# riding on the ice



## 55Nick15 (Aug 11, 2008)

anyone have some tips for riding on ice?

im heading to winterplace on monday and i hear they have alot haha


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## Guest (Jan 3, 2009)

Have sharp edges? I dunno I'm spoiled lol


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## Grizz (Nov 10, 2008)

Do everything progressively not abruptly. Focus on good turn shape to stay smooth. Don't lock up your joints, they should be flexing and extending through the turn.


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## 55Nick15 (Aug 11, 2008)

it will be the first time on my new board so the edges are sharppppp


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## Guest (Jan 3, 2009)

Ice sucks. I think you still have to file the edges even if your board is new.


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## Guest (Jan 3, 2009)

Grizz said:


> Do everything progressively not abruptly. Focus on good turn shape to stay smooth. Don't lock up your joints, they should be flexing and extending through the turn.


Good advice.. the progressive application of pressure and releiving of that pressure through flexion and extension.. Try to use the ankles to make the fine adjustments necessary to maintain grip on the ice. Like Grizz says, pressure applied progressively and smoothly...the keys to riding ice efficiently.


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## Guest (Jan 3, 2009)

showbiz said:


> Ice sucks. I think you still have to file the edges even if your board is new.


no...

10char


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## HouseMuzik (Dec 22, 2008)

ice sucks, period. Pedo Bear does not approve (sorry falcon, i saw the avatar and had to say it )


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## Extremo (Nov 6, 2008)

If you have sharp edges it's a big help. But if you hit ice just flat base it till you find snow. It's kind of a skill of it's own. It's always icy out here in NH.


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## Random Hero (Sep 30, 2008)

Exactly what extremo said. If you happen to hit a patch of ice the best thing to do is just point your board straight down the mountain, bend your knees, and hope for the best. Trying to carve or stop on ice is pretty much pointless, you will almost always just have the board slide out from underneath you and eat shit.


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## Guest (Jan 4, 2009)

you can hold an edge on ice (traversing wise i mean) 
but you can't turn on it (or only a little).
if you have an icy run ahead, try to search the spots where their is a little snow , and go from
one spot to another , only turn your board on that spot.
you can initiate your turn on the icy part and finish it on the snow parts.

remember: its almost immpossible to slow down fast on ice , so don't try to make to
much speed , always keep in control.
keep your weight centered , shoulders alined with the board and bend your knees like
your having the dump of your life.

peace out


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## Grizz (Nov 10, 2008)

What's up with all the "you can't turn on ice" nonsense? If you are smooth enough you can carve down an iceberg. 

Now if you have rounded off you edges for riding rails I can understand, but if you have a properly tuned board you should be able to turn on ice. Saying it's "not possible" because you can't, well that's not the board's fault.


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## Flick Montana (Jul 9, 2007)

Turning on ice is impossible! Give up and go home, it's hopeless!

Does that help?


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## Guest (Jan 5, 2009)

Grizz said:


> What's up with all the "you can't turn on ice" nonsense? If you are smooth enough you can carve down an iceberg.
> 
> Now if you have rounded off you edges for riding rails I can understand, but if you have a properly tuned board you should be able to turn on ice. Saying it's "not possible" because you can't, well that's not the board's fault.


i doubt that the guy asking the question is able to carve...
carving probably with your knees (tech and all) i mean
not just standing on your edge


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## laz167 (Nov 27, 2007)

If it's patchy ice try flatbased and try to go over them qiuckly, be relaxed don't tense up. if the entire mountain is an ice box then don't even bother riding you will just end up falling alot and getting pissed or hurt. Yesterday I rode in Icy Hunter mtn, and ate it a couple of times, especialy coming off the lift where it was extreme ice. Every rider I saw comming off the lift fell, was funny as shit. Oh and magantraction on ice? Yeah useless..


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## Guest (Jan 5, 2009)

just try to enjoy what you can from the ice. it hurts to fall and it happens more often. just take it slow and get used to how it feels. ice can still be fun.


