Is EC carving your goal?

[BlueB]

my goal now is to carve switch.

Hey, interesting, Casper, I'm working on the same thing!

[James Ong]

Interesting. I suspect (but obviously can't prove it) that a lot more people secretly *do* have the goal of dragging body parts while carving. It seems to be one of those "I'm cool too" kinda things. :) I'm gonna be watching at SES next week (and learning!)...and I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of people I see are draggin' stuff in turns. LOL

Scott

Ha! wait till you see the " i'm too good to EC "crowd at SES, you're more on target than you think

Oh yeah , also watch out for the " i can do it but only on the bottom where i don't have to link the turns " types.

[ARCrider]

EC easier on the blacks

the steeper it gets the closer I am to the snow. or is the snow closer to me?

I need lots more speed on the greens to link those low snow brushing turns.

goals

currently switch carving. I'm working on it.

doing some gates switch on purpose..

now there's a goal

EC switch might be another goal

nothing is ultimate

[ursle]

Nope... Far too flamboyant and richard simmons-like.

The lower you go, the harder you blow.

:lol::lol:

Just change one word in the question

EC to ice

yes ice carving is my quest

[Dr D]

I'd like to pull it off just to say I did but Really I ride such varied terrain and conditions that I am happy if the board is angulated well and the edge is holding.

[Blue Bird]

EC is fun, but to be the ultimate goal?? no

The ultimate goal is any turn (race carve, EC, skid), any terrain, any condition and at any time that I want too

[Keenan]

I'm in the process of adhering a snowskate to the seat of my pants for heelside turns. I haven't decided what to do for toeside, maybe lunch trays on each forearm.

[Rammy]

My first intro to hardboots was watching a SWOARD video with Patrice doing his EC thing. I was hooked. I want to be able to EC but I like the other challenges offered by the endless terrain out there. Its all challenging at this stage.

[Dave*]

I voted other..

When I started out my goal wasnt necesarilly to "eurocarve" but just to get lower,, (well that just caused a whole mess of bad habits that I am still trying to break away from to this day)

As I am what you might call a slow learner , and having no real instruction/mentors it took a long while to progress. Biggest breakthroughs came at each speed/skill increment so I could sort of tag along behind better carvers than myself ( Thanks Mr Roboteye , my first "sensei", must have killed you with the waiting back in the day).. I remember that and try to give back when I can ( sometimes even if they dont want it , Sorry CO.Beagle)

I personally used each body part drug as a benchmark of improvent.

As skills progressed got to ride with better riders again so skills would take a big jump up.

I will never forget the first time I bounced my butt of the snow a few seasons back.

That kind of set me up for seasonal goals of forearms on the snow , double hand drags, armpits in the snow, once you get them down on to something new to improve on.

My new goals , maintaining carve on black groomers, east coast style "ice" carving, and as much as I hate them cross unders, and I still gotta get that toeside dialled. Maybe some more time in the park , and just to scare myself silly carved turns in the halfpipe/cutbanks ( was playing a bit with that last year, its freaky getting your head lower than the feet on a carve)

My own as laid out as I can get turns still to this day arent what would be a true "euro carve" near as I can tell from my body mechanics, BlueB could comment better than me, I never get to see myself ride.

A few notes:

My standard carving speed on a med pitch blue on an 11.9 scr per radar gun is around 50-55kmh ( found that out last week)

If you want to turn some heads and profile for the ladies, nothing beats a few big laid out body parts on the snow turns on some hardpack when everyone is skidding.

Believe it or not if the snow conditions are right I spend way more time boony bashing in the trees than being on the groomers.

[snowboardfast]

No no EC for me as I have has both shoulders rebuilt and don't want to drag them on the snow and possibly dislocate them again.I was even stupid enough to buy a Donek blade to start doing this.Of course the Blade is a fine board and could be used for normal riding but I have gone back to standard width boards and carving as best I can without laying over. I don't care if I ever EC carve and I think it is not that easy to do anyway. I am having fun without doing this and that is all that matters to me.

[SWriverstone]

EC style definitely looks cool...and to an extent, I think it is a good PR stunt for the sport. But I'd hate for it to become like motorcycling...where every time I pull up next to a carload of kids, they all start frantically making the "Do a wheelie!" motions. :rolleyes: (They all think if you ride a sportbike you have to be able to do wheelies.)

Or with whitewater kayaking, the EC equivalent is waterfall jumping...it's gotten so absurd that if you're a badass kayaker, you MUST have photos of yourself running big waterfalls—if not, you're lame. LOL

Scott

[Mike T]

Voted no... My ultimate goal is to be able to rail on any snow conditions (well not powder, who has time to rail on that when you can surf it)

Having said that, those who were at OES last year may have seen me doing something EC-like on Summit on Sunday morning... slush over hardpack... it was more of a self preservation thing, keep the body on the snow and you can't go over the bars!

Seriously, I put my hands on the snow way too much and need to stop it. I'm a big fan of angulation but I just get lazy.

[Steve Dold]

Nope... Far too flamboyant and richard simmons-like.

The lower you go, the harder you blow.

:lol:That's pretty funny.

