Meet the Challenge: Chutes
Instruction
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What Holds You Back
Claustrophobia. The thought of colliding with those unforgiving sidewalls or spiraling out of control, into the funnel. Snow is sucked down with you, obscuring the surface and distorting your perception of speed.
The Challenge
To maintain equilibrium in a riptide of snow. To slow the pace.
Meeting the Challenge
Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Turn your skis toward the walls, but never let your eyes, shoulders or hips face them. Never try to outrun cascading snow. Your pole, a blind man’s cane, must reach through the surface to solid snow beneath, where your edges will grip.
Work With the Terrain
Focus on the exit at the chute’s bottom-without rushing to get there. Work deliberately, fluidly, without hesitation and within the confines of the inclined corridor.
Clinics
Venture off the beaten piste with the Tommy Moe All-Mountain Camps, Jackson Hole, Wyo.; (800) 450-0477. Or sign up for one of six sessions with the Egan and Deslauriers brothers (hosted in Chamonix, France, among other resorts); (800) 983-2670.
