdoor sport for you. Venturing outside the boundaries of standard ski resorts can be a rewarding experience, allowing you to leave behind the groomed slopes and instead make tracks across the fresh snow of the backcountry. […]

Posted by: Samantha

Heli Skiing: Everything You Need To Know

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Pure Powder’s Skiing Resort Guide: Whistler/Blackcomb

Location: Most famously known as just Whistler, Whistler and Blackcomb are two mountains that sit side by side and make up Canada’s biggest resort. Together they make up a whopping 8,171 acres of terrain, split between pisted runs, Alpine bowls and glaciers. Whistler Village is at the base of Whistler, the hub of the village […]

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Pure Powder’s Skiing Resort Guide: Silver Star

Location: Located in the stunning Okanagan Valley, Silver Star is British Colombia’s fourth largest ski resort where you can expect the famous champagne powder we all know and love due to being further west. The varied terrain spreads over 3,282 acres and attracts every kind of skier. Getting there: Silver Star is extremely easy to get […]

Posted by: Zillah Bell

Pure Powder’s Skiing Resort Guide: Sun Peaks

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Posted by: Zillah Bell

Tree Skiing in BC, Canada

The tree skiing in the interior ranges of British Columbia is very unique.  The trees protect the snow from wind and sun damage; so not only is it where you would expect the deepest snow to be, it is also where the powder remains perfect for longer which makes tree skiing a very enjoyable experience! […]

Posted by: Zillah Bell

CMH Private Heli Skiing Trips

Heli skiing is the ultimate skiing experience – we don’t know a skier out there who doesn’t have heli skiing on their bucket list.  What’s not to want – deep, untracked powder in every direction, fresh tracks at every turn, no lift queues and a helicopter at your service!  Now, imagine it all to yourself […]

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Where Can I Go Small Group Heli Skiing?

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Pure Powder’s Resort Guide: Revelstoke

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Posted by: Suzy Small

Where Can I Heli Ski In Chile? 

What a better way to spend the summer than heli skiing in the Andes…Powder South, offers an excellent heli skiing programme which is be based out of four different locations.     The Heli Skiing Programme:   Heli Skiing in Chile is based out of the Chilean Andes Mountains and it has access to over 1 million acres of terrain – where to heli ski here is endless. Most of the skiing is on open Alpine […]

Posted by: Georgie Knox

The Top 5 Heli Ski Lodges in the World

We’re all about the best powder skiing experiences in the world, and as your heli ski experts it is only right that will pull together our top five ultimate heli ski lodges in the world. We couldn’t think of any where else we would prefer to be right now. Each lodge is sumptuous, with impeccable […]

Posted by: Zillah Bell

Pure Powder’s Christmas Gift Guide for Skiers & Boarders

Stuck for Christmas gifts for the skier or snowboarder in the family or for friends…then check out our ultimate gift list for this upcoming Christmas Go Pro Hero9 A Go Pro has to be the ultimate gift for any skier or snowboarder and the Go Pro Hero9 is the one to go for. As the […]

Posted by: Georgie Knox

In the Press: Forbes

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Posted by: Georgie Knox

Plan B. Where Can I Heli Ski During A Covid-19 Winter?

We’re massive fans of the interior ranges of British Columbia in Canada and in our humble opinion it’s as close as heli ski perfection as you can get.  It’s where you’ll find huge expanses of un-tracked ‘Champagne’ powder, tree-skiing for bad-weather days and unbeatable heli skiing know-how from the guides and pilots.   However, this is no normal season and as things stand the Canadian government are keeping […]

Posted by: Zillah Bell

Pure Powder’s Ultimate Heli Ski Packing List

It’s all very exciting – you’ve got your trip booked; flight tickets in hand; passport at the ready…  you can practically smell the powder!  However, you’re standing over an empty bag thinking – have I got everything?  We’ve pulled together our top packing tips to make sure that you’re all set.  What ski clothes to pack?  […]

Posted by: Zillah Bell

Are Touring boots compatible with CMH bindings?

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Posted by: Zillah Bell

Pure Powder’s Resort Guide: Kicking Horse

Location: Kicking Horse Mountain Resort’s 1,315 vertical is known for its deep light powder and huge snowfall – no wonder it’s nicknamed the Champagne Powder Capital of Canada. It attracts skiers looking to experience amazing snow in a picturesque setting. Kicking Horse has a wide variety of terrain in its 3,400 skiable acres; better suited […]

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Pure Powder’s Skiing Resort Guide: Lake Louise

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Pure Powder’s Resort Guide: Banff

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Pure Powder’s Top 10 Blogs of 2020

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Posted by: Zillah Bell