# Building confidence to ride steeper terrain?



## Dandow88 (Jan 2, 2018)

Hiya mate. Your right it all about confidence. This can be influenced by a few things: type and size of board you are riding while learning? And what techniques you are practising to get your edge transition down and speed checking. Try learning too do a falling leaf (flat spinning) down a green/blue slope which will get your edge transition down too a t. Always helps me get used to a new board rapid. Once your confident switching too an edge at command you will hit any slope ?


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## freshy (Nov 18, 2009)

Seems like you need to get used to speed. The best way would be to ride with fast friends and try to keep up. Equipment will make a difference too, I'm guessing you have a board with rocker and it's fairly soft... Maybe... 
A stiffer board with stiffer bindings with stiffer boots would probably be a night and day difference. 

Just keep at it and try to push yourself while trying to not to revert back to your bad habits like side slipping down the steeps. It will come in time.


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## Fielding (Feb 15, 2015)

I can picture you alternating between flat basing and skidding down the mountain. Breaks my heart. Commit now to learn to ride well and you’ll increase your pleasure and safety. Get skills. You don’t have them after 5 outings. Get the basic tools. Going fast on diamonds or whatever will come later. Take a lesson. Sideslipping down steeps doesn’t make you a good rider. It doesn’t even feel good. Control, precision, finesse, confidence, mountain and snow awareness -those things make you a good rider. Take a lesson. Or five. I still take occasional lessons and I’ve been riding 30 plus days a season probably longer than you’ve been alive.


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## CelliniKS (Mar 23, 2015)

Getting some body protection might help give you confidence. When you don't have to be scared of falling because it usually doesn't hurt, you wont be as afraid to ride faster. Get to a point where you can absolutely bomb a blue (maybe a green, but you probably shouldn't since they are usually reserved for slow riding) with confidence, then you wont be afraid of average speed on a black. Also, these guys are right about lessons. I need to get around to doing that myself...


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

Steep hill is all about edge transition and edge hold. You need to be able to change edges like second nature.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

why do you need to turn?


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## SlvrDragon50 (Mar 25, 2017)

Body protection for sure. That helped me build a ton of confidence, and I felt my turns improve dramatically as I became more confident. There were certain parts that I was uncertain about with steepness, but that had to do more with the ice than steepness.

Also, just slowly allowing yourself to ride down the easier slopes with greater speed. The first couple days I was on the mountain it took me maybe 30 minutes to go down the mountain, and I was able to get down in about 15 minutes by the last day. 

Just an opinion from someone in the same position as you.


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

Or if you can do this.


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## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

Fielding said:


> I can picture you alternating between flat basing and skidding down the mountain. Breaks my heart. Commit now to learn to ride well and you’ll increase your pleasure and safety. *Get skills. You don’t have them after 5 outings. Get the basic tools. *Going fast on diamonds or whatever will come later. Take a lesson. Sideslipping down steeps doesn’t make you a good rider. It doesn’t even feel good. Control, precision, finesse, confidence, mountain and snow awareness -those things make you a good rider. Take a lesson. Or five. I still take occasional lessons and I’ve been riding 30 plus days a season probably longer than you’ve been alive.


^this^

Im not even sure I was reliabley, confidently able to link turns after only 5 "outings!" (...It definitely clicked not too long after, sometime between 5-12 days.) But I also took a few private lessons in that time as well. 

Even so,... I certainly wasn't ready (...or able) to ride *any* steep shite that first (...and probably my 2nd) season. Like you,... if I stumbled into something steeper than an easy green or blue,... I had to side slip my way down to a section with a pitch I felt comfortable with before I could go back to carefully linking turns. 

I still have to do that occasionally. Granted, When It happens now, it's on *much* gnarlier terrain than it was 4-5 years ago,.. But it does still happen. _Thank You @wrathfuldeity for the introduction to, "The Canyon!!"_ :lol: 

Take the time to develop some confidence in your skillz first & _then_ start seeking out those Gnar slopes! :grin:


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

chomps1211 said:


> I still have to do that occasionally. Granted, When It happens now, it's on *much* gnarlier terrain than it was 4-5 years ago,.. But it does still happen. _Thank You @wrathfuldeity for the introduction to, "The Canyon!!"_ :lol:
> 
> Take the time to develop some confidence in your skillz first & _then_ start seeking out those Gnar slopes! :grin:


Chomps eludes to a good point. Confidence involves perception...whether it be real, imagined or anticipatory; and skillz whether it be real or imagined...And then there is arousal or anxiety level and the ability to deal with the fear. So the point is, a potential confidence builder is to go ride/side slip a big ass gnar line (e.g., triple black) and then go back to your weak ass blue and be a hero...the only thing that has changed is your perception of the slope, speed and your abilities/skillz. :wink:

As for commitment...go ride/mob with a crew that is better than your lil o'self....try to keep up. You might surprise you self at what you can do...don't wimp out.


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## Pointy Deity (Dec 12, 2014)

wrathfuldeity said:


> ...go ride/side slip a big ass gnar line (e.g., triple black) and then go back to your weak ass blue and be a hero...the only thing that has changed is your perception of the slope, speed and your abilities/skillz.


Went riding with a beginner buddy a couple weeks ago and this happened to him. Accidentally got himself onto an ungroomed black run (way above his level) where he leafed and scorpioned his way to the bottom. After that, he was able to ride faster on blues and approach groomed blacks with confidence. He said they just looked and felt easy by comparison.

Maybe try finding a run that's just barely too steep for you to approach with confidence. Take a wide path across the run (like almost perpendicular to the fall line), and commit to turning properly instead of leafing. Make a sharp turn and do the same thing going the other way. Don't forget to lean forward and keep your weight on your front foot. As you get more comfortable with it, you'll gradually get used to the steepness and your turns will widen out (more like a S/sine wave than a zig-zag).


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