Alpine practice: Switch - steeps - and fresh

Contributed by tom. December 2006.

MOVIE

SWITCH

Getting better, but still having a hard time dealing with the terrain variations. The movie shows a fall that happens off a bump -- my "suspension" isn't good enough yet. On properly groomed and flat trails I feel quite comfortable and even started working the board a bit. I'd like to "butter" the board a bit more at the transition though, do less of a sliding 180.

STEEPS

I have been initiating turns a lot earlier, traversing the hill on the downhill edge before yet starting the turn, but the movie shows how my outside arm isn't fast enough and lags a bit. I'm also touching the snow, which offers a bit of mental comfort but is a bad habit and causes me to bend too much at the waist. I have since started with leading the turn with the hands next my hips, shoulder-width apart, and now my hip is getting a lot closer to the snow.

FRESH

Oh, still tons of counter-rotation, but I felt good on my Prior 4WD riding that crud some fresh.

Lagging outside hand

Getting low, but I lost the edge as I leaned inside

Switch!