How to Ski Powder (and Snowboard It Too): Your First Powder Day Guide

To ski powder, keep your weight centred over your feet, keep your skis close together so they work as one platform, and carry a little more speed than feels natural. Turn with a steady, bouncing rhythm instead of hard edging. Snowboarders follow the same idea with one change: shift your weight slightly towards your back foot so the nose stays up.

That's the short version. The longer version is that powder feels nothing like the groomed runs most Aussies learn on, and your first deep day can be humbling.

We learnt that the hard way. On a fresh powder day at The Remarkables in New Zealand, Jordan and Zac hiked across the top of the expert side to drop into a bowl. Jordan wasn't on powder skis and didn't have much powder experience. A few turns in, he fell, and one ski ended up well above him. Climbing back up through deep snow took a lot of time and energy. Getting the ski back on took at least ten minutes.

Then he fell again, the skis came off again, and the sun was beating down the whole time. All up, that one run took about half an hour, while Zac waited at the bottom, thoroughly entertained.

This guide is everything we wish Jordan had known that day.

Why Powder Feels So Different

Powder feels different because you're riding in the snow, not on top of it. On a groomer, your edges grip a firm surface. In powder, there's nothing firm underneath, so your skis or board need speed and the right stance to float.

Go too slow and you sink. Lean too far forward and your tips dive. Lean too far back and you lose steering while your thighs burn out within a few turns.

The habits that work on groomers, like hard edging, skidding to slow down and steering each leg separately, are exactly what bog you down in deep snow.

How to Ski Powder

Stay centred, not in the back seat

You don't need to lean back to ski powder. That's an old tip from the days of skinny skis. On modern skis, stay centred over the middle of your feet, with your hands forward where you can see them. If your thighs are burning after three turns, you're sitting back.

Keep your skis together

Keep your feet a little closer than you would on a groomer, with even weight on both skis. In powder, two skis working as one wide platform float far better than two skis going different ways.

Let speed work for you

Speed is what keeps you on top of the snow. Point your skis a little more down the fall line than feels comfortable and let your turns control your speed, rather than long traverses and braking. A stop-start rhythm is what makes you sink.

Bounce into a rhythm

Powder turns come from flexing and extending. Sink down to load your skis, then rise up to release them into the next turn. Link your turns without pausing. Some riders count out loud to keep the rhythm going.

Face downhill and use your poles

Keep your upper body facing down the slope while your legs turn underneath you. A light pole plant at the start of each turn helps with timing and keeps you moving forward.

If your groomer technique still needs work, our guide on how to improve your skiing covers the fundamentals level by level.

How to Snowboard in Powder

To snowboard in powder, shift your weight towards your back foot, keep your speed up, and make long, smooth turns. Snowboards float well in deep snow, so most of the work is keeping the nose up and avoiding getting stuck.

Shift your weight back

Put slightly more weight on your back foot than you would on a groomer. Many riders also set their bindings further back on powder days, so the nose rides higher without the back leg having to work as hard.

Keep speed and avoid flats

Flat sections are the biggest trap for snowboarders. Once you stop in deep snow, you may have to unstrap and walk, which is exhausting. Look ahead, read the terrain and carry speed into anything that flattens out.

Steer with your back foot

Think of surfing. Long, flowing turns steered with your back foot work better than quick, sharp edge changes. Our guide on how to improve your snowboarding explains the core skills behind this.

Groomers vs Powder: What Changes

What to Do When You Fall in Powder

When you fall in powder, stay calm, find your gear first, and pack down a flat platform before trying to put a ski back on. Most of the time lost in powder falls goes on searching and struggling, not the fall itself.

Finding a lost ski

Look uphill from where you landed, because skis often stay buried where they came off. Follow your track and probe the snow with a pole. Powder leashes, which clip your ski to your boot, are cheap and make this problem almost disappear.

Getting a ski back on

This is where Jordan lost ten minutes. Stamp out a firm, flat platform with the ski that's still on. Lay the loose ski across the slope so it can't slide away. Knock the snow off your boot sole and binding, then step in. If you've lost both skis, put the downhill ski on first.

Getting up on a snowboard

Roll onto your stomach so you're facing uphill, then push up onto your toe edge. Getting up on your heel edge in deep snow is much harder. Skiers can use a similar trick by crossing their poles flat in the snow to push against.

Powder Tips If You've Struggled Before

If powder has beaten you before, the problem is usually a mix of sitting back, losing speed and stopping too often. Commit to the fall line, keep moving and link your turns.

Tracked-out powder is harder than fresh snow because it's uneven. Make shorter turns, keep your legs loose and let them absorb the bumps.

