Powder day, Faction skis test and general Verbier ski conditions round up

Snow covered trees from snowfall earlier this week

What could be better than having a powder day on your day off?  Other than the fact that I desperately needed to work on my mogul skiing it gave me the perfect excuse to consider one of my main 'ski instructor flaws' when skiing in the 'variables' (anything off the piste except moguls, so think chopped up snow) and that is that rather than keep a good rhythm going down the slope I prefer to turn where it looks good!  So I spent the morning initially making tracks and then seeking out the best skied out off piste to aim to do this:

• perform rounded, linked turns in a variety of conditions on a steep red or black steepness slope
• Show turns of various radii
• Show a high degree of ski performance
• Use effective posture and balance

The view at the top of Tortin Gentianes

As it got busier towards 10.30 I opted to squish in the Jumbo to check out Tortin Gentianes.  Having, unusually, not skied it yet this year I was curious to see how big the moguls under the fresh snowfall were.  They were quite big... after some lovely turns at the top it soon turned into bump snow bump snow bump snow the whole way down.  The wind had blown the snow into the holes between the moguls and hardened off the top of them too.  To make things worse lots of rocks were only just hidden under the surface.

The view down Tortin Gentianes, you can just about make out the different textures of the snow where the bumps are just underneath

Tortin Chassoure was in much better condition, as were the pistes.  Soft snow, busy and sunny.

Faction Heroine skis

Just before a late lunch I took my knackered legs down to the Faction Skis test at La Chaux.  Having only skied piste skis, lightweight touring skis and my new 10% rockered atomic infinity storms I was psyched to try some skis with more rocker on them.

I opted to try out the Faction Heroines, a women's specific, all mountain, rocker camber rocker ski.  I both loved it and hated it, it was fun to play on, good at skidding and rotating, but not so good at carving.  Still it was light and soft and quite easy to control and turn in the 'variables'.

Faction Heroine skis specification

Although fun to ski on, I don't think I'll be rushing out to buy a pair soon as my new Atomic's fulfill the 'good all-mountain' role quite well, but I will be looking into getting a fatter ski with more tip rocker for powder days.  And I still can't decide if I prefer a stiffer or softer ski either.  On an aside note I loved the satisfying click of the marker bindings that were on the test skis!

Tomorrow the BASI ISIA performance training course begins, so bring on the learning, skiing hard and hopefully some more snow.