Carving in Crud

[Buell]

I would like opinions about carving in the crud after the powder is tracked out. I am interested in the boards people ride, their technique, and if they ride hard or soft boots.

It seems that keeping the board on edge makes the ride much smoother, but I have found that I often drive into the turn too hard and end up diving the nose and my front boot under the snow . It helps if I keep more weight on my back foot than I would if carving groomers, but I find that makes the carve less powerful.

Does carving in the crud require less edge angle and more weight on the back foot than carving on the groomers?

Currently, I have found the Tanker 200 on softies with no overhang (26 mondo, 45f, 39r) the smoothest ride through the crud, although I can still catch my boots on the soft snow if I am not careful. I plan to try plates on the Tanker with a little underhang next.

Thanks, Buell

[bobdea]

coiler AM, NOTHING compares what makes it stand out is the flex is soft between the feet and stiffer in the nose and tail

the prior ATV and donek Axiss are basically wide soft carvers that still fold in the front when you hit a soft patch because they have a soft nose.

Bruce makes some great stuff but in the niche of all mountain carvers he owns it if you ask me

they also out perform the vast majority of boards on hard pack such as protons and rossi world cups

the nose on the AM will crash through anything and keep carving.

[Enzo]

+1 for the Coiler AM. It's incredibly stable and solid in all conditions and an absolute weapon in soft snow, corn, and crud.

[D.T.]

Coiler AM, Donek FC1 or my Tanker (softies). I find the soft boots harder to ride in the chop than the hard boots, I presume it is a stiffness thing.

As you said, I do not load-up the nose of the board as much since it is easier to go over the nose in the chop. I find that if the snow is that soft, I do not need a powerful carve. If I try to power the board, the snow shifts and I cannot hook-up and rail a turn. If I back my riding off a notch, the board will hook-up, I can rail turns, and the nose of the board does not dive.

[Erik J]

I am not an instructor or a pro, just someone that likes to ride a lot. I do see a lot of "less than perfect" conditions.

For really chopped up crap I find myself riding with a quiet upper body, kind of a poised and ready(ish) stance. I'm still driving turns with my body forward - getting into the back seat in crud is the last place I want to be. From the hips down is where most of the action is for me when the terrain is cut up. I have a pretty steady yoga practice which keeps my hips nice and loose, that helps a LOT for me.

My arms are quiet also, not flailing. Generally speaking my arms are relaxed but ready - imagine where the arms would be when walking across a balance beam.

I ride with a wider stance. I'm about 5'11" and have a 21 1/2" stance. My knees are bent and REALLY absorbing every little nuance and bump, while my feet are working on fore and aft pressure between troughs, ruts, piles of snow, dead people on the ground etc. Learning fore and aft pressuring with my feet while each leg absorns its own terrain turns rough conditions into a dance down the mountain.

Loose hips, strong legs, and a calm & quiet style help me in the crud.

While I certainly believe in the right tool for the job, my gear will only take me so far. AM boards are great and all, practice is better IMHO.

[Art]

I gotta go with the Prior WCR Metal for the crud. Amazing response and damp. The Donek FC oly aint bad either

[Buell]

Now I need a Coiler AM too? Well, okay. I've gotten to ride with Mike T on his custom Coiler AM and he says the same things. Stiff nose and softer underfoot lets it charge through rough conditions without stuffing the rider.

Thanks for the info on boards and technique.

[Bobby Buggs]

Another vote for the Coiler AM. For chopped powder UNDER 6 inches, push piles and spring conditions it Rules, Dont carve half bad either :p

[Dr D]

I use angles that put my heels and toes over the edges without any overhang. I also have lifts under the bindings and a 3 degree cant under the back foot. Soft boots (vans switch Ntype stiff) work great and my setup feels alot the same angle wise to my hardboot setup. I find if the snow gets heavy or wet that I have to use my weight more to drive down into the edges on the turns but other than that its a carving machine in the crud:biggthump

[Buell]

Dr. D,

My Garage 173 is an amazing freeride board. Currently that and my Tanker are the go to boards for the softies. I find the 06/07 Tanker is smoother for me in crud, probably, due to the added length and the dampness. As I improve, I know the Garage will tear it up!

I am considering picking up some Palmer lifts to see if they will help with my boots catching the soft snow.

Buell

[bobdea]

garage?

is a brand or a model?

[Dr D]

Garage Snowboards is a new brand currently made in a garage in Kalispell, MT by John Mcginnis. John was the mad genius behind Identity snowboards. Identity made some incredible boards for a few years before large corporate interests bought it out and then sold out the quality. Several of their finer alpine offerings are shown over at oldsnowboards .com

anyway John is building a new company and is currently not yet tooled for alpine offerings. Good news is that his freeride and all mountain boards are awesome and can be made extra stiff for the carvers among us. I have an extra layer of race carbon in mine. It carves as good as anything I have ridden and its wide enough for just about anything the mtn can dish out. John used to be a demo rider for transworld. way back in the day. He kept extensive records about build and performance and has engineered his boards from the best of what he learned.

If you are nice and send me an email I will get you his number.

Its a get in line situation but they are very high quality and very reasonably priced. they are a must have:1luvu:

[Kent]

I recommend a Custom X in the crud....

[Guest SAVEtheSWALLOWTAIL]

garage is cool and all but he is a bit radical with his freeride ideas. he gave my crew a few boards to test out and we all hated them to death. but he assured me they should have been made another way for our riding style. they should get back into the alpine boards because some of the old identity boards were just sick. even a few of the directional twins from identity were set up for their riders and are still in use today. i dont trust cap construction at all but im sure its getting better. some of my friends have the new garage boards and love them but im a bit jaded because of my experience with one on a pre season hike with 13 inches of fresh mild funk.

for the crud i think it is best to look far ahead and rail that mother as if the crud wasn't there. a big big board helps a lot.

[Mike T]

Buell, as you've anticipated, I'm giving +1 to the Coiler AM for crud and other variable conditions.

As far as eliminating boots catching in snow during crud-carving, underhang is the key for me. 1cm on each boot tend sto do the trick for me in Bachelor snow. Might not do the trick in Utah snow but then again boots catching Utah snow probably doesn't make for as bumpy a ride. As you know I ride the same stance on my AM (19.5 or 21.5 on my new one that is still not here yet) as on my 18cm alpine decks.