Sean wrote:
I'm preparing for my annual pilgrimage westward to the rockies with the
family. Doing a little online research on technique, I found video on
youtube from extremecarving.com. What is it about alpine boards that makes
those deep carves easier than a standard board? I've tried to lay down on
deep turns, but I reach a point in the turn where it seems as if I've
pressed a nitrous button and speed increases dramatically through the arc.
It's a great feeling, but sometimes a bit marginal on the control. What's
the secret?

Generally alpine boards have longer edge length and a bigger turn radius
than general-purpose boards. They are also narrower and are ridden with
forward stance angles, typically around 60 degrees. Furthermore, the
hard boots and bindings used provide a better interface to the board.

However the guys at extreme carving use further specialized equipment.
Their boards are a little wider than regular alpine boards (around 22 cm
waist as opposed to 18-20) and have sidecuts on the order of 12 m. The
wider board lets them run a little shallower angles on their boots, I
think typically a 50 degree stance. They also like bindings with good
lateral movement.

If you're interested in learning more about carving, the hard boot
community congregates in the forums at bomberonline.com. The tech
section of that website has a lot of good articles on equipment and
technique.

Neil