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 #1 How to ride powder? Posted 10/02/2010 @ 02:43 |
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Whats the technique for riding powder. I know you have to lean back a bit to keep the nose up. Am I right in thinking you steer with the back foot? |
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I like to eat snow... |
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| #2 Re: How to ride powder? Posted 10/02/2010 @ 09:06 |
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| In reply to post #1
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you may have to lean back initially to get going if you are dug in, but as ever bend ze knees and ride as normal
I find turns are a little more considered. You can't always chuck the board around.
There are plenty of proper powder riders here who can can tell you alot more on technique for powder
but in brief you won't be leaning back all the time |
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| #3 Re: How to ride powder? Posted 10/02/2010 @ 11:46 |
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| In reply to post #1
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The hardest thing to learn is when to NOT hit powder and to overcome the fear of speed.
The reason for this is that you might go for a stretch of powder when learning, only to find out why people have avoided it - too flat, slow or uphill at the end.
You will end up walking out if you don't pick a steeper spot, hence my comment about not fearing speed either.
Nothing is worse than seeing a boarder who is not confident at dropping in nose first on steeper powder slopes and ending up edging all the powder out. I hate us for that.
For steering, I've found that now I'm hitting much deeper and steeper terrain, that your line has to be planned a little further ahead than on piste in order to retain speed and that steering is a lot less a back-foot affair than I was led to believe.
You will need weight on the back to keep the nose up on a board that is too small for deep powder so it will affect the steering without you even trying.
My personal style benefitted from practising faster transitioning in my cross-under turns on piste.
It's hard to find many big fields that allow the lazy, surfy cross-over styled turns unless you hike or use other backcountry access methods. |
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| #4 Re: How to ride powder? Posted 10/02/2010 @ 12:41 |
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| In reply to post #3
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I found learning to wakeboard helped 
I would say its the same technique |
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I'd forget my balls if they weren't in a bag!
K2 Parkstar / K2 Auto / ThirtyTwo Lashed |
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| #5 Re: How to ride powder? Posted 10/02/2010 @ 12:47 |
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With snowboarding in general speed is your friend and this applies even more to riding pow. The faster you go and the steeper the slope the easier it is to turn. You often see people riding really flat pow at the edge of the piste and really having to lean back to keep the nose from diving, its almost impossible to put turns in at slow speeds and on flat gradiants in pow. When starting you need to lean back to get the nose up but once you're moving and providing its steep enough you can centre your weight. Main difference is that you dont use your edges, you dont turn with the back foot you turn using your weight. I kind of liken it to riding a bike, you can lean your weight over one way and the bike naturally turns in that direction. Its all in the weigth distribution. |
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| #6 Re: How to ride powder? Posted 10/02/2010 @ 18:41 |
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| In reply to post #1
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After reading another thread on here , you need Flows and the technique used and developed by our very own Austro-boarder he is GB'S popw God  |
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| #7 Re: How to ride powder? Posted 12/02/2010 @ 22:40 |
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The steeper the gradient and the faster you ride the better. |
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| #8 Re: How to ride powder? Posted 12/02/2010 @ 23:04 |
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| In reply to post #1
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You don't want to lean back, you should ride with your weight centred as usual. Depending on your board, you may want to move your stance back. Shift it a little at a time, and as little as you can get away with. If you're riding a powder board (eg a Fish) then it's already set back, so leave it in the default stance and ride properly.
People who weight their back foot won't make one respectable run. It's a common error - if you watch someone doing it they usually have their front leg stuck out, which looks really odd. You can't do much in the back seat, although you get a "weathervane" effect which is sort of why they do it. It's the powder equivalent of the guys who weight their front foot on piste. Don't go there.
You steer by turning the same way you turn on piste, assuming you have that dialled. Everything's a little slower, and it takes a while to adjust. As those guys said, steeper is easier. Partly that's because if you fall on a flat you're going to have trouble if the powder's deep enough; if you fall on a steep you can usually roll straight out and you at least won't have a problem getting up.
Don't stop, don't get in the back seat, don't look at your board. Practice. |
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| #9 Re: How to ride powder? Posted 12/02/2010 @ 23:10 |
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| In reply to post #6
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QUOTE (speedy75 - 10/02/2010 @ 18:41) After reading another thread on here , you need Flows and the technique used and developed by our very own Austro-boarder he is GB'S popw God
Are you talking about my thread about burton vs flow bindings by any chance..... |
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| #10 Re: How to ride powder? Posted 13/02/2010 @ 02:20 |
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Revision #1 (Last edited: 13/02/2010 @ 02:31) |
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Thanks guys. I'm going away next sat so i'll hopefully put this all into practice. Also getting some lessons so that should help. |
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I like to eat snow... |
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| #11 Re: How to ride powder? Posted 13/02/2010 @ 07:21 |
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| In reply to post #10
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once your moving keep looking a head at the terrain, there will be times when you will need to raise the nose up to keep on top ... other than that board as normal just with feeling.. dont go being aggressive like on pistes as you'll just bed down.. |
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| #12 Re: How to ride powder? Posted 14/02/2010 @ 10:06 |
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| In reply to post #1
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Practice on the pow on the sides of the pistes if there is any, until you feel ready to go a bit further off track.
Always scan any off-piste sections on the way up in the chair, never go off-piste if you’ve not done your homework. Always try to pick your route all of the way down, as this will ensure you don’t need to stop and drop into the pow, especially on flat bits!
If the snows good then you’ll have a great time, if its not snowed for a couple of days you may find pow a bit crusty… |
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| #13 Re: How to ride powder? Posted 15/02/2010 @ 11:27 |
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| In reply to post #12
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QUOTE (beerhov - 14/02/2010 @ 10:06) Always scan any off-piste sections on the way up in the chair,
This can work, but if you try it more than once you will soo find it pays more to look BACK over the chair.
what seems reasonable on your way up isn't usually so on the way down - it doesn't look the same at all.
Saying "At the dead tree keep left" means nothing when you can't see it when riing down. |
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| #14 Re: How to ride powder? Posted 15/02/2010 @ 11:58 |
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Watching the videos it seems most Professional Snowboarders take pictures of a run, which they view at the top of the slope so they can try and picture the route down. |
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| #15 Re: How to ride powder? Posted 15/02/2010 @ 12:38 |
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| In reply to post #14
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they also often have someone at the bottom or in heli talking to them as the descend on the radio |
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