# carving



## kri$han (Feb 24, 2007)

^ totally agree.

During a true carved turn, you'll actually pick up speed, rather than scrub it off, and personally I'd need a lot of room, and some thick pow before I can carve an entire trail down a slope. I find that while carving I get up to speed very quickly, and at that point it gets hard to dodge people, and if ice gets in your path, or unexpected moguls, u're effed.


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## lisevolution (Sep 20, 2007)

/\/\/\/\/\ I do the same thing when I'm in a situation that's a little bit too gnarly for me at that moment. Ride an edge as sideways as possible and then jump or power the tail around to the other side in a similar angle until you're comfortable enough to just get at it the normal way.

I very rarely get to actually carve here on the east coast due to it mostly being hardpack and icy conditions but when the chance is there it's so much nicer than having to slide turn everything!


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2007)

Snowolf said:


> An additional thought on this.....
> 
> When it is very steep and picking up speed is a problem and something that can become dangerous, a technique I use to get down the chute or steep is stay basically in a traverse and at the end of the traverse, I carve up the hill to make the board almost stall out. I then do a very quick pivot turn that is like popping a 180 by up unweighting the board and spinning 180 to land on the new edge which I then angle down the slope at a rate that allows me to regulate my speed. So what I am doing is zig zagging my way down with a lot of turns (not falling leaf, that is staying on the same edge).


Not quite sure what you mean here, could you try explaining a little better? It sounds interesting.


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2007)

Snowolf said:


> An additional thought on this.....
> 
> When it is very steep and picking up speed is a problem and something that can become dangerous, a technique I use to get down the chute or steep is stay basically in a traverse and at the end of the traverse, I carve up the hill to make the board almost stall out. I then do a very quick pivot turn that is like popping a 180 by up unweighting the board and spinning 180 to land on the new edge which I then angle down the slope at a rate that allows me to regulate my speed. So what I am doing is zig zagging my way down with a lot of turns (not falling leaf, that is staying on the same edge).


what a trippy idea.
i can visualize that, i'm going to try it next time.


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2007)

mpdsnowman said:


> In other words. Lets say he goes across a steep hill on his *back* edge. He rides that edge totally across the hill and when he is all the way across he will slow the board by slightly turning up just before he swings his ass around to his *front* edge to head back the other way.
> 
> The difference is the falling leaf is on one edge


Ah I think I get it. Yea, I think that should really slow you down.


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## lisevolution (Sep 20, 2007)

Snowolf said:


> You can also use this technique to navigate moguls very successfully.


See this is what I try to do but due to either a lack of leg endurance or just techniques in the bumps, It just doesn't always work for me. It does work excellent when it's steep though


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## lisevolution (Sep 20, 2007)

outside of switch and freestyle shit this is probably the one thing I'm still super inconsistent with. Alot depends on my conditioning as to how well I handle the bumps or what time of day it is that I get to that type of run. If i'm on steep techie face and the only way down has bumps I just charge it and just try to stay on top of the board and ride it out... however when I'm just doing cruisers and I can get more lazy with it I almost analyze the line too much looking for the perfect way down and end up getting caught too deep to get the next turn in time. I think improving my switch riding will significantly help this as I already will go that way if that's the way the line is calling for so I can get through it but I just don't have the same control I want to do it right. I guess like anything else it's just about practice. I am determined this season to get my switch down nicely and that I think will help this all out in general


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## Guest (Dec 11, 2007)

Snowolf, have you seen the Go Snowboarding DVD by Neil McNab? I think he features that technique in the DVD. It shows that the same 4 pressure points are still being used to initiate the turn.


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## darko714 (Jan 17, 2009)

mpdsnowman said:


> If u can carve on the east coast u can carve anywhere in the world.


So true. Carving is tough here in western NY. Ice, rutted snow, moguls, and crowded slopes all conspire to limit decent carving opportunities. When I pick up too much speed for the conditions on steep slopes I just cheat and skid my turns to bleed off speed when I need to. I use a shorter, fatter board (Donek 162) with my binding angles less agressive (54 front, 40 back) and a fair amount of damping; that way I can ride out the crappy parts of the hill and alter my course quickly if I need to.

Another thing you can try is using "cross under" a technique where you switch edges by quickly unweighting the board ("Sucking" it up closer to your body) at the end of a turn, and quickly pulling the tail around into the next turn. To properly use this technique you have to extend your legs into the carve and pull them up at the transitions. Probably the opposite of what you are used to. You also have to keep your upper body quiet and facing more or less down the hill. It's almost a racing style and it lets you control speed by keeping the board perpendicular to the fall line more.


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