Donutz

This thread is really getting past its stale date.

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Illegitimi non carborundum

Mountain Days: 30

Engage_mike

I agree Donutz...I'll just add this one little snip it and say...WHERE was this thread just before I snowboarding!! I could have used these tips honestly...good information for any beginner/intermediate boarder..Thanks to all you guys with the ability to throw great detail in to your teachings..I have come a long way since I first found this forum and most of everything I have read on here has helped me out (Most not all)

now let the thread die

BigmountainVMD

@ Snowolf --> I know you are well versed in AASI techniques so I wanted to share an experience I had while taking my Level 1 certification course.

Pretty much, our head snowboard trainer for the mountain was an alpine board rider (not the AASI course teacher, who was on the AASI East freestyle team I believe) and so obviously, much of our local training was based on carving technique.

Anyways, a bunch of us instructors took this course, and the AASI teacher was saying how our carving was good, but he thought we spent TOO MUCH time on our edges. It was to the point that he had us working on our flat basing technique, so instead of riding on edge while traversing, he had us make quick carved turns (almost like short/fast J turns) and get the board flat instead of instantly changing to the opposite edge to start the next turn. We talked about balance, and understanding the contours of the hill to know where to point the board when riding flat... but yeah, he was really adamant that we should be spending less time on edge if we don't NEED to.

Now I'm not sure if this was more of a freestyle technique (better position for ollies, flat land tricks, etc...) but I was surprised he had us working on that.

What's your opinion on my experience? It was my only experience with a full on Level 3 instructor/teacher/AASI freestyle team member so I'm wondering if that is more his "opinion," what he felt more comfortable with, or if it is actually part of the whole AASI "how to snowboard manual."

jlm1976

I realize that you were directing that post at snowolf but I am certified through AASI-East and have been a member for 10years r so. My guess is that he saw that your focus on high edge angled turns were going to hold you back in the long run. Often(myself included) the more we learn to make high edge angle turns, the more we lose the ability to ride a low edge angle. Now, low edge angles are important for riding trees, bumps, and boxes/rails so its important to develop that ability so it doesn't hold you back down the road.
Out of curiosity, who was your examiner?

BigmountainVMD

Yeah, I couldn't for the life of me figure out why we were doing it, other than to work on approaches for straight-airs and boxes... but we never actually worked on that stuff. We were working on nose rolls, but that was kind of separate.

Now that I think of it, we may have been talking about doing ollies over rollers or debris on the trail, and some people (level 1 remember) were not comfortable getting flat while traversing... but it just seemed like the message was more than just "you need to be flat to ollie over stuff." It was more of a "you don't have to carve ALL the time."

@ jlm --> It was a few years back, so I can't pull a name out. I know he was talking about being on some sort of AASI freestyle team and I know he was a snowboard coach at an academy somewhere. Maybe Gould Academy by Sunday River in Maine? He was awesome though and really opened our eyes to the world of snowboard instructing, especially since most of our skills were taught by a somewhat narrow-minded hard booter. One of the most memorable bits of enlightenment was how we all thought you needed a "stiffer all mountain/freeride board" to carve crazy lines (even I was rocking a hard-booter stance at the time) and he carved circles around us on his super short, flimsy park stick. Best part was when we got to the lift, he stopped to show us how he keeps his bindings so loose, he actually had an inch of travel between boot and binding.

As for the low angle stuff, we WERE doing a lengthy bump lesson one of the days, so maybe it was prep for that. I hated bumps before that lesson and after 20 minutes with that guy I was feeling super confident.

tylerkat89

I was curious about this subject too. I know I've seen the subject come up on how newer riders tend to over compensate and tighten their bindings unnecessarily tight...does it make a scientific difference in performance how tight your bindings are, or is it purely preference? I get psyched out seeing my boots being able to wiggle in the bindings.

BigmountainVMD

I wish I felt the same. I feel like I have to keep tightening my bindings all day, and if I'm doing a solid 9 to 4, by mid afternoon I can't find the sweet spot anymore. They are either too tight and cause foot pain, or too loose and not responsive enough.

trapper

My question about this is how would you keep your binding loose without having the toe strap slip off? I have to tighten the hell out of mine to keep my cap strap on, and until I initially reconfigured the strap setup I was having major problems with them slipping off halfway down the hill. Not a problem now, but like I said I have to tighten them pretty well.

I think I would be more comfortable riding if they were a little looser, but I'd have to get around this issue first.

BigmountainVMD

I think it was all in the ankle strap. His foot wasn't slipping forward, but he could lift his heel a lil bit out of the binding when strapped in.

poutanen

+1, I can confirm this theory after riding velcro on Wednesday. Got to the bottom of Cypress and it was sticky snow, did little carves at the bottom and I could barely feel the glue. Put the base down and it was like the drag chutes were deployed!!!

For what it's worth, my board builder setup my edges at 0.5 deg base, 2 deg side bevel. He does this to all his boards including race, alpine and BX boards. Lonerider said it engaged to early for his liking, I personally love the way it grabs HARD. It's very dramatic and once used to it there's no second guessing.