# braking at high speed



## Guest (Jan 16, 2008)

Most of the time when bomb down the last part of the mountain, I'm able to stop at a fairly short distance by digging the edge of my back heel (reg foot) perpenticularly into the mountain. The higher the board angle the faster I'll come to a stop.


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## Mr. Right (Sep 27, 2007)

jdr said:


> Anybody have any tips for hard braking at high speed? I was going down a blue/black mountain fairly straight and I had to brake hard... so I turned by board almost perpendicular to the run and drove my edge into the snow, but I must have continued for another 50 yards or something... and as I was finally slowing down, I ended up crashing when I hit a small bump that launched me and my still perpendicular board up into the air... it's hard to land when your board is sideways...
> 
> I guess it concerns me because i feel like I have to mitigate my speed just to ensure I can stop in a reasonable distance.. I'm thinking that instead of trying to stop before hitting something, maybe just trying to go around it??? I saw someone who did what looked like a 360 spin that seemed to slow him down faster??
> 
> Any tips would be appreciated, thanks...


All I can say is to continue to practice. If you are going fast enough its just a fact of life you aren't going to stop that easily or quickly which is why you need to also practice your evasive moves for the beginner/intermediate skier that still somewhat takes up an entire run alone. Put 20 skiers like that on one run and you have yourself a sobriety/obstacle course. I get out of sticky situations more often by doing the brake check/speed around manuever than just stopping. Until you are quite sure of yourself in that aspect, I'd avoid going to fast on crowded main runs etc. just because collisions are never pretty. 

As far as bumps while sliding sideways, you will need to see them coming and make sure you don't end up leaning back in the air and finishing your brake check on your ass.


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## Guest (Jan 16, 2008)

As carne said, try to raise the heel-side of the board higher. Normally, this will result in landing on your arse but eventually you will get a feel for the board and understand how it reacts to certain speeds.


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## lisevolution (Sep 20, 2007)

also sometimes you can do a sort of double stop... where you stop first on the heel side and then swing it around again to the toe side to finalize the stop. The first one scrubs off a bunch of speed and the second will stop you... picture ski racers finishing at the bottom of the run to get an idea of what i'm talking about


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## Guest (Jan 16, 2008)

lisevolution said:


> also sometimes you can do a sort of double stop... where you stop first on the heel side and then swing it around again to the toe side to finalize the stop. The first one scrubs off a bunch of speed and the second will stop you... picture ski racers finishing at the bottom of the run to get an idea of what i'm talking about


+1 That also comes in handy if you are trying to get through the flourescent mesh gates that are usually offset. For me, I really don't feel like making one complete stop then trying to muster enough speed to zig zag through those darm gates so a double stop is the way to go! :thumbsup:


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## Guest (Jan 16, 2008)

Just thought I'd throw this in... I was having a real hard time stopping too... what I found out is if I was hauling ass it was easier if I turned toe-side (into the mountain) and slowed down a little bit that way... then kicked it back straight...then heel-side to finish slowing down.... Like stated above you'll avoid falling down a lot more if you just speed check and swerve around.... instead of locking up the brakes and going back on your head...

Edit: Just thought I'd state that I ride goofy...

Mike


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## Guest (Jan 16, 2008)

headinahole said:


> Just thought I'd throw this in... I was having a real hard time stopping too... what I found out is if I was hauling ass it was easier if I turned toe-side (into the mountain) and slowed down a little bit that way... then kicked it back straight...then heel-side to finish slowing down.... Like stated above you'll avoid falling down a lot more if you just speed check and swerve around.... instead of locking up the brakes and going back on your head...
> 
> Edit: Just thought I'd state that I ride goofy...
> 
> Mike


Even if you are bombing down the mountain boardcross status, jumping on either edge doesn't really take much to slow you down so either way works. 

I ride reg footed and even just by grinding on the heel seems to scrape off a lot of speed. 

Keep your center of gravity lower and your knees bent but relaxed and that should help absorb up any bumps to prevent you from landing on your ass.


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## Guest (Jan 16, 2008)

carne_asada said:


> Even if you are bombing down the mountain boardcross status, jumping on either edge doesn't really take much to slow you down so either way works.
> 
> I ride reg footed and even just by grinding on the heel seems to scrape off a lot of speed.
> 
> Keep your center of gravity lower and your knees bent but relaxed and that should help absorb up any bumps to prevent you from landing on your ass.


I agree... it will slow you down about the same either way... it was just easier for me to control the speed toe-side the first couple days:dunno:... 


