How does your alpine riding affect your freestyle?

[Guest Misfit27]

I don’t know how many of crossed over from freestyle and still ride soft boots occasionally. I’m really psyched to get into alpine, but I kind of doubt I’ll want to give up the pipe and the drops my freestyle board allows forever. Do you notice a difference in your freestyle riding since taking up alpine? For the better or worse?

[ncermak]

always makes me a better all around rider. gives me a much better sense of my edge...

[tex1230]

I gave up freestyle a couple of years ago - knees & ankles can't take the landings anymore...but when I was doing it the biggest improvement I saw coming from my alpine riding was the ability to maintain speed between hits - especially in the pipe. if you carve your turn after landing rather than skid it out, you carry more speed into the next wall. More speed = bigger air.

[bobdea]

my softboot setup

I think this is due to having the board be so much less grabby than the alpine setup and that the running length is usually some 10 to 20 CM less than my alpine rides

also alpine gets you in the habit of landing straight

[davekempmeister]

I find now that when I ride a soft set-up, I'm much less sloppy. Riding w/shoulders more square to the nose and my heelsides have improved dramatically. Alpine keeps you honest, if you will.

[lonerider]

I don’t know how many of crossed over from freestyle and still ride soft boots occasionally. I’m really psyched to get into alpine, but I kind of doubt I’ll want to give up the pipe and the drops my freestyle board allows forever. Do you notice a difference in your freestyle riding since taking up alpine? For the better or worse?

I still ride park/pipe about 40% of the time. freeride 30% of the time, and ride alpine 30% of the time. If you are still riding softboots regularly, there is relatively little negative effect on your riding. You will notice that you will square you shoulder and hips more with your board/bindings and if you ride alpine and freestyle in the same day... your freestyle board will feel a lot lighter. I didn't notice much change in speed in the pipe because I was already carving across the flat before going to alpine. Similarly I also was already landing with my board straight... so I never go those "reminders" from alpine.

[Tommy D]

What's this "freestyle?" Does it cost anything?

Sorry, I couldn't resist.

Alpine riding hasn't helped my freestyle, 'cause I can't (Haven't tried). However, it has tremendously helped my skiing regarding turn initiation and angulation, wieght transfer and body position. I would say this is true for all kinds of complimentary/crossover sports: Each augments the other in some way (no matter how small.)

[gdboytyler]

... You will notice that you will square you shoulder and hips more with your board/bindings and if you ride alpine and freestyle in the same day...

The above was happening to me. Unfortunately, I went off a good size table top jump with my shoulders still square to the board, which got me off balance in the air, which resulted in a nice slam and partial shoulder separation.

Since then, I switched to the Extremecarving/Swiss/rotational style of riding that keeps my shoulders about parallel to the board when going straight. This way, I ride my alpine board and freestyle board the same way.

This season I've only ridden my freestyle board once. But I've been hitting the straight jumps and pipe with my alpine board (Donek FCII 163).

[scotts.Scheinman]

dont let anybody tell you you cant do it on on a alpine board because is still go thru the park on my alpine board

[Gecko]

my knees can't take the impacts that my mind thinks it can, this is just as true on snow as it is on a skateboard. A longer Skateboard helped me on concrete and a long alpine board (well for me 175 is now long) helps my poor knees.

[Jon Dahl]

I never really got the freestyle thing, starting at my late age. Alpine has helped my backcountry/mountain riding, as far as maintaining speed in varied conditions and small airs off of terrain features, and just having a better balanced feeling all around.

[Guest alakata]

improves leg stregnth, for me going back to softies, made the board really light and help with balance, somehow alp helped my park abilities

[Derf]

My freeride (I don't do any tricks or jumps) has worstened since riding alpine. I tried to bring my alpine technique to softboots, and it was worst than when I switched. I tried steeper angles and rotation, it doesn't work, I had to go back to flatter angles and sideway riding. I can't ride as hard because of less edge hold, it takes longer to stop, harder to turn and not stable. Like going from a sports car to a minivan/SUV. I basically decided to never ride my soft setup again. The fact that soft setup is crap doesn't help...

