1st Day of hard booting- my thoughts...

[shredliner]

Well, yesterday was my first official attempt at this thing you call hard booting.

It's QUITE a different feeling than soft booting.

First three runs, I was feeling pretty good, didn't fall once, which I thought was an accomplishment.

Kept sliding out on my heelside and had a LOT of trouble getting the board over onto my toes, probably fighting it with my back leg, I'm guessing.

The snow was REALLY soft, at 48 degrees yesterday so, it probably wasn't a good first day to attempt.

Now and then, I would think I was getting the feel for it. Seems to me, that you really have to trust the board more and let it find the carve. Keeping nose pressure seemed to help too.

Also seemed like, when I would sorta just pivot from knees on down, the turns came easier. Not easy, but easier. Noticed on the lift ride up, my bindings and/or boots were leaving a parallel track in the soft snow. Adjusted em more forward, eliminated most of that.

Had one hard heelside turn, where my front boot popped out of binding! Whoa, that was interesting and upleasant as I slid 10 yards on my back, in my patrol uniform no less. Tightened that up and no more pop-outs.

Only rode for about an hour before the call of the soft boots and the need for competency got the best of me.

One question, if you've read this far. What type of hill/steepness is recommend for learning? A shallow green seems too shallow to get necessary speed. A steeper black (by mid-west standards) had me slipping out too much.

Anyway, looking forward to trying again.... if the rains don't cancel those plans.

[jnshapiro]

I've only had about 7 days carving, though 14 days on the slopes this year. I figured out how to carve early in January and am getting better at it. Even managed a few real EC type turns yesterday.

Anyway, I'd find a wide open moderate blue slope. You are right about having to trust your board. That was a real eye opener for me. Just put it up on edge and hope it sticks. It will.

Read the articles posted here: http://www.bomberonline.com/articles/tech_articles.cfm. Some of them are likely to help. They helped me, more so as I've started actually carving.

See if you can find someone else in hardboots in your area. Seeing it happen helps a lot.

I'm still a beginner at this, but I hope this was of some help. Others will have much better info.

[Jrobb]

I'm right there with you Shred,

I like the moderate blues. The greens at my hill only allow for a carve here or there once speed is reached...and then I have to avoid the sliders.

What are you "carving" on now? I opted to learn on my softboot carving boards (4807, and Arbor A-Frame) as I have 2seasons on each and can carve them in my soft setups. I did find though that the steeper angles were the hardest part to get used to. Currently I run about 11-15 deg steeper on both feet than my softboot angles and that is fairly comfy for now. Plenty of heel power and the toe sides are much more precise than in softies. Currently 35/30. but that's my preference.

The 4807 is a bit softer than the A-Frame so I'm going to try that out this weekend with plates to work out some technique issues.

J

[shredliner]

I'm carving on a Nidecker, with Raichle bindings and Raichle 123 boots. Decided to take the full leap with the setup.

Honestly, I'm not really sure what angles, as the plate measurements go up to 45, then back down to zero. If that makes sense.

But, It's pretty dang steep, I'm sure, to keep the toes from touching when I carve, had to make it steeper.

I did have one heelside carve, that I damn near brought around to a full 360, but stopped at about 270, then fell over. Never did that on softies/heelside. Toeside on softies, all the time.

I think what's weird is, on a soft setup, you REALLY have to lean into the turn to put it on full edge, compressing the bindings and your legs. Seems a lot less effort to do the same on the carving, which is throwing me off. Think I'm over-powering it at times.

Well, when(if) I get another hour or two in, I'll give some more feedback, to see what's what. Perhaps I'll also take a photo of my setup/stance, to see what y'all think.

Till then, I'm going to read that "Norm" article a few more times, that seems like a keeper and a great way to learn.

[SEJ]

Wide blues for sure. You didn't say what your board is like. Legnth, sidecut, etc. That will determine how fast you need to go. When I started I thought I had to haul a**. WRONG! It's carving, not racing. The best thing you can do is follow another carver. You will immediatly ride better following someone else's lines. You will see that you need to be patient and let the board turn, not force it. Also you will see that you have to finish the turn to shed speed.I have yet to meet a fellow carver who wasn't helpful about advise, right down to giving me a lesson on the spot. Running into fellow carvers on the hill has done more for my skill sets than anything else. We are such a minority that it's like running into long lost friends.When you put on hard boots you have crossed to the Dark Side. We are a brotherhood who helps each other.

[shredliner]

Uggh, I'm sure I have it somewhere but can't find the exact specs.

The board is a Nidecker 161, sidecut and so forth, I can't recall or find but, I don't think it's very agressive, more mellow.

I think the idea of, going slower, learning the "norm" is what I need to do. Being a very confident carver on soft setup, I think I'm pushing/expecting too much on my first alpine adventures.

Thx again for reply.

[abakker]

if your toeside feel late or that you really need to work to get them to engage, try moving your front foot slightly more forward, often this helps you naturally pressure the board more evenly in your stance.

when i first started i was coming from a background in riding mostly powder and consistently mounted my bindings too far back and as a result really mesed up my carving technique.

best of luck

Alex

[Jack M]

Yes, The Norm will get you going. I think you stumbled upon something good when you said you tried "pivoting" from the knees down. Edge changes are better when they start from the ground up - toes, ankles, knees, hips. No need to reach down with your hands or dive in with your shoulders. Good luck!