Crazy Max

Lately I've just been really feeling comfortable on my board everywhere on my good side. Just feels like another extension of me as of lately. So I've been experimenting with different ways to ride blacks and at first just copied the carvers and rode like they did. Then I started to experiment again yesterday during my warmup runs on the blacks before venturing into the terrain park, and I realized I could control my board with a pendulum effect underneath me, but had no idea what to call it. Really stoked to know that I discovered dynamic carving. I love freeriding, but there's nowhere to really freeride around here. I end up at the bottom of a black in just over a minute, if that, on most runs. 500-700ft of vertical for the lose .

BRsnow

I can ride the blacks on a very hard mountain carving and riding large moguls, can do tree runs and smaller cliff drops...but totally consider myself a beginner...I can ride these is good form and comfortable, but some of the guys I ride with and others I see on the mountain really show me just how far I am from being at a higher level....Ben

Simply^Ride

I have about 30 days of ridding under my belt, those days in life span of 3 seasons. I think I am between intermediate and advance, and more addicted to this sport than ever. But I do have to say that my board is really holding me back, it is an older board, very stiff and horrible for powder conditions. I tried my friends board on the last day of riding in Jay peak and I was amazed of how much better I was on that board. I have to get a new board this upcoming season. Can't wait until next year that I move from the flatlands of hot south Florida, to somewhere with a bit more snow.

Snowolf

Start by learning to do dynamic skidded turns. The difference technically between a standard turn and a dynamic turn is that in a standard turn, the upper body travels in the exact path as the snowboard. When you first begin riding and linking turns, this is the way most people ride; they are kind of stiff and they are always over the top of their board. As the rider gains skill and confidence, what begins to happen is the upper body will travel inside the path of the snowboard. One of the best ways to start becoming dynamic where your upper body remains quiet and travelling relatively straight down the fall line with your lower body shifting around under you like a clock pendulum, is to start using your hips to shift weight to your edges. For toeside, you arch your back and push the hips forawrd and when going heelside, you shift the hips back like you are about to sit in a chair. Also, you will switch edges positively with both feet at nearly the same instant.

Here is how a dynamic turn would look from above:



In this video I am riding fairly dynamically. It is`nt a perfect example, but you can see that my board travels out in front of and out behind me at the apex of the turns. To really ride dynamically, I would have been at full extension at the apex of each turn and I would not have rocked my upper body back and forth nearly as much as I did here.

Basic dynamic turns

__________________

Seedy J

The plot thickens !

The video and diagram helped me out a lot... Thanks! Next question: how do you not ride dynamically? I'm pretty sure I ride similarly to your video example all the time.

I know... I really should just go take a lesson, but I'm afraid of big scary Japanese words .

Snowolf

Just watch people ride and you will see it a lot. People ride around stiff legged and they throw their upper body around all over the place and wave their arms at every turn. All the while, the lower body never moves out from under thier upper body. Another thing with dynamic riding (skidded or carved) is that you make edge changles way before the fall line; near the apex of the turn. New riders are freaked out over changing to the downhill edge untill they understand the the board could care less what edge is downhill; it only cares that it is travelling straight, tip to tail without side slip.

__________________