I voted YES because getting low is pretty much what I have been trying to do for awhile, but I don't think it's a very good goal. I really should be working more on learning to ride in all kinds of conditions and rounding out my skill set. But somehow I always end up trying to find perfect snow and get low. It's like learning to fly and concentrating on doing perfect loops and never practicing landings or other things you need to do. But I really have fun doing it.

But I think learning to ride ice or especially carve ice would be a much better goal. It would make you better in all conditions.

[Steve Prokopiw]

'EZ' to be the 'that's it that's all' of carving.I'm with Mike T. on the point that hands on the snow is lazy.I do it all the time and then chastise myself for doing it.Racers raise a good point about the higher level of skill required to do what they do.On the other hand,;if EC technique is just one of the tricks in your bag then great.

My goal as an athletically minded rider is to become more proficient every time I ride.If EC is your goal,what's left after you're dragging your armpits?Digging a hole to China?

[b0ardski]

Rippin' icy double black diamond bumps switch:1luvu:is more of a challege.

thanks for the MaddBX MUD:biggthump

[Bullwings]

Voted other...

I saw the stoked EC video and that's what convinced me to get hardboots...

Ultimately though, i like being able to carve as low as possible w/o touching the snow. I also just want to be able to control my speed better and get on to black runs w/o having to skid as much. I also want to tear up moguls. It's not carving, but anyone who can rip moguls on a snowboard in soft or hardboots has skill. Watching Jorg in one of the pure carve videos is what comes to mind for mogul riding.

I can't EC, but on a few rare occasions, maybe every other trip up to the mountain i'll accidentally EC one turn in what feels like trying to save my ass. in amazement, i'll stop and look back at my tracks and see a super tightly carved arc (much tigher than most of my carves). I then try to duplicate the feat and fail since i have no clue what the hell i just did...

[alexgforce]

First of all this is one of the best threads that have been posted in a while.

I agree with most. EC is a technique not a goal. If it was a goal as soon as you mastered it you would have to do something else since you can't go any lower. The truth however is that EC is impressive as hell. Especially to spectators who are not involved in carving.

Moreover EC was a huge push to the sport of alpine snowboarding bringing more people in. And if there will ever be a revival of alpine snowboarding, EC was/is a big contributor.

[leeho730]

Yes. For now.

Then maybe I'll try to carve and link some seriously tight G-force style turns on steep narrow icy trails. I saw someone doing it, and gosh that was impressive!

[gdboytyler]

However, my goal in carving has always been to carve the steepest groomed slopes at whatever mountain I was visiting.

EC technique I think is the EASIEST way to carve a steep slope. I can carve on black runs, but not as stylish or as fast as the Swoard duo. As I've gotten better with the EC technique, I've been able to use it in progressively icier conditions (with the help of a Coiler Schtubby). Contrary to popular opinion, EC is not just for hero snow.

Here's another rider I want to emulate, for when the runs get a little bumpy (goal #2):

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And I'd like to ride moguls like this guy. But, that's a lower priority goal (maybe because if you fall, it's way more painful than sliding out on EC):

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[gabor]

I voted no. I did and unfortunately do EC on steep slopes. However EC is EASY on steep and icy, and hides technical mistakes. Too much weight on hands, too much body drag. Lots of people reach for the snow on toesides. Riding a race course is impossible with this technique.

Now I try to eliminate all drags, and stay on edge without touching the snow. My next goal is to participate on races. Other goals are carving fakie, moguls, etc.

[Speedzilla]

First of all, I hate the term "extreme carving" for many reasons (MN folks know why). However, I do like to drag various parts of my body on the snow. Much like dragging a knee on a sportbike, I use my hands/forearms as a feeler and try not to put much weight on them.

I love high speed and high g-force carves, I don't know how to accomplish those things without dragging body parts through the snow.

[SWriverstone]

Awesome 1st vidclip gdboytyler—I cracked up when the skier gets a roostertail in the face at 1:12. :D I seriously want to learn the hop-transition thing.

Moguls? All I can think of is (said in a Mr.T voice)...PAAAAAAAAIN. LOL

Moreover EC was a huge push to the sport of alpine snowboarding bringing more people in. And if there will ever be a revival of alpine snowboarding, EC was/is a big contributor.

Yeah, this is undeniable. People love a good show...and EC is definitely a good show! Alas, even watching the guy in the 1st vidclip above gets dull pretty quickly (especially to those who aren't into carving).

I'd like to learn EC...but I guess I don't think I'm ready for it. I'm hard on myself, I admit...but I don't feel like I'll be worthy of EC until I can carve well and get low without touching the snow.

Scott

[JJFluff]

Just say no to angulation.

[Rob Stevens]

I prefer it on my bike.

[Steve Dold]

It's interesting that some of you call touching the snow a "crutch maneuver".

For a lot of us, certainly me at least, that's what it is because it gives me more confidence during the turn if I can feel "where I am". It's like walking down a hall when you're drunk, feeling the wall as you go to keep from falling over

But I think the problem is that it's a lot like bike training wheels, and it has had the same effect on my carving as training wheels do on a kid's bike. It gives me more confidence initially, but may have taught me some bad habits and makes for a slower learning process because it takes away the need to learn to balance on the edge.

I think the answer for me is to "take the training wheels off" often and learn to ride around on my edges in all conditions without trying to "get low".