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## 55Nick15 (Aug 11, 2008)

well turns out my trip to the mountain had minimal ice

had some rain this morning and when we got there it was fake snow and some slush.. 

made for alot better conditions than ice in my book


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## AAA (Feb 2, 2008)

Man, they groom our local hill with a Zamboni, so you had better be able to ride on ice. Haha!  In truth, I have a couple of favorite runs that I actually prefer to be on the icy side. After a few days of laying out carves in soft snow, it can be a fun change to take your edges to the limit of what they'll hold. (Just not a mix of soft snow and icy patches, please.) 

Anyway, I'm with Snowwolf on the finesse part. But while it takes a deft touch, at least for _carving_ on ice, you have to also be agressive and you have to make quick edge changes. The natural instinct on scary fast ice is to go into survival mode; to lean way in the backseat before you can even turn, or to stand up tall, and to lock the legs...all of which are the worst things you can do on ice. You need to have a little faith in your equipment (assuming you're not on a noodle board or one that's been ruined with "detuned" edges), and a touch of nerve. 

Going into a carve, especially on ice, the weight needs to be slightly forward and the edge needs to be brought up high immediately. This is easiest to initiate while starting out across the fall line (vs. straight down hill) with at least a touch of speed, on the downhill edge. At the same time, SINK down into the carve hard and fast. This needs to be accomplished by driving your _strongly bent_ knees and hips into the slope, and not your upper body, which needs to remain upright. (Don't break at the waist or your edges will wash out!) Rotating your upper body slightly _into_ the carve will pull the carve tighter and hold you on line. (I know, I know, official snowboard instructors will cringe at that.) Hold the low center of gravity through the carve. Ride it 90 degrees across the fall line to keep speed reasonable. As the carve ends, shift your weight towards the back foot. On transition, compress further and spring off the tail. You'll unweight, at which point you'll swivel your feet, knees, and hips to the downhill edge, while using the same to shift your weight forward again. 

To envision this while sitting at your desk, imagine there's a clock face under your feet, and your board points roughly towards the 12. If reg foot, lay your heels down on the 5 o'clock position. Imagine you're carving across the fall line on your heel edge, about to transition to the down hill edge. Rotate your feet counterclockwise around the clock face until you've shifted to your toes in the 7 o'clock position, and vice versa. As your feet were going out away from you, that is similar to the use of the ankles, knees, and hips to weight the tail. Then as the nose pops up with feet at 12 o'clock, you unweight, come forward on the board, and bring the board down on the downhill edge with toes in the 7 o'clock position. Maybe that will sink in. Best way I can think to describe it at the moment, anyway.

In any case, don't switch edges before you're headed across (or nearly across) the fall line or you'll pick up to much speed. Also, don't stand up to change edges, and don't simply stay low and roll to the next edge. The former takes too long and generates too much speed, risking that you'll wind up in the trees. The latter, though better, still maintains too much speed instead of bleeding it off in turning radius at the end of the carve.

You're still not going to be railing thighs to the slope carves on ice like this, but you will be very much able to carve it. Remember high angles, and low, centered gravity. If you're still picking up too much speed, you can dip the edge a hair and slip a little to bleed off speed. Or drop down a peg in the terrain. If you were on blacks, go to blues, or if blues, go to greens. 

Probably the biggest hurdle to riding ice is just getting over being unnerved by it. That comes with, well, with riding it over and over. After years and years, it still gets the better or me sometimes. For the record, the worst thing I've found about actually falling on ice (usually due to edges sliding out) is the friction burn you get on your backside as it jumps from 32 to 320 degees in a split-second after going into a rump slide. I admit it's no fun trying to slide with your hands under yourself, while praying you'll slow down soon, and rocking from butt cheek to butt cheek in a desperate effort to keep your flesh from bursting into flames.  But, eventually you "do" stop sliding, so you can finish fanning the flames and hopping about with the, "Oo-oo-ah-ah-hot-hots!", and just continue on.


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## Guest (Jan 6, 2009)

take off your headphones and LISTEN to the sound your board makes on the ice.. Their are clues hear that we completely drown out with tunes... try it and see. There is alot to be learned from how your board sounds on the hard stuff... listen and learn.


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## markee (Jan 1, 2009)

my boards sound so icky on ice alll the time


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