How to Carve a Snowboard

[crackaddict]

2 hours ago, Hug Masso said:

Do you think sometime you could do a similar video but with the hardboot technique?

Oh yeah, no problem.  This one only took me a year to put together...

Seriously though, the hardboot market is less than one percent of the soft, and the hardbooters already have a lot of this information.  So no.  No one wants to watch hardboot videos anymore, sadly.  If I had made this exact video in hardboots it would probably have less than a thousand views.

Fortunately, the techniques are pretty much identical.  Most of this curriculum was developed on hardboots actually, back when I was trying to figure out how to carve and would read and re-read and try to decipher the technique articles on Bomber.  All the drills work in hardboots, it's the same body positions and movements too.  The biggest change I would say is that the oblique crunch is more pronounced in the steeper hardboot stance.

Later, maybe, will come an addendum for carving in a duck stance.  We'll see.  One thing at a time.  The wife says first I need to clean up my room, then I can start working on Part II.

 

11 minutes ago, Pusbag said:

Going to try to make a trip up to visit.

Hell yes!

 

1 hour ago, Xargo said:

another vid from the same place with duck setup

You looked smoother in the posi-posi stance...  No surprises there.  Cool vid. 

Your long, uncontrolled head first slide is the main reason my boards are so wide.  Been there.  Scary when there's a tree or a skier in my path.

[Hug Masso]

54 minutes ago, crackaddict said:

Oh yeah, no problem.  This one only took me a year to put together...

Seriously though, the hardboot market is less than one percent of the soft, and the hardbooters already have a lot of this information.  So no.  No one wants to watch hardboot videos anymore, sadly.  If I had made this exact video in hardboots it would probably have less than a thousand views.

I understand perfectly.

Youtube appeal aside, truth is there are lots of soft boot carving technique videos but none as complete as yours. On the other hand there is not much hardboot carving technique videos, and definitely NONE as complete as yours. If someone where to make it, that would bridge an enormous gap. But one can only wish…  

One question if I may: as for the up-unweighted transition, when things get steep, icy and narrow, do you use a down-unweighted transition? I feel its faster and safer. If so, do the remaining part of the turn follows the same technique (compression at the apex and slowly standing op to the next transition)?
 

Thanks James,

Hugo 

Edited January 25 by Hug Masso
Wanted to add a question

[crackaddict]

25 minutes ago, Hug Masso said:

One question if I may: as for the up-unweighted transition, when things get steep, icy and narrow, do you use a down-unweighted transition? I feel its faster and safer. If so, do the remaining part of the turn follows the same technique (compression at the apex and slowly standing op to the next transition)?

Yes, I do the down-unweighted turn sometimes.  Usually when there's a steep roller or if I'm running out of space at the side.  So I'll suck up my knees in the transition and extend through the apex.  It slows me down and tightens up the turn, I sometimes end up with both hands and my chest on the snow, @caspercarver style.  I feel like it's cheating but the crowds seem to like it...

Look at this short video for examples of both types of turns.  I start the upper slope with my usual up-unweighting (not so obvious because I like to minimize the compression when it's possible) and the last three turns lower down are down-unweighted because of the big roller (first toeside in the video), then the lack of space for the follow up heelside and now I'm in this rhythm so the final turn is down-unweighted too.  This happens naturally from my instinct for self-preservation, I don't really think about it. 

For me, it's the safety turn.  For others, the down-unweighted extremecarve is the ultimate expression of style.

 

[b.free]

Down-unweighted extremecarve sometimes is the only way, especially if you are on 20m radius board. Otherwise, lines will be way too long and way too fast to control. 

James is amazing rider and very knowledgeable guy, very happy to finally meet in person and ride together!

[Hug Masso]

13 hours ago, crackaddict said:

Yes, I do the down-unweighted turn sometimes.  Usually when there's a steep roller or if I'm running out of space at the side.  So I'll suck up my knees in the transition and extend through the apex.  It slows me down and tightens up the turn, I sometimes end up with both hands and my chest on the snow, @caspercarver style.  I feel like it's cheating but the crowds seem to like it...

