# riding on flats?



## Guest (Apr 11, 2008)

The same thing used to happen to me in beaver creek, they have a section that is pretty flat. The way I did it was just riding flat, yet a caught a couple edges but after a while I got it to the point that I stopped catching them. Do you have fresh wax, if not get it waxed and make sure the wax is the correct temperature. That was another thing slowing me down, my wax job was old. 

Another thing try ridding almost flat but slightly on the edge, that way you avoid those annoying edges from catching.


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## tboooe (Mar 16, 2008)

Here is what works for me:

I lean on my rear leg just a bit and make sure I have slight pressure on the toe edge. I also try to squat just a bit more. This has a couple effects:

1. By unweighting the front I allow it to flow over bumps and ruts, with my front leg acting like a shock absorber
2. The slight edge on the rear toe keeps me from the dreaded edge catching
3. It seems I am able to maintain my speed because I actaully have less of the board actually on the snow, reducing overall friction,
4. By squatting, I reduce air drag.

These tips work for me. I am now able to bomb down hills and through flats with total confidence.

BTW, as always snowolf is right on. Listen to the man...he is truth!


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2008)

so nice job explaining it guys and ill just throw something else in, its all about your stance, balance and edges.
Have a good relaxed stance, knees bent, back straight, shoulders pointed where your going and eyes up!
be relaxed but maintain good balance.
you want to stay on your edges instead of just flat
well good luck man, one more thing: if you can avoid the flat areas, do so. you should try to become a better rider before you ride flats comfortably.
oh yeah and what tboooe said, listen to snowolf, he is probably the most experienced instructor here


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## Guest (Apr 11, 2008)

Snowolf said:


> When I am at a point that I need to switch edges, I do so with both feet simultaneously by shifting my weight off one edge onto the other. This quick edge change reduces the amount of time the board is flat based and reduces the drag.


this is what helped me the most. it's important to not skid at all to keep your speed up. switchin edges with both feet at the same time makes you not skid, but be careful


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## AAA (Feb 2, 2008)

The best thing, as mentioned, is to hit the flat with some speed to carry you across. A well maintained (waxed) base helps wonders, too. Staying centered over your board and keeping a neutral balance is great if you can manage that. If not, you can gentley alternate pressuring the toe and heel edges. (Don't skid!) Alternately, you can keep your base flat and bear an unusually high amount of your weight on your lead foot. This places a fulcrum further forward on the board so your tail will track straight behind, rather than the tail wanting to steer the nose, which will cause you to catch an edge.


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## KIRKRIDER (Mar 18, 2008)

WAX!!!!
Another thing a friend of mine does is keeping telescopic ski polses in his backpack...when he gets stuck he pulls them out and keeps going without unstrappimg.
Weird I know, but pretty effective.


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## Guest (Apr 12, 2008)

Maybe its just me, but for some reason when I get on a sticky flat throwing it around to switch keeps my speed up.


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## Guest (Apr 12, 2008)

Initially I had significant frustration with a couple of relatively flat bits at Heavenly. Firstly the top of Sky Express heading back over to the Nevada side is a nightmare... lots of skating. And then there is a bit over on the Nevada side where I ran out of steam again and had to skate. But when I got my confidence, weighted the front leg more and rode faster into the sections I managed to maintain movement for much longer. The top section I don't know if I'd ever carry it right through - it almost seems to go uphill before getting to Dipper Knob trail, but the other bit I struggled with I did manage on my second attempt without stopping. It always looks like the really competent snowboarders just bomb it down with a flat board, but I guess they also are slightly on one edge. I did find that staying on one edge got quite tiring though, and I think I was initially too scared of losing speed if changing edge (or going off the narrow trail!!).


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## Guest (Apr 13, 2008)

When I was in Tahoe I avoided Heavenly due to that reason. I read a lot of reviews that the place tends to be a nightmare for riders because of all the flats they have in between sides.


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## Guest (Apr 14, 2008)

i didn't think the flats at heavenly were much of a problem. the first day it was kind of annoying because i didn't know where they were, but once you know you just need to remember where to keep your speed. there were like 2 or 3 stretches of 15-20 feet where i had to unstrap. that's just the nature of a mountain that's shaped like that one. that being said, i wouldn't recommend heavenly to anyone who's more advanced, i'm not gonna go back.


