Pumping to accelerate?

[quest4powder]

Here is a great video set. long download, but the three minutes show exactly what we are talking about! Try each link but the ver1 mpg is what you want.

http://www.alpinecarving.com/ovid.html

ver1.wmv

Best luck with it.

I watched the vids--thanks--but just don't see it. I mean, I do see riders ripping turns, flexing/extending their legs and driving by swinging their arms and torso.

But I don't see this accelerate them downhill. I mean it's fun to watch (and even more fun to do as the sensations are intense)--but I don't think that these folks would beat someone who is straight running down the slope on a similar board.

Am I just not seeing something here? Why would racers hold a straight run/tuck on a flat section of course--or through the finish--if you could accelerate downhill by pumping?

Thanks for any clarity you might be able to offer.

________

Married Woman Live

[tufty]

Why would racers hold a straight run/tuck on a flat section of course--or through the finish--if you could accelerate downhill by pumping?

Because at the point where you are seeing them, it would be dangerous or disadvantageous to pump. They have already reached what's basically terminal velocity, moving about out of their tuck to pump is going to cause more drag, and slow them down. That's why ski racers only skate at the beginning and end of the course as well.

Watch downhill ski racers.

They start, not by using a flat tuck, but by skating. Generally speaking during a race they are busy trying to get through the gates without smashing themselves into a million pieces. And then at the bottom, *some* will skate for that extra boost through the line, bearing in mind that the downside to that happens later and the game is played over hundredths of seconds.

For 'us' it's different. I know that I am far from running at the point where aerodynamic drag makes an appreciable difference to my speed. And we're talking about using this at speeds well below even that - on the flats.

Simon

[LambertoMI]

What is happening by the lowering and sudden raising of your body weight, is that you are increasing the centrifugal force. This force is then directed rotationally because you are already in a carve. The increase in force translates to faster rotation, which then projects you out faster as you exit the turn.

Not much we can do to really explain this, like I said you really got to see someone do this to get it. It is mostly for going from low speed to high speed.

As mentioned above, once you hit terminal velocity, your done. This is really an acceleration technique, not so much a speed increaser...

Hope that helps....