Is my heel dragging the snow?

I just put new Ride bindings on my Dynastar board. Tossed the LTD
bindings that gave me much trouble last year. I noticed when mounting
that the Ride bindings have my boot being lower to the board than the
LTDs did. I went out the other day for first time this year and many
times on my heelside turns, I just kind of fell down. I'm sure my
technique is a little off as heelside has always been weaker for me (I
ride goofy). But still, I was surprised how many times I fell. It seems
like I'd go up on the heel edge and the board wouldn't turn. So I'm
wondering if my boot is dragging in the snow and causing my turn to
crap out. I've got the boots centered with equal distance of overhang
on toe and heel.

It was only in the steeper, deeper snow that this happened. After the
deeper stuff, I just glided along with normal feeling turns.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

clarv02 wrote:
I just put new Ride bindings on my Dynastar board. Tossed the LTD
bindings that gave me much trouble last year. I noticed when mounting
that the Ride bindings have my boot being lower to the board than the
LTDs did. I went out the other day for first time this year and many
times on my heelside turns, I just kind of fell down. I'm sure my
technique is a little off as heelside has always been weaker for me (I
ride goofy). But still, I was surprised how many times I fell. It seems
like I'd go up on the heel edge and the board wouldn't turn. So I'm
wondering if my boot is dragging in the snow and causing my turn to
crap out. I've got the boots centered with equal distance of overhang
on toe and heel.

It was only in the steeper, deeper snow that this happened. After the
deeper stuff, I just glided along with normal feeling turns.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

It does sound a lot like you are getting binding/boot drag - happens to
me when I'm it softer snow where my board digs a deep trench when I
carve. Even if you boot is centered on the board your binding itself
might be dragging - check to see if the heelcup of the binding sticks
out a lot compared to your old bindings. To test, try tilting your
board up on its heelside to see when the binding touches the ground. It
should be at least 60 degrees or more.

Holding the board up on a flat surface, there is well over 60 degree
angle before the heel of the boot touches (the binding never touches,
only the boot heel). Even so, when doing this, I noticed that I do have
more overhang on the heel than the toe - just over an inch, so I'll
move the binding forward to balance it out.


lonerider wrote:
clarv02 wrote:
I just put new Ride bindings on my Dynastar board. Tossed the LTD
bindings that gave me much trouble last year. I noticed when mounting
that the Ride bindings have my boot being lower to the board than the
LTDs did. I went out the other day for first time this year and many
times on my heelside turns, I just kind of fell down. I'm sure my
technique is a little off as heelside has always been weaker for me (I
ride goofy). But still, I was surprised how many times I fell. It seems
like I'd go up on the heel edge and the board wouldn't turn. So I'm
wondering if my boot is dragging in the snow and causing my turn to
crap out. I've got the boots centered with equal distance of overhang
on toe and heel.

It was only in the steeper, deeper snow that this happened. After the
deeper stuff, I just glided along with normal feeling turns.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

It does sound a lot like you are getting binding/boot drag - happens to
me when I'm it softer snow where my board digs a deep trench when I
carve. Even if you boot is centered on the board your binding itself
might be dragging - check to see if the heelcup of the binding sticks
out a lot compared to your old bindings. To test, try tilting your
board up on its heelside to see when the binding touches the ground. It
should be at least 60 degrees or more.

On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:08:28 GMT, "clarv02" allegedly
wrote:

Holding the board up on a flat surface, there is well over 60 degree
angle before the heel of the boot touches (the binding never touches,
only the boot heel). Even so, when doing this, I noticed that I do have
more overhang on the heel than the toe - just over an inch, so I'll
move the binding forward to balance it out.

Are you flexing the board so the entire edge is touching the ground?
Check out the FAQ with regards to wide boards for info on this. Have a
look in "do I need a wide board"

- Dave.

--
The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky.
http://www.vpas.org.uk/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow.
Donek Sasquatch 162, Prior Pow 181, Burton Canyon 162

The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://www.vpas.fsnet.co.uk/rssFAQ/

Switters wrote:
On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:08:28 GMT, "clarv02" allegedly
wrote:

Holding the board up on a flat surface, there is well over 60 degree
angle before the heel of the boot touches (the binding never touches,
only the boot heel). Even so, when doing this, I noticed that I do have
more overhang on the heel than the toe - just over an inch, so I'll
move the binding forward to balance it out.

Are you flexing the board so the entire edge is touching the ground?
Check out the FAQ with regards to wide boards for info on this. Have a
look in "do I need a wide board"

- Dave.

--
The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky.
http://www.vpas.org.uk/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow.
Donek Sasquatch 162, Prior Pow 181, Burton Canyon 162

The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://www.vpas.fsnet.co.uk/rssFAQ/



My guess is that the possible heel drag isn't the source of your
problem. It would take quite a bit of lean to start to have this come
into play and that much lean occurs mostly with experienced riders.
Most times inexperienced riders think heel drag might be a problem, it
isn't, it's just technique, and part of the learning experience.