Look at this short video for examples of both types of turns.  I start the upper slope with my usual up-unweighting (not so obvious because I like to minimize the compression when it's possible) and the last three turns lower down are down-unweighted because of the big roller (first toeside in the video), then the lack of space for the follow up heelside and now I'm in this rhythm so the final turn is down-unweighted too.  This happens naturally from my instinct for self-preservation, I don't really think about it. 

For me, it's the safety turn.  For others, the down-unweighted extremecarve is the ultimate expression of style.

 

Ok I see, that was again a very clear explanation, and yes, that style is very visually attractive to some people. Me personally dont like it much, this is why I like your style because it is quite antagonic to the EC style, as you clearly like to point out .

This is why I didnt expect you were going so close to the EC style when down-unweighting. I have never tried the extension through the turn, but from a physics point of view it makes sense to do it since it seemingly allows you to really crank the board high on edge and tighten the turn by pressure applied throughout, apart from the slowing down you get from dragging arms on the snow. However, it looks like you NEED to put your hands down to maintain equilibrium, and thats something I try to avoid since my shoulders popped out 2 years ago. The EC style could maybe or theoretically be done without using support from your hands, but that might be very difficult and have NEVER seen someone do EC without dragging body parts on the snow.

What I try to do instead is downunweight in the transition, which by releasing the pressure on the edge, concentrical force and gravity propels my body to the downhill/other edge easily, but then, instead of going for the EC extension, I extend a small bit, and still try to compress up to the apex, so as to try to put as much pressure in the board before the “patience” part of the turn, avoiding skidding or chatter caused by excessive pressure on the edge in the last part of the turn. It is clear to me the more pressure you are able to put  on the edge on the first part of the turn, the less pressure is needed in the second part where forces are more heavily build, causing the skidding or chatter etc (not to mention complete washout when conditions are icy).
 

All in all, I do the exact same thing you do (only far less competently since I am on my second season hardbooting) but doing the transition downunweighting instead of upunweighting. This also has the benefit of not forcing me to support my body on the snow, which, as I said, seems to go inevitably hand in hand with the EC style.

Makes sense? 

I hope I explained myself correctly, and sorry for the length. I am no native english speaker. 
 

Thank you James

[Rob Stevens]

Hey James. 
 

 Some great stuff in there. 
 I really like “Finishiation”… an excellent way to simply describe the continuous nature of connected turns, when you never really “finish” until you stop. 
 

 Otherwise, I’d say that what you’re on to isn’t so much a “lost art”… it’s really more about taking known principles to their limit. 
 

 A couple of things I’d take exception to… a zero degree or slightly negative back foot wouldn’t preclude carving on steeps in a speed controlled and “stylish” manner. The ability to mimic the angle of your front foot, or to be even more “open” to your direction of travel is more a function of hip, knee and ankle mobility. I’m at about -3 which has the inside of my binding at 0, but have no trouble being open. Very mobile pals of mine ride rather shocking rearward angles, carve steeps, but have excellent flexibility allowing that to happen. 
 I’d also say that what’s shown as “slarving” is actually the very basic “linked side-slip”. A true sliding carve is as difficult to master as pencil line carving. A commenter here once described slarving as akin to WRC style driving, where carving is more like F1… Intentional drifting to steer, as opposed to that being very limited (but not absent… especially if your tires are “going away”). 
 

 Lastly, my pal Lars at Stranda snowboards is a carver in the vein of James. Both however are spider men and climbers in the 150 lb “fully dressed” category. Certain techniques need to be modified for the “Clydesdale’s” like myself… particularly around the need to combine down unweighted finishes with the initiation and apex execution done in up unweighting. 

 

Edited January 26 by Rob Stevens

[Neil Gendzwill]

Can confirm, Rob can lay it over with his stance no problem.

[ShortcutToMoncton]

++Fortress

[softbootsurfer]

Rob Stevens:

I’d also say that what’s shown as “slarving” is actually the very basic “linked side-slip”. A true sliding carve is as difficult to master as pencil line carving. A commenter here once described slarving as akin to WRC style driving, where carving is more like F1… Intentional drifting to steer, as opposed to that being very limited (but not absent… especially if your tires are “going away”). 
 

