Snowboarding Forum - Snowboard Enthusiast Forums banner

Board stiffness and knee pain

6K views 38 replies 17 participants last post by  neni 
#1 ·
I thought about my recent trip and my growing knee pain as I returned to the gym.

Towards the end of the trip, I was getting a lot of knee tendonitis pain. Granted, I was snowboarding for 6 weeks with only three days of rest (back to back), and I've never ridden that much before. Each day I was riding 4-5 hours with more hours on powder days.

Something I noticed was that I fatigued much much faster due to knee pain rather than muscles actually getting tired. This was especially true when I rode my Arbor Iguchi (my stiffest board). Now it's entirely possible it was conditions that fatigued me since I only broke out my NS Swift on powder days which are definitely easier on the knees. However, on the last few days, I took out my Lago Double barrel since my Arbor had top sheet damage, and I found that my knees weren't getting as fatigued.

Is this a normal problem with board stiffness or is it just my lack of fitness?

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
 
#2 ·
I could be both...had some lead knee pain earlier this season due to jamming it...but found if I just pointed the stiff board more straight down the hill = less pain. To which I attributed it to less fighting gravity, less stress and thus less knee pain. There for a few weeks pretty much all I did was high speed groomers (not that there was much else to do) and stayed away from chop and turning as little as possible. However there ended up being some benefit...last Saturday there have been 2 runs that I have always speed checked for the past 16 years...last Saturday...pretty much straight lined the bastards. :surprise: :grin:
 
#4 ·
Stiff board fast = hooray!
Stiff board in crowded resort over bumps = ouch!

My favorite board to ride currently is a Rome Mod which is a stiff, aggressive board. When I can open it up, there's no problem at all. When I have to slow it down to avoid killing other people and ride through shit conditions instead of over them, it's painful and quite a workout.

It's very apparent to me because my knee is not completely healed from the ACL surgery last spring.

Also, I have an exceptionally damp Never Summer 25 that's easy on the knees considering how stiff it is.
 
  • Like
Reactions: speedjason
#6 ·
Oh, and please don't ride with knee pain especially multiple days in a row for weeks like that. You will wear out your muscles and put a ton of stress on your tendons, ligaments and everything that holds your knee together will have to work extra hard to compensate, and you'll be prone to sprains, tears, and other hard to fix injuries.

Ask me how I know.
 
  • Like
Reactions: speedjason
#7 ·
The pain didn't really start to set in until maybe the 4th week so I am leaning towards overuse. I did start calling some days when I felt the pain was too much, and I was very likely to hurt myself.

I was using +15/-15 Union Falcor bindings for the first 4.5 weeks. I then switched over to Now Drives. Otherwise, the stance is completely the same (reference).

The Lago Double Barrel had Rome Katanas, and the NS Swift had Now Brigades. I do suspect bumpy terrain also played a part, but Big Sky wasn't too bumpy, and the Arbor was still tough for me to ride. Also, if I did a single mogul run, I would pretty much be dead.

I also think part of the problem was riding increasingly difficult terrain AKA steep (Solitude, Snowbird, Jackson), and I'm still not as comfortable going down steeper terrain without speed checking my way down. That said, I did some steep stuff at Big Sky w/ the Lago and didn't feel as bad which is why I am suspect board setup was a factor.
 
#20 ·
The pain didn't really start to set in until maybe the 4th week so I am leaning towards overuse.
I think you pretty much nailed it there. It's tough to attribute it to a setup problem if it didn't occur until 4 weeks in. Changing your setup now might help to improve the symptoms now that they're established, but I think it'd be a red herring. It really sounds like overuse.
 
#9 ·
What's your stance width, height, and inseam length?

Could be worth changing your stance angles too. Maybe try 18 and 12 or 21 and 9 and see if that has any effect. There's very few people on the mountain that should be riding a symmetrical duck stance, and 21 9 won't impact learning switch as much as you might think.
 
#10 ·
I don't have any of my boards set up right now so I'm measuring off of the imprint left by the bindings :p

Stance width - approx 21.5-22" - I used to have a narrower stance, but I've lately been increasing it.
Height - 5'10"
Inseam length - approx 32"

I might try +18/-12 or +18/-18. Duck stance does feel comfortable to me though since I squat regularly, but I wonder if maybe the angles just aren't correct. I squat in a narrower stance and with less of a foot angle I think. I know when I first started off the season I was getting some lateral knee pain, but maybe that was just getting used to riding again.
 
#22 ·
I am sure the binding setting makes a huge difference but I suspect the pain will already happen in the first two-three days.

I suspect you simply don't give enough rest for your muscle to recover, and you seem to like those hard-charging guys with no stop in between.
 
#26 · (Edited)
Thread Resurrection Alert. Thought I'd ask the question here rather than start anew.

