# Going faster?



## aubzobot (Feb 19, 2011)

Hey guys, 

Whenever I go out with my friends I find myself always bringing p the rear. I can tell my actual turns are just as good as my friends, but they still end up first down the mountain. Do you think this is because of my size? I am quite small, 5'7 120lbs. Do you think the problem is my weight or something else? Do you have any tips on generally how to go faster? 


Thanks


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## Mr. Polonia (Apr 5, 2009)

is your board waxed? if ur base is really dry then that will def slow you down a lot. 

another key thing is that even though you may have no problem transitioning from one edge to the other, you prob shed a lot of speed by doing skidded turns. as ur cruising down, try not to lean too far back on your rear leg. You want to keep your body perpendicular to your board. Lean as far forward as you can and even though you will think you are hanging over the nose of your board, youre really not, in fact the steeper the hill is the more you have to lean in order to keep that 90 degree postion.


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## Mr. Polonia (Apr 5, 2009)

you want to initiate each turn with the front of your board, meaning by having your body perpendicular to the board, you put more pressure on your front edge and then the back edge will follow thru and this will eliminate your tail from skidding.


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

Also are you just flat out making more turns going down the same run as your friends. They make 5 linked turns/carves you make 10 linked turns/carves??

My kids bomb, I'm technical, I make many more turns then them. Partly as I don't want to wipe out and I carve a lot more to where I feel I'm at the edge but still in control. I keep pushing my speed little by little as my skill progresses as well


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## FacePlant4Free (Oct 19, 2011)

if youre 120 lbs and your friends are a lot heavier than you are, they will def be a lot faster than you. They will just gain momentum a lot faster than you would. 

that's just physics mannn

so, if your turns are comparable to theirs, and you slow down as much as they do, then you will obviously have a hard time keeping up.

soluiton - stop making turns and just bomb it straight


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## ShredLife (Feb 6, 2010)

1. wax the shit out of your board. the lighter you are the more this matters.... wax, scrape, repeat - until you have 3-5 wax jobs on the base.... ski racers stack their waxes like this and it makes your shit slippppppppppppery

2. don't turn.... obviously you have to turn your snowboard but flat-basing the board as much as you can is what gains you speed. stay off your edges as much as you can.

3. put rocks in your pockets.... ok, not really - but being that light you're gonna have to ride with perfect technique if you wanna catch your 165lb friends. try to put on muscle.

4. the board you are riding DOES make a difference. base materials, dampening, length, sidecut - all play into how fast the board will be. a short, noodley, or wide board will always be slower than a longer, stiffer board

5. learn to pump your front foot. downhill weight is what makes you go faster.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

ride as flat as possible and quiet


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## Donutz (May 12, 2010)

Things that will affect speed:

- shorter boards go slower
- extruded bases are slower, sintered bases are faster
- heavier riders go faster
- Unwaxed boards go slower
- As others have mentioned, your riding technique and the line you take will affect things.
- As well as questions of top speed, there's acceleration. If you accelerate to top speed faster you'll get there sooner.

Just for kicks, challenge one of your friends to a straight-bomb race - no turns, no speed checks. Start out from a dead stop. See if he accelerates to top speed more quickly as well as watching for top speed. This will narrow down the possible reasons.

Other tnigs can affect speed too, such as your riding profile. How wide is your silhouette? Are you in a forward stance? Wearing a puffy jacket? Carrying an open umbrella?


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## Extremo (Nov 6, 2008)

Have your edges tuned. The burrs and scratches slow you down considerably. But there are many factors to speed.


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## ThunderChunky (Oct 1, 2011)

I get in a little ball right near my board and just go flat based the whole way down. I wouldn't suggest doing this though until you are experienced enough to do it. when you are though try it out. Works good. Never lost a race against my friends.


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## IdahoFreshies (Jul 9, 2011)

i love this thread, this is what this forum is all about! someone asked a real question, and look, nothing but helpful knowledgeable answers, an entire page full in two hours.

It might be the weight, but i think it is a skill issue... (my example) from a dead stop,going after strapping in at the top of a cat track (no carves needed on a cat track so it takes skill level out of the equation) i will ALWAYS be at least 40 yards in front of my friend who is about the same skill level, on the same type of board, with usually the same amount of wax, but he is around 30 lbs lighter. There is just no way for him to catch me unless i slowed down on my own, and even then once we are at the same pace, i still always pull ahead. Once we actually hit the runs though it is pretty even, because we both are at the same skill level, are comfortable at the same speed and can achieve that speed the same. So i think you have to get better at either carving more on edge (leaving a pencil line in the snow) and not scraping so much, or just do half as many scrapes. Basically bomb more and get better at riding faster to make up for any of the little things holding you back, i.e wax, weight, board type.


