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Beast 2019


*Ace*

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13 hours ago, Tugboater said:

Today was the best day I've had on the slopes in a few years. Everything was perfect, the snow, the weather, the lack of crowds, everything.  It was nice to meet some more of you guys! Thanks for the tip!

Eric, it was a pleasure getting to meet you. I wish we were able to catch you earlier and take some runs together. 

You were laying some serious trenches and contributing to the utter destruction of Exhibition much to the chagrin of the non-carving skiers and snowboarders. Hey, it's not a proper carving session if we don't hear complaints about what we're doing to the hill and we did not disappoint! :biggthump

Regarding your technique and things to look at for improvement: 

1. Toeside turns look fantastic! Your mass is stacked over the edge and you're making clean carved arcs.

2. Concentrate on looking WAY up into the turns, especially on heelside turns ("look up to hook up")

3. On heelside turns your lower and upper body (knees, hips, torso, and shoulders) are out of position for a heelside turn and still mostly facing the toeside direction. This causes your butt to stick out on heelside turns and is typical of a snowboarder with many years of soft boot riding experience. This can also be seen on heelside turns in the video you posted in the "Critique my riding" thread.

To combat this try the following when starting a heelside turn: 

  • Turn your head towards heelside and look into the direction of your turn.
  • Drop the hip by "corksrewing down" rotating hips towards heelside edge of the board. You will need to significantly bend your back knee more than you already are. 
  • This will cause your belt buckle to turn towards the nose of your board and your mass to be lower to the heelside edge.
  • Concentrate on placing more weight (up to 75% on mild green, more on steeper pitches) on the front heel. 
  • Torso and shoulders must follow the hips. For regular rider making heelside turn to left, your right arm MUST be in front of you. Extend your right arm and touch your right hand to your left knee, left boot, or board ahead of your front binding. 
  • Look even further up into the turn. Your goggles should be visible to someone following you (or taking a photo) from behind.

 The last point is important for safety and technique. When watching a video of yourself taken from someone following you with a camera, you should always catch a glimpse of your goggles on turns. If not, you're not looking far enough into the turn. On toeside turns you should easily have a clear view of the hill above you. If someone is following with a camera, you should see them. 

If it's too much to do at once, just start by looking farther into the turn. Then add the boot grab. 

Keep at it and I look forward to getting the chance to ride with you again! 

Edited by lafcadio
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I was disappointed we didnt get to spend more time with you. I was hoping to have a good 3 runs with you but I had to skoot. I agree with what Mike said, I saw your lower half still in a bit of a toe side orientation when you went to go heel. Its actually blocking you from getting  into proper position to nail heelsides. Since that was my 2nd day out this year I really had to focus on getting my head around in my heelsides. I couple times I found my self looking up at the sky when I had a bad heelside instead of looking across the trail. Unfortunately Im headed back south for next weekend and wont be back till the 23rd, that leaves a possible day on the 24th if theres anything left worth trying to carve on by then. 

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  • 6 months later...

Awesome day at Thunder Mountain yesterday !!

Looks like with some changes at my job, Ill be hitting that place up this winter season on Thursday nights as well. Anyone ride there Thursday nights. The best part is I always thought Berkshire East was actually Eagle Brook Schools mountain. For years I drove by Eagle Brook on 91, thinking that was the Beast. LMAO !!!

 

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  • 5 weeks later...

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