Let me be clear, riding pow is not like riding a groomer.

1. You have to lean back to snowboard in powder.
Depending on how deep it is, it’s almost like you’re doing a tail press on the ground. The more your stance is set back, the more your board will do the work for you. You can practice this on a groomer by leaning back and making some turns on your back foot.

Keep your nose up and your tail down. This is going to BURN that back leg, so if you’re out of shape try adding squats to your pre-season workout routine so you don’t get worn out in one pow run.

Because you’re floating, you Don’t want to lean too hard on your edges.
The back foot isn’t just for keeping your nose out of the snow to avoid ragdolling, it’s also to Steering in powder – turning on the back of your board – can do a little wheelie on the run and try it out

2. You have to go fast to snowboard in powder.
#1 tip for riding pow…..ride with speed…it makes everything easier..it's just like a boat in the water. The slower you go, the more you’ll sink. The faster you go, the more you’ll float on top.

Pow slows you down a lot, which means.

Not only can you ride steeper stuff, you can stop faster. You can hit a line with a short runout that you could never hit without the pow.

You can charge down mogul fields full speed, and hit a kicker into the trees, because with pow, you can stop on a dime.

 
Which also means, if there is a flat area ahead —

POINT IT!!

When you come to a flat area, get out of the powder, and get in to someone’s track so you don’t lose all your speed and get stuck. If you’re the very first on the mountain like I suggested, try to avoid flat areas and run outs all together until they have some tracks in them.

3. Move like water

You never know what’s underneath the pow, so avoid areas of low coverage and watch out for tree stumps, rocks etc… Don’t be tempted in the early season to launch into what looks like a perfect pow field, it could be full of rocks. I know from experience.

Second, even when there's snow underneath, it can be crunchy, ice, moguly, or any other conditions. Like here when I thought i would sink in on the landing, and instead

You can see how different this snowpack is even from turn to turn. To deal with the variable conditions, use

Loose hips, loose knees, strong core. Let the board find its way like water searching out a path down a stream. This way you can quickly adapt to whatever is underneath.

If you’re leaning back and riding loose, you can ride over almost anything in the pow.

4. Be careful

Tree wells, avalanches, concealed rocks and getting stuck in a flat that takes two hours to hike out of are just some of the dangers of riding pow.

Always ride with the accountability system on a pow day, stay in bounds, don’t duck ropes and don’t ride outside the resort unless you have training and the avalanche

DON’T be tempted by one good pow line, it’s not worth losing your life over.

Common things that go wrong riding powder on a snowboard is you catch you nose in the powder. 

This is usually called a “rag-doll” when you tumble head over feet, because you look like a limp rag doll with how fast you’ll tumble.

Beware of the scorpion when you catch your nose, which is where instead of rolling over, you just plan your chest. This can really mess up your back, so always tuck your lead shoulder when you catch your nose so you roll over instead of scorpion.

5. Getting stuck

You WILL get stuck in powder, and it will be frustrating. Try to keep your speed up, bend at the knees not the waist, point it out of flat areas and keep your nose up.

When you do get stuck, plant your tail in the snow, and swivel around so your nose is pointing straight up out of the snow, even if you’re leaning the whole way on your back.

Use your tail as a pivot point, and push yourself up and down the hill while leaning back.

If you do have to dig yourself out of powder, it will get hot quickly. Don’t take gloves off, don’t unzip your jacket. This will only fill your outerwear with snow and when your sweat freezes it can get very dangerous very quickly. Stay dry out there.

My biggest tip to avoid getting stuck would be, don’t stop. Beyond that if you have to stop then don't sit down! It's so hard to get up again as you just sink.

6. Goggle Fog on a pow day

The best way to deal with goggle fog snowboarding is to take off your goggles, or just your lenses, put them in the goggle bag, and put them in your armpits in the lift line. Don’t wipe snow off the inside of your lenses, just shake out the goggle and let it thaw in your jacket.

Is Snowboarding in Powder Worth it?

Snowboarding in Powder It will ruin snowboarding for you and you’ll never be able to go back.

You’ll quit your job, leave your family and chase storms all around the world. How do you think I know this? Whether it's worth it or not is up to you, but I can tell you, it's one of the best feelings in life. 

That’s it, riding pow. Set your stance back, lean back, upright posture, steer with your back foot like a rudder on a boat, avoid flat areas, beware of what’s underneath the snow and send it full speed.

Ride with a friend, be safe, and most of all, make some noise.

And if you want more in depth videos like this, come check out 170+ videos we have inside shred school at EdShreds.Com and learn everything from how to get on the lift to how to do your first 540