Longer, Smoother, Faster

5 Minute Snowboard Miracle

by Justin Robinson

Winter 2001

Would you like to stick more landings in the pipe? Would you enjoy making quicker, more balanced turns in the bumps or in the trees? Have I got a deal for you? If you give me five minutes of your time now, I will gives you seasons worth of freestyle prowess and quick turning smiles.

 The most common problem I see in upper level instruction is riders whose hips are not aligned with their feet. This might make more sense when I refer to the upper body clues that exemplify this position. “The upper body faces the front of the board.” “The rear knee is tucked behind the front knee.” “The rear hand is forward of the center of mass.” Now, I know what you are thinking… here goes another jibber spouting about riding position. We are up to about 45 seconds. Just hear me out.

 The key to upper level riding is to find a balanced, aligned stance in the lower body. Many upper level riding issues can be resolved by opening the rear knee to the back of the board. A lateral rotation of your rear femur will point your rear knee farther toward the back of the board. This will feel awkward until you flex your ankles, knees and hips thereby lowering the hips toward the board. The rotation of your rear knee will align your hips to your feet. Lowering your hips toward the board will lower your center of mass and facilitate balance. Try this statically and feel how weight is more evenly distributed across both feet and across more of the sole of each foot. Pressure will be more evenly distributed across more of the length of the edge in both turns. 1 minute 30 seconds. Don’t give up!

“What do I do with my hands, my shoulders, my head, oh my!” Let your hips and shoulders relax. That doesn’t mean you are holding your hands in front of you like a robot. Relax! Hands by your sides, ready to react. 1 minute 45 seconds. You are so patient!

 Try this with your coworkers where you can watch one another and get honest feedback. Start on a blue groomer. Make turns. Your turns. Your shape. Your speed. As you enter the fall line on the heel side turn, open your rear knee. Hold this position until the board is across the hill. Relax and make your normal toe side turn. Repeat this until you can sink your hips toward the board during the turn. You will feel a difference in your balance and control as you get closer to the board with the rear knee open. When you can do this, try the same thing on the toe side turn. When you can consistently open your knees in the fall line on each turn, try opening earlier and earlier in the turns until you are maintaining this knee open position throughout your turns. 2 minutes 30 seconds. Now for the real fun!

 When you can feel a difference on the groomers, go to the bumps. Take a step back and try opening your knees on both turns as you enter the fall line. For medium to large radius turns, continue to let the upper body relax and stay aligned with the board. For short radius turns, try reaching down the hill with your front hand and opening the rear knee in the fall line. Reaching down the hill is often misconstrued as staying stone solid with the upper body. Relax! Yes, the shoulders will move. Just keep them generally parallel to the fall line. Move your hips lower than they were on the groomers once your rear knee is open. Start out on the edge of a bump run or in mellow bumps or chop and then crank your riding up as you begin to feel a change. Take this process to the trees. 2 minutes 45 seconds. You are having trouble staying inside now! Good. Persevere my friends. Persevere!

 Now, go to the pipe. Take one run through keeping the board on the snow. Ride as far up the wall as you like but stay below the lip. Work on the front side wall first and then the backside wall. Concentrate on keeping your rear knee open throughout the run. Jump on the chair or hike back up and try some simple airs. Concentrate on your rear knee as you are coming up the wall. Spin or grab as normal. You will notice more stability in the air with practice. When you start to feel this, move the ‘knee open’ position earlier and earlier into each hit. Try to open your knee across the flat bottom. Then try to open on the landing of the previous trick. Before you know it, you will be able to ride ‘knee open’ throughout your pipe runs. When you have a solid standard run, spice it up with a front side three on the front side wall. Then a switch 3 on the backside wall. This riding position will help you gain the stability you need to work on harder tricks. 3 minutes 30 seconds. What patience!

 Try this position on various terrain. If you are having trouble in a specific area, step back and try things out on easier terrain. Get someone to watch you and let you know if you are doing what you think you are doing. Take some video. It will never lie. And be patient. This took me the better part of a month to incorporate into my riding and I still have to think about it in the most challenging arenas. Most of all, have fun. If you get these ideas down, you will stay up longer, land smoother and learn new tricks even faster. 4 minutes. You still have almost one whole minute left to grab a snack and get on the hill. Good riding to you. Enjoy!