How to get perfect turn control in Niseko powder.

Controlling your speed through turn radius is something we all desire to achieve. What a great skill if you could do this for every single turn on a steep powder run.

Your turn radius will greatly depend on how much you rotate your skis during the initiation phase, and this is determined by how much you rotate your feet during the pressure release (aka unweighting).

This is a skill that has somewhat diminished with the new genre of carve skis, but still remains a vital skill for all round skiing, especially short turns.

I have always said that the more energy you put into the start of the turn, the easier the completion will be.

To set yourself up for perfect turn control, you need a strong initiation which includes a well timed pole plant and your eyes and upper body focused on where you want your skis to travel.
Next you need to visualise the skis travel path, try skiing down a medium pitch slope and visualise where you want your ski tips to go.
I always picture my tips tracking a nice round arc through the powder snow, coming out of the snow and then diving back in and being whipped around.
This image perfectly demonstrates Christie Dowling focusing in on the path she wants her skis to track while maintaining excellent upper and lower body separation.

This is great example of where turn completion and preparation are at one.
One thing I have seen quite regularly in Niseko, which really spoils the silhouette, is the lack of commitment with pole planting in powder. The swing is there but no plant into the snow, it makes the turn look incomplete and you loose that extra drive into the next turn.

From this, there are three key things to remember:

1. Good preparation = pole plant and upper body focus
2. Strong foot rotation during pressure release
3. Visualise the desired path you want your tips to take

Skiing Powder Snow - Lessons learned from Niseko Japan.

By Nigel Abbott

I can't help but think about the Northern winter as it draws close and the epic powder that Niseko Japan is blessed with. I have been fortunate enough to have experienced over 300 sessions of superb powder in the last six seasons there. When you get to ski that much POW, you certainly learn the finer points plus get to test a variety of equipment and powder snow conditions.

I believe there are three key things to consider when challenging yourself in deep POW:

• Rhythm
• Movement
• Equipment

Rhythm is what allows us to dance down the slope. You first need to consider the radius of the turn and this will depend upon the steepness of the slope, the depth of the powder and the speed you want to travel at.

Before you actually throw yourself down a powdery slope, you need to know that you can do a solid short turn. Being able to do consistent short turns down a medium gradient slope with a pole plant and some good leg movement is a must, shorts turns will be for another Blog Post.
Once you have set the radius of the turn in your head, then you need to get ready to start moving.

Movement
The first turn is critical as it will set your rhythm and tempo, I always use a little extension by pushing off from both skis as this gives me the time and torque to rotate my skis easily.
The ultimate goal of course is to be able to extend your legs away from your body as you steer your skis, as you do this the skis will bend and store energy. Once you release the exerted pressure from the skis by relaxing your legs, the energy release from the skis will help them to float to the surface and give you an opportunity to rotate your legs into the next turn (see the image above). We call this extension retraction and it is similar to skiing bumps.
If you are new to powder then I would suggest using a little more bounce, this will help your timing, rhythm and require less effort to turn the skis.

Equipment
This is an interesting area as everyone has different styles, tastes and there are many types of powder.
For the sort of POW that I experienced in Niseko, I loved the K2 Hardside with its all-terrain rocker and 98mm under foot, this gives you plenty of float so you ca really let go, but not too wide where you barely sink at all.
In addition, you don't struggle when you get back onto the piste as they still handle well.
I can't praise K2 enough with their backside range, they are really ahead of the curve and leading the industry. Check this video of some solid powder technique in Niseko, these guys are using some bounce to aid their rhythm.

Niseko - Building online Brand awareness and engagement with Video Marketing

http://www.nigelabbott.com/

I quite often get asked the question of how to improve online awareness and engagement with a Brand.

Well, we all know that content is king and the first thing you need to make sure is that your content has clarity of message, distinction of idea and purpose.

An effective strategy we used to put Niseko (Japanese ski area) on the global ski resort stage was to focus in on its unique features and natural attributes. It was evident that Powder Snow, Japanese Culture and Onsens (Hot Springs) were the reason why someone would visit and video was the tool of choice to create engaging stories around these selling points.

The segments we produced were high quality, entertaining, met the key points above and dressed up with sophisticated brand graphics.

We then heavily syndicated these video segments to build awareness and entice consumers back to the website where we could provide incentives to purchase. Our videos became so popular that we started to see visitors from as far as Northern Europe come to experience the amazing powder and culture.

Last winter we achieved several million views of our videos and our strategy was so effective was that our presenters became mini celebrities.