# problems with heel to toeside turns on steeper incline...



## Rocan (Dec 3, 2008)

i find that when im on steep slopes i jump to transition from heel to toe... it keeps your speed down because just trying to transition slowly will make you gain speed as your board is pointing down slope. 

i like to think of how skiers jump to transition from one turn to another.


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## max_tm (Dec 7, 2008)

A big key to turn initiation on steeper slopes is to start edging higher up in the turning arc. For an analogy, think of your turning arc as a clockface, with the end of your heelside edge turn at 12 o clock, and from there your turn would pass through 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and finally you would be traversing across the hill toeside at 6 o clock. When you first start turning most people apply their edge at about 3 o clock (board pointing straight down the hill) and so they have already picked up a decent amount of speed before they start to use edging to control the turn. If you start to edge (make your edge change) higher up in the arc (say, closer to 2 o clock, and when you get more comfortable and are hitting much steeper pitches as close to 12 o clock as possible) then you are effectively crossing the fall line (3 o clock position) on edge and already controlling your speed. That way you will not feel the need to jerk your board around out of fear of picking up too much speed. This is also a big step in getting the size of your turns to be smaller, which is the biggest factor in speed control.

Here's a picture I drew online (do macs have paint?) to explain this terrible explanation, hopefully it will work for you. Try to start your edge change at around "2" in the diagram: flash_detection


EDIT: oh, and stop touching the snow! It will do you no good in the long run 

EDIT2: I just realized I should probably clarify that I was making reference to skidded (sliding) turns here and not carved turns, as being on edge in a carved turn clearly doesn't do much to slow yourself down (although being on edge earlier helps shape your turns when carving, (ideally you'd be on edge at all times apart from the edge change) so in some sense this applies as well, but for different reasons).


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2008)

hmmm that is helpful i liked the flash addition, but at the end of your post you threw a wrench into it.... what is the difference between sliding and carving turns?? -oh and bare in mind that when i mean steep i'm only talking 30-40 degrees so nothing like +45 or anything...if that has any bearing... 

..do i just need to become more comfortable with riding down the fall line longer?


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## max_tm (Dec 7, 2008)

Bah, sorry I did throw a wrench in there with the "carve vs. slide" edit :thumbsdown:, I was just trying to cover my ass if anybody objected to my explanation based on that fact. If you look on the forum you'll find tons on the differences, (Grizz has a thread about it I believe, called "what do you consider carving?" or something) but for the time being you can ignore what I wrote in EDIT2, it will probably only confuse. 

To sum up, just focus on making consistent, smooth, fluid turns, and if you start to edge earlier it will be a big factor in helping you spend less time in the fall line and have a much easier time controlling your speed.


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## Guest (Dec 31, 2008)

i should have researched before that pior posting, i understand now completly the difference between a carve and a slide turn, and yes we are all talking about sliding. 

i would so like to one day make turns with just a simple leen...


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## fletcherhead (Dec 4, 2008)

the way i did it was to just go for it.i had to imagine that therun was a green and just turn like i always did. If your transitions are slow you will pick up speed but the whole point of skidded turns is to control your speed so you can always slow down....lets say u do fall because u pick up to much speed, you have so much forward momentum that u will just slide down ussually and not just slam straight down.


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## Felice (Jul 3, 2008)

Any chance you have a clip of the aforementioned? This sounds very much like myself now that I think of it; perhaps I am 'committing' more of myself into the turn than is necessary. I do feel I need to 'assist' the turn--clearly this thinking is incorrect. I wonder: is this leaning forward more of a compensatory phenomenon with women more so then men? Our centres of gravity are different so perhaps this does translate into different turning points.

Or perhaps I am completely wrong. :0)

Your comments appreciated.


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