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## Guest (Apr 14, 2008)

Gustov said:


> that being said, i wouldn't recommend heavenly to anyone who's more advanced, i'm not gonna go back.



What's wrong with the place, to not make you go back? to advanced?


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## Guest (Apr 14, 2008)

Simply^Ride said:


> What's wrong with the place, to not make you go back? to advanced?


i assume you meant "too advanced", no offense of course. no it's not too advanced, i didn't think there was enough advaced terrain. the glades that are all over the place are amazing, but i wanted some more open steepness. the single blacks are only blacks because they're covered in moguls. i only found a couple single blacks without a shitload of moguls. i didn't go to the double black parts becuase there wasn't enough snow, that whole area looked like hell. so, that skews my opinion a little. although from reviews i read, this seems like a common complaint.

it also really sucks to have a couple lifts go on wind hold, making you stranded on one little part of the mountain.

other than that, the place it just too touristy and crowded, which also means it's expensive. the views are amazing from the mountain, like nowhere else in the world probably, i took a ton of pictures. it just didn't feel like a winter getaway. i still had a great time though, i don't have any complaints. i just feel like there are better places.


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## Guest (Apr 14, 2008)

Gustov said:


> i assume you meant "too advanced", no offense of course. no it's not too advanced, i didn't think there was enough advaced terrain. the glades that are all over the place are amazing, but i wanted some more open steepness. the single blacks are only blacks because they're covered in moguls. i only found a couple single blacks without a shitload of moguls. i didn't go to the double black parts becuase there wasn't enough snow, that whole area looked like hell. so, that skews my opinion a little. although from reviews i read, this seems like a common complaint.
> 
> it also really sucks to have a couple lifts go on wind hold, making you stranded on one little part of the mountain.
> 
> other than that, the place it just too touristy and crowded, which also means it's expensive. the views are amazing from the mountain, like nowhere else in the world probably, i took a ton of pictures. it just didn't feel like a winter getaway. i still had a great time though, i don't have any complaints. i just feel like there are better places.


Well I was just wondering, my time at Tahoe was amazing of course I stayed in the north shore. Rode Squaw, Alpine and Sugar. All 3 resorts are incredible but I had the best time at Sugar, they have excellent terrain and very affordable prizes. I have heard many complains of Heavenly thats why I didn't go there, but over all Tahoe is just gorgeous.


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## Guest (Apr 14, 2008)

Simply^Ride said:


> but over all Tahoe is just gorgeous.


yeah it definitely is. i think that's an understatement. the views at heavenly were probably the best ive ever seen. there's places where you can see the lake, next to mountains, next to the nevada desert, all in one frame. it's cool cuz you can see that the desert is way lower in elevation than the lake.


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## Guest (Aug 24, 2008)

pawlo said:


> WAX!!!!
> Another thing a friend of mine does is keeping telescopic ski polses in his backpack...when he gets stuck he pulls them out and keeps going without unstrappimg.
> Weird I know, but pretty effective.


I do something similar. When i first started riding I had to do this alot, but now i usually keep enough speed to get through any flats.

Instead of unstraping and skating across. A good majority of the people i ride with ski so i either:
A-get them to hand me a pole
B-make them give me a pull
C-make them push me.

Seems to work fine to me


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## nzboardlife (Mar 25, 2008)

same with me, im one of two boarders in my group of around 8, skiers are good for that, but i rarely ever get stuck on a flat, always hit it with way more speed then is needed!


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## Guest (Aug 24, 2008)

There's a resort in Vermont called Smugglers Notch, they have a trail to the right of the Madonna lift that goes up hill. To clear it you need to gain a lot of speed, you can see boarders stuck there all the time :laugh::laugh::laugh:, happened to me the first couple of times.


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## Guest (Aug 25, 2008)

that's funny, i cant imagine how hard it is to control that board.


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## baldylox (Dec 27, 2007)

i find its best to do a real shallow and quick carve to keep control so you don't end up 'checking' for stability and losing all your speed (especially on those awful flat traverses where it slants slightly downhill and if you don't turn you'll find yourself pulled toward the edge) i also use the manual technique frequently (riding the tail)like snowolf said, especially if it is flat with a little uphill section and i need every ounce of speed. and of course....ride FASTER into it.


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