RECOVERING IN SOFT/DEEP SNOW
In every powder run there comes a moment of "Jeessshhhh! I am going to eat it!" It's inevitable, because there are living aliens in the snow who have been transferred there from the planet SnowSnake–their sole purpose being to reach out and rip your skis from your feet and send you tumbling into the soft goop for the long dig-out and equipment retrieval. (You think that's a hard sentence to read? You should tried to WRITE it!)
Three recovery tricks:
1. Always keep your eyes ahead and drive your skis FORWARD through the snow. Sideways movement/displacement of the skis gives you the dreaded fall-down disease. Even if you're about to fall, advance your skis and you can often recover.
2. In steeps, if the fall over the downhill side is inevitable, don't fight it. Just roll with it. What this odd acrobatic feet entails is the idea of twisting your torso and plunging it downhill, landing on your back, and flipping your skis over you so they come around on the downhill side. Often you will just land on them and keep on skiing. If you can't, at least your skis and feet will be down hill from you and it will be easy to get up. Don't be bashful about this! Your upper body is going downhill from your skis anyway, so you might as well roll and make something out of it!
3. THE MOST IMPORTANT RECOVERY MECHANISM. Almost always, just before a fall, one or both hands seem to be back behind the body. Make a superhuman effort to drive both hands forward, and you will be shocked how easy the recovery is. It is almost guaranteed that you will still be on your feet!
So what corner of the diamond are we talking about here? You got it. These are acts of a fierce Will!
WARNING!!!! IF YOU ARE WAY IN THE BACK SEAT, AND YOUR HIPS ARE DROPPING, DO NOT FIGHT THE FALL. YOU ARE ENTERING ACL POPPING COUNTRY, AND YOU MUST LET THE FALL HAPPEN. RELAX AND GO WITH IT AND, IF YOU CAN, FALL TO THE SIDE. BUT DON'T FORCE IT.
This is also a huge act of the Will!