Back to “Norms”

[pow4ever]

4 hours ago, Beckmann AG said:

->Although you left out our discussion on Detroit Diesel superchargers?

Still got the 671 blower and Weind manifold with bird catch scoop lol...

Very nicely put...  You are surely missed at the Loaf.
I enjoy this sport is because I had to really struggle with it (a minor case of "stockholm syndrome")
If everything is easy/peasy; i would probably moved on to something else.
It's just challenging enough so if I worked my ass off; i sometime make some progress.  lol... 

substitute:  child/student  father/Beckman  

-This essay appeared in Ann Landers, "Wake Up and Smell the Coffee!"
(New York: Villard, 1996)

A Child says at:
4 years: My daddy can do anything.
7 years: My dad knows a lot, a whole lot.
8 years: My father doesn't know quite everything.
12 years: Oh, well, naturally Father doesn't know that, either.
14 years: Father? Hopelessly old-fashioned.
21 years: Oh, that man is out-of-date. What did you expect?
25 years: He knows a little bit about it, but not much.
30 years: Maybe we ought to find out what Dad thinks.
35 years: A little patience. Let's get Dad's
assessment before we do anything.
50 years: I wonder what Dad would have thought
about that. He was pretty smart.
60 years: My dad knew absolutely everything!
65 years: "I'd give anything if Dad were here so I could talk this over
with him. I really miss that man."
 

[1xsculler]

I am going to dead lift my quads to jelly every other day while on Maui for two weeks.

well, maybe three days per week alternating with squats. 

[BlueB]

How about surfing, windsurfung or kiting, instead?

[1xsculler]

I used to windsurf and kiteboard on Maui but that big bad ocean became too intimidating for this 76 year old. 
I paddle my surfski now. 

[jng]

1 hour ago, 1xsculler said:

dead lift my quads to jelly every other day

Many strength building programs recommend only 1 day of deadlifting per week. It’s tough on the body if you’re lifting heavy. Recommend mixing squats in. 

[1xsculler]

7 minutes ago, jng said:

Many strength building programs recommend only 1 day of deadlifting per week. It’s tough on the body if you’re lifting heavy. Recommend mixing squats in. 

I appreciate that and will probably follow your instructions as I am new to weightlifting.

[jng]

Cannot stress enough to focus on form over weight. There’s no shame with starting with just the bar. Too easy to get injured. 

[1xsculler]

50 minutes ago, jng said:

Cannot stress enough to focus on form over weight. There’s no shame with starting with just the bar. Too easy to get injured. 

I appreciate that very much. I am no stranger to injuries from rowing, etc. 

[Corey]

Ramp up that training program reasonably!  More is not better.  There are many options and opinions as there are Instagram accounts, but coming from a medical background you'd probably appreciate this approach: https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/the-beginner-prescription/ 

You can omit all the upper body stuff if you want.  I wouldn't, but I'm not you.    Note that all numbers are used for guidelines only.  They don't really expect you to get under a barbell for the first time at 76 years old and squatting a set of 4 reps with 60kg (132 lbs) on the bar!  They want you to progressively add weight until you feel like you couldn't do two more reps (i.e. RPE of 8).  

[Allee]

You know how I learned to carve? My instructor had me start at the top of he hill, with my hands behind my back, roll down the hill a bit and then tip on to my toes, let the board hook up and carve, and ride it out to the end of the turn. No leaning, no crouching,  no fancy arm waving, standing pretty much upright for stance.

You know how long it took me to do that? An entire frigging morning. And I probably had two attempts left before I would have thrown an epic tantrum, and cried like a girl (oh, wait ...). But all it took was to get that single hook up and ride out, and cue the hallelujah chorus. Once I had that, I could repeat it. Then it took me about a quarter of the time to get it on heelside, and by the end of that day we were off to the races. I spent the next three days riding hands behind my back and by the end of the trip I could ride an entire lap of a blue run at Sun Peaks in perfect form. So simple, and so effective. So effective that if I'm having a day where I feel tentative or unbalanced on the board, I'll find a mellow run and run laps with my hands behind my back, to dial everything back in.

You can do that on any skinny run on the hill, if you want something to practice and you're going back to basics anyway. Just saying.

Edited January 30, 2020 by Allee

[Beckmann AG]

On 1/29/2020 at 2:05 PM, pow4ever said:

Nice things in a manner befitting character.

A little excessive, but thanks.

