Did you gradually get better? Or did it just happen one day?

[SWriverstone]

Just curious to hear stories from people about those "big leap" moments while you were learning to carve.

For example...maybe you were carving pretty well, but just not getting the board up as high (and getting down as low) as the Big Boys...did you gradually reach "Big Boy" status a little bit at a time over several seasons?

Or was there that one moment, an epiphany of sorts, where suddenly it all clicked and you just started laying out bigtime on every turn?

What were those "big leaps" for you?

Scott

[J0hn]

Hey Scott

I haven't reached "Big Boy" status, and probably never will. But in the years that I've been riding, it's been a constant progression of small steps with a few breakthrough moments added in.

The first breakthrough came when I bought proper gear and took a few lessons. I cleaned up my technique and made huge progress in just a few days. No surprise there. The second breakthrough came the year I attended SES. No one taught me anything specific, but riding with all of those great snowboarders radically changed my perspective. They inspired me and made me realize that I could push so much harder than I had been. And I did.

A few years ago I caught my toe edge and was catapulted into a Pete Rose type slide. When I landed, I dislocated the shoulder of my trailing arm. For the next couple of seasons, I was very timid when transitioning from heel to toe. I couldn't commit to the toe edge when it was the downhill edge for fear of catching it again. I was in a defensive mode. In a clinic sometime after that, the instructor mentioned how you should build the turn from the board up, using your ankles, knees, then hips. I already knew this logically, but up to that point I could not get myself to actually do it. But that day I was ready to believe it and everything changed. I could feel the edge locking into the carve *before* the weight of my head and torso had crossed over. That created a seamless transition from heel to toe and gave me full confidence to dive into the turn. It was perhaps the single biggest breakthrough I've experienced in snowboarding. It is a subtle thing, but had a tremendous effect on my riding.

John

[Corey]

I've had constant slow improvement with a few big jumps. Jack's articles helped a lot in the initial transition from a softboot skidder to a hardboot carver.

The SES sessions are great, you can always see someone with a style/technique that you like and then try to do that yourself. I don't ride with any other carvers at home so just seeing good examples was a big step forward. I attended one of Sean Martin's classes at SES something like 3 years ago, he helped me think about things differently. That was a big breakthrough although it took a while for everything to sink in and for my body/mind to agree on how to actually do what he had said. ;)

From there it was a lot of experimenting on my own to find what works and what doesn't, although this is a lot slower than getting coaching or riding with other better riders. Riding in all kinds of conditions really drives home proper weight distribution. I learn more on crappy icy days as it's pretty clear when a subtle weight shift causes you to lose your edge and slam on your butt. That makes for a pretty painful but quick feedback loop!

I also got some great coaching at the NES (Alberta) session from Steve and Darcy too, that was another breakthrough.

[two_ravens]

So - with the caveat that I still suck, but am making progress - I've had 3 big leaps that I can think of, all last season (my 3rd in hardboots.)

One was the first turn I made on my first custom Coiler. Totally rocks being on a board that is right for my weight and friendly enough for a beginner!

Next was putting on my own imaginary expression session - 1 week where I just lived and breathed carving, and had to come up with photos of nice tracks. I was very surprised at how much I improved!

Third was having dredman do a bit of follow cam for me - the truth hurts for sure but it gave me so much information about what I was doing and an easy way to compare it to other carvers, over & over, in slow-mo..... I learn well that way. Made vast improvements the very next time I rode. Occasional follow cam footage by johnasmo through the rest of the season helped continue the process. Any video footage would be helpful, but the follow cam was especially awesome.

Summer video study and some actual training seem to have helped too - feel like I'm riding better in some ways now (3 mornings out this season) than last year.

[Guest]

Actually, I had a breakthrough moment just two days ago.

I only started hardbooting last year, and for that only around february (short east coast season). I had read the tech articles and was fortunate enough to get some pointers from those who ride around here (chubz, jp1 - thank you).

But two days ago I was riding with a friend who just got a new soft board. For some reason, as I was explaining to him what sidecut radius meant, I had a revelation: I haven't been asking my board to do what it wants to do.

I thought, I'm riding a slalom board, what the hell am I doing trying to make big long carves with it. I knew what sidecut meant, but I guess I just hadn't made that deep mental and physical connection between the theory and the practice.

With that realization in mind, I charged hard down a moderate single black diamond. I made a quick toeside (of course it was toeside...) turn and wasn't exactly sure what I did, but I felt my hip drag across the snow as more g's than I have experienced on a snowboard forced me low and fast around the turn. I skidded to a stop because I was so amazed at what had happened. i didn't reach for the snow...but it was there...I couldn't get any lower...because my hip was on the slope!

Now, I have been making decent turns since the end of last year, but I never felt "right." This felt right.

I went back last night and re-read all of the form and tech articles: there was something I think that Jack wrote along the lines of "how are we supposed to know what a correct turn feels like if we never did it before?" Finally, I feel like I know.

So the moral of the story is: yes my breakthrough was huge and it had been slow moving up until then. What helped me the most was the aggression going into the turn and the mental understanding of how a snowboard turn worked.

