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Oldman is pretty bad ass skiing in split mode btw. If had to do those runs in split mode, I would turn around and go home.

Yes, I would also like to offer my respect to Old Man. That's impressive.

Hi Plark,

Its really a fairly simple thing to solve: keep collapsible poles handy. I just got back from Le Trois Vallees a week ago and that place is about as snowboarder unfriendly (massive traverses and flats) as any place I've ever been. I survived it by literally riding with them in my hands at all times. Does it look goofy? Yeah, it does... but when you are with the skiiers, not floundering around with a foot out, your skiing buddies will think you're a superstar.

Collapsible poles also got me out of a traverse (a fairly famous bc run at Jay Peak in VT), without needing to transition the split -or- take a foot out.

When to do this? This is what I do when the payoff of the transition to skis is not enough (the tour is too short to justify it) and I don't want to take a foot out (forget it in deep powder). It works really well, but there it takes some getting used to, physically and mentally.

My mindset changed about this last year when I did a run with the owner of Silverton Mountain (Aaron Brill) and he had them and ripped in the trees.

Just a suggestion, give it a try!

The only time I've been shut down on the flats was when I couldn't ski in split mode because of a nasty crust. I ended up pushing myself along on the board using my poles.

Every other time, I've been able to ski the splits, sometimes with and other times without the skins on. (And I have no skiing background.)

As the others mentioned, the only way to go is to train skiing on the split. I've never really had any trouble with this, especially since it is only necessary on flatish slopes where a lot of technical skill is not really necessary.

I find it easier leaning backwards so the heels keep touching the skis, but I also tele-turn sometimes, just for the beauty of the move or because I feel like it.
I have to mention that after 14 years of skiing and 4 years of tele, it might seem easier to me than to someone who has always been on a snowboard...