PolyMathMan Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 I ride here in the east, with packed powder usually as good as it gets. Never been on "powder". With the recent heavy snows we finally had some decent deep snow off the piste. I'm riding at Hidden Valley PA, and decide to head into the pristine white stuff. Enough slope to keep going - stayed back on the board. Wow, what a feeling. I went down in about 4 feet of fluff. How in the devil do you get back up and moving !!! There is nothing to press against ! I'm thinking of heading out west in the near future and I surely could use an answer to this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 I ride here in the east with packed powder usually as good as it gets. Never been on "powder".With the recent heavy snows we finally had some decent deep snow off the piste. I'm riding at Hidden Valley PA, and decide to head into the pristine white stuff. Enough slope to keep going - stayed back on the board. Wow, what a feeling. I went down in about 4 feet of fluff. How in the hell do you get back up and moving !!! There is nothing to press against ! I'm thinking of heading out west in the near future and I surely could use an answer to this. A bit of pitch helps, but I'm no good at getting back up in POW either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anke Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 i recently made the mistake of trying to ride down to the parking lot through powder. turns out the powder down there was covered with mud from the cars. i took a tumbler, and you can imagine how i looked like after that. mud baths give beautiful skin :lol: don't think there is a good way of getting out of the powder other then being patient and laugh your troubles off... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gendzwill Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 If you lose momentum and you don't have enough pitch, you might end up lying on your board and swimming out. If there's a cat track crossing under that slope, you might give any number of people gliding back to the lift their laugh for the day. Theoretically, of course. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUD Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 You would be surprised the looks you get as you crawl out of the woods after swimming for a while. All hot and sweaty. People give you some funny looks..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
softbootsurfer Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 Once you realize where you are... Roll over on to your Stomach or front side edge...sometimes a real task :) Now you can get up and continue... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MUD Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 How in the hell do you get back up and moving !!! There is nothing to press against ! I'm thinking of heading out west in the near future and I surely could use an answer to this. Either roll over or flip over until you get your back facing up the hill. no matter what you are going to get very snowy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anke Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 just don't let your nose dive in the pow, as this will result in a painful contortion of your body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alaskan Rover Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 Basically, the only SURE way is to walk out. Find your board and "boot-out"...and then walk or "swim" towards the nearest trees or rocks where hopefully there is also enough downslope to regain momentum once you get back on your board...a task in itself!!! Don't even bother trying to ride out from that spot, unless it is steep enough, as you'll definitely need a shove from gravity..and you'll most likely go absolutely nowhere! I've been in 5 feet of powder and way deeper drifts...a weird sensation...it IS like swimming. Get ready to get snowy and you might as well have a blast. ANY snow is good snow, except yellow snow. Gravity IS Life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjl Posted March 17, 2010 Report Share Posted March 17, 2010 Actually, there's a pretty painless way to get up out of powder, even in flats. You lay on your back, relax, and gather up as much snow as you can from all around you with your arms and pile it/pack it into a denser, taller mound under the small of your back. Just extend your arms over your head and pull them around like you're making a snow angel, dragging in lots of snow, and then pack it under you, repeatedly. Takes like 5-10 seconds. Then you'll be surprised how easy it is to push off that mound and stand up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heroshmero Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 kjl, that sounds like a great trick. I'm going to have to try that one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingnuts514 Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 roll, bootout, sweat, hike, sweat, repeat....and enjoy the sweet fluffy stuff from the snow gods! