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Going sackless into jumps

7K views 46 replies 19 participants last post by  uh oh a virus 2 
#1 ·
At the local hill, there are a couple of jumps in the line in the big park. The first one is about 6 feet high, with a 15 foot table (set-down.) I can hit it confidently, with enough speed to clear the knuckle. Last "pow" day (which turned into wet sticky snow), I ended up hiking out of the park just to get enough speed to hit it.


The second jump is built on this platform, expect it now takes up the whole thing, and is about 15 feet tall. The lip is in the same place as the smaller one. It really pushes you high.

Anyway, my problem is building the confidence to hit it. Wondering how to really go sackless at it. I know I have the skill to hit it, and my skier friend said he was hitting it flawlessly tonight.


What do?
 
#3 ·
For me some jumps just aren't constructed right, and you could hurt yourself. That said nothing's worse than not going hard enough and landing on the lip.

Get yourself psyched up for it, hit it hard, and tell yourself you're going to land it. Even if you don't, landing funny on the down ramp doesn't hurt much.

Now I need to take my own advice cause I'm a pussy when I'm staring at a launch ramp that looks like a wall! :laugh:
 
#4 ·
A big gap jump that is really kicky or as you say "pushes you really high" you have to pay very close attention to body position. I did this kind of jump this season, first time for me too. You really need proper technique on approach and take off. As you are in the air you need to shift your body weight downward towards the landing. So you don't land in the back seat or ass for easy terms.

Is it the jump in the pic with the "X". If so that looks nasty as there looks like a hump after the transition of the take off ???
 
#10 ·
I would wait for your skier buddy and follow him off the jump, or ask someone else who is hitting the jump. After a couple knee surgeries, I end up following a lot of people off jumps for the first time. Otherwise speed check it until you can see where you are going to land. Confidence is critical, wait till you are confident and then stomp it all day everyday! Jon T
 
#11 ·
F*** B***** GET MONEY

just go for it!
listen to some songs that inspire you. none of that top 40 crap. and wait for the most epic moment. then drop.

nuff said.

meditating works too. like visualize yourself doing it all day! and watch a ton of snowboarding videos. GET PUMPED.

also if your not really feeling it keep your mind blank. think of nothing. and dont be a pantie.

With concerns to speed either watch people or straight line XD. thats honestly what I do if you over shoot you can say you got huge air! or go really slow and fall slightly onto the knuckle and you will know the speed.

one tip also is to think " You want to do it, you know its fun, so why dont you? "
 
#12 ·
Landing your first big jump, those are big to me, nothing like stomping right center one the landing, clearing that knuckle and riding away clean.

I still have clear vision of this in my mind and it's been about a month since I nailed mine!!!!!!
 
#13 ·
That's a sorry looking park.

When I need to find the speed to clear a jump I ride along side it at the speed I would need. Carry speed in, look at the jump as you ride by over the knuckle. You'll be able to tell if it's too much or not enough. Do it a few times and you'll get the feeling. After that it's all feel.
 
#18 ·
That's a sorry looking park.
It is a smaller size park, but once it gets going it's pretty nice.


That jump is tiny and pathetic. From what you're describing it sounds like a slight step over. If you want to gauge speed watch people then do a practice run and slip the lip and go over the back side. You'll scrub all your speed on the end of the lip but get an idea of what you need. Personally though a park that shitty I just walk away that thing looks like fucking Echo out here and I wouldn't hit their jumps if you paid me.
THAT ISN'T THE JUMP IN QUESTION. That's just the platform it is currently built on. With such a shitty snowfall and temps this year, they're doing the best they can with what they have. The jump in question is as wide as the whole platform, and a hell of a lot bigger.

Ya, I thought my park's jumps were bad. But that...that is disgusting.
That isn't one of our real jumps, that's the start of season-lacking snow-built something-decided it was dumb and closed it type of jump.


Here is a picture of one of our actual jumps to show it isn't all shit. This also happens to be the smaller one in the line I want to hit, the easier one.
 
