POLL: Least favorite winter weather?

[KingGrump]

The thing that made the biggest difference is stopping trying to see,

That's key. No point looking when you can't see anything anyway.
Channel the mind to other sensory inputs.
A very round turn will greatly increase tactile feed back from the skis.

One of this will help getting into the spirit.

 

[Bad Bob]

Just keep turning. It cures many problems in a lot of situations.

 

[James]

A very round turn will greatly increase tactile feed back from the skis.

Yeah that and or a 180 degree turn. Whatever turn, focus on what’s happening and what you’re doing. Otherwise, “the mind is a terrible thing...”, and you’ll start thinking stuff like the abominable snowman is right behind you.

By 180 I mean this. This vid is where I got the idea. Though in Europe on a groomer this amount of trail use could be asking for trouble from incoming missiles.

 

[KingGrump]

Those are the proper turns. Just have to shorten the cross hill portion of the turn. A lot.

 

[François Pugh]

Flawed pole.
I'm with @Dave Petersen ; I can do without the freezing rain, even though I would miss the challenge driving home in it. I hate having my goggles ice over.

 

[LiquidFeet]

Go ski a season in British Columbia's Big White. Your low vis skiing will improve (either that or your card skills...)

More specifically: Develop the "eyes" in the feet; Never stop turning; Stay loose (a major challenge); Keep poles on the snow for additional feedback and to act as cats whiskers; Find points of reference - trees, towers, other skiers - but mostly stay in the trees.

Yep - knowing there are drops, dips, obstacles makes everything so much tougher. I reckon my blind skiing is fine but I'd give a run with an invisible cliff a miss. Unlikely to be fun and not worth the time out with injury. Hopefully there's somewhere else to ski?

I don't think you understand my New England ski mountain lay-outs.

 

[Uncle-A]

My worst day on the mountain was in the fog at Killington, it was so bad that when I came back I started a thread about Worst day on the mountain. I can also remember a very foggy day at Hunter Mt. that was not as much fun as it should have been. So fog is definitely my down fall.

 

[Bill Miles]

I hate skiing on mud in the rain with 50 with 60mph wind when it is -40 and I can't see anything.

 

[geepers]

One of this will help getting into the spirit.

QFT.

One day at BW was complaining to a ski patroller on the chair ride about the poor vis. At just that time we passed over a blind skier negotiated a short section of moguls. The patroller merely pointed - I stopped complaining and began trying to learn to cope.

I don't think you understand my New England ski mountain lay-outs.

BW has the advantage of plenty of tree runs and lots of wide open groomers. It's just about the best place imagine-able to continue skiing in a pea souper and they are essential to building any form of coping skills in the 1st place. Blind skiers at least have some-one warning them of hazards. Even at BW it doesn't always go well - ski buddy lost 6 weeks within a broken collarbone when he fell into a hole in that in the middle of a groomer in the low level cloud.

Totally sympathise if your resort does not have some runs amenable to poor vis skiing. It would be tough to acquire skills and risky to practice them. If that was all that was on offer I'd probably focus on whether to bid misère or open misère.

 

[Wilhelmson]

We were skiing in typical fog this year on a wide steep trail and it was weird but fun. I stayed in the middle. My kid didn't seem to care and disappeared quickly.

In reference to the prior comments, there can be some very thick fog at the foot of Mt Washington. The reason BW doesn't have wind holds is that it's located in a valley between taller mountains. I've had to drive and ski through it. There is regular fog and bad fog.

Inversion at Alta with mild altitude sickness on my first day was not any fun.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

I’m going by with fog - any kind of white out does me in. Vertigo gets me and I can’t tell my speed or up from down.

France was particularly bad. I could tell if I was stopped or still moving! Trees are our friends!

 

[Andy Mink]

Wind. They close the lifts when it blows too hard.

 

[Ogg]

Freezing rain.

 

[KevinF]

I remember skiing with @Erik Timmerman at Stowe one time in a lesson environment; it was ridiculously foggy to the point that I'd lose sight of him within two turns and I was feeling sick (vertigo?) on runs I've skied hundreds of times. We wound up spending the morning skiing Toll Road (at walking speed...) which has the benefit of being narrow (it's literally a road) so you could see something.

I figured visibility couldn't get much worse then that... and then I went to the Gathering at Whistler later that year. I believe @Tricia made the memorable quip of "Now I know what it's like to ski inside of a milk bottle".

So yeah... low vis sucks, but there are options -- get into the trees, hug the tree line, etc. that make it doable. Rain? At some point you're just getting soaked, and then it freezes over and you have practically unskiable crap until the next big storm that buries it.

 

[Paul Lutes]

Imma go with fog immediately after freezing rain turns slopes into hockey rinks with bitter cold and wind increases to Cat I hurricane. Tried to get mud in there, but .....

 

[Bad Bob]

Taught at Arctic Valley just outside of Anchorage for a number of years. It was not at all uncommon to get 3 out of 4 of these weather conditions in the same day. Learned a lot about skiing in bad weather and light on this hill. Skiing the trees was not an option.
It could be a challenging place to teach at times.

 

[Pat AKA mustski]

^^^Ooooof! That would be a no go for me. I learned at Val Thorens that I can's ski on the moon unless it's totally clear. My instructor would see weather coming in and would call out. "Pat. Right behind me!"

 

[gwasson]

The poll needs a "freezing rain" option, as we get that here in the Mid Atlantic and it is really nasty

 

[KingGrump]

I figured visibility couldn't get much worse then that... and then I went to the Gathering at Whistler later that year. I believe @Tricia made the memorable quip of "Now I know what it's like to ski inside of a milk bottle".

Memories of the good times, eh.

The poll needs a "freezing rain" option, as we get that here in the Mid Atlantic and it is really nasty

I like freezing rain. The rain coats the clothing exterior and forms an impenetrable armor like outer shell. All is good after that.
Frozen rain on goggle wise, no better or worse than a clear day at W/B.

 

[James]

Glazed donut weather we call it.
For goggles, take hand out, place on goggle lens, warm ice. When this fails, go inside and use hand dryer.
All you magnet goggle people should have two lenses anyway. Just pop on a fresh one, warm the other inside the coat. Isn’t that the point of those things?

2019 NE Gathering. No glazed donut weather, but the full range. Including a deep freeze and powder on Monday at Stowe.

Early at Sugarbush was very foggy but cleared up.
@mdf and Agrump.

Lovely conditions at Stowe.

Mdf completely soaked at top of Stowe. I ended up putting on a goretex jacket inside of an allegedly waterproof/breathable shell that wasn’t.