So...

I don't Always Slarve, but when I do? It is because I want to... 

[Cthulhufish]

On 1/25/2024 at 11:05 AM, crackaddict said:

No one wants to watch hardboot videos anymore, sadly.

I would have loved to have found a decent let alone good video on hardboot carving when I started a few years ago. I think these things are cyclical. There is little easily accessible information on alpine boarding, so it's hard to get into alpine boarding, so there's little interest in content about alpine boarding.

[Odd Job]

I refer to ski technique. It's a more established sport and more performance-centric than not.

Edited January 27 by Odd Job

[SunSurfer]

14 hours ago, Rob Stevens said:

… a zero degree or slightly negative back foot wouldn’t preclude carving on steeps in a speed controlled and “stylish” manner. The ability to mimic the angle of your front foot, or to be even more “open” to your direction of travel is more a function of hip, knee and ankle mobility. I’m at about -3 which has the inside of my binding at 0, but have no trouble being open. Very mobile pals of mine ride rather shocking rearward angles, carve steeps, but have excellent flexibility allowing that to happen.

Flexibility in ankles, knees, hips and lumbar spine required to get that "open" or "+" stance with the line of the shoulders across a softboot board with low binding angles. Core muscle strength (abdominals and paraspinal muscles) also essential.

Yoga / Pilates /similar, cardio, and leg strength training combined would be useful preparation to then follow @crackaddict technique.

Older, stiffer people (like me, about to turn 65) just move to gradually steeper angles and hardboots with stepin bindings to keep feeding our carve addiction.

[Poloturbo]

Great stuff and I'm sharing to friends.

 

You're at 67k views that's very nice, in 6 days.

[pow4ever]

haha... i watch about 50k times.

writing down mostly for myself -
patience was a great reminder/tip/lesson.  it never occur to me; that i was trying to do too much too fast  as i feel i am always a beat or two behind.

i have lots of problem between front/back side imbalnce.
some day my toe side is stronger some day my heel is my go to.
Today i trust my heel more and by being more patience on the front/toe side.
It got me closer to that carving eden(balance) that I was kick out of.

a useful feedback loop.
When everything click - snowboard make a low frequency whoosh sound almost rumbling.
speed/energy getting burned off.  It's addicting. 

[crackaddict]

On 1/26/2024 at 10:06 AM, Rob Stevens said:

 I really like “Finishiation”… an excellent way to simply describe the continuous nature of connected turns, when you never really “finish” until you stop. 

This I stole, like most of my curriculum.  This one from Tom who was (is?) a hardboot instructor in Aspen, he used to do clinics at SES and ATC. 

I might revisit duck carving this season too, just to see how far I can take it, inform myself and pay attention to the changes in technique so I can try to teach it later.  If it's only a question of mobility then my experiment is doomed to fail...

Lars told me on YouTube that he wants to meet up and ride.  He seems like a well informed and competent carver (I may have stolen a thing or two from his videos too).  Can you put us in touch @Rob Stevens?  I've been waiting for his email.

 

On 1/26/2024 at 11:21 AM, Neil Gendzwill said:

Can confirm, Rob can lay it over with his stance no problem.

Agreed.  Rob is one of the small handful of softboot riders that I've witnessed making steep groomers look fun.

 

 

6 hours ago, pow4ever said:

haha... i watch about 50k times.

That was you???

 

 

11 hours ago, Poloturbo said:

You're at 67k views that's very nice, in 6 days.

74k now...   Running 16k per day and still climbing. 

I didn't really have concrete expectations but I suspected the world needed this video.  The comments have been overwhelmingly positive, lots of people are trying out the posi-posi thing this weekend.  I've been trying to sell this stance for a decade but no one would listen, they had to hear it from Jeremy Jones.  His lawyers called and asked for a link and a credit.  (That's when I knew I had made it!)

 

 

Not sure what to do next.  I'm thinking maybe live stream part II on Wednesday evening?  Look closely at the interface, update part I and address some gaps, apologize for the trash talking...  Any thoughts?  How long should I wait?  How can I follow this one up?  Should I save some content until I can get a real sponsor who wants to publish it on their own social media or just blow my load now and worry about it next season?  

