1xsculler Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 Four days at Jackson, part of the time hot lapping Eagle’s Rest. Shoot, I can carve all day long linking up pencil lines on a gentle slope like this but I expect an increase of a couple of degrees of steepness and I see myself resorting to my old habit of skidding to scrub speed unless the run is very wide so I have room to carve back up the hill and it is perfectly groomed. I think this is why I abandoned this sport in 2005, i.e. so darn condition and terrain specific for a newby. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
barryj Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 21 minutes ago, 1xsculler said: I can carve all day long linking up pencil lines on a gentle slope Congrats Sculley! Sounds like your experiencing improvement! 22 minutes ago, 1xsculler said: an increase of a couple of degrees of steepness and I see myself resorting to my old habit So true....but that's the challenge and satisfaction of pushing to the next level! 24 minutes ago, 1xsculler said: so darn condition and terrain specific for a newby I hear ya brother!....but It's Not Just Newbies! I feel the planets have to align and the groom has to have been blessed by the Pope for me to have a consistent hard charging carving run of carves......On most days I get a couple of good turns and then have to skid and then a good carve and then some more skidding! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big mario Posted January 17, 2021 Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, 1xsculler said: Four days at Jackson, part of the time hot lapping Eagle’s Rest. Shoot, I can carve all day long linking up pencil lines on a gentle slope like this but I expect an increase of a couple of degrees of steepness and I see myself resorting to my old habit of skidding to scrub speed unless the run is very wide so I have room to carve back up the hill and it is perfectly groomed. I think this is why I abandoned this sport in 2005, i.e. so darn condition and terrain specific for a newby. Adding a set of gorilla balls to your tool set will help immensely. Showing less fear and ramping up your aggression as things get steeper will help you in riding the board, and not letting the board ride you. If you ride meekly, and only ride the sidecut, you will keep accelerating until you no longer are in control of the board, your stick is owning you, and you're just along for the ride. Keep riding the easier slopes you are comfortable with, and linking turns. Start putting more energy into the board. You will notice that your turns are tightening and you are slowing down. Drill on this for a few runs, 5 healies in succession, and 5 toes. Then link them. Again. And again. Repetition builds the nerve pathways, and the road to success. Stay off the steeps until you are bored out of your skull, and falling over because you are slowing down so much. Then move on to the steeper stuff. Grab your newly minted gorilla balls and send it Good luck Mario Edited January 18, 2021 by big mario 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1xsculler Posted January 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2021 13 minutes ago, barryj said: Congrats Sculley! Sounds like your experiencing improvement! So true....but that's the challenge and satisfaction of pushing to the next level! I hear ya brother!....but It's Not Just Newbies! I feel the planets have to align and the groom has to have been blessed by the Pope for me to have a consistent hard charging carving run of carves......On most days I get a couple of good turns and then have to skid and then a good carve and then some more skidding! Speakin’ my language! 1 minute ago, big mario said: Adding a set of gorilla balls to your tool set will help immensely. Showing less fear and ramping up your aggression as things get steeper will help you in riding the board, and not letting the board ride you. If you ride meekly, and only ride the sidecut, you will keep accelerating until you no longer are in control of the board, your stick is owning you, and you're just along for the ride. Keep riding the easier slopes you are comfortable and linking turns. Start putting more energy into the board. You will notice that your turns are tightening and you are slowing down. Drill on this for a few runs, 5 healies in succession, and 5 toes. Then link them. Again. And again. Repetition builds the nerve pathways, and the road to success stay of the steeps until you are bored out of your skull, and falling over because you are slowing down so much. Then move on to the steeper stuff. Grab your newly minted gorilla balls and send it Good luck Mario Thanks a bunch! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 Pope and Gorilla Balls i thought politics and religion were not allowed. Savor your time on slopes Covid is calling the shots in Ontario and it's got it's hands firmly around our dangling bits! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big mario Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 One more thing, remember to grunt! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dredman Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 @1xsculler The board you are on will take great care of you. Just tip it a little more up on edge to get it to come around quicker keeping you at the speed you are comfortable with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pow4ever Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 Great article:http://alpinesnowboarder.