# How to ride steeper grooms in choppy, bumpy snow?



## lilfoot1598 (Mar 7, 2009)

Hmmm...I wonder if I am concentrating so much on bending my legs that I am actually locking them in a bent position. As in, locked and flexed legs are as bad as locked and straight legs? Is that possible? I'm still working on the flexion/extension you taught me - I wonder if mastering that kind of movement would help as well...

I get the concept, I'm just not sure what my body is doing wrong. :dunno:

Thanks Snowolf!


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## G2309 (Oct 22, 2009)

I had big problems with this as well untill my friends told me not to keep my weight forward in such terrain.
Having wright central or slightly back really helped as well as getting better at uing my legs for suspension. Great for doing small ollies as well as you go.


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## Guest (Jan 16, 2010)

What I believe is a great drill for this (not to mention an excellent workout) is to traverse a mogul field. Ride across the fall line, over the top of the moguls, practicing flexing and extending as you move up, over and down each mogul. Then turn around and do it on the opposite edge. Repeat. The key is to relax the knees and move with the terrain. 

The exaggeration of the exercise should aid in the acquisition of the necessary muscle memory and help to make light work of your average chop. Also, really irritates skiers.


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## AAA (Feb 2, 2008)

Keeping your knees bend is crucial, then you have to find how stiff to tune your "suspension". Don't get into the backseat as someone suggested. Stay centered, if not nose heavy to take the slope instead of letting the slope taking you.


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## lilfoot1598 (Mar 7, 2009)

Thanks for the advice! I really like the suggestion of using mogul fields. I'll try again tomorrow and let you all know how it goes. Maybe take some video...


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## Thadwood (Dec 13, 2008)

I used to have issues with this as well. My problem was that I would see the choppy terrain coming, but too late. I'd try to stop, and I'd be turning frontside when my board left the ground, bringing about that wonderful feeling of crashing on my ass hard. I got over this mental block by reminding myself that if I went over a bump or series of bumps with speed, afterwards there'd be a flatter area in which I could regain my balance and check my speed. 

Only other advice I can give is take the choppy terrain slowly, SLOWLY, and work on the feel of having your position and speed be out of your hands for a split-second. The more you attack it, the more confidence you'll have, and the more confidence you have, the less you'll let it shake you.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Riding yesteday through black run chop with both a stiffer free ride board, Option trinity/vinson and a softer parkish board gnu b nice and they have a differnt feel in the steep chop...the trinity was good at blasting through and over the chop but tight turning agility was not there verses the b nice had the agility to work down the steeps but had more potential to get tossed instead of blasting through and over. 

But keep low, bend the knees, traverse the slope more and focus at looking at where you can use the terrain/chop to help you turn or bank a turn...and at times you have to be able to just rotate or muscle a turn and/or do a spring/hop/jump type turn. In a way, its like riding a bull...you anticipate what the bull is going to do...thus you read the terrain like 20-40 feet ahead and then plan on how you are going to ride it and get in position or approach it. So its about staying ahead to work your way down.


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## Tarzanman (Dec 20, 2008)

Snowwolf is right on the money. The only way to take I have been able to navigate this terrain is to work my knees and legs over every bump/mogul on my line. Its taxing physically (you're basically jumping up and down over and over again on the side of a mountain at 10,000 ft) and its a bit of a mental workout... if you're going at a decent clip then you have to guess at/plan for and adjust for every bump you ride lest you get cartwheeled (I wonder how difficult a front flip would be over a big mogul... hmmmm)

If you go slow enough then you can cut around/through them like a skier.... but thats a lot of effort for not much fun on a snowboard, imo.

I am never in good enough shape to ride the moguls down an entire run at once. I either take a break to rest my legs or switch to a groomed section of the slope.


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## SPAZ (May 2, 2009)

i know what you mean- at okemo last sunday there were the same conditions and i was booking, but when i came to a turn and started to slow down, i bounced through the choppy snow and slid on my ass for about 50 yards before i got back up, lol (but its kinda fun being inside that cloud of pow, :laugh my solution was to just keep going fast and whole time, if i had to stop, i made big turns and weaned of speed, but didnt go into a full stop. this is not the best solution though because at the end one run i caught my edge three times and after the thrid scorpioned (one of two falls all day )


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## DC5R (Feb 21, 2008)

I had the same issue when I first started. Things I've learned since then are:

1. Look well ahead of you so that you can steer your way clear of the choppy stuff (if so desired)
2. Unlock your knees. I know you said they are bent, but it's natural instinct to stiffen up when bracing for a hit. Something you may want to think about doing is going into a half squat just as you hit the bump. This will allow you to absorb the impact of the bump and ensure your knees are not locked. As you get better, you'll be able to bring your knees up to your body rather than the reverse I described.
3. Stay centered over your board. Do not put more weight in the back as this could throw you when you hit the bump.

And videos of you riding would be nice


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## squishydonut (Nov 13, 2007)

moguls, blah!


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## Mr. Polonia (Apr 5, 2009)

i know ill be repeating what everyone else said but hey...its sunday and im bored as hell

keep ur legs loose and keep ur body forward. Even if u forget to loosen your legs, once u hit a bump and get lift off, if ur body is leaned fwd then that will give u more control of the landing.
if u lean back than ur board will fly fwd and ur body backwards resulting in PWNAGE!!


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## crazyface (Mar 1, 2008)

dont go over the bumps on edge if you have speed. if you go off them and get air when you are on edge you will most likely fall. if you see a small bump coming up try to flatten your board and ride over it as flat based as possible.


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