Hopefully we can connect again and 'fix stuff without actually fixing stuff'.

 

->Was speaking with a friend on the topic the other day, and they pointed out that one key to success is taking joy in the otherwise mundane chore of relegating and resolving the thousand minor details; striking a balance between the party and the housekeeping.

[1xsculler]

On 1/22/2020 at 7:19 PM, dgCarve said:

Hi @1xsculler, I think I have seen you at Crystal mountain few times, that’s why decided to write my first post here…

I can share my experience. I have started riding alpine setup not a very long time ago. My experience may help you. This is not by any means something what is “right”, but something what helped me.

 

I had similar problems as you: burning my quads, not enough space on the slope, too crowdy slopes, bad conditions of the slope. As a result I used to do lots of sliding instead of carving.

 

1. Playing with my stance solved half of the burning legs problem. Found that even couple degrees of lift or canting can make a huge different.

2. I stoped following just one “school” of carving. And found that using different techniques makes my riding more fun, adaptable to situation, safe, and not too exhausting - much easier on my legs. I ride 75% racing style, 10% bomber/cmc, 15% “mild” EC/rotational push and pull :-).

3. I have tried to ride "low and compact“ all the time. And "low/compact“ means that my chest was resting on my knees sometimes during heel side turn. My quads were not happy. And it was dangerous at Crystal, where runs are narrow, with lots of people. Too high chance that somebody will hit you (had few close calls). Always using directional stance and sitting “compact”, controlling your speed by closed turns (means going slow downhill) is very limiting and not always needed. And requires lots of space.

4. I rode often and I increased my confidence. I started to ride faster and started to use more of racing technique (see Midweighting on YouTube). Now I rarely go super “low/compact”. Look at racers, they never go super compact, even during free carving - like Sigi. Same goes to some amazing carvers from Korea and Japan. However I can make my turns much smaller than before, as I can use my legs to really pressure the board. I can speed up or slowdown by pressuring the board differently during the turn (another tool in addition to angulation). Surprisingly I found that I can control my speed more efficiently than just using extended “closed” carves, and I use much less space. I am riding faster than before so it is not as dangerous (less chances to be hit by others). I do not have to wait for big gaps between other riders to drop in. Plus now I carve much better when runs at Crystal are really copped up. I just have more stability and agility now - I can change my directions much faster in case of “emergency” comparing to “forward facing” bomber style.  

5. Surpassingly I found that faster and higher G turns, without scraping the slope (mostly - as you still will touch slope with your hips and knees if you want and/or need), are super fun too!

6. At steeper, narrow and crowded places (like steep section of Downhill run at Crystal) I (try to) use drifting racing technique. It is not sliding and is very fun. Requires little space and every turn still ends with a carve :-).

7. When I ride, I often repeat in my head: “heaps, knees, heaps, knees, …” (check Galmarini Gillette video on YouTube). Rest of the body just follows. This simple thing somehow improved my angulation a lot. Made my turns much more compact.

 

P.S. Again, this is not necessary “right” or will work for everyone. It just worked for me :-).

 

 

What does “heaps knees” mean?

[west carven]

howdy

like blueb said at 76 you should try knitting... make cool beanies... keeps your head warm when it snows...

[pow4ever]

2 hours ago, 1xsculler said:

What does “heaps knees” mean?

hip/knee, hip/knee

~2:00 mark

 

[lonbordin]

16 minutes ago, pow4ever said:

hip/knee, hip/knee

Crazy to think his rear boot is completely locked in that forward lean position.

[SunSurfer]

5 minutes ago, lonbordin said:

Crazy to think his rear boot is completely locked in that forward lean position.

And interesting to ponder whether that made a contribution to the back issues that forced him, hopefully temporarily, out of competition.

[dgCarve]

3 hours ago, lonbordin said:

Crazy to think his rear boot is completely locked in that forward lean position.

Sometime ago I switched to very stiff boot setup with locked lean. I found that this forces me to remove lots of unneeded and completely unless motions from my riding. EC style of riding is close to impossible with such setup...

Edited January 31, 2020 by dgCarve

[1xsculler]

18 hours ago, Corey said:

Ramp up that training program reasonably!  More is not better.  There are many options and opinions as there are Instagram accounts, but coming from a medical background you'd probably appreciate this approach: https://www.barbellmedicine.com/blog/the-beginner-prescription/ 

You can omit all the upper body stuff if you want.  I wouldn't, but I'm not you.    Note that all numbers are used for guidelines only.  They don't really expect you to get under a barbell for the first time at 76 years old and squatting a set of 4 reps with 60kg (132 lbs) on the bar!  They want you to progressively add weight until you feel like you couldn't do two more reps (i.e. RPE of 8).  

