gdboytyler Posted February 10, 2004 Report Share Posted February 10, 2004 When riding a slope that is too steep to carve and you have to do jump turns, what type of board/boot/binding setup would you prefer to use? So far for steeps, I've only used a Burton Supermodel 161 and a Donek Incline 160. I prefered the Donek because of the better edge hold. I also preferred using hardboots for the steeps. In a soft setup, I got too much heel lift on the jump turns. I haven't tried an alpine board on steeps yet. GdBoyTyler Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JohnSch Posted February 10, 2004 Report Share Posted February 10, 2004 Jump turns generally should not be the natural progression when you feel a run is too steep to carve. Nose rolls, which keep you in contact with the snow, are generally far better, basically a refined version of a dynamic skidded turn in which you pivot around the nose of the board in the same way as you would on a butter run. Doing these in bumps is a good way to get ready for real steeps. But, first try short surfy carved turns with each one finishing uphill, in good snow this works up to really pretty steep. If you're getting heel lift in your softie setup you may want to check your boot fit and/or boot/binding fit, as the heel lift should not happen. There are old threads here discussing AT boots versus soft boots that capture the distinctions between hard boots and soft for riding steep terrain, but heel lift should not be one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtslalom Posted February 10, 2004 Report Share Posted February 10, 2004 I haven't found a steep slope that I couldn't carve my 156 e-deck or 153 RennTiger on. Short boards = short tight turns. You MUST be comitted to your turns and execute precise technique. I ride on icy narrow slopes in the east where you must have smaller boards in able to carve the steeps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted February 10, 2004 Report Share Posted February 10, 2004 OK, would that be Ice Coast steep, or really steep? 'cuz there's some shit you just can't carve. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko Posted February 10, 2004 Report Share Posted February 10, 2004 Originally posted by Neil Gendzwill OK, would that be Ice Coast steep, or really steep? 'cuz there's some shit you just can't carve. The Hard part there is not leaning far enough forward..yet not Pearling either:D I dropped in twice back in the early 90's; I'll always remember F$^#$% up the first one and thinking, "this is the end"... the second one wasn't perfect but looked (and felt) much better even if my heart was beating faster than a speedmetal bass...I don't think my balls are big enough to do that anymore:eek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gilmour Posted February 10, 2004 Report Share Posted February 10, 2004 If it is so steep that by the time you get your nose pointed downhill you are going too fast to carve....its jump turn time. ________ Starcraft 2 replay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Randy S. Posted February 10, 2004 Report Share Posted February 10, 2004 If you are talking steep and narrow like the pictures of Corbet's Couloir Neil linked to, then you are not going to be truly carving turns. They are jump turns, no two ways about it. I've found that my 171 Freecarve is a good board for this. Any longer and I have trouble getting it around on a jump turn. I ride my normal 55/60 stance and use my normal hard boots. The trick through the narrow parts is maintaining rhythm and momentum, plus having the balls to throw your weight out over the tip/edge to make the jump turn. The physics of the turn are the same as they are on a ski. Compress, jump, turn, repeat. If there's lots of powder, I'll do it on my 4807 O-sin 178, but that's a bit tougher. The bindings are set back and the nose is big, so its a bit tough to do the jump turns. The good news is that in powder you generally don't need to make as many turns and often you can straightline the really steep section, assuming you have a place to run out afterwards. On the powder board, I put my boots in walk mode so I have a little more flexibility. Either way, hard boots are definitely superior on steeps in my opinion. You noted the problem of heel lift on softies, plus I don't think you have nearly the edge control. Edge control is crucial if you are going to succeed. I find turning from heelside to toeside to be harder. As a result, I try to plan my turns so that the hardest ones are when I'm going toe-to-heel. If you want to come up to Tahoe, we can play around on some steep and narrow stuff at Alpine Meadows. We have a run called Keyhole that isn't a gnarly as Corbet's (it doesn't have the 12-15 foot drop to get into it), but it is similar in steepness and snow conditions. Here's another way to get down: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest cmc Posted February 10, 2004 Report Share Posted February 10, 2004 If it is not too steep but still steep and narrow and you dont have to use jump turns...just stay low, not rising in between transitions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Matt D Posted February 10, 2004 Report Share Posted February 10, 2004 Just to add to what others have said... try using down-unweighting or cross under turns. Less movement is required so its much easier. I've been to tuckermans ravine 2 times. The first time I wasn't very good and did jump turns. The second time I had a lot more mileage and experiance and I din't have to jump once. I find it necessary to keep your weight forward and project yourself into your turn. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maciek Posted February 10, 2004 Report Share Posted February 10, 2004 Originally posted by Neil Gendzwill OK, would that be Ice Coast steep, or really steep? 'cuz there's some shit you just can't carve. You can carve it... just get off the board and do it by hand;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gdboytyler Posted February 11, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2004 Yeah, when I started the thread about "riding steeps". I was thinking Corbet Couloir steepness, but WITHOUT the 15 foot drop to start the run. The steepest run I've done has been Climax, at the top of Mammoth. The start of the run was all kick turns for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gecko Posted February 11, 2004 Report Share Posted February 11, 2004 Originally posted by gdboytyler Yeah, when I started the thread about "riding steeps". I was thinking Corbet Couloir steepness, but WITHOUT the 15 foot drop to start the run. The steepest run I've done has been Climax, at the top of Mammoth. The start of the run was all kick turns for me. The Chutes at Mamoth are do-able with I remember carving them on my Frestyle, in powder...once they became ski'd out well...kickturns were all that worked. I never did Climax usually I was in the Cornic bowl and Scotty's or droping Hangmans, Wipeout and Dropout Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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