I'm thinking one part on boots, bindings and risers (interface), another on boards, and a third where I look at some videos (of me and other) frame by frame and analyze the body positions and movements.  Wondering whether people want to know about my history in the sport or is that personal stuff too self-indulgent?  

I hope the cat will agree to appear in future instalments, he was very popular.  My producer is negotiating with Smokey's agent now (in Davos).

Expectations are high, I don't want Part II to be a dud.  Open to ideas and direction.  There are basically six weeks left before people start turning their attention to mountain biking videos.

Edited January 28 by crackaddict

[ShortcutToMoncton]

I think the most important and frankly overlooked aspect of this unexpected success is trying to get a snapshot of the look on Bruce’s face when he opens his inbox to find 35,000 skidders from around the world asking him to make them a Coiler so they can carve better. 

 

[Xargo]

7 hours ago, crackaddict said:

Not sure what to do next.

More riding. The Part I explains how you ride and got you the audience so now I think it would be a good idea to show more riding and briefly explain what you did in that footage. Like for example when you ride rollers and switch to down-unweighted for those. Show and explain that kind of cases. Why do you do it and a brief explanation why it works. Give small tips and if people want to have more complete info, you can then point them to Part I.

I don't know if you like to ride pow but if you do, first carve some groomers and then go off-piste for couple of turns and then come back to groomers (within the same run I mean). I'm sure that would impress a lot of people and these ~300mm boards can easily float.

Edited January 28 by Xargo

[slabber]

Shorter videos on specific problem areas.  

For example, my heelside carves are the most problematic.  Maybe common errors and how to fix them?

Steeps - specifics on how to make those initial turns.

Tuning tips?  Lars recently did a video on various tools but didn't actually show them being used.  Would be great to go through the process of getting a board prepped perhaps. 

[ShortcutToMoncton]

So, I thought about this and I do think slowly breaking it up into digestible, 4-minute-or-less chunks should be where you head next. 

I would start first with the board, which is what everyone starts with. My unsolicited loose change suggestion points that you can pick up or not would be: 

— The beauty of the principles you outline is that they can be used by anyone to carve well on any snowboard. There is absolutely no need to run out and buy a dedicated new snowboard to learn the basics of carving. This is my personal view that is not shared by all but I do think it is important to spread the message that specialised equipment  is not required to learn this sport. 
I say this as someone who sees 5-10 Korean/Japanese softy beginner-to-moderate carvers on $2000 Gray/Yonex boards every time I hit the hill. James I’d leave it to you, but I suspect a quick fun shot of you carving some POS/rental/rock board might instill that point, if you wish to stoop to place your holy snowboard boots into that sort of common filth. 

— Once viewer learns the basics of body positioning and your carving skills progress and you’re able to get lower and deeper at faster speeds, then you might find that general all-purpose boards start to hold you back. 

— then you can get into some high-level specifics of what to look for in a good softy carving board, i.e. materials, flex pattern, camber, sidecut, effective edge, and likely width (including a quick explanation of bootout issues). 

— then if you want you can throw a few off the shelf and custom carving boardmakers out there from the main regions, e.g. Europe/NA/Asia. But think about how to do that because inevitably you’re going to forget someone’s brand X and it invariably devolves into viewers complaining about why X wasn’t included. (Or in Bruce’s case there’s the possibility that some may not even appreciate the callout lmao.)

—Done! That’s actually a shitload to pack into four minutes and would involve a 5-page Lounge thread. I would approach it as: what are 2-3 sentences I can say about topics 1,2 & 4, and 1-3 sentences about each of the board characteristics in topic 3?

—something about AI and profiting…?

Edited January 28 by ShortcutToMoncton

[ShortcutToMoncton]

Then: the same 3-to-4 minute spiel about bindings for carving (which I think is probably simpler). 

Then: soft boots for carving. 

Then: smoke break.

