Learn about snow conditions in this free beginner skiing lesson on video.
Dave Smith has been skiing for more than 21 years. He lives in Wood Village, Ore., and has been working at Hillcrest Ski and Sports as a salesman and buyer for more than five years. He was an instructor with the Mt. Hood Meadows ski school. Despite working full time at Hillcrest, Smith manages to get 30 to 40 days on the snow each season.
Hi! This Is Dave Smith with Hillcrest Ski and Sports in Gresham, Oregon on behalf of Expert Village. In this tutorial we will cover beginning skiing. In this clip we'll talk about how to determine different snow conditions. There are generally 2 kinds of snow conditions you'll see at the mountain; machine groom trails and ungroomed trails. As a beginner, you primarily want to stick to the machine groomed trails. These trails should be easy to recognize. They will be very wide and well marked on your trail map. The ungroomed trails may include such as powder, ice, and moguls. These are conditions that are suited to advance level skiers that you should probably stay from as a beginner. Powder is freshly fallen snow that has not been packed down by the machine groomer. It can often get deep and easy to get stuck in if you're not moving at a very fast speed. For this reason, beginners should probably stay away from powder. Moguls are large mounds that are formed on a face of a run. They can be difficult to navigate and you should stay away from them as a beginner. Icy conditions tend to happen when there hasn't been a lot of snow or its been very cold. You might not be able to avoid all the icy conditions. You just need to be cautious and make sure to use your metal edges to slow you down. Most resorts have a phone number that you can call or a website that you can use to check snow conditions. This is a good idea to see what the conditions are like. It'll also help you dress appropriately.
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