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James Hall! James, let us know where you want us to send your free puck of wax. Thanks to everyone who participated in the contest. To be eligible next time, just like us on Facebook and subscribe to our email list (remember to confirm your subscription). The snowflakes are as large as coconuts, and the snow is stacked seven coconuts high…..it’s the start of another great season. Happy riding!
It’s getting cooler and the trees are starting to turn. It’s time to start thinking about riding again! This is the time of year I like to take stock of where I finished last season and what I want to achieve this coming season. Maybe it’s improving my steeps, landing that next big trick, or just getting out on the hill more. Whatever your goal is, write it down, and include the steps you’ll need to take to achieve it and a timeline for each step. Let’s say you want to stomp a 5 on the 40 foot table. That’s an aggressive goal, and you’ll need to build a progression to get there. Maybe you’ll start with getting comfortable again with your 360′s on the 10 foot table, then bump that up to the 20 foot table, then on to the 40 footer. Once you’ve dialed your 3′s consistently on the 40 footer, it might be back doen to the 20 footer to work on spinning that extra half rotation before bumpping back up to the 40 footer. Whatver your progression is, make sure you’re starting with something that you’re comfortable with and building on it in small steps. Set a resonable timeline for each step to keep yourself on schedule and buy the end of the season you should be stomping that new move.
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Aug Like us on Facebook for you chance to win free Papa Woody Wax! Everyone who likes us on Facebook between now and the time our mountain opens will be entered into a drawing for a FREE puck of Papa Woody Wax! It’s so good, you’ll……
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May So you’ve been hitting the tables and now want to learn boxes and rails. Here’s a great progression for getting started: Stacked stance – keep your shoulders in-line with your board and pointing the same way as your nose. Flex a bunch at your knees and ankles, and keep your upper body straight. The last thing you want when riding a box is to bend over. Go to the side of a green run and ride some straight runs like this for a 5 count, then a 10 count, staying flexed and stacked Come back to the same run and do it again, but this time aim for your flat board tracks from the last run. Practice lining yourself up, staying stacked and flexed. Head to the park and try the same thing on a short ride-on box. Line yourself up a few board lengths in front of the box, point your shoulders with your straight toward the end of the box, and stay flexed at the knees and ankles. Once you’re on the box you’ll notice the feel is a little different than riding on the snow. Your edge will not cut into the box like it will the snow, so stay on top of your board. If you feel yourself going on edge just jump off the box. To a certain point, the faster you go the easier boxes are, so keep your speed up and session the same box several times until youre super comfy on it, then work up to learning boxes with a gap approach.
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Mar Aaaaahhhh, that time of year again, warm bluebird days, riding in a sweatshirt, great snow, even a goggle tan, my favorite time of the season. Now’s a great time to be heading to the park and stomping those moves you’ve been practicing all year. Here are a couple quick tips- With the warm temps a tabletop jump can melt and shrink significantly from one day to the next, so be sure to watch your speed the first time you hit a feature each day. Watch some other people approach the hit and see where their last speed check is, then see where they land. If they make the landing then your last speed check on your first run should be in about the same place as theirs, or adjust it accordingly. When you ride tables flex as you’re coming up the ramp. Stay low when you hit the lip. You’ll see lots of novices popping at the lip, but doing this will throw you up rather than out toward the landing. Popping up can also throw you off balance. Instead, stay low and let your speed carry you across the table. You’ll go further and the landing will be softer because your trajectory through the air will be smoother without as much of an early arc. Spring time is all about jibbing, so we’ll talk about freestyle again in the next post. Happy riding!
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Feb That’s right, free wax for one and all! It’s a February Fiesta, and we’re celebrating by giving away FREE Papa Woody Wax!!! Stop by the base of the Slide Side chair at Mt. Rose on Tahoe’s Northeast Shore this Saturday, 2/5 and we’ll lube your stick for FREE! See you there!