[Ian M]

The things that have made dramatic improvements to my riding are:

Short term

• Lessons from hard boot instructors
  
• Riding with others platers, particularly those more skilled
  
• Watching carving videos online
  
• Reducing boot stiffness, adding toe and heel lift

Long term

• Mileage
  
• Photo feedback of my riding
  
• Moving to a metal Coiler... awesome change; it took me a while to understand how to let the board work its magic

I'm not sure if I'm 'big boy status' yet, though....

[Bobby Buggs]

Biggest thing I have read in this thread, Mileage!! No substitute for TOM, Time on Mountain. I think it happens every day its just that we dont get enough days so the few we do get seem like they can be huge break throughs. But just when you think you have something nailed It comes and goes and you go home saying man I suck:o But thats what keeps us coming back, the chance of being better the next day.

[crucible]

Time spent on the mountain carving, and more specifically, time spent on DIFFERENT mountains in different types of weather are what helped me make the most dramatic improvements to my riding. Getting to ride in different areas that are out of my comfort zone are what has kept things fresh and exciting.

On my local mountains, carving with riders who had superior skills or superior carving abilities in different terrain like powder, trees, moguls, steeps and ice have opened my eyes to what can be done with the proper motivation, commitment, and training.

On the equipment side, what has made the most dramatic improvement for me has been more supportive boots, BTS, bindings, and boards, in that order.

Geo

[kieran]

from a technique perspective, having a bit of video that showed how under-rotated i was on heelsides showed me why i was washing out.

from a gear perspective, a BTS kit made a beneficial difference in comfort.

doing different things. moving bindings back and forward. changing angles slightly. changing boot lean slighty. figuring out what each change did / made me do. riding different lines. going over that roller / jump. falling. riding different boards. it all adds up.

most of all, enjoying myself. when i cured the weak heelside problem and went from a deep heelside into a knee-skidding toeside that first time, the smile wouldn't go away.

[John Gilmour]

Normally- for those 3 days a year that are that icy...I'd just go directly to Magic Mountain in Nearby Londonderry Vt.

I was at Stratton... and I was stuck with my ticket.

It was glare ice.

So I went out there with tools in hand to dial my stance and riding technique for ice.

I found that on ICE ONLY when ever you hit a slick section and your center of mass was away from the lateral edge of the board and the edge unset... you would slide out.

I also tried tail riding... on ice.. but found I could not establish a good channel for the edge to follow.

So the goal was to find a body position that would allow for early edge pressure forward on the board and to have the center of mass over the edge directly.

I just sat up on North American and Suntanner.. with a tool adjusting my bindings and so forth.. and using my arms and shoulders as a tight rope walkers "balance stick" trying to balance on that edge on ice. Trying to figure out how to stay close to the board width and load the nose early....using my upper body for balance while the knees and ankles controlled the board.

The New England gun fighter ice riding style was born that day.... I don't have to use it much anymore..as grooming has gotten better and I am no longer on the Ice Coast.....but still..that type of riding..low and stay low- arms ready to draw on compressed chalk...is still some of the most fun you can have on any board... Incinerates your quads on steep chalk...and you are the only one able to set a deep edge..and the only one sending up a 10 foot high rooster tail of jet backwash behind you. Only that sort of snow lets you go fast enough without losing speed in a carve to have that jet trail follow you everywhere in constant 40mph carves.

[Bobby Buggs]

The New England gun fighter ice riding style was born

Or as Ron the Carvefather would call it, East coast survival technique. Assume the position or die

[Flywalker]

Two big jumps for me.

First one was in 1991. l was living in the UK at the time and wanted to go for a long holiday in France. There was(is) a company called Action Vacances which incorporated youth hostel styled lodging, rental and instruction at an all-inclusive price. l spent a week at Tignes... 6 days/5 hrs each day... being taught by professional hard boot riders. The following week l went to La Plagne for more of the same.

That was the first massive leap forward... 60 hours of lessons in two weeks.

The next one came in February 1995. At that time l was working in Val d'lsere. I stepped off of my old Nidecker asym and onto a symmetrical 166 cm board which l coupled with new Burton Reactor boots. From the first run l was astounded at the difference.... my turns were SO much cleaner!

Hopefully the next one will come this winter with new gear and a day or two riding with BlueB (^_^)

[scrutton]

I read the norm article last season, and started immediately carving the downhill edge on the next-turn entrance. What a revelation. And that's after hard boot carving for 15-20 years.

[Bullwings]

There were definitely a few big leaps for me, the biggest in order of significance...

1 - Custom metal Coiler (i call it the cheater stick), the thing makes you feel like a carving god on almost any conditions except for the worst of the worst slush (think 65F air temps).

2 & 3 - Time on the slopes and riding with people on plates that are better than you.

4 - Riding in crap conditions, and it's almost always crap here in SoCal (unless you go to Mammoth or June, but then it isn't SoCal anymore). I've actually come to prefer the early morning hard pack ice. It's fast and I can lay carve after carve after carve without losing speed. The Coiler definitely changed this for me - I really like icy conditions now. I still hate the slush, though. I'll ride it for a bit, but lots of slush early on is enough to send me home packing.

