The best day ever

Editor Nicola Iseard reveals her best-ever powder day

Can you recall your favourite run? The best line? The deepest snow? The most fun? Can you remember where and when and with whom you had your greatest day’s skiing?

There’s no official measuring stick for these ‘best’ and ‘greatest’ days. They are arbitrary terms; it’s completely subjective. But, should any skier sit back and think for a moment about their best ski days, there is no question that a few special ones will leap to the forefront of their mind. This is what defines them: the memory. The whitewashed visuals. The feeling of weightlessness perhaps. The whoops and yoops.

It follows that perhaps the fairest way you can judge how memorable a day was is by how many times you tell the story. How many people have you told about that epic day in… wherever… when everything came together and ski memories were permanently forged?

Nicola gets lost in the St Anton powder | Chrigl Luthy

For me, it was January 2012 in St Anton. The Tirol had received more snow than any other January in the last 30 years. As soon as Chrigl and I arrived, the roads closed; no-one else could get in or out, and we could only guess that people stuck in resort didn’t want to pay for an extra day’s lift pass – we had the mountain to ourselves. Powder. So much powder. We lapped the trees, our tracks already filled in by the time we reached the top again. I remember Chrigl laughing maniacally. And me inhaling a lot of snow.

Of course, any type of ski day can be memorable – and some of the funnest days can be ones where you’re tearing around a resort on the hardpack. But. BUT, there is no question in my mind that skiing snow so deep you have to hold your breath is one of the most mind-bendingly euphoric and memorable things you can do.

Which is why, every year, we dedicate an entire issue to all things powder. From cat-skiing in the depths of British Columbia to the world’s easiest lift-accessed sidecountry hits, we hope there is something in here to put a spark in your proverbial powder keg, or powder your nose with. Here’s to making more powder memories that you can revisit in your head ad infinitum and recount with your mates for years to come.

Taken from our Powder issue, out now