Rob Stevens

“Softboot Skidding” 0 views 0 comments.

Maybe it’s time to offer the OP some advice, Solomon. And yeah... the forum does try to have some say in how people talk to each other. As you can see, when you call folks names, they want to call you names back. The real conversation stalls and dudes don’t learn how to EuropeanTurn.

Again, bagging on a video that is there to teach someone how to do the EuropaCarve, because they put their body parts on the snow is pretty f’in stupid. Get it together, Solomon. Then go fishing... forever Corey... I’ll take the warning points for this one. Couldn’t help myself. It just felt right.

This!

I wouldn’t worry about it unless it flips open. It’s aimed in the right direction as stock, so don’t change it unless it’s an issue.

The feel good story of the thread!

What kind of bindings do you use? the leverage of the wider boards can really deform weaker ones. The wider the board, the more you need to make a really high performance choice. I like the Drake Podium FF. Simple, stiff and long lasting. Maybe not so much stiffness in the boots, or you lose the mogul versatility you like. Big mogul fan myself. KTM FTW!

But the butts!

That was a great scene in Hot Tub Time Machine.

But the butts!

Hey OP. Now that shred veteran / serial doubter Sol has split, you can view the advice in Ryan’s vid without fear of repercussions. Bye Sol. Damn... he already left.

They’re not completely resting on their forearms in the higher end turns they’re demonstrating. I don’t think you’re seeing what you think you are. When I look, I see a big difference between the amount of weight supported during the slow speed stuff and what’s being borne (or not) by the arm in the expert demo. Also, don’t forget what you’re looking at. It’s a progression for an EC type turn. By definition, you drag your shit on the snow when you do one of those. If you want another MTB reference, it would be like getting upset that a person didn’t have enough “pop” off the lip of a jump, while giving a demo on how to scrub. I get it... You can do a wicked-“proper” carved turn with little or no contact. This is not that turn. Sincerely; Your Little Buddy.

I think the onus might be on you to EC without putting your arm or hand down. Vid, or it didn’t happen!

You don’t need to see it as a bad thing, but that’s an attitude sometimes experts get caught out with. You used the phrase “training wheel”. That’s what it is. Use it until you don’t have to. On a few of my pow surfers, I have a NoBoard rope. Some purists/ experts would say that it’s “cheating” to have such a thing. I’d say it’s there when you need it. If you don’t, don’t use it. The issue on the learning side can be identified in your thoughts on the guy with the 12k bike, shorting the jumps. To progress, he needs to case a few times until he catches the landing. The guys up his ass should realize that their time isn’t for the WC overall, and that slow guy needs to go through the progression. Eventually, he’ll be fine and not need the “crutch” of going comparatively slow.

^ Corey knows the bordin.

Ryan has a few different velocities going here, as part of a progression. At his fastest, you can see that his arm is projecting out in front of him, from the shoulder (the still used on the videos title page). In this position, there is very little structurally in place to support any weight whatsoever. At the beginning of his progression though, you do see a fair amount of weight on the arm as he "garlands", or traverses the slope. This is evidenced by the trench his arm leaves and the 90 degree bend in the elbow, with his upper arm perpendicular to the surface, as a prop. What necessitates this is the need for a progression. If a novice could possibly come flashing into this move the first time, performing an arc that supported all the riders weight on the edge, as an instructor, you'd be good. The reality is that the novice should start this slowly. Eventually, you can do this turn without support. That said, as I mentioned, I like to do it at a variety of speeds and for different purposes. When I do it slowly or fast to bleed off speed, I tend to be either on my thigh and hip, or on my thigh, hip and torso, so I'd add that to my list of "shapes" that a rider could make as they were building skills for this manouever. We've seen this argument before... I'll call it an error of omission. As Ryan doesn't really explain in detail what I'm saying above (where arm pressure decreases as skill and velocity increases) you might be left thinking that it's not a part of his methodology. It is.

Good progression. Excellent in fact. I'd just add one thing... When traversing at angles very much across the fall line, looking for an early edge change for the first few times, I'd do it further away from the trees and more in the middle of the run. That way, if you lose the nose to the outside and wind up "supermanning" downslope, you'll have a chance to stop before you header into the bush. As an addition to that, I've recently been working on my flip over to get the edge below me in these situations. I'd forgotten about that move, as my toeside laydowns have been on lock for so many years, I didn't rememeber that there was even a need for it. After Ryan's wide board euro heelside vids and getting the Donek Sasquatch (thanks Jack) I took to doing them on the heels without giving the woods enough space. Not quite having the timing right did result in a few headfirst back-slides aimed right at the treeline. On the first, I managed to come to a stop. On the second, I wouldn't have stopped if I hadn't flipped over backwards, managing to dig in my toe edge. That would have been the end of me. Again Ryan... Top shelf stuff.

^ Word. The only way I've seen anyone get even close to EC low without an arm down is by absolutely fanging into a turn, where the G loading puts everything on the edge. Given that I presonally like to do these at a variety of speeds, I'll have either everything on my whole body, or just a few grams on the forearm. It's vanishingly rare that I would wouldn't at least have a hand down as a feeler. Of course, I do leave room for your progression for this type of turn to have no arm involvement, but would like to see you do it.

^ It should. With the lack of support, you need to rely on strength and technique. Then, go back to your plastic boots with the above improved and you should ride better. Pretty straightforward.

Put their boots in the freezer and send them down the Hahnenkamm after a full weekend of tourists have had their way with it and it's been groomed with an '82 Thiokol. O, the cries and lamentations.

I’d say most of Todd’s distress comes from how courses were prepped back then. If you go back even farther, racers looked even more ragged, as their pitches were pretty much just flagged out on a totally haggard run. If you took today’s racers, with all their training and dropped them into Todd’s place in that moment, they might be slightly less shit looking, but still probably look like shit. FF to Korea, and the slope is groomed within an inch of its life, with aprons rivalling that if Dubai’s F1 track. If you made that course “turnier”, with more gates and lower speeds, it would probably be safe enough for SBDH. Or, you could just hold it for 6 people in a M of fresh.

They’d want to be. That was from so long ago, the only “recording” I could get of it was hand drawn pictures.

^ The coincidence of you saying that today is uncanny. Sorry... That’s just an obscure reference for me which I wouldn’t expect you to know! Like an inside joke, when I’m the only one inside. Thanks for the laugh!

^ Sounds like we’re building a board Lads. You’ll have to come out our way to christen it, Erik. Do I need you to write me an estimate, Carl?

My front ankle was pretty shaky before, but the board isn’t helping. I’m having too much fun to stop, though. I’ve been on the mountain more days so far this year than the past few all because of this board (thanks Jack). Being able to come down the steep faces, then roll out onto the groomed lower runs and smash low turns is getting my pulse up right now, just thinking about it. To your point, Erik, I”d rather not go on like this, so the high back is going to have to be more supportive and responsive, and the board a bit more turn friendly.