Carving Problems

I've been trying to perfect my carves for a long time now and seem to
have been progressing. But I still have this one problem that comes back
and haunt me every season. Sometimes the nose of the snowboard decides
to dig into the snow rather than follow the arc. This totally throws me
off and I end up eating snow.

Anybody else had that problem before?

stu

I've been trying to perfect my carves for a long time now and seem to have
been progressing. But I still have this one problem that comes back and
haunt me every season. Sometimes the nose of the snowboard decides to dig
into the snow rather than follow the arc. This totally throws me off and I
end up eating snow.

Anybody else had that problem before?


Generally speaking, one tends to put a lot of force into the nose of the
board when initiating a carve. That's a good thing, as it bends the board
into an arc and allows you to carve hard. If you overdo it on hardpack, or
if you don't ease up on softer snow you will bury the nose and do a few
cartwheels on your board, simple as that.

Even carving hard on groomed snow the day after a big dump can lead to
trouble.

Can you be more specific about when it happens? Carving on hardpack, or
softer snow? Heelside or toeside? What's your stance like? And lastly,
do you have any pics of yourself carving - if you've got any digital pics I
could host them for you, just demangle my email address and send them. A
picture is worth 1000 words, but even answering the above questions might
help other readers ask *you* the right questions to help you debug your
technique - or simply know when to ease up.

Mike T

Mike T wrote:

I've been trying to perfect my carves for a long time now and seem to have
been progressing. But I still have this one problem that comes back and
haunt me every season. Sometimes the nose of the snowboard decides to dig
into the snow rather than follow the arc. This totally throws me off and I
end up eating snow.

Anybody else had that problem before?



Generally speaking, one tends to put a lot of force into the nose of the
board when initiating a carve. That's a good thing, as it bends the board
into an arc and allows you to carve hard. If you overdo it on hardpack, or
if you don't ease up on softer snow you will bury the nose and do a few
cartwheels on your board, simple as that.

Even carving hard on groomed snow the day after a big dump can lead to
trouble.

Can you be more specific about when it happens? Carving on hardpack, or
softer snow? Heelside or toeside? What's your stance like? And lastly,
do you have any pics of yourself carving - if you've got any digital pics I
could host them for you, just demangle my email address and send them. A
picture is worth 1000 words, but even answering the above questions might
help other readers ask *you* the right questions to help you debug your
technique - or simply know when to ease up.

Mike T



It actually happens on different occasions. And it mostly happens on the
healside turns. It happens less on hardpacked but sometimes I find the
nose grabs onto the snow and the tail slides out. Or sometimes the nose
just slides out. But on softer snow the nose tends to dig into the snow
(happens about 3/4 into the turn). It basically digs itself into the
snow leaving a big dent on the trail and flipping me over as the board
comes to a stop.

On toeside it seems to be much better and hardly ever happens.
I thought the heel cup on my bindings may be dragging in the snow but I
don't think I'm angling the board that high.

My board stats:

Atomic Alibi 156.5 (Freestyle board, twin tip design 7.8m sidecut)
Ride regular
Binding Angles
Front: +27 Back: +6
Set back 1 cm.

I figure I could set my stance a little higher but I kinda want to learn
how to ride switch.

No pictures yet.... maybe next season

thanks a lot

stu

"Waco Paco" wrote in message
...
I've been trying to perfect my carves for a long time now and seem to
have been progressing. But I still have this one problem that comes back
and haunt me every season. Sometimes the nose of the snowboard decides
to dig into the snow rather than follow the arc. This totally throws me
off and I end up eating snow.

Anybody else had that problem before?

I have. It went away when I got a longer, stiffer board. On the old board,
which is this years board for rocks, moving the bindings back has reduced
the problem. Definately, if you find you have to overweight the rear foot to
maintain a clean carve, try moving them back.

Bob

Atomic Alibi 156.5 (Freestyle board, twin tip design 7.8m sidecut)
Ride regular
Binding Angles
Front: +27 Back: +6
Set back 1 cm.

Knowing that you are somewhat forward facing helps a bit. I will make my
best guess as to what you should try... please keep in mind it's only guess
and there is no substitute for finding someone who knows what they are doing
to watch you ride.

With that said...

Unless you are a big guy, say 190+ pounds, your equipment should be fine.
Any board can be carved, however the smaller the board is in relation to
your size, the easier it is going to be to send yourself over the
handlebars. Catching a heel cup will usually not launch you over the
handlebars, usually you'll just lose your edge and fall on your back or
butt. I've done this quite a bit in the past!

With carving there is a temptation to shift your weight hard to the front
when beginning a turn and then back as you complete the turn. The weight
shift is a good thing but subtlety is important. At a recent carve camp,
in hard boots, we learned to keep our weight equally betwwen the bindings
and flex the hips, knees and ankles into the next turn. All of this should
be relevant to soft boot carving as well, particularly with a "back foot
0*" stance like yours.

So practice keeping even pressure on both feet at all times, but on
heelside, push your left knee to the left (to the insside of the turn) and
on toesides push your right knee down and toward the snow (also to the
inside of the turn). Pushing the kness as such will pull your board more
up on edge but allow you to keep your weight over the bidnings; the former
keeps your carving and the latter keeps you from going over the handlebars.
Once you've got that working, slowly start putting the fore-aft weight
chages back in, but keep your center of mass over the area between your
bidnings - just move it around within that range and don't pusghh it out
past the front binding, which is most likley what's happening now.

I have tried using these technqiues with soft boots and they are just as
effective in softies as they are opn plates.

Back to board size - if you are a big guy, on a 156... the bigger you are,
the harder you get launched if you get your center of mass out too far in
front of that binding on anything but solid ice.