Tree runs reward looking at the gaps, not the trees. Always ride with a buddy you can see or hear, and give trees a wide berth. Deep, loose snow can collect around the base of a tree in what's called a tree well, and falling in headfirst is dangerous.

Know your boundaries. Stay inside resort boundaries unless you're with a qualified guide, carrying avalanche gear and know how to use it.

Skiing Powder in Japan

Japan is one of the best places in the world to learn to ski powder. The snow is light and dry, so it's very forgiving. When you fall, it feels like landing in a pillow.

It also opens up runs you'll remember for years. At Niseko, we spotted an untracked line from the lift and couldn't stop looking at it. We pulled out the trail map, worked out which gate to enter and found our way there. It turned out to be one of the best runs we've done together.

Before going through a gate, check that it's open, ride with a buddy and know where the terrain leads.

Once you're comfortable in powder, Strawberry Fields at Hanazono is one of our favourite tree runs in Niseko. It's a step up, suited to intermediate and advanced riders, and access depends on gate conditions on the day.

If you're still choosing where to go, our list of the best ski resorts in the world covers Niseko and Hakuba, and our guide to underrated ski resorts in Japan covers quieter mountains with fewer queues.

Gear for Your First Powder Day

The right gear makes powder much easier. Jordan's Remarkables day would have gone differently on wider skis.

Powder skis or a powder board. Wider skis and boards float more easily. Most resorts in powder destinations rent them, and they're worth the upgrade for a deep day.

Powder leashes. These are cheap and save a lot of searching after a fall.

Goggles built for storm days. Powder days are often storm days, with flat light that makes it hard to read the snow. You'll also be falling, getting snow on your lens and working hard, which brings fogging. A mid-range lens handles this mix best.

The KIZUKI Dawn Magnetic Ski Goggle uses an S2 lens with a VLT of 19%–42%, so it works across bright mornings and snowy afternoons without needing a lens swap. Dawn lenses are also anti-fog rated against an international standard, which you can read about on our certifications page.

For more on lenses in flat light, see our guide to ski goggles for low light. If fog is a recurring problem, here's why ski goggles fog up and how to fix it.

Your First Powder Day Starts Here

Powder takes practice, and your first deep day probably won't look graceful. Stay centred, keep your speed up and find a rhythm. Pack down a platform when you fall, and ride with a mate. Before long, you'll be the one waiting at the bottom.

To ski powder, keep your weight centred over your feet, keep your skis close together so they work as one platform, and carry a little more speed than feels natural. Turn with a steady, bouncing rhythm instead of hard edging. Snowboarders follow the same idea with one change: shift your weight slightly towards your back foot so the nose stays up.

That's the short version. The longer version is that powder feels nothing like the groomed runs most Aussies learn on, and your first deep day can be humbling.

We learnt that the hard way. On a fresh powder day at The Remarkables in New Zealand, Jordan and Zac hiked across the top of the expert side to drop into a bowl. Jordan wasn't on powder skis and didn't have much powder experience. A few turns in, he fell, and one ski ended up well above him. Climbing back up through deep snow took a lot of time and energy. Getting the ski back on took at least ten minutes.

Then he fell again, the skis came off again, and the sun was beating down the whole time. All up, that one run took about half an hour, while Zac waited at the bottom, thoroughly entertained.

This guide is everything we wish Jordan had known that day.

Why Powder Feels So Different

Powder feels different because you're riding in the snow, not on top of it. On a groomer, your edges grip a firm surface. In powder, there's nothing firm underneath, so your skis or board need speed and the right stance to float.

Go too slow and you sink. Lean too far forward and your tips dive. Lean too far back and you lose steering while your thighs burn out within a few turns.

The habits that work on groomers, like hard edging, skidding to slow down and steering each leg separately, are exactly what bog you down in deep snow.

How to Ski Powder

Stay centred, not in the back seat

You don't need to lean back to ski powder. That's an old tip from the days of skinny skis. On modern skis, stay centred over the middle of your feet, with your hands forward where you can see them. If your thighs are burning after three turns, you're sitting back.

Keep your skis together

Keep your feet a little closer than you would on a groomer, with even weight on both skis. In powder, two skis working as one wide platform float far better than two skis going different ways.

Let speed work for you

Speed is what keeps you on top of the snow. Point your skis a little more down the fall line than feels comfortable and let your turns control your speed, rather than long traverses and braking. A stop-start rhythm is what makes you sink.

Bounce into a rhythm

Powder turns come from flexing and extending. Sink down to load your skis, then rise up to release them into the next turn. Link your turns without pausing. Some riders count out loud to keep the rhythm going.

