Liamthedevastator Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 So I'm wanting to try my hand at alpine snowboarding, and i was thinking about how you're oriented differentl on the board, then i thought; how do you break? If the boards have the legendary edge hold that you always hear of then how to do "brake"? many thanks :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave ESPI Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 I assume you are a softbooter, and hopefully have tried riding with an agressive stance as being ducked out won't feel quite the same with how the motion of the body and hips helps as opposed to just the knees and ankles with a sideways (edge to edge perpendicular) stance. Torsional twist or a "tweek" with your front foot in opposite side of the board from the pressure on the back foot. Use of this with the boot/binding transfers pressure to opposite sides of the board. If you are carving on your toeside, and want to switch to the heel, you lift your front toes/boot/binding UP and as you do this, turn your knee and keep body and hips in line while applying pressure to the heel of the front foot. Keep the rear toes in the snow and once the front disengages, follow your front foot and set the heelside edge. Reducing effective edge contact area to the snow and re directing its trajectory will pop it loose. You also need to shift your weight to the back foot and lighten the nose, or push forward on the nose to engage it with your weight centered over the transitional center of gravity on the board. It is one fluid motion. Try it on the carpet of your room while strapped in. It will make sense once you see how the tweek works. HTH. I'm sure some others can explain in different terms if this doesnt make sense, but being a softbooter also, I think it will ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Simple terms: You turn the board sideways and slide just like you do on a soft board. Think of ice skates - they can generate huge grip but you can still do a hockey stop. It takes more skill to really lock an edge in a carve than it does to sideslip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapster Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Yup, what he said! You can still skid a carving board to a stop. Some boards will be easier to skid than others, and the grippiness of the snow surface and your speed all come into play. It will feel a little different than on a freestyle board, but it just takes some practice. OR, you can just keep in the carve until the board points uphill and let gravity stop you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dingbat Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 OR, you can just keep in the carve until the board points uphill and let gravity stop you! Or you come to rest on the trunk of a tree. Either way you're good.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 A hockey stop is a hockey stop. Just let the tail get loose, slide it across the fall line and let it bite again. Of course how fast you can do this without eating **** is a skill level thing... As I think about this some more, doing that beginner "falling leaf" drill would probably be a good thing to review if you make the switch. Just get comfortable with edge pressuring skills with the new stance and equipment kind of deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrapster Posted October 15, 2009 Report Share Posted October 15, 2009 Or you come to rest on the trunk of a tree. Either way you're good.;) Trees?! I think its better if he learns to do it without props. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liamthedevastator Posted October 16, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2009 woah, thanks for the help! From what i'm getting so far it's really just the whole hockey stop deal. Minus the trees. I'm not sure i want the tranquil alpine foliage joining me in my lessons; i'd rather just observe them as i zip by :P @ Dave ESPI: what you're describing is basically just 'helixing' the board right? like, pressure on toeside at the front, and heelside at the back (and visa versa)? I get what you're trying to say though, one of my friends suggested that too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobdea Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 woah, thanks for the help! From what i'm getting so far it's really just the whole hockey stop deal. Minus the trees. I'm not sure i want the tranquil alpine foliage joining me in my lessons; i'd rather just observe them as i zip by :P @ Dave ESPI: what you're describing is basically just 'helixing' the board right? like, pressure on toeside at the front, and heelside at the back (and visa versa)? I get what you're trying to say though, one of my friends suggested that too. OMG, that's the most over stated thing I have seen anyone post on this forum in awhile, it's not nearly as complicated as dave espi makes it sound and IMO he's kinda off the mark. the whole board twist bit I really don't buy other than if it's preceded with "imagine you're trying to" because there's too many variables in the real world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scrutton Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 To stop - at the end of the run, you rip a huge wide layed over turn, taking up the whole slope, leaving just enough speed to head back up the ramp, and rejoin the lift-line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NateW Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 When I got my first proper alpine board, skidding was kind of hard at first. It was the same length as the freeride board I was on before (and it was an all-mountain alpine board, so the edge was only slightly a longer) but felt like I had an extra two feet of edge working for me. Which is probably about right... the tip and tail of a soft board won't bite much, but with a stiff board, the whole edge is working for you. It only took a day or so to get used to keeping the board flatter for skids, and pretty quickly it just became normal. Alpine boards skid to a stop the same way freeride boards do, you just have to make finer adjustments. Now when I ride a soft board, that feels weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dshack Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 You just...skid it. You'll figure it out in 30 seconds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zone Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 To stop - at the end of the run, you rip a huge wide layed over turn, taking up the whole slope, leaving just enough speed to head back up the ramp, and rejoin the lift-line. Check the video at the 1:00 minute http://tahoecarvers.ning.com/video/peter-vu-2002-2003-2004 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Ace* Posted October 20, 2009 Report Share Posted October 20, 2009 No no no, you guys are all wrong. You just have to ride it out, and hope there is enough flat land to come to a complete stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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