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Carving-the-Steeps.pdf Great advices by Mario. "Practice doing something badly, and you just get better at doing it badly" So much of it is mental game; which take T.O.M. (time on mountain) to developed. Like Barry; those rare star aligned day keep me coming back for more because i feel like superman The same trail can be carving bliss or hell depends on the condition. Good technique is important. Timing is much quicker, room for error become less, being dynamic and more compress help. Riding the board instead the board controlling. I am sure you and I know most of this but executing it is a different story. Don't beat you self up. Go down the steep with purpose; you might wipe out 10, 100, 1000 times but our body will miraculous fine tune itself. It's a double edge sword, bad habit/survival mode also developed that way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigwavedave Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 Did you have fun carving on the easy runs? That's the most important thing. It's one reason Buttermilk is so popular for carving. It's also less busy and people are going slower, so less chance of getting clipped by some aggro skier. Then go do a few runs on something that challenges you, that makes you focus on technic (and grunting), and then when you go back to the easy run and you'll find you've gotten better. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 And don't be ashamed of skidding. It's part of life. Yes, I'd like to make ribbon-candy turns from top to bottom, but I throw in skids as needed so the next carve can start in control. The pursuit of perfection is a distraction. The real art is dealing with stuff so well that it looks like perfection. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dredman Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 I skid turns every run. I only post pictures of carving turns. The magic of still pictures....it is a nanosecond of time, you do not get to witness all the flailing and skidding before and after that snapshot of time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eboot Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 Responding from the perspective of facing my own speed fear demons at the moment. Knowing your terrain in advance removes some of the fear. Making a few faster runs on the known terrain to let your body learn that actual speed is not the enemy, this without trying to carve, just manage speed. Once these 2 factors are covered, focusing your carving on linking just a few turns before deliberately stopping and starting again. Repeat the carving efforts on the same spots until you feel comfortable adding some more linked turns before continuing. Each of the above slowly removes one of the multiple variables one faces pushing a fear barrier. The mind is a strange animal and the fear of not being in control is real, carving without shaving off speed means that one is constantly accelerating, resulting in the fear becoming a necessary feedback loop. Just my 2 cents. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lamby Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 Skidding is a big part of my riding. I'm not obsessed with carving a pencil thin line for every bit of every run. I'm dumping speed when I need or want to. I use a skid, when that makes sense, or if it seems like doing so will add to the fun I'm having. I'm with Corey: 30 minutes ago, Corey said: And don't be ashamed of skidding. It's part of life. Yes, I'd like to make ribbon-candy turns from top to bottom, but I throw in skids as needed so the next carve can start in control. The pursuit of perfection is a distraction. The real art is dealing with stuff so well that it looks like perfection. Many years ago, when I was an apprentice carpenter, a journeyman carpenter friend gave me some sage advice. He said, "Don't strive for perfection. It's unattainable. Instead, strive for the illusion of perfection." My snowboarding is far from perfect, and far from even an illusion of perfection. But I think a good deal of the joy I find in alpine snowboarding is in concentrating on finding fun ways to slide around on the mountain. At times it's trying to hold carved turns one after the other. At other times it's about sliding and slashing speed, then a carve or two, then start a carve, then slide into a skid, or vice-versa. on and on having fun and not concerning myself with always trying to carve every bit of every turn. The type of riding where every turn is carved perfectly is awesome. More power to those who want to pursue that exclusively. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Ace* Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 36 minutes ago, dredman said: I skid turns every run. I only post pictures of carving turns. The magic of still pictures....it is a nanosecond of time, you do not get to witness all the flailing and skidding before and after that snapshot of time. I saw this one video of you and it appears you are engaged in a carve that lasts at least 10 or 15 seconds and carries you a hundred feet or more down the slope. How do you explain that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lordmetroland Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 3 hours ago, big mario said: minted gorilla balls Coincidentally, that’s the newest Ben&Jerry’s flavor... