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May, 2025

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Techniques for climbing out of deep pow?

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June~
Posts: 3 - Karma: 10
happens to all of us...venture off into the wooded area, wipe out and find yourself stuck in waist deep powder. frustrating as hell.

any tried and true techniques for climbing out?
14 years ago
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EasySteezy45
Posts: 232 - Karma: 51
on big pow days i sometimes tie a flourescent ribbon/tape to my bindings about 2ft long (kind bundle it up into my pant leg) that way you can find them if you eject. All you can really do is get your skis.....otherwise your sinkin
14 years ago
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cultrara
Posts: 5147 - Karma: 46,849
usually i just get pissed off and try to crawl though it
14 years ago
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StevenR
Posts: 1372 - Karma: 33
I wish I had this problem more often.
14 years ago
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Bloc_chain
Posts: 26051 - Karma: 4,433
don't crash
14 years ago
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Pinguu
Posts: 1581 - Karma: 49
I just personally get on my side and push up from the side, seems to work for me. Or you could probly crawl out somehow. That's about it from me.
14 years ago
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hjb
Posts: 742 - Karma: 40
+ Keep your skis on
14 years ago
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Aerozol
Posts: 1124 - Karma: 488
Flail, swear, flail some more, do some fucked up rolling around, have a dig for gear, swear more, step in.
14 years ago
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joshua
Posts: 5046 - Karma: 1,280
The worst is when it happens underneath the chair.
14 years ago
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triebby
Posts: 8670 - Karma: 2,190
Try to spread out your body weight. Instead of trying to walk and post holing up to your waist. Get on your hands/forearms and knee and try to crawl around that way. Having to move around in deep snow isn't easy so try to avoid it, but that is the technique I use when I don't have a choice.
14 years ago
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skiskate
Posts: 787 - Karma: 823
I usually just flail around until you finally get a little bit of firm support/find all your gear.
14 years ago
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Static
Posts: 8590 - Karma: 4,091
X yer poles,

or just get up
14 years ago
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Out2Pasture
Posts: 98 - Karma: 16
Making an "X" with your poles helps you get up a lot
14 years ago
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Karma_Police
Posts: 2655 - Karma: 1,628
I never crash so I wouldn't know.
14 years ago
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funtimes
Posts: 263 - Karma: 93
as the guy above said, making an X with your poles is useful, but i always ski with a pack, and i will put that down and push up off of that. i will sometimes put it down on top of my poles in the X position.
14 years ago
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AGOF
Posts: 2038 - Karma: 3,608
also if you have a ski with you you can use it by putting it between your hands and using it to push yourself up, the whole ski has to be on top of the snow if that makes any sense.
14 years ago
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JacheOReally
Posts: 3597 - Karma: 253
X'd poles, leave your skis on
14 years ago
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rooftop
Posts: 110 - Karma: 8
I've used my skis as steps to get out of tree wells
14 years ago
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tripnip
Posts: 1882 - Karma: 482
x your poles, then roll on top of them. leave your skis on spread your weight out
14 years ago
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lanny94
Posts: 1374 - Karma: 165
swim out like a surfer on ur skis
14 years ago
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.nasty
Posts: 10598 - Karma: 11,396
put your skis together, poles around wrists and use your skis as leverage to climb up.
14 years ago
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egg.
Posts: 3231 - Karma: 3,478
if you get in a situation when your  under the snow head first, dont panic and slowly push your self out without making yourself go in deeper
14 years ago
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I.B
Posts: 8137 - Karma: 24,368
I don't mind climbing through the powder. I love it.

What i don't like is getting hot while doing it. Because then i'm all sweaty, pissed off and no longer horny.
14 years ago
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Petersaurusrex
Posts: 1380 - Karma: 80
Haha this makes me think to a couple years back when my school headed out to CO for a ski trip. I'm from the east and it was my first time out so I had no idea what to expect from the pow. I got stuck in a tree well upside down and proceeded to spend 10 minutes finding a way out and the rest of the day looking for my buds.
14 years ago
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PJS.
Posts: 11943 - Karma: 900
lol this
14 years ago
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pow314
Posts: 424 - Karma: 111
this thread is absolutly retarded. if you dont have the common sense to get out of pow without asking ns, maybe you should stop skiing.
14 years ago
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Rialb
Posts: 565 - Karma: 154
You are "absolutly" retarded actually. OP was asking for our personal methods of escape from deep pow, that doesn't warrant a reply calling them a retard.
14 years ago
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Rialb
Posts: 565 - Karma: 154
You are "absolutly" retarded actually. OP was asking for our personal methods of escape from deep pow, that doesn't warrant a reply calling them a retard.
14 years ago
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Rialb
Posts: 565 - Karma: 154
Fucking mobile ns. Also does that mean that all the people that suffocate in tree wells are retarded as well?
14 years ago
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cwillygood
Posts: 6831 - Karma: 1,829
this is very productive
14 years ago
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hellomynameisjef
Posts: 5794 - Karma: 167
make an X with your poles and use that as a base to push yourself out
14 years ago
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FerrisBueller
Posts: 8280 - Karma: 5,175
if your an idiot you ski under the chair.
14 years ago
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Keith.
Posts: 967 - Karma: 88
I usually just get up...Cause I live in south Ontario = no eastcoast storms terrible skiing = ICE :)
14 years ago
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PeterWojnar
Posts: 3937 - Karma: 678
if you're an idiot you fall under the chair.