[Bobby Buggs]

Slush= Soft boots. Screw carving then.

[Guest]

I find it interesting that many of you can remember exactly when something happened to catapult you to the next level. I can't recall a single "eureka!" moment, just the day to day riding.

That said, I can remember the best powder days I have had quite vividly...

[Mr.E]

It's all slow progress over here.

[Steph]

I have to agree with Bobby Buggs here. Time on the hill is what improved my riding the most. The first season we moved to VT, I was able to ride everyday. That season was like 3 seasons in 1(wish I still could do that:)). I remember that with each new day, I would feel minor improvements, and movements felt smoother, as muscle memory kicked in. I remember the first day I made a really good heel side turn, and I thought "holy crap, that felt so right, I need to do that again and again"!! Little things came to me w/more time on hill. You can read all you want, and talk about carving until the cows come home, buy new equipment, but in the end, time on hill really makes a ton of difference.

FYI, not saying that reading about carving, chatting about carving, and trying new equipment doesn't help, as I know that it does. But, in order to make improvements, you must ride.

[b0ardski]

For me it's been very gradual improvement over 20+yrs of 50-70 days per of practice. I've never had the advantage of riding with other hardbooters.

1st advance of note early on was learning to flow/think like water; transitions became fluid and cross under/over got smooth and set the carving hook deep in my soul.

Getting low came later with a combination of gear upgrades(including stance dial in) and hero snow days.

Started slow with asym alp and made some of my best "euro carves" on a k2 eldo and Idendity AM carbon. I like wider boards for EC.

The last jump was getting the Madd BX(sig pic) a couple years ago which made low precision carves on uber steep, hard packed winch cat groomers easy:ices_ange

The next jump will be a plate to tame the 185 carbon gs in less than hero conditions, then I'll be a "big boy".

[RideGuy]

When I took my plates off my O2 Proton and put them on my O2 SuperCross which I was previously using with softboots. That was the turning point. That would be the start of me going hard boots only and never riding soft boots again. (well that, and a torn peroneal tendon sheath).

I would eventually make it back on the Proton and learn to enjoy it. :)

[Steve Prokopiw]

happened for me one day when following a couple of other riders that were rubbing their hips on heelsides .I had been exclusively on hardboots for six years by that point but watching as Jeff and Danny dropped into their heel edge turns with power and trust,made me willing to let go enough to not fear the edge, and to think of turning as expression instead of just point A to B.

[Bobby Buggs]

Ok big leap day, back in 2003 or 4 I was at a "Killington Carvefest" Remember those days:biggthump This was the Pico day and many people stopped at noon as it was like 50 degrees and a bit mushy. Dave Morgan was kind enough to lend me his Coiler Am 173. I remember this well because he had 26s and I was in 27s, No tools for the Catek but he said ahhh it will fit. I felt my boots distort when he closed the binding but I said WTF. He had them set at 65X62 highest angles I had been at, but it totally took away any sliding the board with a back foot kick. I had to actually do the turn properly.

I was chasing Carvefather heelside across the hill when I found my self at the end of the trail right on a drop. I had to commit to a toe side turn right there or hit the trees. Bang I tossed the board to a toe side and started the turn on the Downhill edge:eek: WOW what a feeling. I did the same run over and over setting up for that toe side on the drop. I realized if you have zero skid you can ride the DH edge and not get housed. I felt it was a major break through and ordered my first Coiler as soon as I got home.

[kinpa]

I don't think I've had one specific moment where everything clicked (and I'm still quite far from keeping up with the big boys!). Everything I do in life is done one little baby step at a time. For the most part I'm content with what I'm doing now and just try to find ways to add some excitement sliding on the snow.... I hate to say it, but last year, and probably this year too, that excitement came from getting a new pair of skis! I'm sure that I ride the best when I'm trying to keep up with those who are better than me. On my annual trip, I claim it's for my "inspiration and motivation" Heck, even when I was a kid I had to keep up with my big brother!!!! From reading others posts in this thread, I really hope my "eureka" moment will come when I finally get on some modern (maybe even custom! ) gear...... ahhhhhhh..... someday..... one can only dream!

[lafcadio]

After a year of hardbooting, I still have a long way to go, but had a mini breakthrough tonight. After inspecting my tracks, I realized I was not finishing one turn before starting the next one. My mantra for the night was "Finish your turns! Finish your turns!"

I spent most of the evening concentrating on making sure to complete one turn so I was parallel to the hill, before transition to my other edge and starting the next.

Even after I was conscience of this fact, and concentrating on it, I realized for the next few runs, I was STILL not finishing my turns. It took a few more runs, but eventually I started linking turns and making nice half circles down the slope.

It felt great! I just wish my body would catch up to where my mind was at the end of last season!

[Loc]

It happened in spurts for me. The most significant one came when attending Snowperformance at Mammoth. Mike Jacoby and Sean Cassidy are great teachers