# Powder Questions



## Lives2fly (Feb 8, 2010)

Hey. This is my second season boarding and I have started venturing off the groomed runs and into the powder.

I'm not riding anything too steep (comparable with blue or red runs)

1) I'm riding with almost all my weight on my back foot and turning using just my back foot. It seems to work quite well but am i getting into bad habbits that will not work out when i try anything steeper? My stance is kind of like a kiteboard stance with my front leg almost straight.

2) When you fall over in 3 feet or more of powder, how the hell do get up again easily!? There is nothing to push yourself up on!


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## Lives2fly (Feb 8, 2010)

Ok i figured it might not be the best idea since i was taught early on that being on your back food was baaad! I got to that position by trial and error really.

So How do I keep the board afloat on the powder without weighting the back? If I try and ride in a normal position the nose just dives and i either bog down or fall depending on speed.

Its a bit like when i was learning to link turns - i used to kick the tail round to get to toeside. It worked but i knew it wasn't how i was supposed to do it to begin with. 

I persisted with using the torsional flex of the board until I had it more or less nailed and then started working on dynamic skidded turns, then carving turns. 

I love the feeling of riding in powder even with the sketchy way i'm doing it now but i want to perfect it as much as possible so i can hit some steeper lines with confidence later in the season.


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## KIRKRIDER (Mar 18, 2008)

Move your bindings back toward the tail of the board...helps a lot in powder, and it's much easier on your legs.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

If ur riding 3ft pow...defly a poo stick, speed is your friend...so do steeper lines and if you biff...pack a base under you with your hands and swim or paddle out like on a surf board. If ur on a steep enough line to get going again; take off your board, pack down/build up a ledge high enough to set your board on, then stand up(that's the hard part...going from waist/chest deep to standing on the board) and strap in...hop and take off.


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

The hard part about riding powder on Blue runs, is that it's generally not very steep and you don't get very much speed. When riding powder, speed is your friend because the shit loves to constantly try and slow you down. The slower you are going the harder it's going to be to make a turn. I find that when I'm riding powder on a mellow slope, I have to put way more weight on my back foot to keep myself afloat because of the lack of speed, so the steepness of the terrain is probably something that is tributing to having to ride in the back seat all the time.

Another condition that affects how you ride powder is the powder itself. For example, when riding deep wet-powder,(Sierra Cement) it almost feels like the snow is trying to pull you down. Once your nose falters in, your screwed because the stuff is so heavy and wet it will just make you do a cartwheel. On a the flipside, a thin, 3-8 inch layer of Sierra Cement acts completely differently because there is a packed base underneath it, causing a huge reduction in the sinking-suction effect. A thin layer of Sierra Cement is one of my favorite things to ride before it gets chewed up, it's like riding on a stick of soft butter.

Light and Dry powder also acts completely different. This type of powder doesn't compact very well, and it's density is so low that you will sink in it, but it will not grab you because it's too light. You can ride this kind of powder all day long even when it's chopped up because it never compacts very much.

Some things that I would suggest to help you not have to ride in the backseat so much is to give yourself a stance-setback on your board, 2+ inches if you are having a hard time right now. Like I stated earlier as well, try and get as much speed as possible when riding into powder and avoid making big wide turns when you are on mellow slopes, because it will kill your speed and cause you to start sinking.


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## Toecutter (Oct 11, 2009)

My suggestion might not be feasible at this time, however when you are in the market for a new snowboard you may want to consider buying a rockered board (if you don't have one already). A rockered board will help keep you afloat without needing to put quite as much weight on the back leg.

As for getting up after you have fallen in deep powder…lotsa luck! Call your family and tell them you love them! J/K.

I find that it is easier for me to get up in really deep powder when I am face down rather than face up. I put my hands together and spread out the fingers to try to get as much surface area as I can. I will also try to push off of my forearms, using them to get as much surface area as I can. Try to avoid unbuckling from your bindings if possible, because once you do that you are hosed. I have had to resort to unbuckling completely from the board in extremely deep powder and then using the board in my hands to help swim out. That pretty much sucks.


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## Toecutter (Oct 11, 2009)

Snowolf said:


> 1) get a rocker. These boards make your life so much easier in powder. I prefer the hybrids where there is conventional camber between the bindings and early rise rocker at tip and tail. It is incredible the difference this makes.
> 
> 2) get a directional powder board. These boards have progressive side cuts to allow for gentle turn entry in powder so you lessen your odds of over steering going into turns. They also have 1 to 2 inches of set back for the bindings. This naturally shifts you back toward the tail of the board. In addition, the tail has a smaller profile than the nose. This allows the tail to ride lower in the snow, keeping the board in a nose high attitude.


Which design do you think is more effective? Rocker or traditional powder board? I have a NS Premier F1 and an Arbor Abacus and I haven't been able to ride them back to back on deep deep pow days, so I'm undecided as of yet.


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## Lives2fly (Feb 8, 2010)

Thanks to all for the advice!

I'm not in the market for a new board just yet but its good to know what to go for if I want something more tuned for powder riding.

Next time We get a big dump of snow i'm gonna move the bindings all the way back and hit some steeper terrain.


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