Girl Gets Board

Geared Up

The last two times out with the Burton Emeralds I had had some major heel lift/foot cramps/numb toes. Why did I even bother getting new boots if they hurt? But instead of going back to my old boots, I went to the shop and they let me swap out the Burtons for Salomon F20 Ws (thanks guys!).  The F20 Ws have this grabby, red fabric on the heel that is supposed to help hold your foot in place. I also said adios to my Burton Freestyle bindings circa 98 and hola to the Union Trilogys. With the new bindings I thought I would try out a new stance at 15 degrees on the front and 12 on the back with more of an angle on the highbacks.

Come Saturday it was shred time.

Saturday Shred

I hit up Tye Mill first and went down the backside on a groomer. There was no visibility. None. The only way to get down was to follow the loud electrical humming noise from the power lines. I felt like I was mars or something. This royally sucked. The back was icy, and didn’t seem like it had been groomed the day before. There were snow chunks everywhere and ice, ice, ice. Did I mention I couldn’t see? Oy. People were wiping out right and left. I made it to the bottom of the run, got on the chair, and never looked back.

I felt completely out of it. I had on some new gear and a new binding setup, but it was one of those things where you feel like you wonder what the hell you are doing. Nothing feels right, I had burning arches, felt stiff, and my knees weren’t bending when they were supposed too. You just wonder, you know?

The Crest Trail had some powdery ungroomed runs left over from the opening snowfall, so I hit that. It was fun getting a few turns, but without someone else with me it was easy to go slow and not really push myself to charge through the powder. Someone suggested that I try bringing my knees together in pow to keep my nose up so I tried that, and it seemed to help. It also meant that I didn’t have to have all of my weight on my back leg. Bonus.

After the pow turns on Crest Trail, I popped out on a groomer and cruised around–knowing I was on comfortable turf. I can’t wait to get more relaxed in more challenging terrain, groomed trails are fun for one or two runs, but having something to work on while I am out riding makes the day worthwhile.  By this time the bindings and the boots were feeling a lot better. My feet weren’t numb and it was easy to initiate turns without heel lift. With foamy goodness on the binding’s baseplate instead of just plastic, the chatter from icy runs was definitely reduced.

Switch Time

In the afternoon, I sucked up my pride once again and went over to the bunny hill, Daisy. It was time for more falling and working on my switch. At first it was awkward, and I took some hard falls to the knees and the shoulder…the run wasn’t slushy like at Crystal. In fact it was pretty hard to raise my right arm over my head the rest of the day. A couple of lessons were going on and I noticed that the instructors were having the students stick their butt out and put their hands out in front of them. Knowing that I had nothing to prove at this point, I tried that too. At first it didn’t help much, it just made me a teeny bit closer to the ground when I bit it, but finally, I was able to get my tail around to make the toeside turn that I could never get. Once I figured out how to do the turn while lifting up my heel edge so it wouldn’t catch, I moved into a more upright, normal riding position and started linking my turns down the run. Instead of going toe edge across the hill, turning, then going heel edge, I started making the turns closer, until I was going down the hill and turning, instead of across it. Granted this was on the bunny hill, but still, I was stoked. Five awkward runs and sloooow chairlift rides later, I was starting to link my turns! There was hope.

I was also working on my ollies and noticed that it was so much easier to pop off my nose than it was my tail (I guess that’s a nollie). The tail feels a little dead when I try to ollie. I don’t get that pop. I’m thinking it might be because my bindings are set farther back? On the nose there is a lot more room for the board to flex, but I’m not sure if that’s why. Any ideas?

About riding switch. Do I have to be able to do it just after I land a 180? Or is it good to be able to ride as good switch as I can riding regular? Just curious.