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## john doe (Nov 6, 2009)

You can learn to pump a snowboard to go faster then just gravity will take you. It is hard though. Like this but on a snowboard. Beachside Longboard Pumping - YouTube


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## ThunderChunky (Oct 1, 2011)

^ That too.


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## grafta (Dec 21, 2009)

john doe said:


> You can learn to pump a snowboard to go faster then just gravity will take you. It is hard though. Like this but on a snowboard. Beachside Longboard Pumping - YouTube


Depends though, you can get some pretty ugly habits going on with that stuff. There was a guy we used to surf with that got the nickname 'flapper' because he used to flap/pump so much riding small waves that it would slow him down rather than speed him up... and it looked bad.

Someone said it before, riding 'quiet' and smooth can make you go faster too. Like in the flats, sometimes the last thing you want to do is make aggressive movements


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## aiidoneus (Apr 7, 2011)

john doe said:


> You can learn to pump a snowboard to go faster then just gravity will take you. It is hard though. Like this but on a snowboard. Beachside Longboard Pumping - YouTube


I have never tried it, but i doubt pumping a snowboard would really help. Flat base, minimal edge time, and weight seem like the best things to me. Sure, you can accelerate out of a turn if done right, but you are just making up for the slow down into the turn.

On a longboard, pumping works so well because of a few factors. When you throw your weight over the wheels, they compress. When you shift your weight off them, the board starts a turn, and the wheels uncompress making it accelerate. You also tend to have to move a lot of your weight to the front to get a good pump up hill (at least i do).

Now i am not saying pumping on a snowboard doesn't work, i just don't see how it would.


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## Phunky (Oct 5, 2011)

Pumping can help but it has to be at the right time, but OP you and me are in the exact same boat. I just learned to not connect as many turns to keep up and beat them at times...


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## ThunderChunky (Oct 1, 2011)

Trip them before they get the chance to pass you. :laugh:

You can only really pump when there is a sudden slope drop. It's like when you pump the landing of a jump the get more speed for the next jump. It sounds like to me though that you need to make less turns. DO NOT do this until you are ready and feel comfortable doing this though. I've fallen bombing a hill and got knocked out, lost memory of the biggest powder in Stowe resort history and my only boarding trip. Not worth it man. Once you get good enough to bomb then pumping can help. Just keep riding and getting comfortable going fast and you'll be killing everyone. I promise.


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## MistahTaki (Apr 24, 2010)

Just point the tip of your board down the mountain and just stand still. you'll pass your friends with flying colors.


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## slyder (Jan 18, 2010)

MistahTaki said:


> Just point the tip of your board down the mountain and just stand still. you'll pass your friends with flying colors.


make sure you film this one I see epic wipe out coming :laugh:


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## MistahTaki (Apr 24, 2010)

He'll probably add to the collection of missing chunks on wall of lodge that were caused by run-away snowboards. This time the board won't be running away


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## aubzobot (Feb 19, 2011)

Ok wow. Thanks you guys. I was out for my first day today and took the first few posts into consideration and they really helped. I'm working on taking all the responses and "compiling" them into a list that I can use them as a guide for myself.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

aubzobot said:


> Ok wow. Thanks you guys. I was out for my first day today and took the first few posts into consideration and they really helped. I'm working on taking all the responses and "compiling" them into a list that I can use them as a guide for myself.


yup good idea...read your list and check off while maching


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## crazyface (Mar 1, 2008)

Ollie over jumps and moguls and stuff. If you are going fasy over a roller, you want to ollie before you reach the peak so you can land right after the peak (on the downslope) and carry your speed better. You can't accelerate in the air, so you want to minimize your time off the ground.


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## The Donohoe (Oct 30, 2011)

crazyface said:


> Ollie over jumps and moguls and stuff. If you are going fasy over a roller, you want to ollie before you reach the peak so you can land right after the peak (on the downslope) and carry your speed better. You can't accelerate in the air, so you want to minimize your time off the ground.


You can accelerate if you're falling off of a cliff.:laugh: I recommend throwing snowballs at your friends before they pass you generally messes people up :cheeky4:


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## kpd2003 (Sep 8, 2011)

Agreed with most everything said.

But being a heavier rider also sucks - I'm tall, heavy, and have giant feet - each factor can really restrict my choices on which products i can buy and I usaully pay a heftier (sp?) price for everything I buy.

