No New Snow? Here's Why You Should Keep Skiing

The Crowds Are Thinner

Powder days are, of course, the holy grail. We dream of those weightless turns that empty the mind and refill the soul. If skiing powder somehow reduced your life expectancy, it would come with a warning label similar to that of which appears on cigarette packets. It’s that addicting.
 
This addiction afflicts a growing number of Americans. During powder days, everyone and their grandmother charges onto the slopes during powder days. Lines, conflicts, and road rage ensue and even the chillest skiers find themselves experiencing pangs of anxiety. Finding relief in the lodge is impossible, as all the seats and tables are already full of skiers sucking down overpriced chili.
 
Visiting the mountain doesn’t have to be like this. There are days, in fact, when the lift corrals and the slopes are deserted—they just happen to usually coincide with periods when the snow isn’t great. Thankfully, someone invented groomed runs which, even without new snow, continue to ski pretty well. It’s worth hitting the hill during a high pressure system to experience the other, less hectic side of skiing. Who knows? Blasting down an empty groomer might deliver you to a different, more humble version of Nirvana.

You Can (Finally) Work on Your Technique

As I pointed out in a previous article, everyone—including lifelong skiers—could benefit from working on their technique. Maybe your uphill hand drops into the backseat as you make turns—or you struggle to remain on edge. Either way, manky snow presents an opportunity to fine-turn your form. During powder days, these efforts aren’t worth the time—no one, ourselves included—has time to play superego ski instructor when the snow’s piling up. The priority, in these cases, is beating the crazed hordes to your secret stash, technique be damned. Don't neglect your form and skip skiing when conditions are less-than-ideal, though—otherwise, once the snow improves, you'll struggle to keep up.

It Helps You Learn To Make Your Own Fun

Powder days beat you over the head with obviousness—find fresh snow; ski it. Those goals require little thought while delivering maximum fun. Low tide days are more of a puzzle.

How, you might wonder, can I actually enjoy myself today? What’s worth skiing? Maybe I could try skiing backwards for a few laps? These questions, at first, are uncomfortable and may inspire skiers to pack up their cars and head back home—the snow sucks, after all. Don’t be discouraged. Making lemonade from the world’s worst lemons is an exercise in creativity. Skiing, despite being a so-called “sport,” shines when you let it activate your right brain. Think like an avant garde painter, not a football player.

As professional skier Cody Townsend put it in one Instagram post surely written to ward off the low tide blues, “It hasn’t snowed in a while, a lot of the off piste is shiny, but the groomers are ripping, friends are out and rolling, the sun is out, the mountain is covered—if you can’t figure out how to have fun with those ingredients, you don’t deserve to be a skier.”

Suggestions To Make The Most of Bad Snow

• Talk to people you’ve never met on the lift, learn why they, too, decided to visit the mountain when the snow sucked
• Race your friends (not in a slow zone!)
• Try, as I already alluded to, skiing backwards for as long as you can
• Hit rails, if your mountain has them
• Take a two and half hour lunch break
• Find the best side hits on the mountain
• Go on a prolonged, desperate journey to see if that “one northern aspect” actually has good snow
• Finally visit the shack in the woods—what you do in there is your business, not ours
• Attempt to convince other skiers that your name is Hans and you’re from Switzerland
• While riding the lift, wildly speculate about Candide Thovex’s fitness routine
• Just ski—groomers, despite the naysayers, are fun
• Dig out and use a pair of old racing skis