Wednesday, January 20, 2010

How to Ride Powder (Or, the BEST DAY EVER!)

Yeah, it's really that good. Ever heard the phrase, "no friends on a powder day"? Ever hear someone try explaining to their boss how they got a windchapped, goggle face while at home in bed with the flu? Yup. That good.

Since it's looking like El Nino is back to bitch slap the Southern California mountains like I haven't seen in years, many of you masters of the groomed runs and hardpack would probably like to know how to handle the deep fresh stuff. I almost don't want to spread this knowledge, cause you are going to end up tracking out lines that could have been mine! But, to promote snowboarding, I'm just gonna have to make sacrifices.

I wouldn't say powder riding is hard per say, it just takes a different technique. Firstly, Equipment. You're going to sink; if it's deep, you're going to sink a lot. To help ease this, a longer board is nice. I weigh around 145lbs and use a 155cm board for most stuff, which is usually high speed groomers and whatever until I find the park. Then, lots of jumps. If I'm going to Mammoth after 2 feet of fresh, I ride a 160cm. If you are going to use your same board, you will want to move the bindings back towards the tail of the board, so the front end is a few inches longer than the back. This will help keep the nose of the board up and out of the snow. If you end up wanting a second board for powder (it's worth it), look for something 3- 6cm longer than your normal board. There are many powder-specialized boards, all designed to keep you floating and make life as fun as possible. Boards with rocker by design help keep the nose up, tapered boards (the tail is narrower than the nose) do the same by allowing the narrower tail to sink. And yes, this is important. When your nose sinks in powder, a typical result is a nose dive, followed by you pitching face first into said powder. Now you have to get up, and every time you push with your arms, they sink further. We'll get into this more later, but it sucks and should be avoided at all costs, unless you really want to entertain your friends. Make sure you are wearing good, waterproof gear, especially gloves. Odds are the humidity is higher than you're used to, and you'll have your hands in the snow more than usual. If you are in Utah or Colorado, ignore this, but out here in California, Mammoth and Tahoe have what is often called Sierra Cement. This tends to stick to you quite well. For all these reasons, good ventilated goggles are a must. I almost had a powder day go to shit because I couldn't see through my fogging goggles (in a pinch, the hand dryers in the bathroom can really help get the condensation out of them).

Next, head for the steepest runs you are comfortable with. Powder is much slower than packed snow and if you stop, getting stuck is a serious possibility. It's easiest to start off just going straight, with your base flat. You want to turn more like on a surfboard, wakeboard or water ski. Lean back so the nose is up, and with more weight on your back leg, you will sort of "fan" your front leg back and forth to make turns, pivoting around your rear leg. You will still be flexing your board, but more lengthwise, not along your edge like on hardpack. The deeper the powder, the more prevalent this becomes. In deep stuff, trying to turn like you would on hardpack by putting even pressure on the front or middle of your edge will nosedive you right into the white room. You'll see. Also, if the powder is really light, and over 15 inches deep or so, you can actually slow down while going straight. You are already leaning back, so the front of your board is angled out of the snow; now just push a little harder straight down with your back leg, angling the nose up even more. This resistance will slow you down nicely, and is nice if you are riding in trees (don't ride there? you will when you learn to ride powder!) and need to slow down but don't have room to turn. Just "brake" with that back leg and point it between that tree and rock! Those are pretty much the basics; some practice and you'll figure it out. Next are some problems associated with shredding said powder, but let's not let that piss on our cornflakes!

I'm not going to tell you where the best places on the hill are for powder, but the easy one is the trees. I will tell you that many people stay on the trails, so the trees are more likely to have untracked fresh. Secondly, when the weather is shitty, there is less wind blowing in the trees and the depth perception is better.

All powder is not equal. Fresh, untracked sheets of white are the best. Best turns, best landings, best days. This is usually a small window after a storm, and most mountains can be mostly tracked out in a day. So, you are going to be left riding through some tracked powder. This can be a project, especially in the deeper snow. When you are on fresh and hit a track, your board is going to drop into that track, maybe an inch, maybe a foot. Anyway, if you don't pay attention, you can really get pitched around, think bull riding. I try to hit these things perpendicularly, so my nose just bounces up and back. When you start getting in really choppy stuff, keep the legs bent to act as shock absorbers and work on keeping the nose up and try not to let an edge dip too far into a track, or a snag and fall will ensue.

Falling. Actually, falling usually is not too bad. Just like on hardpack, do NOT put your arms down! If the snow isn't that deep, you could bust a wrist just like on the groomers. Plus, you never know what could be buried under the snow; rocks, logs and other stuff that's not fun to fall on. Lastly, you will just sink more. Spread out your arms so you stay on top and minimize sinking in the soft stuff, like a snow angel! If you are tumbling, protect the melon, and try not to get twisted too weirdly. I like to flop, myself (cursing and shreiking like a little girl optional). Also, if your friends are like mine (god forbid) the second you go down they are going to try to spray the shit out of you with a rooster tail of powder. This is great if you like snow in your face, and down your jacket and pants all at the same time while trying to get re-oriented.

Getting up. The biggest problem besides fighting people for fresh lines is trying to get up in this wonderful, sometimes nightmarish stuff. However you land, it's usually easiest to turn onto your butt, get your board down hill and try to sit up. If on your stomach, try to get your board downhill, and sort of squat and push so your weight is over your board and you can stand and get moving. This is why we want to be on the steeper runs. If your arms sink when you push up behind you, try packing snow into your new armholes so you can push up. When I stop, I'll try to get against a tree or rock if possible. That way, I don't have to deal with getting up; just turn it back downhill.

Couple extras. Often, your powder days are going to be overcast, or snowing. Be sure to have the right goggle lens. A light rose has great definition in flat and stormy light, yellow is good when it's darker with flat light, light orange or persimmon are pretty good too. Mirrored, grey, brown, and darker lenses can make it really difficult to see. Buy a backup! Gloves with the gauntlets that go past the wrist can help keep snow out of the sleeves. Mittens are nice cause they tend to be warmer and dryer than gloves, and are easier to take on and off. You will probably be taking them off more than usual, to get snow off your bindings, boots, goggles, ass, you name it. Jacket; make sure it has a powderskirt. They seen stupid, but most resort shops have these little sponge/ squeegee things in a tub on their front counter for like $3. These actually work great for getting snow off your lens.

So that's pretty much it. This was a lot longer than I anticipated, and it kind of sounds complicated. Let me put powder riding in perspective. It's not like learning to ride, and easier than most jumping tricks and jibbing. Some of the world's top pros have walked away from fame, contests, money just to pursue fresh powder. Yeah, it's that good.

No comments:

Post a Comment