[lonerider]

My freeride (I don't do any tricks or jumps) has worstened since riding alpine. I tried to bring my alpine technique to softboots, and it was worst than when I switched. I tried steeper angles and rotation, it doesn't work, I had to go back to flatter angles and sideway riding. I can't ride as hard because of less edge hold, it takes longer to stop, harder to turn and not stable. Like going from a sports car to a minivan/SUV. I basically decided to never ride my soft setup again. The fact that soft setup is crap doesn't help...

Yea having a bad setup never helps. However, it is possible to develop bad freestyle/freeriding habits from your alpine riding (bad habits can go in either direction). The following comments are possible issues in addition to just having crappy gear.

Already mentioned in this thread is lining you shoulders up with the nose of your board (or some random semi-forward direction where you think your bindings are) instead of where your bindings are actually facing - you should always be aware at some level about where you feet and knees are pointed and line up your shoulders with your hips - just picking a random direction that happens to be where your bindings are currenly pointed is a bad habit.

Another common bad habit, is depending too much on the support/leverage provided by hardboots to initiate your turns - use it as a tool to be taken advantage of, not as a crutch. I'm just saying you might not been realizing your full carving potential - if you can learn how to rail a good hard carve in softboots... imagine how much deeper you can trench in hardboots.

Finally, particular a lot of people lock their ankles out during the carve, which reduces their edge control during a carve and also reduces their ability to absorb minor ruts and bumps.

[Guest Hopscotch]

I've was soft booting for 4 years before i started hard boots. This is now my second season on plates. Since i'm at the mountain every day(i missed 4 days since december 2nd). I try to switch it up, doing freestyle one day and alpine the next. However, i do feel that i will get sloppy with the alpine board if i'm on the freestyle one too much. I believe this is due to the fact that with freestyle your relaxed, and the board will do the work. The alpine board requires force to turn it comfertably.

[Guest shrederjen]

Out of my season, half of it on hardboots and half of it on softboots. I really cant say that going between the two has too much effect on each other! Most of the rest of the year will be on plates, though!! (and when I finally order my Axis, i shouldnt need the soft boots anymore!)

[NateW]

Riding hard boots made me get rid of my soft gear. Since I've been able to jump, I've been planning almost every run based on where the best jumps are (though my definition of 'best' has changed over the years), and that didn't change when I swiched from soft boots to hard boots.

I am just a lot happier in hard boots than in soft boots, regardless of the terrain. I don't ride rails though, so I can't comment on that.

[sic t 2]

Do you notice a difference in your freestyle riding since taking up alpine? For the better or worse?

Almost all aspects of freestyle riding should improve DRAMATICALLY after a stint in alpine. Particularly monster air off natural terrain, and big straightup airs in the pipe. If this doesn't happen then I'd really have to observe the rider's alpine skills first hand; because I'd seriously question whether they had aquired any at all before returning to soft boots.

My personal observations is that the best soft boot riders on the mountain are riders with quality alpine experience. It makes all the difference.

Sic

[surfinsmiley]

I only started snowboarding last year and this year I`m having my first season on plates.

I`ve been totally focusing on just trying to do good carves when the conditions allow for it but the last couple of weeks has been soft wet bumpy crud an hour after the lifts start. I beat myself to pieces trying to carve in the bumps and finally gave it up to give the park a whirl.

OMG:D.........Haven`t been through the park all season and I was immensely more confident and skilled than last year. They built a 500-600 Metre long boarder-cross track which emptys into the middle of the park so I spent most of the day just doing the same run on the LSD with Hardboots.

The next day I swapped out the plates for my softies on the same board and although it was a lot lighter in the air just about everything else was noticebly slower and seemingly more difficult.

Hardbooting has definately imporved my freestyle but I`m now a better rider in hardboot freestyle than softboot freestyle.

[Dr D]

the first 2 minutes in soft boots leave me feeling unnattached but thats about the only difference I notice. I usually only softboot it when dropping of the edge of the world in the deep and steep particulary if to many of those nasty skiers have been there first. My hard boots just don't forgive mistakes enough for the extreme offpiste. I ride the softies looking over the tip or over my shoulder. I generally run similiar angles on both setups..works for me.