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when to tame narrow runs?

1.1K views 9 replies 8 participants last post by  shocka144  
#1 ·
Hi all, I’m currently enjoying boarding in Canada and have 10 days boarding experience prior to this trip.(I now have done an extra 2 days in Lake Louise)

ive had a lesson and watched plenty of great YouTube vids on techniques over the years.

i struggle with confidence (possible the wrong word) on tight narrow gourges - deffo with other riders (skiers) around me. Do I just keep practicing on wider runs but making tight turns or is there a particular knack for these runs?

Cheers all for any advice!!
 
#2 ·
There is no real quick way to achieve this. Most people, myself included, probably first learnt to hold a toe or heel edge as long as possible then scuff a quick turn to reposition on the track. However, this isn't great once the snow becomes rutted.
Once I learnt to carve turns it became much easier: when you are turning it is much quicker and easier to change direction than if you are flat basing or tracking straight on a slight toe or heel edge.. So I ride tracks doing a constant rocking from toe to heel to toe, no more than a few seconds on each and without more than perhaps a ten degree change of direction so I ride in about a 6 foot wide corridor..
Riding this way puts you in control the whole time, you aren't teetering on off-balance, you can quickly throw in a scuff to stop if required, and you are crossing any ruts on edge rather than getting stuck in them.
Of course, you can easily practise this on any shallow wide piste, just think of your body as a pendulum that never stops swinging.
This is l perhaps more advanced than I make it sound but once learnt it will make cat tracks fun. I actually ride in constant turns the whole time, only running straight for speed on a flat or uphill section.
 
#3 ·
Practice falling leaf, pivot turn, and side slip. You can google all of these for videos or articles or whatever. Yes, they aren't fun. Yes they will make you tired. Yes they will make you better quicker than anything else you can do if teaching yourself. Specifically improving your edge control, ability to transition edges, and ability to maintain balance.
 
#4 ·
Tight runs can be nerve-racking for all of us, so don’t feel too bad. Our equipment is naturally less nimble than those two pank nerds.

1.) Learn to to foot steer. This involves keeping your back foot flat and trying the twist the board with your front foot to adjust direction.

2.) Don’t be afraid to politely say “On your Left” or “On your right”. People will do their best to give you a little room.

3.) Consider your exit strategy. If one side of the car track is a cliff and the other is a bank. Ride on the bank side. You can always bail into the bank to avoid disaster.
 
#5 ·
Practice makes perfect. There isn't a particular knack. Advice as above is all good.

If you mean relatively easy "cat tracks", the tactics as described work.

It helps other people avoid you if you're predictable, or obviously unpredictable. Internet people and "The rules" say you don't need to be, of course. But if you're going to straight line the entire run and then make make a massive turn right in front of the boy-racer who's overtaking you at precisely that second, you would win the court case but it'll still hurt.

Once you're confident enough not to crash into the bank or off the side, it's less hassle to ride on the side your stance (goofy/ regular) allows you to watch the rest of the run without looking over your shoulder. So regular riders usually will favour the left hand side so they can watch for people coming past on their right. Of course there's no law says you need to do that, it's just safer if you don't want to get hit (because you won't turn into someone's path if you're watching them).
 
#6 ·
Break it down to its basic components, practice each one separately.
Cat tracks riding consist of:
1 flat basing
2 breaking by skidding
3 shallow angle smooth turns
4 Fast stop, i.e. speed check
You have to be able to maintain speed and pick it up, hence flat basing.
You need to be able to control speed without turning across the track, hence skidding turns.
You have to be able to overtake slower people, without going across the track, hence low angle smooth change of direction.
You have to be able to shave a lot of speed of, hence speed checks.

I’d say flatbasing is scariest skill to obtain, easy to catch an edge, falling is more punishing, hard to manage direction, bumps seem to steer you.

Concentrate on flatbasing on beginner runs, try to press one edge or another equally with both legs, stay straight and relaxed, micro-adjust, don’t counterrotate, keep your back hand above the tail of your board. Maybe t-bar more if you can.

Skidding is probably how you make your turns anyways now, like weight on the front foot, lean into the turn, something like that. So keep the weight on the front foot and steer the back foot, don’t lean much into the turn and counterrotate a bit.

Smooth turns exactly the opposite, weight centered maybe a bit more to the tail, don’t counterrotate, slightly lean into your turns. Important to engage the whole edge of the board at once, but keep it ultra shallow
 
#8 ·
Practice your edge control, which might mean 'falling leaf' from side to side... and you need to do this on the toe edge too!

Then on a wide run learn to carve across the hill, so you don't get too much speed. Try to get lots of edge angle and really stack your weight over the edge. A lot of beginners struggle with this.

Then learn the under-carves/edge-rolls, so you can tighten it up on the narrow runs.

Malcolm Moore has some great Youtube how-to's.
 
#9 ·
Two things: One is a matter of perception, i.e., narrow this similar to driving, 2 lane vs an eight lane it just takes time to adjust your perception. Second, flat basing and rocking from edge to edge using your ankles and feet. The secret sauce involves again 2 things. First is to keep your body aligned, i.e., shoulders, hips aligned and all body parts within the cereal box, Your upper body is quiet and you are working mainly your knees, ankles and feet. The second thing is to weight your nose. Have a bit of weight on the nose. This is done by slightly shifting your hips forward/sideways toward the nose... just an inch. When flat basing width your body aligned (not rotated open or twisted), in the cereal box and your weight is on the nose. THERE IS NO EDGES TO CATCH because everything is parallel to the fall line. One last secret tip is to rotate or tilt your pelvis. Find the creepy basement video.