I am curious about some of the finer points of everyone's skiboarding techniques. Being a small sport with no established teaching standard (that I know of), it seems like everyone has their own little style quirks and ways of skiboarding that may not be obvious to the rest of us. Please feel free to post anything regarding your approach or riding style!
(BTW Wookie... I think I know this, but what's the definition of a "slarve"?)
I'm actually pretty curious about stance. I keep hearing it stated that skiboarding uses a more upright stance than skiing, but maybe I'm doing it wrong? I ride less upright than skiers. I agree with being upright on steep slopes in deep powder, where I keep my upper body fairly vertical, then bend my knees up between turns and push my legs downward while twisting my boards to either side during the turns (what I call 'parachuting'). I suppose I stay pretty upright when cruising skiways, too.
Most of the time, and especially when carving groomers or attacking moguls, I ride with my knees bent, butt out back, my torso folded forward from the hips, my lower back flexed and extended, and my arms hanging more or less down from the shoulders. The position is very similar to where you'd be at about halfway into a deadlift. This keeps my weight centered over my feet, and gives a lot of ability to soak up bumps with both the knees/quads and the back/hips. I lead turns by throwing a shoulder forward a little, not really using the arms. If I'm carving not-too-steep groomers (blue runs), I will hold my torso completely steady and just pivot my legs side-to-side from the hips down. You can really lean the boards hard on edge this way without losing balance. You do look like a bit of a gorilla, though.
I've noticed that this riding position really cuts down on the quad-burn in powder and reduces sketching out on your tails when landing jumps. When I start riding upright, those become major factors, but they disappear when I go gorilla on it.
Comments?
(BTW Wookie... I think I know this, but what's the definition of a "slarve"?)
I'm actually pretty curious about stance. I keep hearing it stated that skiboarding uses a more upright stance than skiing, but maybe I'm doing it wrong? I ride less upright than skiers. I agree with being upright on steep slopes in deep powder, where I keep my upper body fairly vertical, then bend my knees up between turns and push my legs downward while twisting my boards to either side during the turns (what I call 'parachuting'). I suppose I stay pretty upright when cruising skiways, too.
Most of the time, and especially when carving groomers or attacking moguls, I ride with my knees bent, butt out back, my torso folded forward from the hips, my lower back flexed and extended, and my arms hanging more or less down from the shoulders. The position is very similar to where you'd be at about halfway into a deadlift. This keeps my weight centered over my feet, and gives a lot of ability to soak up bumps with both the knees/quads and the back/hips. I lead turns by throwing a shoulder forward a little, not really using the arms. If I'm carving not-too-steep groomers (blue runs), I will hold my torso completely steady and just pivot my legs side-to-side from the hips down. You can really lean the boards hard on edge this way without losing balance. You do look like a bit of a gorilla, though.
I've noticed that this riding position really cuts down on the quad-burn in powder and reduces sketching out on your tails when landing jumps. When I start riding upright, those become major factors, but they disappear when I go gorilla on it.
Comments?
Comment