I would gladly trade all of that if it meant no more "bombing" the hill and avoiding another concussion


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## CheeseForSteeze (May 11, 2011)

Have Ray Lewis chase you with a bloody machete on a snowmobile. This is guaranteed to increase your speed.


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## AAA (Feb 2, 2008)

Decent thoughts so far. It could be your weight (less), your board length (shorter), sidecut geometry (circular radius or overall tighter), base material(extruded), wax (wrong temperature or inadequate job), and/or technique (skidding, more completed turns across the fall line, or possibly using a higher edge angle/tighter turning). The latter variable could potentially be from either poorer or better technique, or just being more or less aggressive. See which variables you can adjust and go from there. Beyond that, just enjoy riding. :thumbsup:


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## EC99SS (Dec 6, 2007)

I have a question for those of you who ride flat based. Do you only ride flat based for very short distances before taking it back on edge? Or do you go for a long distance that way? I always thought riding flat based for long distances was not advised due to increased chances of catching an edge. 

Thanks


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

EC99SS said:


> I have a question for those of you who ride flat based. Do you only ride flat based for very short distances before taking it back on edge? Or do you go for a long distance that way? I always thought riding flat based for long distances was not advised due to increased chances of catching an edge.
> 
> Thanks


To go for fairly long distances flat based (or almost so)...on flats, cattracks or low angled stuff. The trick is to gently weight the nose and keep feet, ankles and knees loose to absorb the bits of roughage...alot like riding 1 footy. If you have weight on the nose, there are no edges to catch because the edges are parallel with the direction of travel. Sometimes it will feel like you are going to catch an edge because of the roughage but keep loose and weighted on the nose and its just a tad squirrely/twitchy...you learn that's normal...you just don't want to stiffen up when it happens. Some say you never ride completely flat based and that is true...but you can get really close to flat.

On steeper stuff, I'll go flat to accelerate for short distance...especially when just getting going or a place where you want a burst of speed so that you can mach in to a carve....like hitting the afterburners.


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## BigmountainVMD (Oct 9, 2011)

If you only weigh in at 120 lbs, the faster you try to go, the more that wind resistance will factor into reducing your speed. Make sure your shoulders are cutting into the wind, instead of opening up your body to the wind to create more resistance. At 6'3" and 175 I have a similar problem, and I attempted to solve it by buying a slimmer jacket and trying to cut into the wind more.


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## Tarzanman (Dec 20, 2008)

Its already been said, but I would like to re-emphasize the fact that some boards are just SLOW.

I was on a trip to Vail with some friends-of-friends. Vail is huge and has a ton of terrain that is not-quite-a-catwalk and not-quite-a-slope. Anways, this guy would routinely lose speed a couple of yards before the rest of us. He and his brother were similarly sized and similarly skilled, so I am not inclined to think it was a technique issue.

I tuned the guy's board for him that evening at the house with the same wax on my board, but it did not make a noticeable difference. He even went so far to have it waxed and tuned again (this time by a shop). I can't say for sure if the 2nd tuning did him any good because I didn't spend that much time riding with him after.

Anyways... try switching boards with one of the other guys to see if that makes much of a difference.


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## jdang307 (Feb 6, 2011)

CheeseForSteeze said:


> Have Ray Lewis chase you with a bloody machete on a snowmobile. This is guaranteed to increase your speed.


Or Rosie O'donnel/Nancy Pelosi in lingerie.


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## IdahoFreshies (Jul 9, 2011)

EC99SS said:


> I have a question for those of you who ride flat based. Do you only ride flat based for very short distances before taking it back on edge? Or do you go for a long distance that way? I always thought riding flat based for long distances was not advised due to increased chances of catching an edge.
> 
> Thanks


there is a pretty long blue at the local hill. i started riding it, and decided it was too boring so i decided i was just going to bomb it and see how it came out. I pretty much rode that thing flat base the entire time, and you can be dam sure i came close to catching a few edges. i felt it start to catch a few times, but i was crouched pretty low and managed to tweak it and avoid slamming. i got going pretty dam fast haha

but most of the stuff i actually ride its almost impossible to just flat base it the entire time. either it is too steep or there are too many trees in the way.


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## ThunderChunky (Oct 1, 2011)

I go flat based from strapping my front foot in till I hit the lift line. But I do not advise this, I have fallen really hard a lot of times. I even got knocked out once. You can try it, but ride within your limits and don't endanger anyone else. 

That being said, I can only go flat based for about 20 seconds or so because we have 500 vert and the longest trail is like two or three football fields. I don't know if I'll be doing this on my rocker though, I feel a lot more confident on my Cheaptrick.

*Back foot, I'm stupid.


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