Snowboard in chopped up pow, help!
Posted: 12 December 2010 05:29 AM
Hey all, I just went to blackcomb today. 7th heaven was waist deep heavy wet chopped up bumpy pow. I struggled so much, I actually didn’t find it fun. Any tips on how to ride those kind of conditions? I tried to put more pressure on the back leg but it makes it hard to turn. If it fresh pow, I think I’m ok even though sometimes I still have problems.
Posted: 12 December 2010 09:45 AM
I would setback my stance to hopefully gain some float. Heavy chop is always going to be a rough ride, although wet is better then icy any day lol.
Posted: 12 December 2010 08:18 PM
I also notice that I may lean back too much instead of just putting a little bit more pressure on the back foot.
Posted: 13 December 2010 05:39 PM
Haha you should be in Austria, it started snowing a week ago and it hasn’t stopped yet. I was riding perferctly spaced trees on 40 degree faces with thigh deep champaign powder today! One of the best days riding of all time. If only I’d had someone to ride with. The Rossi Twilight absolutely slayed it!
Riding heavier powder is always difficult but there are some things that will makie it easier. A tapered board really is the business. Something like the Burton Malolo or Atomic Banger are ideal although if you can find a Rossi Twilight you’ll be in heaven. The reason why these boards work so well is beacause you can keep your weight completely centred when you are riding, then you only need to shift your weight back for pumping through tighter transitions in the terrain or slashing. I’m afraid I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like to ride a board in powder that doesn’t have taper. Today I was nailing a drop.. maybe about 15ft stomped it and found I had to ride out about 20m of pillows. Because the board provides all the float I just rode them out stomping two feet on every landing… the nose just wouldn’t go under.
So apart from the board, here are my tips. Try and keep your weight almost centered, if you lean back too far you’ll find you wash out on turns and you don’t have any strength in your rear leg for working the board through tighter terrain. Try and pump in and out of turns, this motion will make your riding a lot more fun but it will also pop your nose out of each turn so it won’t get caught when you switch edges. I was riding with my girlfriends bro today and it was his first time in deep stuff and he was crouching really low to try and deal with the chop… don’t do that! The more upright you are the more capacity your legs will have for absorbing bumps and pumping in and out of turns. THink of a mountain bike with 1 inch of travel Vs one with 6 inches of travel. Getting the most out of powder riding is all about being as light on your feet as possible. As Steve said shifting your stance back on a normal board is a good way of shifting the weight back without having to lean too much… it’s the dead weight on your back leg that is making riding difficult. I’m not sure how fast you are riding, but if you turn up the speed a touch you’ll find that you skip of the majority of chop, as long as you are in control, it’s best to go as fast a possible.
I hope those tips help… but really a tapered board can eliminate most of the hard work, so you can concentrate on finding natural features to launch off and put lines all over.
Rich
Posted: 13 December 2010 06:18 PM
Thanks for the advice Rich, I’ll try it next time :). Ya I notice after a couple of rag doll I was leaning my body back and crouching a bit low which makes me hard to control the board and turn. I realize towards the end that I need to put just a little bit more pressure on the back leg. Also the point of being upright, you’re totally right. I was crouching a bit low and it was not a good idea lol. I also try to turn like I’m carving and what a bad idea that was. Board sank immediately haha, learned that the motion need to be subtle and you just surf instead of carve. I’ll probably invest on a powder board sometimes in the future. Being on a 153 and centered, even though it’s a C2 banana, only helps a bit. I’ll try setting my stance back an inch next time.
Posted: 13 December 2010 06:40 PM
Haha you should be in Austria, it started snowing a week ago and it hasn’t stopped yet. I was riding perferctly spaced trees on 40 degree faces with thigh deep champaign powder today! One of the best days riding of all time. If only I’d had someone to ride with. The Rossi Twilight absolutely slayed it!
Rich
Tres jealous Rich. I had one of those early last year, but so far this year, despite about 2 foot falling in a week, the torrential rain came afterwards and has washed it all away. I am glad it’s still December.
Posted: 13 December 2010 07:34 PM
Oh man rain! I really don’t miss that about France, I saw a meter fall in my last season in Courchevel followed by 2 days of rain. It was soul destroying.
But now I’m in Austria!
http://www.snow-forecast.com/resorts/Zauchensee/6day/mid
I wonder if my legs are going to hurt after this week!
Posted: 27 December 2010 03:59 PM
I say as Mr E.
Stay centered. Focus on your carma.
In addition to this is to learn how to do cross under turns. Your body should always stay in the fall line. From there you just push the board in and out from your body. Cross over turns: where you ar shifting your body over the board in order to turn won´t do in any tricky conditions. In fact: except for the piste they wont do at al.
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