Snowboard Like a Pro: How Gravity is Your Friend Not Your Enemy
Gravity. For the majority of the population, this force goes unnoticed. It’s the one we learn to conquer as a child, pinned to the floor till we get the strength to resist its pull. From there the world becomes an adventure, we are free to explore where ever our legs can take us.
The constant pull towards the ground becomes our normal. Only truly a consideration when we find ourselves higher than our feet touching the ground.
For those of us fortunate enough to have experienced life on top of a mountain with a snowboard beneath our feet. Gravity is everything. It is at once our best friend, our drug and our greatest enemy. We spend our lives playing with its ability to pull us faster down the mountain.
We fight it, we embrace it, we challenge it to try and keep us on the ground.
When it comes to the winter sports of skiing and snowboarding, momentum is a very good thing.
One of the most common areas for improvement we see in good riders looking to progress is that they are stuck in the mentality that gravity must be resisted at all costs.
Sure we get faster.
We ride steeper terrain and even start to leave the ground intentionally. But at the core of our movements, we are always subconsciously trying to slow down.
There are a few ways to tell if this is true of our own riding.
Our legs, particularly the big muscles are in a world of hurt after a big day on the mountain.
As I land after leaving the ground the first thought on my mind (maybe even before I hit the ground) is how I am going to slow down.
I butt check or back slap big landings.
My path down the mountain follows more of a zig zag than an “S”.
My hands are one of the first things I notice hurting when I’m out riding my bike.
All of these are good indicators that gravity is having its way with us.
We are doing what we can to fight it, but its a battle of two enemies rather than a heated discussion between lovers.
How To Use Gravity To Help You
Looking back at the slope you’ve just come down, take a second to analyse the way the snow sprayed as you used it to redirect across the mountain towards the next turn. Does it spread out evenly through out the arc of your track or has it all gathered down hill after the apex of each turn?
In this we clearly see the relationship between how we move, in reaction to gravity pulling us down the slope.
That down hill spray, where our board or skis are applying the greatest force to redirect us, is a clear indication that we are doing all we can to fight gravity to slow down rather than work with it.
Is this an effective way to get down the mountain? Sure. We’re having fun. Riding the terrain we want to ride, ticking boxes and claiming bragging rights with our friends.
Is it the most efficient way? Not by a long shot.
Efficiency by definition is achieving the maximum performance with minimum wasted effort.
In this case we are treating gravity as a challenge, as something that needs to be resisted, fought against to stop us hurtling down the slope faster than we can control.
If we look at how gravity can help us,
we can make some simple changes not only to increase our speed and flow down the run, but also use significantly less energy in the process. Less energy means more riding without the need for pain killers and icepacks at the end of each day of your holiday.
Next time you’re riding down something steep, have a go working with our friend gravity. Let it pull you through the turn with a little more speed, pushing through the apex to help you direct some of that momentum across the slope.
Then, with that bit of extra speed, continue your turn a little up the hill letting old mate gravity do the work to slow you down enough that you feel comfortable turning again. The extra flow and more consistent momentum is intoxicating. Your legs will thank you. You may even impress your friends.
You can apply this same principle to easier terrain. Carry more speed through your turns, allowing the traverse across the hill to do some of the speed control for you. Your overall speed will increase, you’ll find those pockets of snow up the top of the banks easier to reach, and on those big snow days you will spend less time digging and more time grinning in the lift line stoked to get back up and do it all over again.