fayewolf

Writing this before i forget! I felt like today is a turning point (no pun intended) for me, I'm actually pretty much linking turns at ease!!
I stuck to the green 80% of the time, but this resort's green is really short, so I did go up to the blue a few times, it still freaked me out a little, but we'll go into that later.

First of all, I bought a new board. Ideally, I wanted a rocker/camber hybrid, but I ended up with the GNU B-Street because its on super sale and I like the graphics alot! I love the board by the way, I thought it will spin me like a helicopter, but it didnt! Getting off the lift is a bit difficult, but it could be because i'm used to the stomp pad, or just that I always kinda suck getting off lift.
I found a scratch on top of my board today (really pissed, but it's quite minor, do i need to fix this? I dont' even know when this happened!)

I am not sure if it's the board really alot more forgiving, or now i have a few more hours under my belt, or the board giving me more confidence, but i was able to link turns pretty much continuously today. I'm still a bit iffy on the toe turn especially early on the day, but towards the end, believe it or not, I didnt need to chant: relax front foot, board point straight down, flat base, turn shoulder, toe side with front foot, etc.... it was just alot more smooth!!

I also worked on working on shallower turns. I thought about watching snowolf's cat track video when I get to the mountain top, but by the time i got up there, I forgot about it. I can't remember if I engage both feet or still use the torsional flex for shallow turns, and I can't remember what I did, but it worked.

I also worked on flexing and unflexing, basically going low on my turns, stand up when my board goes straight. It works pretty well!!

So, when i get to the blue. I didn't have to guts to turn on my toeside *again*!! I tried, and it just won't turn. But I knew what happened. I freaked out at the speed so most of my weight were on my back foot, so it refuse to make the turn. I was able to fix this the next run, able to turn, however, I skid the crap out of the turn because I was still kinda scared. Leaning down the slope helps, but it takes alot of guts!!

The blue run area, steep, and also kinda uneven with snow mounds everywhere. Why is that? I don't see this on green runs, always on blues!?
I would very much want to go around them, but there are too many and I don't have time to think about this. And because of my rocker plus my lack of experience and technique, it's quite unstable to ride through these. Any way around it? I tried to keep my knees like noodles to absorb the bounce but it's very scary.

One thing I learned, while rocker boards are alot more forgiving, you can still catch edges. But I do feel that alot of time I would've caught an edge but didn't... very grateful.

I also want to thank everyone that helped me out!! Such a fun sport!

linvillegorge

We really need to have a post of the day feature on this site. I nominate this one.

fayewolf

oh no... what did i do?

Robocop

You could have at least helped him out with an answer, or just ignored the thread.......

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fayewolf

Thank you Snowolf! I really couldn't do it without your help. Your explanations were very very clear!!! Yeah, those mogul were throwing me off quite a bit! I need to find a resort that has really long mellow greens, I'll be really happy if i can find one!
Do they groom blue runs too usually? (sorry, this is my first season ever up in the mountain so I don't know these things, i didn't even know what groomed means at first!)

How often do I have to wax my board by the way? The board I have is sintered base. I watched a video of how to wax the board, and the though of putting an iron over my board is freakn me out.

PanHandler

Blue runs are almost always groomed, but it does depend on the resort you go to. If your resort has a website, you can go there and usually they will have an interactive trail map that tells you which runs are groomed.

As for waxing your board, dont be scared of the iron! its just like ironing clothes. Keep that thing moving and you wont burn anything!

The type of snow you ride on will determine how often you need to wax. Usually if i ride on snow from the blowers (man made) ill wax every time i go. If its more freshies or natural groomers then i might only need to wax every 5 times i go.

Here is a really fantastic waxing guide created by Mr. Amazing himself (Snowolf)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Nefarious

The regularity of your waxing is dependent on the snow and the wax you use. I, personally, use One Ball Jay Graphite wax. There are pro's and con's to waxing with graphite. The real pro is speed. I can out pace 90% of boarders at my hill after a fresh wax. I don't get hung up on stretched out green sections before a descent. The con is that graphite wax burns through rather quickly. Especially on midwest icepack. I wax before every outing.

As for other wax options, check the stickies at the top of the board section. There's a sticky on Waxing that has a ton of useful information. I, to this point, haven't tried a flouro yet, but from what I understand they last much longer (5-6 times out depending on conditions).

You can't go wrong either way. Also, sintered bases need to be waxed more often than extruded. They don't hold the wax as well. I'd recommend finding an all temperature Flouro and plan on every 3-4 times (if you're mainly on groomers).

The final thing to waxing is the temperature of wax pertaining to your conditions. My graphite wax is all temperature. It wears off fast but snow conditions don't matter as much. Some colder waxes won't be as quick on warmer days and vice versa.

I just got done waxing both my boards last night. I love it!

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Donutz

As I keep explaining, moguls are the buried bodies of 40-somethings who have taken up snowboarding. That's why you hear the occasional "oof" when you go over one of them. It isn't you making that sound...

__________________

Illegitimi non carborundum

Mountain Days: 30

firstx1017

Hey, I resemble this remark - or am I given a pass since I'm 50! lol

Deviant

You just did the exact same thing.

To the OP:
Don't get upset with yourself for not being as confident on a blue run, that will come in time. Tell yourself that you'll be in more control when you get off the flat base and onto your toes and in a short while it will seem like nothing. As to your waxing question, as said above never leave the iron sitting in one spot on the board, that is your main concern with waxing. You can find really cheap irons at thrift stores if need be, wax scrapers don't cost too much and if you are going to stick with snowboarding I suggest buying wax in bulk or finding the largest bar for your needs. Since you're not racing or anything now, just grab some all-temp wax and that will suit you fine.

Don't even sweat it, boards can and will get beat up, the only time a scratch needs fixed is on the edges or a more prominent scratch/cut on the base.

Edit: You're bound to get minor scratches on the base, don't freak out if you do, but waxing can help keep things looking good on the base.