# Penguin Walk Uphill



## BliND KiNK (Feb 22, 2010)

here's what you need to know, from me learning this.. on flatground... not uphill...

he's swinging his arms for a reason, it's hard as shit to balance while doing that... and it takes a lot more effort to do than unstrapping lol... but hopefully you get better advice.. a flexy or broken in board is easier.... and yeah just practice on flat ground first.. .like getting from the lift... don't skate just strap and try it.... good luck.. doing it down hill is pretty bad ass


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## john doe (Nov 6, 2009)

Pick your feet up and swing your arms to counter the motion of your feet. It is easier with a board with rocker in the middle since the ends want to come up already.


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## nodaysoff (Dec 4, 2008)

I learned to do this by first rockin from nose to tail, sort of pressing the board. Once i got that motion down i then added some lift to each end of the board. As your hopping off the ground side to side lean foward a little bit and rotate your hips from left to right or right to left (almost like your trying to kick foward with your quads). It takes practice and balance. Hopes this helps 

Ill agree with Blind, it does take alot more effort than unstrapping the board and walking, but its fun to do sometimes...:laugh:


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## Technine Icon (Jan 15, 2009)

As everyone above me stated, its all about flexing your board and rotating your hips. The trick to doing it uphill, is to lean back because as soon as you lean slightly forward your toe edge will catch and stop all of your momentum. Trust me, it does not look cool lol


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

Doing that uphill increases the difficulty by quite a bit, you could see too that guy was tired out from not going very far. In a situation like that I usually end up doing the chop-hop, which is simply hopping forward and sticking your edge each time you land so that you don't slide backwards.

Having a softer board, with rocker and forgiving edge profile also makes it a much more forgiving maneuver. To get used to the motion, the easiest way to practice is to stand on a flat, and start rocking your board back and forth. You want to get enough momentum so that you are pressing one side, popping in the air, then landing on the other side and pressing, popping, and so forth.

Once you have this down, it's pretty much just popping the board back and forth while rotating your hips back and forth.


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

Technine Icon said:


> As everyone above me stated, its all about flexing your board and rotating your hips. The trick to doing it uphill, is to lean back because as soon as you lean slightly forward your toe edge will catch and stop all of your momentum. Trust me, it does not look cool lol


This seems counterintutive. Isn't the point to use your toe edge to dig into the hill when going up?


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## Biggs (Nov 16, 2008)

Donutz said:


> This seems counterintutive. Isn't the point to use your toe edge to dig into the hill when going up?


That's what I would think -- I cant imagine trying to use the flat part of your base while trying to penguin walk up-hill. Seems like an unnecessary amount of effort/sliding involved.


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

There is some truth to what he says, when you penguin walk on a flat or slightly uphill slope, you want to try and not use your edges at all because they mostly just catch the snow, and cause you to fall over because your hucking your body forward. It's a bit like someone tripping you.


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## Technine Icon (Jan 15, 2009)

Yes, to a certain degree you would use your toe edge, or else you would go nowhere. But the most common mistake when doing this is using to much toe edge and consequently getting it stuck in the snow which kills all of your momentum and causes you to fall forward.


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## Leo (Nov 24, 2009)

Ummm... I always do the penguin walk on my toe edges. If I flat base, I go nowhere because all the board does is slide in one place lol.

If doing it uphill, I lean forward. In the end though, I rarely do this technique to move to different areas, especially uphill. Unstrapping is 100x easier.

I use the penguin walk mostly for getting down from the top after strapping in. This is useful so I don't have to sit down at the edge to strap in. I can strap in standing up on a flatter surface if there isn't one by the edge and just penguin walk briefly to get going.

Other than that, I use it for the fun factor, but as many have stated... it is physically taxing. You are using your entire body and a lot of leg muscle to do this.

Side note: The guy in the video has one of my jackets. The pant color he chose with it ruins it bleh :cheeky4:


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

Just as an aside, I've heard this move called toy-soldier, flatland shuffle, shuffleboard, waddling, and now penguin. Is there no governing standards body for snowboarding? My god, how do we ever get anything done? :laugh:

Oh wait. The point is _avoiding_ work.


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## Leo (Nov 24, 2009)

You didn't say whether or not to favor an edge Wolfy!


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## Leo (Nov 24, 2009)

Snowolf said:


> If walking forward...a little toe edge. If walking backward (yes, we have to do that too) a little heel edge....:thumbsup:
> 
> Not a lot of edge, just enough to provide some traction.


Thanks. I just wanted official confirmation to what I stated I do in this situation 

Walking backwards eh? Never thought about doing that. I have a new task for my next time out now.


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

Snowolf said:


> Not a lot of edge, just enough to provide some traction.


QFT, honestly if your going uphill the snowboard is naturally gonna grab some of the edge regardless, you just don't want to encourage the board to really dig in.

Never thought about doing it backwards, gonna have to try that out.

edit: Lol Jinx Leo


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