#14 ·
I have a problem with kickers that have a lot of woo and send you very high. I can easily clear a 20 foot table if the kicker is built with a flatter trajectory. On some of these jumps, in order to get 20 feet of forward distance the godamn things launch you 20 feet in the air too. I think you might just be hearing your own survival instinct telling you, "whoa, I am not ready for this yet". Nothing wrong with listening to that voice a little as long as you don`t quit pushing the envelope and scaring yourself a little each day.
" Hesitation do to self preservation "
 
#15 ·
I have a problem with kickers that have a lot of woo and send you very high. I can easily clear a 20 foot table if the kicker is built with a flatter trajectory. On some of these jumps, in order to get 20 feet of forward distance the godamn things launch you 20 feet in the air too. I think you might just be hearing your own survival instinct telling you, "whoa, I am not ready for this yet". Nothing wrong with listening to that voice a little as long as you don`t quit pushing the envelope and scaring yourself a little each day.
I agree with you completely, however I think it's the old man in us telling these things as well. Pushing for progression on kickers is important to me and I am starting to learn that these "lippy" kickers are typical in all the good parks. Also even though the flatter trajectory feels more comfortable, it really is not as much safer as it feels (on those flatter jumps, you are dealing with more linear speed which changes the nature of an accident). Most good 20 footers you have bled so much speed by the time you actually are airborne that it really is more of a pop up so that you have time to throw your steeze.

*the above is a combination of limited experience, but between Copper, Breck, Keystone, A-Basin, Loveland, Echo and Winter Park, I have only seen 2 jumps that have that nice long comfy tragectory. They were at WP and thats like 2 out of 50 kickers.

The hardest thing is to feel that pressure in your front foot as you approach the lip and not let it put you in the back seat, and also maintain a comfortable riding position through the air. I still struggle with it, thank god for riding quarterpipe alot as a skater, but yea.

Once you start sending em, they feel great!
 
#20 ·
Decided I needed to make another post, the last one was too negative.

I hit it.

I sat at the top for a good 3ish minutes getting myself pumped up, and then decided -fuck it, let's just do it, knuckle it, and roll over. I hit the first one, straight airing the whole day, and landed deep because I forgot to speedcheck and straightlined it. I scrubbed a bunch of speed, and then went for the second one. I popped off it, made sure I wasn't going to land in the back seat, tucked up, and ended up landing backfoot on the knuckle, and didn't fall, but just took the blow, and pretty much sat in between my knees.
Second time I hit it, there was no hesitation at the top, although I hit the knuckle again.
Third time I hit it, there was no hesitation, and I landed nice and deep in it, rode off with a smile.



Now, I just need to get the confidence to do more than shifties and grabs off bigger jumps.
 
#27 ·
here are some pictures of the upper part of Golden Peak, one of the parks on Vail mtn. There are two other beginner parks on the other side of the mountain by lionshead village. They have 2-3 park crew that are in the parks on lionshead side all day long constantly raking features and riding the park to make sure it is ridable. Golden peak has cats on standby and 3 guys there all day long.....
 

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#31 ·
so far my 12 year old can hit everything under 45' on jumps and all but the biggest rails/walls, mainly because of the height they have to pop/ollie up onto them. I dont have pictures of the biggest jumps on the downside of the park, these are from their facebook page......

These pictures are why people up here think pictures like the one you showed suck. Brecks parks is very nice also. The park in vail this year is alot better than last year and from what I understand it has sucked nutz for the prior 4-6 years because Vail Resorts didnt want to put the money in it. This year they hired quite a bit more park crew and park management. Even on the shittiest day the vail parks would not look like the OP's park.....
 
#32 ·
Those are so insane!!!! I can't riding some of those features. That rail must be 10' high.

My local hill doesn't know what a park crew is. They started off building nice stuff for our area *nothing like above* but never maintained any of it.

I truly think they just take everyone's ticket money and that is it. Park is so bottom of the concern list for my hill. The more tour buses they can bring in the better, I feel is there motto.
 
#33 ·
believe me, the parks are low on the list for Vail also..... They are not known for their park but this is what you get when you come to the mtns.

As for rider quality like what has been discussed numberous times on the forum.... The instructors here can do very difficult and technical tricks on all of the features in the park. The guy that instructs snowboarding for my sons weekend program can do a double cork 12 or double backflip rodeo on almost any jump including natural hits.... the level of riding out here is incredible. you can youtube search him or the freestyle instruction team up here, they are incredible... I cant wait to see what my son learns next year in their 6 day a week, 830am-2pm, 9 month program... his goal is to ride boarder cross and slopestyle in competition next year.
 
#34 ·
6 day a week, 830am-2pm, 9 month program...
Holy shit, that is a lot of riding. How does he go to school in conjunction with that? As for out here, all I see is most of the instructors pulling 3's and boardslides on most stuff, not hitting a lot.

At least my boardercross coach is good, he was involved with the 2010 Vancouver Olympic course, and the 815Vfeet hill maintains a boardercross track for the whole 3 month season...
 
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