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Snowboarding in Deep Powder

Deep Powder Boarding Tips

In an earlier post our heli ski experts offered some great tips on how to ski powder so in this blog post we’d like to share four snowboarding in deep powder tips.

To help you get the most of your heli snowboarding experience here at Northern Escape in British Columbia, Canada, try the following for snowboarding in deep powder:

  1. Use a Full Rocker or Hybrid Camber Snowboard
  2. Body Positioning & Stance - Stay Back on the Board
  3. Rhythm and Edging
  4. Speed and Terrain
Airborne Powder Boarding

Airborne Powder Boarding

1. Use a Full Rocker or Hybrid Camber Snowboard

The right camber will help you float. Snowboard profiles are really important in deep powder boarding. At Northern Escape Heli Skiing, one of the powder boarding tips we recommend most is that guests use our “Powder Specific” snowboards for heli boarding. We prefer tapered snowboards where the nose of the board is a little larger than the tail. The larger surface area of the nose helps to keep the snowboard tip up on top of the powder. Also, with the tail a little narrower, there’s less back leg burn. A Full Rocker camber, where the nose and tail are higher than the board center, will improve float. A Hybrid camber still has the center of the board slightly raised (a traditional camber) but it also includes the Rocker at the nose and tail. Hybrid camber boards put more pressure on the tip and tail so they tend to offer more control and allow you to turn and manoeuver a little easier. For more information on camber, please read also our previous post entitled, Understanding Camber & Rocker.

2. Stance – Stay Back on the Board

Keep your weight over the tail. When heli boarding powder, set your stance (weight) marginally back on your snowboard. The slope steepness may determine how much but generally, 60 – 70 percent of your weight should be on your back leg. Keep a tight core, bend your back knee slightly, keep your weight back, and keep your feet underneath your body. For powder boarding, you’ll want to have a slightly longer nose and a slightly shorter tail. This will help keep the nose of your board up and floating on top of the powdery snow.

Carving In Powder

Carving In Powder

3. Rhythm & Edging

Create a rhythm in your turns. Much like surfing, the key to boarding on powder is to use less edge (so you have more base) and lean with your whole body. Too much edge will cause the nose of the snowboard to sink into the powder and decrease your speed. By remaining relaxed, keeping a little bounce in your turns, and avoiding sudden movements, you should be able to maintain your momentum. In between turns your feet should lift towards your chest with a slight bounce to smoothly transfer your energy from one turn to the next.

4. Speed & Terrain

Steeper means faster and more float. When powder boarding, speed is your friend. It may be difficult to maintain speed in deep powder but not impossible. Your momentum helps to compact the snow so keeping up your speed is important. Not unlike heli skiing, if you snowboard on steeper runs you’ll go faster, which means it will be easier to manoeuvre and easier to maintain more float. For more speed, use open turns, where you don’t fully cross the fall line. To control your speed, use closed turns where your snowboard crosses the fall line for each turn causing you to slow down.

Staying Back on the Board

Staying Back on the Board

About NE Heli Skiing

Located near Terrace British Columbia, Canada, Northern Escape Heli Skiing has been conducting heli skiing and deep powder boarding tours since 2004. Our guests come here to experience the lightest, driest, and deepest untracked powder surrounded by the magnificent snow covered peaks of the Skeena Mountain range.

Come heli boarding in British Columbia, Canada. We offer 11 separate zones and over 5,500 square kilometers of heli skiing and heli boarding terrain. Check out our Booking page for available dates to book a 3-day, 4-day, 5-day, or 7-day heli boarding trip.

Northern Escape heli skiing/boarding packages include:

  • Classic Package – up to 18 skiers/boarders
  • Elite Package – up to 10 skiers/boarders
  • Private Package – up to 5 skiers/boarders

For more powder boarding tips or for information about heli boarding in Canada with Northern Escape Heli Skiing, give us a call at 1-866-619-3184 or send us an email.

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