Cycle4Fun

Thanks for the feedback. I figure the private lesson will be money well spent. It's twice the cost of a group lesson, but I get individual attention. I can tell the instructor where I want to go and he can help me get there.

That's better than trying to compete for attention with 3-5 people.

Cycle4Fun

Thanks for the advice SnowWolf. Unfortunately, I can't practice anymore this season. Our hill has closed due to terrible weather all year. I'll keep your advice in mind. Mostly though, I'm going to listen to the instructor named Sabina or Forest. Until I take that lesson though, I'll practice getting up on that edge well.

IdahoFreshies

uuhhh $300 for 250 ft of vertical shit? i would do what he says V



but yes, carving a park noodle is harder and ALOT more tiring. My dedicated all mountain/pow board (with stiff bindings) is fairly stiff and very responsive. it takes almost no effort to turn and make adjustments. It also helps that its a wide board. Also its very stable in chopped pow and general choppy snow. It just eats the ruts and bumps and cuts through and flys over them when hauling ass down a diamond or carrying a lot of speed when landing a natural jump. I truly believe my new board this year has made me a lot better all mountain rider just because it is so stable, so responsive, so comfortable with the K2 bindings, and i can go a lot faster without getting bucked around. ALSO on the flip side of the subject my buddy has a k2 world wide weapon, and we swap every now and then because i like playing around with a park noodle. However first time taking it down a decent black diamond (didnt even have much soft snow on it) about half way down i had to sit and catch my breath! I have never had to do that before, but it just took SO MUCH work to man handle this board into doing what i wanted it to it wore me out after one run. If i got a board like that i would never take it out of the park, just too much work.

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srdeo

As long as the surface is smooth you should not have too much trouble carving any board. Difference would be with park board you are not going to be carving at high speed so try it on flatter run. You will need some speed but not alot. In a way it may help you since your board will run out of edge hold before your legs give up.

And like snowwolf said enter the turn with more weight on the front leg and exit the turn with more weight on the rear leg (gradually shifting thru the turn).

I dont know about other people but or me heelside turn is much difficult edge so it washes out easier.
If you are not having problem entering the turn you should be able to figure it out pretty soon

Read what snowwolf wrote and try it, you should be able to fix it in no time

AAA

If you're just learning to carve, no. A soft board will initate a turn easily, and at slower speeds and lower edge angles, won't wash out. It might even be ideal in the learning phase. As you advance, head to steeper runs, go faster, and get more aggressive with higher edge angles, a soft board will hold you back because it WILL chatter and has too much longitudinal and tortional flex to be stable. That point may come much sooner than later.

srdeo

Also experiment with forward lean. You may need more. (left and right do not need to have same amount of forward lean either).

Since you are washing out at the end of the turn, I would put more lean on the back binding compared to fornt binding. It will help you put little more pressure on back foot when you are doing heelside turn.

More forward lean will generally make heelside little more responsive.

Also after trying all the advice you got on this thread, please post what worked and what didnt so other people can benefit from it.

poutanen

Before moving west I used to drive 3 hours and pay a fair bit for a slopeside hotel to have the right to ride all 720' of blue mountain!!! Actually small hills can be good if they're full of high speed lifts and good terrain. I cut my teeth learning to board at blue. I remember seeing Jay Peak for the first time and thinking it was like something out of a movie! lol

srdeo

Blue mountain (Canadian one) is not bad for a small hill (alot of high speed lift). At least they have alot of runs (alot of short runs). And i think they have decent park and good food

Short runs are good when you starting out tho it doesn't tire you out as much.
Its too bad Toronto does not have bigger mountain. It's plenty cold enough to have a good season.

poutanen

Yep, 4 six-man high speed lifts to pump people up the hill. A lot of resorts in the west could learn from Blue Mountain! There are a few parks from what I remember, and lifts dedicated to the parks and learning areas. Tons of outdoor hot tubs, relatively cheap accomodations on the hill if you shop around...