Thanks, Corey. 

[bigwavedave]

That extreme locked-in rear boot is not for all day riding, at least not for me. The only time I liked it was on very steep. Otherwise, I feel like I have a more fluid motion with bts.

That's a great video.

Along with everything else mentioned in the video I would also note note the up & down movement in the transitions. Really helps assert power into the turn, initiates decambering the board and feels like it helps set the edge. And, it gets you into a rhythm.

Also, around 2:54 (where it's most obvious), how the front hand stays over the nose of the board. It's a good exercise to get your upper body in a good place. I have been finding it a helpful practice, especially in challenging conditions (we've had a lot of icy days this year). It helps tone down the off balance arm flailing and helps keep your body in a strong and stable stance.

[1xsculler]

12 hours ago, pow4ever said:

hip/knee, hip/knee

~2:00 mark

 

Great vid for Race Carving which is high speed, fall line carving with lots of skidding.  I’m sure Galmarini can free carve with the best of them but I like to watch the vids of big, free carved arcs, going back up the slope at the end of each turn with zero skidding as that’s my goal. 

[dgCarve]

 

1 hour ago, 1xsculler said:

Great vid for Race Carving which is high speed, fall line carving with lots of skidding.  I’m sure Galmarini can free carve with the best of them but I like to watch the vids of big, free carved arcs, going back up the slope at the end of each turn with zero skidding as that’s my goal. 

Actually in the video there is no skidding, maybe a bit of drift in gates at steep section, but not much. Racers use drift only when gates are too close, or slope is very steep. When he was free carving there was 0 skidding and no drifting. Racing technique is different from free carving and works amazing for tight crowded resorts. Speed is controlled by pressuring the board. No closed arcs. No forward directional stance, squared to bindings (forward stance slows downs edge switching and does not allow you to pressure the board as efficiently). 

High dynamic pressure almost required if you ride SL board, for GS boards not as important, as speeds are much higher.

Good example of racing technique applied for free carving is Sigi's videos and Blue Plug-In 6. In Blue Plug in you may see some wide tracks - they are not skidding. Guys just put super high pressure on board at extreme angles. Sometimes softer snow on top simply can not handle it...

[dgCarve]

2 hours ago, 1xsculler said:

Great vid for Race Carving which is high speed, ...

If you want to carve at lower speed I think options are:
1) Do big arks, and have relaxed stance. On steep slopes it is not an option.
2) Do small arks, and have very compact low stance. Physically very hard. Example: 

3) Do small arks by doing lots of vertical work, push and pull technique. Physically much easier that 2).
4) On steep slopes you can do EC, this is just next step from 3). Requires very good technique. But it is easier to achieve than good racing technique, I think.... (am I not great at EC, do not like that style to be honest...  ))

Edited January 31, 2020 by dgCarve

[1xsculler]

3 hours ago, dgCarve said:

If you want to carve at lower speed I think options are:
1) Do big arks, and have relaxed stance. On steep slopes it is not an option.
2) Do small arks, and have very compact low stance. Physically very hard. Example: 

3) Do small arks by doing lots of vertical work, push and pull technique. Physically much easier that 2).
4) On steep slopes you can do EC, this is just next step from 3). Requires very good technique. But it is easier to achieve than good racing technique, I think.... (am I not great at EC, do not like that style to be honest...  ))

Beautiful carving on this vid of the type I would like to learn to do.  I'm impressed by EC but also not interested in it and, of coursed can't do it either.

The points you made above I find very helpful.

[dgCarve]

16 minutes ago, 1xsculler said:

Beautiful carving of the type I would like to learn to do on this vid.  I'm impressed by EC but also not a fan of it.

I worked mostly on this type of carving before I started to work on racing technique. Physically it is super challenging! And am physically very strong, and do lots of different sports... If you work really hard, you may need to go home after few runs :-). It is not a style what you can use to ride all day.  But it looks very impressive, and makes skiers very confused, when they see snowboarder scraping the slope in every turn :-). I still try to ride this style from time to time...

P.S. And this style requires lots of pairs of gloves... LOL 

Edited January 31, 2020 by dgCarve