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Jan So your carved turns are starting to feel pretty good and you’re able to control your speed with your turn shape, but your noticing that your turns are really big and you want to skinny them up. Try this carving progression- Drive both of your knees into the turn. Take your front knee and shove it toward the front, downhill corner of your board, and do the same with your back knee. By driving both knees into the turn rather than just your front knee, you will be moving the pivot point from your front foot to between your bindings. This will engage your whole edge faster and you’ll feel your entire edge cut into the snow rather than having your back foot feel like it is washing around. Now when you drop your butt down to start your heel side turn, do it super quickly and as soon as you change your edge start pushing out on your board. The harder you push, the more your board will bend, and the faster your turn will come around. Try the same thing on your toe side. The idea is to change your edge while you’re still traversing the run rather than waiting until you’re in the fall line. By driving your knees into the turn while you are dropping into the turn, you are throwing your hips into the turn and changing your edge while you are still traveling across the run. You’ll be on your downhill edge for a second while you are dropping, and as soon as you are on the downhill side of your board you’ll be extending. The faster you extend your legs the faster your board will come around to catch you. Don’t worry too much about eating it when you’re starting these because if you’re changing to your downhill edge while you’re still moving across the run you’ll probably slide a ways rather than slamming yourself into the snow like you would if you were to catch an edge. Get into a rhythm with these and go from turns that are three cat tracks wide down to two. Then start playing with going from wide carves down to skinny ones, and back to wide again. If you push on your board hard enough it will decamber so much that it will pop you into your next turn, and that’s when the fun starts. Happy carving!
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Jan Today’s a good hardpack day, and on hardpack days I like carving. Want to start carving? Try this - Stacked stance, get a little speed going straight down the hill on a green run, then shove both of your knees down so they’re over your toes. If you stay stacked and bend your knees and ankles enough this will put you into a toe side carve. You’ll feel your edge dig in and if you look back at your track it should be really skinny, cutting into the snow across the run. Once you’re going across the hill on your toes, drop your butt like you’re going to sit in a chair and pull up on your toes to get on your heel side. Your board will come around in a nice heel side carve. Check your line to see if it’s skinny all the way or if there’s a part where is gets wide (if it’s wide, that means you skidded and you need to flex your knees and ankles more). To adjust your speed, play with the shape of your turns. If you want to go faster keep the tip of your board pointing slightly down the hill throughout your turns, if you’re going too fast, finish the turns so you’re going straight across the run or even up the run a little bit with each turn. Do a bunch of turns like this to get a rhythm going, and soon you’ll feel your board flexing and rebounding. We’ll talk about where to go from here next time. Rip it up!
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Dec Monkey turns? Yep, monkey turns. They’ll help your riding, I promise. Give ‘em a try - Stacked stance, then push your knees out toward the tip and tail. That will force you to get low. Then take your elbows and point them out just past your tip and tail, and let your wrists dangle down, nice and loose, like a monkey. Stay flexed even when you extend, so you’re riding between low and lower and not extending all the way up like you normally would. Riding like this will help you stay stacked and using more of your lower range of motion, which should make your turns feel more solid.
I see lots of people riding with their shoulders open toward the front of their board, facing down the hill. Someone riding like this will have several challenges, from turning to even just balancing, and they’ll likely break themselves if they venture to a steeper run or the park. Here’s what to do- Get in an athletic stance – you know what this looks like, knees bent, stand up straight. Hold your hands out, one over the tip and the other over the tail of your board, even with your hips. Check your back hand when you’re riding to be sure it stays over your tail and does not creep over the snow on your toe side. Keep your shoulders pointing the same direction your board is moving, do not let your chest open up to face the nose of your board. This will help align your shoulders with your hips, and your hips with your ankles. If these are all in a straight line you won’t have to worry about your board constantly fighting to go to your heel side. It will also help you ride more efficiently so you can save some energy and make a few more runs.
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thanks