Face downhill and use your poles

Keep your upper body facing down the slope while your legs turn underneath you. A light pole plant at the start of each turn helps with timing and keeps you moving forward.

If your groomer technique still needs work, our guide on how to improve your skiing covers the fundamentals level by level.

How to Snowboard in Powder

To snowboard in powder, shift your weight towards your back foot, keep your speed up, and make long, smooth turns. Snowboards float well in deep snow, so most of the work is keeping the nose up and avoiding getting stuck.

Shift your weight back

Put slightly more weight on your back foot than you would on a groomer. Many riders also set their bindings further back on powder days, so the nose rides higher without the back leg having to work as hard.

Keep speed and avoid flats

Flat sections are the biggest trap for snowboarders. Once you stop in deep snow, you may have to unstrap and walk, which is exhausting. Look ahead, read the terrain and carry speed into anything that flattens out.

Steer with your back foot

Think of surfing. Long, flowing turns steered with your back foot work better than quick, sharp edge changes. Our guide on how to improve your snowboarding explains the core skills behind this.

Groomers vs Powder: What Changes

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What to Do When You Fall in Powder

When you fall in powder, stay calm, find your gear first, and pack down a flat platform before trying to put a ski back on. Most of the time lost in powder falls goes on searching and struggling, not the fall itself.

Finding a lost ski

Look uphill from where you landed, because skis often stay buried where they came off. Follow your track and probe the snow with a pole. Powder leashes, which clip your ski to your boot, are cheap and make this problem almost disappear.

Getting a ski back on

This is where Jordan lost ten minutes. Stamp out a firm, flat platform with the ski that's still on. Lay the loose ski across the slope so it can't slide away. Knock the snow off your boot sole and binding, then step in. If you've lost both skis, put the downhill ski on first.

Getting up on a snowboard

Roll onto your stomach so you're facing uphill, then push up onto your toe edge. Getting up on your heel edge in deep snow is much harder. Skiers can use a similar trick by crossing their poles flat in the snow to push against.

Powder Tips If You've Struggled Before

If powder has beaten you before, the problem is usually a mix of sitting back, losing speed and stopping too often. Commit to the fall line, keep moving and link your turns.

Tracked-out powder is harder than fresh snow because it's uneven. Make shorter turns, keep your legs loose and let them absorb the bumps.

Tree runs reward looking at the gaps, not the trees. Always ride with a buddy you can see or hear, and give trees a wide berth. Deep, loose snow can collect around the base of a tree in what's called a tree well, and falling in headfirst is dangerous.

Know your boundaries. Stay inside resort boundaries unless you're with a qualified guide, carrying avalanche gear and know how to use it.

Skiing Powder in Japan

Japan is one of the best places in the world to learn to ski powder. The snow is light and dry, so it's very forgiving. When you fall, it feels like landing in a pillow.

It also opens up runs you'll remember for years. At Niseko, we spotted an untracked line from the lift and couldn't stop looking at it. We pulled out the trail map, worked out which gate to enter and found our way there. It turned out to be one of the best runs we've done together.

Before going through a gate, check that it's open, ride with a buddy and know where the terrain leads.

Once you're comfortable in powder, Strawberry Fields at Hanazono is one of our favourite tree runs in Niseko. It's a step up, suited to intermediate and advanced riders, and access depends on gate conditions on the day.

If you're still choosing where to go, our list of the best ski resorts in the world covers Niseko and Hakuba, and our guide to underrated ski resorts in Japan covers quieter mountains with fewer queues.

Gear for Your First Powder Day

The right gear makes powder much easier. Jordan's Remarkables day would have gone differently on wider skis.

Powder skis or a powder board. Wider skis and boards float more easily. Most resorts in powder destinations rent them, and they're worth the upgrade for a deep day.

Powder leashes. These are cheap and save a lot of searching after a fall.

Goggles built for storm days. Powder days are often storm days, with flat light that makes it hard to read the snow. You'll also be falling, getting snow on your lens and working hard, which brings fogging. A mid-range lens handles this mix best.

The KIZUKI Dawn Magnetic Ski Goggle uses an S2 lens with a VLT of 19%–42%, so it works across bright mornings and snowy afternoons without needing a lens swap. Dawn lenses are also anti-fog rated against an international standard, which you can read about on our certifications page.

For more on lenses in flat light, see our guide to ski goggles for low light. If fog is a recurring problem, here's why ski goggles fog up and how to fix it.

Your First Powder Day Starts Here

Powder takes practice, and your first deep day probably won't look graceful. Stay centred, keep your speed up and find a rhythm. Pack down a platform when you fall, and ride with a mate. Before long, you'll be the one waiting at the bottom.