Mike


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## Mr. Right (Sep 27, 2007)

For me if I'm in a high speed hard brake check I think it's easier to absorb bumps etc. heelside, especially in moguls and icy/choppy spots. Plus if you lay into it really hard toe side and loose your footing then you are going to be sliding on your face and not your ass.


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## Guest (Jan 17, 2008)

I prefer stopping/speed checking toe side, just seems easier to me. I can't really help wihout going back out and thinking what I'm doing, but last night I was ripping down a blue and just about max speed when someone came in from of me. I immediately dug in toeside extremely hard and came to a complete stop in about a little over 10 feet. If it had been a little more snow and a little less ice the guy in front of me would have gotten showered on :laugh:


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## Guest (Jan 18, 2008)

Went on a black diamond my first time on Wednesday and I can tell you this much, there is no such thing as an "emergency stop" on a steep dip unless you wanna take a ride on your backside.

Now, I've gotta learn on how to effectively speed check on turns. I guess on intermediate trails, it's much easier to edge the board and come to a complete stop, but I'm finding out the hard way that I still have a lot of learning to do.


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## Guest (Jan 18, 2008)

mister_tu said:


> Went on a black diamond my first time on Wednesday and I can tell you this much, there is no such thing as an "emergency stop" on a steep dip unless you wanna take a ride on your backside.
> 
> Now, I've gotta learn on how to effectively speed check on turns. I guess on intermediate trails, it's much easier to edge the board and come to a complete stop, but I'm finding out the hard way that I still have a lot of learning to do.


The only emergency stop you have there is digging your board in while you slide on your back head first down the mountain ...


Mike


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## junglecat1971 (Jan 14, 2008)

Heelside, sit down really far to get the edge up. Toe side, drop those knees far down again to get that edge up. In both cases, your knees are bending low low low but you get better balance control this way and less chance of sliding out. Like others said though, it'll come with experience.


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## Guest (Nov 23, 2009)

headinahole said:


> Just thought I'd throw this in... I was having a real hard time stopping too... what I found out is if I was hauling ass it was easier if I turned toe-side (into the mountain) and slowed down a little bit that way... then kicked it back straight...then heel-side to finish slowing down.... Like stated above you'll avoid falling down a lot more if you just speed check and swerve around.... instead of locking up the brakes and going back on your head...
> 
> Edit: Just thought I'd state that I ride goofy...
> 
> Mike


i ride goofy too and i found that this is the easiest way for me to stop when i'm flying down an empty run. i really don't think it matters if your goofy or regular so i would give it a shot. i feel like i can dig into the mountain a lot harder toe side.


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## sook (Oct 25, 2009)

jjdruffel said:


> i ride goofy too and i found that this is the easiest way for me to stop when i'm flying down an empty run. i really don't think it matters if your goofy or regular so i would give it a shot. i feel like i can dig into the mountain a lot harder toe side.


I'm noticing a trend. I'm goofy and I feel like I can dig in harder toe side too so thats how I used to do panic stops years ago. I do them heelside now so i can see where I'm going, but it wasn't instinctual to do it that way.


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## Guest (Nov 23, 2009)

If your board's edge is perpendicular to the slope and your legs are stretched you will come to a halt quickly.


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## Mr. Polonia (Apr 5, 2009)

lisevolution said:


> also sometimes you can do a sort of double stop... where you stop first on the heel side and then swing it around again to the toe side to finalize the stop. The first one scrubs off a bunch of speed and the second will stop you... picture ski racers finishing at the bottom of the run to get an idea of what i'm talking about


^ +2:thumbsup:
that is what i do. also to what snowolf has mentioned, when u want to stop short at high speeds, DEFINATELY "extend" your legs out as if u were doing squats. because if you dont straighten out your legs and keep them slightly bent instead, then your legs will act like shock absorbers and bounce up and down as opposed to transfering the speed directly into the digging of the snow. 

it was kinda hard explaining that one:dunno:


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## Mr. Polonia (Apr 5, 2009)

also make sure ur not stopping where there is a bump of snow in front of you, doing this at high speeds will cuz lift off if ur not experienced enough to negotiate it


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## yusoweird (Apr 6, 2009)

I guess no one mention this, but maybe you should check the edges and see if they are really dull??


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

pull the rip cord to the parachute


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## xxfinnellxx (Aug 30, 2009)

try braking with your toe edge and just grind that bitch into the hard pack. thats the fastest way, heel edge is more controllable though, but just because of your your body and board is set up, you cant really get as much of an edge in. Try sharpening it, typically i keep my heel edge a little sharper just for that reason, and because your heel edge doesnt have as much response as your toe edge anyways


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