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Softcarver Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 Actually, there's a pretty painless way to get up out of powder, even in flats. You lay on your back, relax, and gather up as much snow as you can from all around you with your arms and pile it/pack it into a denser, taller mound under the small of your back. Just extend your arms over your head and pull them around like you're making a snow angel, dragging in lots of snow, and then pack it under you, repeatedly. Takes like 5-10 seconds. Then you'll be surprised how easy it is to push off that mound and stand up. +1. This is a very effective method but you need a decent pitch for it to work. If you're in the flats you're going to have to hike for a few. Make sure to lean way back when starting off until you gain some momentum to surf over the POW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon Dahl Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 a platform thing, but as stated above, you need some pitch. Also, as I do the backcountry thing, I always carry collapsable poles. Fully extend them, then form a cross with them. Use that to stand up off of, works very well. I've had to teach that to a few skiers!! My only other advice is to ride a big swallowtail and don't stop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carvedog Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 If you must fall - do everything in your power to fall downhill and try to get another half flip to go with it. Stab the tail in when you come around for the full 360 and then stand up. Note: this takes a bit of practice to perfect, but as long as it is a clear slope you can keep pitching your carcass down the hill until you perfect the stop and stand up. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik J Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 There is a scene in the movie Apocaypse Now where the characters "chef" and the others get off the boat to go look for mangoes in the jungle. Chef is attacked by a tiger and they run like hell to get back on the boat. They all collapse on the boat with chef saying over and over "never get off the boat, never get off the boat, never get off the boat". When I was riding pow for days on end my mantra was "never get off the board, never get off the board" and never stop unless on an incline. My friends and I were know to run each other over on cat tracks if someone went down and didn't clear the singletrack quickly. It was just known between us - never stop, never get off - till we're in the clear....some good times those were. We also had a call to keep track of each other in the woods so we knew we were still a group if we seperated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skategoat Posted March 18, 2010 Report Share Posted March 18, 2010 The first time I got stuck in waist deep powder in Utah, I nearly had a frickin' heart attack trying to get up. My buddy's face was so wet from the effort, I didn't know if he was sweating or crying. What we figured out: - On flats, lie on the board and paddle out. - Anywhere with trees, roll downhill until you can grab a tree to help pull you up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b0ardski Posted March 19, 2010 Report Share Posted March 19, 2010 On low angle slopes in PNW, on both skis & boards, I've had to release out the bindings, build a platform with the boards & climb up on top of the board(s) to stepin and hope I could get some momentum before sinking in to the deep again:smashfrea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolyMathMan Posted March 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 If you must fall - do everything in your power to fall downhill and try to get another half flip to go with it. Stab the tail in when you come around for the full 360 and then stand up. Note: this takes a bit of practice to perfect, but as long as it is a clear slope you can keep pitching your carcass down the hill until you perfect the stop and stand up. ;) This is a little hard to picture in my head... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Softcarver Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 I've done that half by accident a few times. I don't think that I would ever wrench my body around like that on purpose, but it does make falling look a lot cooler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rickythecat Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 I don't remember, what's powder - I live in Summit County:freak3: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b0ardski Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 I learned long ago, before snowboards, if you didn't fall forward, your doing it wrong:smashfrea Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob Stevens Posted March 20, 2010 Report Share Posted March 20, 2010 If you didn't fall forward, your doing it wrong:smashfrea Killer quote. So true. If you fell backwards , you were scared and trying not to go where you were pointing. If you fell forwards, you were looking for it. I don't worry about it too much myself on the NoBoard. I've spent entire mornings of heli trips helping people who were stuck because I could move around freely. If I fall with binders, I will 1) get the board down hill. 2)Roll onto my trailing side. 3) Use the length of the board to lever against to stand back up after packing some snow under my side to push against (As always, Kjl comes through with the technique). Frankly, as soon as you fall, you'll know whether or not you'll be riding away, or paddling, just from looking at the terrain around you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
!MaineCarver! Posted March 21, 2010 Report Share Posted March 21, 2010 I am just putting my two cents in here. Set the bindings back lean back and just go with the flow!! :cool: _______________ Go Fast, Haul Ass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Posted March 22, 2010 Report Share Posted March 22, 2010 If you have any chance of riding down, then roll over on your stomach and pack snow under your chest until you are semi-upright. It really helps to have a rockered pow board to get started again too. No camber to overcome or push the nose down. Otherwise lay on your board and swim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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