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dredman Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 10 minutes ago, *Ace* said: I saw this one video of you and it appears you are engaged in a carve that lasts at least 10 or 15 seconds and carries you a hundred feet or more down the slope. How do you explain that? That was the Montucky version of a Sword Eurocarve. I can't seem to find that video to repost it. Will try and recreate it this MCC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SunSurfer Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 1 hour ago, dredman said: That was the Montucky version of a Sword Eurocarve. I can't seem to find that video to repost it. Will try and recreate it this MCC. Is this the one, a couple of minutes in there's some guy in a onesie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjnakata Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 (edited) While I do a lot of skidding and slarving what keeps me doing the same local "testpiece" run over and over has to do with something like this: The Perfect Lap Maybe once, or maybe never in a day do I get it just right, but when I do it makes me keep coming back and back and back. The other thing I have to do, especially on new terrain, or a new day is "preview" the run once or twice before feeling comfortable enough to try a carving run. I just sort of skid through it. I want to see if there are any ruts or merges or obstructions I should be aware of. Only with a preview do I feel comfortable to trust enough to go for it. That's just me. Edited January 18, 2021 by rjnakata my best thinking comes after I hit "post" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dredman Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 1 hour ago, SunSurfer said: Is this the one, a couple of minutes in there's some guy in a onesie Very close... there was a clip from Aspen that had a few of those stylish turns linked together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimW Posted January 18, 2021 Report Share Posted January 18, 2021 I'd suggest first practice scrubbing speed on that gentle slope that you are comfortable on. Unweigh on transitions, angulate and push in the turns to tighten those turns to loose speed. When you get more and more aggressive you will get to the point that between series of turns, you will have to let the board run to gain speed. Or better, move to a steeper slope. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st_lupo Posted January 19, 2021 Report Share Posted January 19, 2021 You're linking your sought after pencil thin lines all day, congratulations that was a major goal for you and I think that's awesome! You've got the fever and the only prescription is more pitch. On mellow slopes it is relatively easy to keep your speed inside your comfort zone without making full c-shape carves and while riding the side-cut. (I actually have a problem carving on greens because I think the board gets all tippy and my sense of balance doesn't react too well to that). Moving up to steeper slopes will (to a point) require a bit more speed that you need to get comfortable with. For me both blues and black typically top out at about 35km/h. One thing that sets the steeper grades (blues and steeper) apart from greens is that they require muuuch more of your technique (hip rotation, body stacking, etc need to be practiced and improved). There are plenty of good pointers on the site for drills and fundamental "mnemonics" to try out. Try one thing at a time (several times), and if it helps, go through the whole mental exercise to try to figure out why it helped. Also is the mind-game: progressively steeper grades require an increasingly more proactive mindset where you are mentally fully committing to the _next_ turn even while you are controlling for the current turn. We _all_ skid when we need to, but I bet my diamond stones start hopping around on the prep-table each time that I do. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pow4ever Posted January 19, 2021 Report Share Posted January 19, 2021 great tip/reminder. book marked to read/re-read and get frustrated on the mountain that online snowboard doesn't work quite as well in the real world if experience taught me anything re: scrubbing speed.... TIL Everyone is faking it; some just hide it better than other lol This season's take away so far: it's cathartic to realized -- There is always going to be someone better (for the mere mortal) Strive to do better but don't beat yourself up too much (find a balance). Almost rage quit(i am going to drive home and cut my trip short) when ROI hits diminishing return; went took a long walk in the wood for the first time when the lift is still running and had a great time next day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1xsculler Posted January 19, 2021 Author Report Share Posted January 19, 2021 With all of your comments I am finally putting things into proper perspective and I thank you for that. bluebird groomer day today at Crystal and for the first time this year it feels like mid-week skiing again. Ok, I got this and I am over beating myself up! CARVE WHERE YOU CAN...SKID WHERE YOU HAVE TO and constantly work on reducing your skidding. I can live with and really enjoy this! 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pow4ever Posted January 19, 2021 Report Share Posted January 19, 2021 welcome and enjoy the hell that is carving plateau/purgatory J/K! Really happy to hear you are able to see the big/overall picture and put things in perspective. I am going through same struggle on multiple front but it's much easy to just let it go. Amazing what mental gymnastic can do lol... Definitely not going to give up trying to do better each time but embrace the idea that "it's a process". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pow4ever Posted January 20, 2021 Report Share Posted January 20, 2021 at the risk of beating a dead horse "To understand music, you must listen to it. But so long as you are thinking, “I am listening to this music,” you are not listening"* Chasing that "singular clarity" To be effortless it’s to do as little as possible but much efforts are needed in order to have the appearance of effortlessness. Same/apply with carving. if we over analyzed, over think. We are not riding in the moment. But to be able to carve in the moment we must be mindful on what to practice, what's going. rinse/repeat and 'profit(goal)"? *ref: https://antilogicalism.files.wordpress.com/2017/07/wisdom-of-insecurity.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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