Trad, you may be right. I've been boarding for 2 years and feel that my
skill has increased quite a bit. I can make turns on the easier black
diamonds for example. It does seem like at the beginning of the new
year, I start learning over to a certain degree. Maybe that's all this
is. What would be your suggestion for proper technique in my turns?


wrote:
Switters wrote:
On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:08:28 GMT, "clarv02" allegedly
wrote:

Holding the board up on a flat surface, there is well over 60 degree
angle before the heel of the boot touches (the binding never touches,
only the boot heel). Even so, when doing this, I noticed that I do have
more overhang on the heel than the toe - just over an inch, so I'll
move the binding forward to balance it out.

Are you flexing the board so the entire edge is touching the ground?
Check out the FAQ with regards to wide boards for info on this. Have a
look in "do I need a wide board"

- Dave.

--
The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky.
http://www.vpas.org.uk/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow.
Donek Sasquatch 162, Prior Pow 181, Burton Canyon 162

The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://www.vpas.fsnet.co.uk/rssFAQ/



My guess is that the possible heel drag isn't the source of your
problem. It would take quite a bit of lean to start to have this come
into play and that much lean occurs mostly with experienced riders.
Most times inexperienced riders think heel drag might be a problem, it
isn't, it's just technique, and part of the learning experience.

Switters,

No I was not flexing the board. I'll do that tonight and see what kind
of angle I have (after moving the bindings forward a bit).

Thanks!


Switters wrote:
On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 15:08:28 GMT, "clarv02" allegedly
wrote:

Holding the board up on a flat surface, there is well over 60 degree
angle before the heel of the boot touches (the binding never touches,
only the boot heel). Even so, when doing this, I noticed that I do have
more overhang on the heel than the toe - just over an inch, so I'll
move the binding forward to balance it out.

Are you flexing the board so the entire edge is touching the ground?
Check out the FAQ with regards to wide boards for info on this. Have a
look in "do I need a wide board"

- Dave.

--
The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky.
http://www.vpas.org.uk/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow.
Donek Sasquatch 162, Prior Pow 181, Burton Canyon 162

The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://www.vpas.fsnet.co.uk/rssFAQ/

"clarv02" wrote in message
ups.com...
Switters,

No I was not flexing the board. I'll do that tonight and see what kind
of angle I have (after moving the bindings forward a bit).

Toeing out can be just as bad as what you've encountered, adjust
with care.

Bob

"clarv02" wrote in oups.com:

It was only in the steeper, deeper snow that this happened. After the
deeper stuff, I just glided along with normal feeling turns.

probably poor technique as per your later description of
the board you would have to have a very high edge angle to drag
and if you were riding like that you probably wouldn't be asking
us questions here

Have a mate watch you from behind and then in front when
you are on a steeper trail.. you probably aren't angulating
at all and thats fine on easy stuff but harder to get away
with on steeper terrain. You could also be pushing the
board away from you which is something people tend to do
on heeledge.

I think it was a combination of both - too much heel overhang and poor
technique. I do also agree with getting a lesson or two this year. I've
actually had instruction for the last two years as I was part of a
volunteer junior ski program here in Reno, called Sky Tavern Junior Ski
Program. But we're not participating in that program this year and my
daughter and I have season passes to a nearby resort, where I plan to
get more instruction.

Ironically, now my heelside is very strong, and now my toeside is a
little shaky. I went up yesterday morning for 4 runs. After reading
these posts and others from another thread, I realized I wasn't getting
low enough in the turns. So I started doing this and also powering out
of the turns and my heelside improved dramatically. Then I noticed my
toeside being not so great. It seems like, even shifting weight to the
front of the board, I can't seem to get low in the toeside turn. It
certainly was a much better day - only my second of this season.

I'm going to decrease the angle of my front binding. I had increased it
to about 12 degrees, a little bit more than I've had for the past two
years. So I'm going to go back down to about 9 degrees and see how that
feels on the toeside.

Thanks to everyone for their opinions.


Mike M. Miskulin wrote:
"clarv02" wrote in oups.com:

It was only in the steeper, deeper snow that this happened. After the
deeper stuff, I just glided along with normal feeling turns.

probably poor technique as per your later description of
the board you would have to have a very high edge angle to drag
and if you were riding like that you probably wouldn't be asking
us questions here

Have a mate watch you from behind and then in front when
you are on a steeper trail.. you probably aren't angulating
at all and thats fine on easy stuff but harder to get away
with on steeper terrain. You could also be pushing the
board away from you which is something people tend to do
on heeledge.