Then: spend an evening planning to break the topics in your main video up into the same type of 3-to-4-minute chunks to cover some common issues, and spend a few days this spring getting some additional film on those topics — e.g toeside and heelside stance, issues and common fixes. Then spend your summer and fall using your existing and new footage creating a new series of videos and start releasing them one at a time starting in December once I (I mean, everyone else) am done with mountain biking. 

That sir is a Plan.

Or you know, you could just go ride your snowboard…that’s probably better 

Edited January 28 by ShortcutToMoncton

[Xargo]

1 hour ago, ShortcutToMoncton said:

— The beauty of the principles you outline is that they can be used by anyone to carve well on any snowboard. There is absolutely no need to run out and buy a dedicated new snowboard to learn the basics of carving. This is my personal view that is not shared by all but I do think it is important to spread the message that specialised equipment  is not required to learn this sport.

Couldn't agree more. Equipment only becomes critical once you reach the level of expertise where equipment becomes the limiting factor and that is long way from casual slarving skills which probably is the main target audience.

[crackaddict]

On 1/28/2024 at 5:34 AM, Xargo said:

More riding.

Gotta disagree there... 

First of all, I only have two tricks (toeside and heelside) and I've pretty much posted my best examples of these.  It's hard to get good riding video.  I gotta find a competent videogapher who's available on short notice when the groom is good and the sun is shining, but I haven't seen the sun since we shot the hands in pockets stuff three weeks ago.  We had some great days last season and got some good footage but our cameras were not great so slow-mo or zoom-in doesn't work. 

Secondly, it seems people want the knowledge.  Look at @Justaride-Snowboard-Channel for example.  Lars started the season with about the same number of subscribers as me (450) and, I assume due to lack of snow, started posting videos of himself talking to the camera in his attic.  I don't think he's posted a single riding focused video this season and he's up to 3600 subs!  Look at this guy: @shmsnow.  He has some instructional stuff but his most popular video (100k views) is 32 minutes on "how to wax your board in 15 minutes".  (See the irony there?)  This other guy @skng has 733k views on a video titled "how to put on your ski boots"!!!

Unless you're Markus Kleveland you're not gonna get a lot of views with only riding.

 

On 1/28/2024 at 7:24 AM, slabber said:

Shorter videos on specific problem areas.  

Some good ideas there, thanks.  I know the shorter vids are more popular and keep people engaged and coming back to the channel but I wanted to start will a comprehensive how-to so people could find most of the info in one place.  From here on they will be shorter.

 

On 1/28/2024 at 8:04 AM, ShortcutToMoncton said:

There is absolutely no need to run out and buy a dedicated new snowboard to learn the basics of carving.

What you say may be true, but I'm trying to sell boards so keep it to yourself!

 

On 1/28/2024 at 8:14 AM, ShortcutToMoncton said:

Then spend your summer and fall using your existing and new footage creating a new series of videos and start releasing them one at a time starting in December

 

Not the plan...  If everything goes well I won't be releasing any more YouTube videos after this season.  This is a stepping stone for me, not an end in itself.  I need to get views and subscribers to get noticed, some measure of influence will be necessary to start working on my bigger goals.

 

On 1/28/2024 at 8:14 AM, ShortcutToMoncton said:

Then: smoke break.

Definitely!

Edited January 30 by crackaddict

[Neil Gendzwill]

2 minutes ago, crackaddict said:

What you say may be true, but I'm trying to sell boards so keep it to yourself!

Does Bruce really need your help? I think he’s already got more orders than he needs or wants. 

[crackaddict]

1 minute ago, Neil Gendzwill said:

Does Bruce really need your help? I think he’s already got more orders than he needs or wants. 

I've got a plan for that...  Be patient please.

[pow4ever]

Just do you!  my 2cents on length: i like long form podcast as nuance matter.
Comprehensive vs narrow focus/bite size chunk - each have merit. 
Focus on your core identity and don't go chasing waterfall/other are doing.
it's also depends on your goal - hobby/knowledge/passion sharing that turn into monetization?
I hope you win(passion)/win(money)/win(brand).  look forward to the journey you are taking.
if you are trying to be Mr. Beast then i don't have a clue on how to do that.
That would be super cool though