2012 Australian Snow Season

[GooSE]

Originally Posted by Nikoy

I baught a helmet on my last trip to QT wore it half the trip after a day you dont really notice it.. Makes me feel a bit safer..

Just remember that helmets aren't an excuse to be reckless. If you hit a tree at high speed it's not going to do much at all.

[dr1fta]

Had an enjoyable day on saturday at Buller, although the season really is finished there in my books. A lot of the back runs and lower runs are pretty light on.

Was trying to do little 180 jumps off the ground but i just couldn't quite get it Tips??

I always ended up facing backwards

[JoJoker]

Originally Posted by dr1fta

Had an enjoyable day on saturday at Buller, although the season really is finished there in my books. A lot of the back runs and lower runs are pretty light on.

Was trying to do little 180 jumps off the ground but i just couldn't quite get it Tips??

I always ended up facing backwards

start off with 90 degree jumps. Then do a 90 degree jump with a revert. Then do the whole 180. Then do 360s

[PabloEscobar]

Originally Posted by JoJoker

start off with 90 degree jumps. Then do a 90 degree jump with a revert. Then do the whole 180. Then do 360s

Wouldn't a 90 degree jump have you landing sideways?

Surely its harder to land flat and not catch and edge if your board is across the hill rather than down it?

[Nikoy]

Originally Posted by dr1fta

Had an enjoyable day on saturday at Buller, although the season really is finished there in my books. A lot of the back runs and lower runs are pretty light on.

Was trying to do little 180 jumps off the ground but i just couldn't quite get it Tips??

I always ended up facing backwards

Get a smaller board i always struggled poping 180's when i rode my 163 its like trying to turn a boat. Borrowed my mates 151 jib board for a few runs peice of piss..

[JoJoker]

Nah, start 90 to the slope. So perhaps when you carve atound instead of just leaning back on your heal to bring the board back around, just jump all or part of it.

That's how I learned anyway: I didn't make it an event all on its own, I took it in bites.

[rubba-chikin]

Originally Posted by dr1fta

Had an enjoyable day on saturday at Buller, although the season really is finished there in my books. A lot of the back runs and lower runs are pretty light on.

Was trying to do little 180 jumps off the ground but i just couldn't quite get it Tips??

I always ended up facing backwards

A lot of freestyle snowboarding is about separating your lower and upper body, especially for slides on rails/boxes. Once you have mastered that a lot of things will start to become easier.

So... learning to spin -

1) Start static
- Strap both feet in on some flat ground
- Pre-wind a little so bring your hands back a little (front hand back towards your tail) as you start to crouch down a bit for your pop
- Swing your arms forwards and rotate your your shoulders and upper torso quickly and look around over your front shoulder
- Jump/pop as you are rotating
- Your board should then follow where your upper torso has gone
- Boom... you just learnt the basic fundamentals of how to spin on a snowboard

2) Take it to a traverse
- Pick a nice Green easy slope to start with
- Choose a nice gentle angle, less than 45deg is fine... you just want to be moving at a moderate pace
- exact same deal as in 1) prewind, preload, rotate & pop
+ practice many times

3) Down the fall line/slope
- Nice easy green slope again
- This time point down the hill or progressively closer to straight down (remember gradually increase the difficulty)
- Same shit again - prewind, preload, rotate & pop
+ again practice

4) Now try it off a small bump/roller/TINY tabletop type jump
+ practice

If I can successfully teach this to 10-15 year old kids in level 4 lessons then you should be able to do it too!

[dr1fta]

thanks rubba!

I was able to do it off the ground and stationary but it all went to shit when i was doing it on runs, but this was on much steeper runs (couldnt bring myself to be riding green runs on a busy saturday)

Shall give it a proper go next season

[rubba-chikin]

Make sure you're on edge too, you have sweet fuck all control/power if you're just popping off a flat base. Doing the initial static attempts you'll be flat this but when you are moving you need the pressure your edge creates to help the pop otherwise you'll tend to fling yourself around a look like a big punter.

Remember there's 4 different ways to spin too, so when you are learning 180's you want to start with frontside (popping off toe edge), then backside. Get them solid then learn them both switch. It's explained in the video below. Good idea to try switch riding too because you'll be landing backwards.

It's another common mistake lower level boarders make - you should almost never ride flat base on your board... zero control! Catch a bit of slush on the back corner an it'll whip you into a huge edge catch = hello injuries! Even when you're blasting straight down a run you want a little bit of edge and very minimally you'll be swapping between toe and heel edges. Hitting boxes/rails then it's a completely different ballgame and it's ALL about having a flat base relative to the angle of the feature.


Anyway for 180's - something that will be even more beneficial... watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hb-X84nrNig

Dude can snowboard and is very good at demonstrating the mechanics involved and explaining things in relatively simple terms.

Once you've nailed 180's then you can do some more practice... then think about this stuff (larger spins): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0dx4qT4wrQ

There's a few free videos floating around but the more advanced stuff you need to pay for, very very good for helping out beginner park riders or learning a trick you might be missing an important part of.

[PabloEscobar]

Closing weekend for me, Last day Tomorrow, and it looks like there may even be edge deep fresh to be had .

Hooray.