Again, this is just general advice, really I am just repeating what a coach
taught me (Mark Harris, he coaches both alpine and freestyle) and I can't
know if it will help you without seeing you ride... and also please note
that I am not a coach myself, so if you find a real coach... listen to
him/her instead

Mike T

Mike T wrote:
Atomic Alibi 156.5 (Freestyle board, twin tip design 7.8m sidecut)
Ride regular
Binding Angles
Front: +27 Back: +6
Set back 1 cm.


Knowing that you are somewhat forward facing helps a bit. I will make my
best guess as to what you should try... please keep in mind it's only guess
and there is no substitute for finding someone who knows what they are doing
to watch you ride.

With that said...

Unless you are a big guy, say 190+ pounds, your equipment should be fine.
Any board can be carved, however the smaller the board is in relation to
your size, the easier it is going to be to send yourself over the
handlebars. Catching a heel cup will usually not launch you over the
handlebars, usually you'll just lose your edge and fall on your back or
butt. I've done this quite a bit in the past!

With carving there is a temptation to shift your weight hard to the front
when beginning a turn and then back as you complete the turn. The weight
shift is a good thing but subtlety is important. At a recent carve camp,
in hard boots, we learned to keep our weight equally betwwen the bindings
and flex the hips, knees and ankles into the next turn. All of this should
be relevant to soft boot carving as well, particularly with a "back foot
0*" stance like yours.

So practice keeping even pressure on both feet at all times, but on
heelside, push your left knee to the left (to the insside of the turn) and
on toesides push your right knee down and toward the snow (also to the
inside of the turn). Pushing the kness as such will pull your board more
up on edge but allow you to keep your weight over the bidnings; the former
keeps your carving and the latter keeps you from going over the handlebars.
Once you've got that working, slowly start putting the fore-aft weight
chages back in, but keep your center of mass over the area between your
bidnings - just move it around within that range and don't pusghh it out
past the front binding, which is most likley what's happening now.

I have tried using these technqiues with soft boots and they are just as
effective in softies as they are opn plates.

Back to board size - if you are a big guy, on a 156... the bigger you are,
the harder you get launched if you get your center of mass out too far in
front of that binding on anything but solid ice.

Again, this is just general advice, really I am just repeating what a coach
taught me (Mark Harris, he coaches both alpine and freestyle) and I can't
know if it will help you without seeing you ride... and also please note
that I am not a coach myself, so if you find a real coach... listen to
him/her instead

Mike T




Thanks for the advice Mike. I have been going on a few websites to learn
about the swiss style carving and I think they mention the same thing
with the knees.

I don't think the equipment is the problem because I see others carve
better than me on similar equipment. I do believe that the weighting
issue is the culprit. I find myself unconsciously leaning forward while
carving heelside. I did some experimenting and found that if I lead with
my upper body and rotate uphill into the carve it counters my my body's
tendency to lean too far forward.

Thanks again, and I'll try out the knee thing the next time I get a
chance. I live in Toronto so I don't get too many chances to go
snowboarding each season. I'd be lucky to get 7 days in.

stu

Bob wrote:

"Waco Paco" wrote in message
...

I've been trying to perfect my carves for a long time now and seem to
have been progressing. But I still have this one problem that comes back
and haunt me every season. Sometimes the nose of the snowboard decides
to dig into the snow rather than follow the arc. This totally throws me
off and I end up eating snow.

Anybody else had that problem before?


I have. It went away when I got a longer, stiffer board. On the old board,
which is this years board for rocks, moving the bindings back has reduced
the problem. Definately, if you find you have to overweight the rear foot to
maintain a clean carve, try moving them back.

Bob



Hey thanks for the advice. I did try moving the bindings back last
season and it definitely helped. But the thing wiht my board is that
it's a twin tip. I want to stay centered with regards to the edge so
that I can ride it like it was meant to be ridden. I noticed that my
carves are cleaner by being centered, but now i have to deal with the
nose digging in. Maybe I'll try a more freeride orientated board when I
get the chance to demo one.

thanks

stu

Baka Dasai wrote:

To get my weight over the rear of the board to carve the last part of
the turn cleanly, I have to avoid rotating my upper body.

I notice watching the soft-boot guys who carve hard, that their bodies
are usually lined up with their binding angles. I think over-rotation
of your upperbody and low angles don't mix much.

To the original poster - looks like you're overloading and folding the
nose on a board that's too short and probably too soft for your weight.
Fixing your technique to not overload the nose is a good thing but you
may be getting to be too much rider for that little board.

Neil

Neil Gendzwill wrote:

Baka Dasai wrote:

To get my weight over the rear of the board to carve the last part of
the turn cleanly, I have to avoid rotating my upper body.


I notice watching the soft-boot guys who carve hard, that their bodies
are usually lined up with their binding angles. I think over-rotation
of your upperbody and low angles don't mix much.

To the original poster - looks like you're overloading and folding the
nose on a board that's too short and probably too soft for your weight.
Fixing your technique to not overload the nose is a good thing but you
may be getting to be too much rider for that little board.

Neil



Ya, I think I'm noticing that I may be using the board for the wrong
type of riding. It's engineered to be a park/freestyle board not so much
of a carver. I think it wasn't meant to be ripped down a hill going at a
high speed. But the board is engineered for 230+ lb riders...

well maybe I'll get a freeride board next

stu

To the original poster - looks like you're overloading and folding the
nose on a board that's too short and probably too soft for your weight.
Fixing your technique to not overload the nose is a good thing but you
may be getting to be too much rider for that little board.

Neil


Check out http://www.freecarve.com/gen_tab1.asp?CatID=13 ,posts
starting 2/7/05. I was having the same problem and Neil and PSR gave
me some pointers and a link to a video that shows what happens when
you fold the nose. My problem was mostly technique, but it sounds like
yours is the board cant handle what your trying to do.