Same as OPs question really, ageing knees and a lot of boarding in a 2 month period. I'm fine with binding angles (carving 30/6, powder and soft bumpy pistes 18/-9) but I used my K2 Ultradream today which is quite stiff and was great for a few hours on shallow powder but once it gets chopped up I get bounced a lot (I'm 155lbs on the 161 so it's a bit big). It's also very fast and I could do with something slower. Knees get tired but no particular discomfort.

So I'm thinking about a board for fresh snow days which is going to give me an easier ride and probably low 150s in size; considering K2 eighty seven, Lib Lost Rocket and saw a NS Swift in a shop yesterday. I've never ridden crc as I hate scuffing turns but on the other hand I can't say I put in many nice carves today.
As well as soaking up the bumps I'd like it to be nimble and quick edge to edge rather than be a powder slayer.

So, s-camber or crc? Not too wide? Medium flex? What do you reckon?

Ps. I also have a Rossi Jibsaw 153 which would've been good today but am looking for something directional.

pps. carving board is a Rome Blur 156 and is perfect on clean pistes, my go-to board.
 
#27 ·
Never Summer boards are damp as hell and really, really easy on the knees. I had a 25 and when I rode that board in uneven terrain I realized how much I expected every bump to hurt when...they didn't. You know when you think something is about to hit your face and you flinch but nothing happens? It was that feeling but for knees. And you can definitely carve hard on them, it's just a little different with the CRC. A Never Summer board with Now Pilots or Rome DoD's is a perfect bad knee setup.

The Lib Lost Rocket is marketed as CRC but it's pretty much full camber. It's also pretty stiff and not something I'd recommend for an "easy ride" on aging knees.
 
  • Like
Reactions: neni and zc1
#29 ·
It was quite funny to ride the full camber deck last weekend again after I spent the current season so far on the NS (Lady West). Both boards have the same size. But while the NS turns already when "thinking" of turning, with the slightest move of hip or knee, the camber lady was reacting zip (In my mind I heard her laughing at me and saying, common, try a little harder).

Agree with drblast, the absorption of uneven ground is a big plus of all NS decks I tried, especially compared to the rather stiff boards I did ride otherwise, it's very relaxing to cruise or charge over bumpy groomers with them. So I'd say it would be worth a try, knees could benefit. (My legs were VERY tired after the few runs with the custom camber, lol. But then... it was SUCH a joy to carve with it, I had to ride hard till legs were toast.) To have one aggressive carver for the great groomer days, and a nimble floaty CRC for pow, and afternoon groomers, which still carves good enough to have fun, but not with so much shocks from bumps, is my small quiver strategy meanwhile.

Can't say if Swift or Mav would suit you better. Don't know those men's boards. I liked the women's Mav for pow surfing, but ended up preferring the more freeridey LW as surfing isn't my main goal. Can't you demo different models somewhere?
 
#30 ·
I know I'm nowhere near the rider most of you are. Certainly not even in the same gravitational field as neni,.. but am I the only one that finds CRC to be tiring in the chop?

I just spent 8 days riding Boyne Highlands. Obviously it ridiculously less extreme terrain & vert to ride than what you folks are referring to, but I found I MUCH preferred my Jones Camrock or even my full camber Arbor once things got tracked out, chopped or bumpy. ?‍♂

In those conditions, riding my Proto CT tired the shite out of my legs.

What am I missing here?
 
#31 ·
I know I'm nowhere near the rider most of you are. Certainly not even in the same gravitational field as neni,.. but am I the only one that finds CRC to be tiring in the chop?

I just spent 8 days riding Boyne Highlands. Obviously it ridiculously less extreme terrain & vert to ride than what you folks are referring to, but I found I MUCH preferred my Jones Camrock or even my full camber Arbor once things got tracked out, chopped or bumpy. ?‍♂

In those conditions, riding my Proto CT tired the shite out of my legs.

What am I missing here?

Hmmm... is that Proto much shorter? Maybe that's why? Or maybe it's old? Not one of the absorbing models? Can't say. I have a very different experience (had tried women's T2, Mav, Aura and Lady West; all were from '18 or '19).
 
#33 ·
I feel it too, but I think it has to do with me being more tired at the end of the day, riding slow, at shallow angle, not pointing my board aggressively towards the fall line. So when the board has more contact with the snow, now on CRC, you have to absorb 3 “bumps“ going over bumpy snow, especially when unloading the camber under feet with slow edge to edge. Does this make any sense?
 
#34 ·
Different opinions then. Since I asked about the Mavrix I've realised that for next season NS havd discontinued both it and the Instigator and blended them into a new model called the Harpoon - no prizes for guessing which Lib model they are "gunning" for! It's basically the Maverix made a bit shorter and wider.

Well it's 8am and there is 6" of fluffy white stuff outside the van so I'm heading for the first lift. Trying my soft flat to rocker board today..
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top