# Riding Steep Powder Runs: Help Vid Included



## AIRider (Dec 25, 2010)

I stumbled across this video while browsing around, and I thought I'd share it with you guys... 






:eusa_clap:


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## BoardWalk (Mar 22, 2011)

Looks like he's wasting some good steep cutting back and forth. Charge that shit.


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## bseracka (Nov 14, 2011)

For an instructional video he's doing it wrong, go figure. I've never considered traversing with pivot turns a good way to ride steep pow runs.


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

On fresh relatively untrammeled stuff, I'd be inclined to more big sweeping turns, but when the stuff starts to get a bit used, straight-lining it can be career-limiting  . In those cases, C turns or pivot turns may be more in order. Of course, if you're a point-and-shoot kind of rider, that's fine too. Whatever's most fun and doesn't kill you.


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## bseracka (Nov 14, 2011)

I'm not saying straight lining is the way (all the time), but adding some down hill angle and using speed to turn rather than your body is just better, it's more fluid and helps maintain float anyway.


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## AIRider (Dec 25, 2010)

it looks damn steep (if it looks steep in a video, it is even more steeper in real life) I don't think I have the skill/ballz to charge something of such angle.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Hmmm... I'd negociate a narrow icy steep passage like that, or to navigate through rocks or an avy cone, but in pow? It's waisting a good run. Don't know how steep it is, hard to judge from a vid, but in fresh >40° I'd never ride like that. This stop and go puts a lot of pressure on the snowpack... Maybe not an issue at that place, but here my rule of thumb is the steeper it is, the mellower turns I try to do. Also riding faster will result in a better float and turning is easier.

Looked at it a second time... I really don't like the vid. He recommends this to be the right way to ride pow in steep in general without differentiation or giving a warning word on avy danger. He said 35cm fresh. For 35cm fresh in certain terrain on certain days, this could be the best way to induce a slab.


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## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

AIRider said:


> it looks damn steep (if it looks steep in a video, it is even more steeper in real life) I don't think I have the skill/ballz to charge something of such angle.



Charge it.... Looks a little steep, def not deep powder. If you tried that pivot shit in deep pow you would be all sluffed up.

Also, I charge more because I'm a big guy, I will make stuff sluff or slide way faster than most at 280-290 lbs.


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## Banjo (Jan 29, 2013)

That video should be titled 

"How to ruin all the snow for everyone in one run." :blink:


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## MarshallV82 (Apr 6, 2011)

It should be called "Survival tips when you're out of your league"

I was getting mad watching him, just point it down and have fun!


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## dreampow (Sep 26, 2011)

As others have said this is not riding powder, this is just getting down a steep run.

This is a great way to destroy powder for others and possibly set of an avalanche. 

If that is the only way you can ride that terrain stay off it. 

Even if you zig zag to slow down you should keep more speed and turn smoother and more gently to put less pressure on the snowpack.


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## hktrdr (Apr 3, 2012)

dreampow said:


> As others have said this is not riding powder, this is just getting down a steep run.


Indeed. It is a perfectly acceptable way of getting down a steep section if one is in over one's head, but it certainly is not recommended standard technique.



dreampow said:


> This is a great way to destroy powder for others and possibly set of an avalanche.


And there is that.



dreampow said:


> If that is the only way you can ride that terrain stay off it.


Clearly the guy is a better rider than this and could probably ride that section fine. Problem is that he is presenting this approach as 'proper/recommended' approach when it really is a 'fall-back when over matched' technique.


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## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

Ok guys, having never ridden anything like this, I will ask the silly newb question! As I watch this, I noticed that the slope appears to have been ridden quite a bit already. It's not covered in untracked fresh, and looks a bit bumped out,.. (of course this guy's definitely making that worse, but anyway,)

Even tracked out & bumped up as it appears to be,.. you'd still Go for/recommend "charging it?" (...assuming having the requsite skills to charge a "fresh" slope like that in the first place!) I mean, wouldn't it be a bit like hitting a mogul field at speed? And a steep as shit one at that!

At my current skill level, If I tried to charge that shit, No doubt one of those bumps would probably launch me, careening out of control into the exposed rocks!! :blink: :dizzy: :dunno:

Looking at it, I'm pretty sure I don't have the skills or confidence to ride that slope any other way than the way he's doing it, so I guess that goes quite a way to prove the point that this is probably a technique better suited for a dumb ass noob like me who found himself in over his head! :dunno: (...at least I wouldn't have to "falling Leaf" the whole thing and _really_ fuck up the snow for the next guy!)


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## MarshallV82 (Apr 6, 2011)

chomps1211 said:


> Ok guys, having never ridden anything like this, I will ask the silly newb question! As I watch this, I noticed that the slope appears to have been ridden quite a bit already. It's not covered in untracked fresh, and looks a bit bumped out,.. (of course this guy's definitely making that worse, but anyway,)
> 
> Even tracked out & bumped up as it appears to be,.. you'd still Go for/recommend "charging it?" (...assuming having the requsite skills to charge a "fresh" slope like that in the first place!) I mean, wouldn't it be a bit like hitting a mogul field at speed? And a steep as shit one at that!
> 
> ...


If it was still soft like it is I'd charge through it. If it was hard, bumpy and chopped up I'd choose a decent looking path bend my knees and go as fast as I can out of it and start lapping the the terrain park for the remainder of the day!