Dropping cliffs under the chair (hoots and hollers) and shredding the fuck out of this line = G.N.A.R. points.
14 years ago
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DBAKE
Posts: 3031 - Karma: 340
Throw skis in direction you want to go, hike to skis, and throw them again if needed.
14 years ago
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Canuker
Posts: 4730 - Karma: 165

can someone explain this X technique a little bit.

Excuse my lack of understanding. I live in eastern ontario so a pow day for me is a few inches, not feet.

14 years ago
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PeterWojnar
Posts: 3937 - Karma: 678
If a pow day is a few inches for you, it won't make any difference. When it's a couple of feet, making your poles into an X pattern (cross them and lean on the center) gives you more surface area over the snow thus making it easier to press yourself out of the snow, because your hands don't sink right in instead of pushing you out.
14 years ago
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Captain_Slow
Posts: 1677 - Karma: 24
I get up......sadly I never had this problem in NY.
14 years ago
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Canuker
Posts: 4730 - Karma: 165

Yea thats what im saying. Ive never had this problem hence why ive never used any of these techniques.

But yea that makes sense. Hopefully someday ill get to ski some deep pow.

14 years ago
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MEGAZORD
Posts: 4531 - Karma: -8
Set your DINs at 25
14 years ago
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Bar_Down
Posts: 5896 - Karma: 395
implying setting your din really high will stop you from falling
14 years ago
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EasySteezy45
Posts: 232 - Karma: 51
and also encourage a torn ACL or broken shit
14 years ago
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tuna.
Posts: 2627 - Karma: 111
i prefer the rollie-pollie method. as long as there isnt a clusterfuck of trees and rocks below be, i just roll downhill until everything works out.
14 years ago
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alexg1687
Posts: 1505 - Karma: 1,582
its only happened to me a few times. once in japan and once in aspen. if you can keep your skis on and get into an upright position you can sometimes walk out of it, depending on how heavy the snow is. in japan i had to take my skis off and ended up lying across the snow with one ski in each hand, reaching out and planting the ski in the snow and pulling myself forwards. its very tiring though..
14 years ago
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pomme-de-terre
Posts: 3915 - Karma: 703
wait till spring?
14 years ago
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pow_pow2
Posts: 161 - Karma: 19
this ^^
14 years ago
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thatsG
Posts: 2621 - Karma: 1,950
Simon Dumont?
14 years ago
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Trojan~Man
Posts: 1996 - Karma: 1,357
really just gotta fucking giver and dont stop till your out. :P
14 years ago
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10...nuffsaid
Posts: 308 - Karma: 54
once you've found your skis the easiest way to get them back on is to push the tails into the snow so that they are perpendicular to the slope you are on. Then you can easily put them back on.
14 years ago
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Mr.Huck
Posts: 6096 - Karma: 14,903
I was skiing the trees at Steamboat on a powder day with a bunch of people.  I was standing on the uphill side of 2 aspen trees that were about 3 feet apart or so.  I waited until everyone had gone because I wanted to ski last.  I was just about to go when my down hill ski sunk and I tipped over down hill.  It was just one of the stupid things that happens, but now I was laying on my side with my head going downhill and my skis were above the 2 aspens.  I had my dins set at just about the max and I was completely fucked.  The snow was deep.  I couldn't roll out of it, because of the trees.  I tried releasing my bindings with my pole, but I had to do it all with my arms.  It wasn't working and I thought it was all over for me.  I was starting to panic.  Finally I just laid there for awhile and caught my breath and then used every ounce of strength I had.  It worked and I got one ski off.  That was enough for me to get out.  I couldn't believe how tired I was from just that.

If you are going to be skiing in deep pow, I would suggest laying down with your feet uphill from you and see if you can still get your skis off.  If you can't do it, you might want to lower your din settings until you can do it. 
14 years ago
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MEGAZORD
Posts: 4531 - Karma: -8
Use your skis and a ledge to climb out? It thought this was how everyone did it. It works fine in heavy neckdeep eastcoast pow.
14 years ago
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