How to Ski Breakable Crust?

[Bluewing]

I don't encounter breakable crust much in my usual skiing in the Northeast since I tend to be a groomer skier here; however, I have encountered it during small offpiste excursions out West in Tahoe and Colorado when dropping off of groomers to hit ungroomed terrain. I have struggled with breakable crust - tips wanting to go under and not come back up, feeling like the ski is locked into a channel and I can't really make a turn, tails getting hung up and throwing my balance off. I have only skied in breakable crust where maybe there is up to 6 or so of softer snow underneath. Even in this condition I have experienced situations where my skis have not broken through the crust and reached the harder snow surface underneath that at least provides a platform - breakable crust with low support soft snow under has been the worst for me. I hackmy way through any way I can and get back on the groom as quick as I can thankful for not getting hurt.

Any tips for skiing this condition?

[jjue]

Ski this all the time in the backcountry , one of the reasons I have gotten into shorter skis and skiboards is that it makes skiing this stuff easier . I have found certain skiboard and short ski set ups work better in this condition and different techniques depending on the type of boards and set up . One excellent technique and set up is to have a stiff non rockered or lightly rockered board and have bindings set back and weight the tails with the tips coming up and out of the snow . With a smaller surface area skiboard compared to a long ski it is easy to break through the crust , then it is a matter of popping up and down on the tails and rotating the tips kind of like a winshield wiper . Skiboards that work very well this way are a rear mounted Sherpa and a rear mounted Spliff . The other way is a heavily rockered skiboard , particularly the Rockered Condor ridden center mount . . Because of the small surface area compared to a snowboard or big pow ski , the RC drops into and breaks through the crust , then because it is heavily rockered with a very small pivot area it is easy to just pivot around on the center of the banana and turn in the crust with the tips and tails rising up and out of the crust because of the heavy rocker. .. it is important in either of these techniques to keep the skiboards right together and turn them as one unit equally weighted .
I have found these skiboards way easier in the crust then long skis which either float too much and get out of control or break through unpredictably and get hung up ..

[Bad Wolf]

I don't ski breakable crust well, but can get through it if I focus on keeping my skiboards together and equally weighted. In this case, one is better than two.

[Bluewing]

...Skiboards that work very well this way are a rear mounted Sherpa and a rear mounted Spliff

jjue - how do you keep the big tails on the Sherpas from getting hung up? I can visualize pulling those big shovels up and wiping them back and forth as you describe, but don't the tails stay under the crust and get "pinned" in their track resisting swiveling with the wiper movement?

How do you scrub enough speed with the technique you describe on steeper terrain where you need to control speed overall and might need to be very well under control due to trees, etc?

[Wookie]

I initially found the same problems when skiing in Colorado coming from the East. Icy hard pack and "dust on crust" was easy for me but that breakthrough of 1/4 to 1/2 inch of crust to sugary granular underneath was tough. I will echo Jack's advice and suggest that following his technique suggestions are the key. Some thoughts:

- Riding a skiboard "from the tails" does seem to make things easier. The smaller area means you WILL bust through the crust rather than MAY bust through it on a longer ski or snowboard. This gives you some predictability rather than worry that one ski could bust through and "snag" at anytime. My kids seem to ride in the "backseat" to push their ski tails down through the crust and keep their tips up.

- No matter what you are riding the "keep the skiboards right together and turn them as one unit equally weighted" as Jack suggests. When riding my Spliffs last season in crusty tree runs the boards were practically overlapping. When you do this you need to use turn shape to control speed. If you try to hockey stop or slarve a turn to slow down you get caught in the crust. For speed control the best advice is to not get going so fast that you feel you need to slow down. Keep your speed at about 80% of your comfort level and use turns across the fall line cutting through the crust to stay at 80% or slower.

[Bluewing]

- No matter what you are riding the "keep the skiboards right together and turn them as one unit equally weighted" as Jack suggests. When riding my Spliffs last season in crusty tree runs the boards were practically overlapping. When you do this you need to use turn shape to control speed. If you try to hockey stop or slarve a turn to slow down you get caught in the crust. For speed control the best advice is to not get going so fast that you feel you need to slow down. Keep your speed at about 80% of your comfort level and use turns across the fall line cutting through the crust to stay at 80% or slower.

So I am picturing larger smooth arcs to allow the boards enough room to move without putting them in a position that is too sharp of a turning movement where they get "pinched" by the crust.

Together is a must for sure. That was part of my problem in the past - I don't usually ride with my skis super close together so I didn't feel comfortable like this. However, apart each ski is doing its own thing, including doing off in different angled directions which is no fun - think doing a split.

[jjue]

jjue - how do you keep the big tails on the Sherpas from getting hung up? I can visualize pulling those big shovels up and wiping them back and forth as you describe, but don't the tails stay under the crust and get "pinned" in their track resisting swiveling with the wiper movement?

How do you scrub enough speed with the technique you describe on steeper terrain where you need to control speed overall and might need to be very well under control due to trees, etc?

The key to keeping the tails from being hung up in crust on any skiboards , doesnt matter wide or skinny is. as others have mentioned , to keep them together equally weighted and turning as a unit ,

The cool thing about skiboards is that they naturally scrub speed in crust compared to big fat long skis . In fact all my buddies have gone to the shorties from long skis because of the way shorties allow you to take a more direct steeper line through trees in nasty snow . We see guys and gals on big pow skis getting out of control on steep slops with nasty crust , just for the reason you state of getting too fast and having to scrub speed. The more you set back your bindings and stand on the tails of shorties the more they have a natural breaking effect in crusty snow . A heavily rockered board like the Rockered Condor also scrubs speeds by breaking through crust and being a small surface area board compared to a long ski but breaks the crust directly in the center rather than on the tails with the rocker helping to keep the tips and tails going up and out of the crust rather then diving .

[Bluewing]

jjue and Wookie - thanks for the great info. I have a bit of practice to do on the slopes to ski with skis close together at relatively slow speeds with nice, smooth, longer radius turns. Next time I venture of trail and encounter breakable crust hopefully I can remember these tips.

[Bad Wolf]

jjue and Wookie - thanks for the great info. I have a bit of practice to do on the slopes to ski with skis close together at relatively slow speeds with nice, smooth, longer radius turns. Next time I venture of trail and encounter breakable crust hopefully I can remember these tips.

I focus on keeping my skiboards together and equally weighted. In this case, one is better than two.

Sorry I couldn't be of help............

[Bluewing]

Sorry I couldn't be of help............

Bad Wolf - sorry about that. Didn't mean to overlook you!