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

chomps, its fluffy soft enough to blast through the chop and even though it maybe abit steep, its big and open...point, rip and do big sweeping turns...be a tad in the back seat cause you don't want to bury the nose and tomo..bend your knees and keep loose


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## ARSENALFAN (Apr 16, 2012)

My favorite moment from last year was straightlining the lower 2/3 of a chute like that, 70km/h, with this song playing:

Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be - AC/DC - YouTube


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## Banjo (Jan 29, 2013)

wrathfuldeity said:


> chomps, its fluffy soft enough to blast through the chop and even though it maybe abit steep, its big and open...point, rip and do big sweeping turns...be a tad in the back seat cause you don't want to bury the nose and tomo..bend your knees and keep loose


BOOM! nailed it. 

if its soft, put the pedal down :thumbsup:


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## timmytard (Mar 19, 2009)

chomps1211 said:


> Ok guys, having never ridden anything like this, I will ask the silly newb question! As I watch this, I noticed that the slope appears to have been ridden quite a bit already. It's not covered in untracked fresh, and looks a bit bumped out,.. (of course this guy's definitely making that worse, but anyway,)
> 
> Even tracked out & bumped up as it appears to be,.. you'd still Go for/recommend "charging it?" (...assuming having the requsite skills to charge a "fresh" slope like that in the first place!) I mean, wouldn't it be a bit like hitting a mogul field at speed? And a steep as shit one at that!
> 
> ...


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## theMayor (Jul 30, 2013)

MarshallV82 said:


> It should be called "Survival tips when you're out of your league"


Bingo. Certainly better than sliding heelside the whole way down.


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## AIRider (Dec 25, 2010)

Skip to 1:36


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

AIRider said:


> Skip to 1:36


Good observation :thumbsup: 

Now this is a good vid to show, how you should ride steep pow: no generalized style, _adjust_ your riding to the _proximate_ terrain/condition. Hop-turn if its critical and you NEED to be slow, otherwise charge. No need to be slow if in open terrain. If you already feel uncomfortable to charge in open terrain, stay off. MY "critical"-meter would set alarm MUCH earlier in channels like that . Thus I stay off of steep narrow channels.


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## killclimbz (Aug 10, 2007)

Haven't watched the new vid but I think y'all are over analyzing this a bit. It is a video for people giving it a go maybe for the first time. That particular person is probably not going to bomb a > 40 degree slope regardless. Definitely not the style I would ride that angle but I've also got decades of riding steeps in pow and other conditions under my belt. 

Telling someone to ride a slope in a controlled manner is not the worst advice. Didn't look loke great pow to me, a little firm underneath. I mean you could always go with the style of that dude who fell all the way down Delirium Dive or maybe that was Fernie?

Video is dumb though. Playing a little bit of devil's advocate here.


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## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

Second Vid has some "Sweet" riding! Something that narrow & confined, with nice hard rock walls to pin ball off of,... Definitely years away from me having a Go at anything like that!!! Gotta say, it looks like a blast tho!!!

(_...I do have one teeny-tiny minor criticism, On the Opening shot? Kinda looks like your holding your junk and pee-ing a circle where you stand! _:laugh: _Just sayin'!_ _Mounting the GoPro musta been uncomfortable!_)


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## poutanen (Dec 22, 2011)

chomps1211 said:


> Even tracked out & bumped up as it appears to be,.. you'd still Go for/recommend "charging it?" (...assuming having the requsite skills to charge a "fresh" slope like that in the first place!) I mean, wouldn't it be a bit like hitting a mogul field at speed? And a steep as shit one at that!


Yeah I think the suggestion to "charge it" is a little vauge. If charging = riding near your comfortable max speed, I'd say that's way off. It's a steep slope and speed builds fast.

On the other hand, the main point of getting into lots of powder on a steep slope is so that gravity can do the work for you. Big wide sweeping turns. Pretend you're surfing. 



This actually isn't a bad video, skip to about half way. The slopes aren't as steep as the ones in the first vid, but the technique should remain the same, as it gets steeper you just turn a little more perpendicular to the fall line to control the speed between each turn.


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## destroy (Dec 16, 2012)

The first video is definitely the wrong way to ride in that particular spot, but I think he just chose it as it was a good spot to demonstrate the technique.

I've ridden where the original video was filmed I'm pretty sure and charging is the way to go. Whistler generally has way more fluff and a lot less of the heavy Cascadia pow ("rain" to you snots who live a day's drive from the ocean :cheeky4: ) due to the elevation and the fact that it's naturally colder there. This is particularly pronounced in the alpine when you're up there in elevation where the video was. So, the snow was soft and he coulda ripped down and surfed it if he wanted to. I've definitely picked a line of fresh down into the bowl and just charged it straight down until I had to turn for navigation or just finally slowed down. That was with a board that's small for pow for a guy my size (158w Banana Magic) Barely had to adjust. Just keep cool and feel the wind scream by my head.

The big surfy turns are definitely what's best about pow. Big cars and big sticks are the way to go for a smooth ride. Plus, chicks dig big sticks right? That's why I bought a 180 cm Birdman and drive the second biggest Mercedes Benz sedan ever produced.


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