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Stiff board

 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
So last season I bought a new gnu riders choice, the Flexi rating are listed as a 5/6 but the 161.5 version I bought is a 7. I didn't realise this. So the board is lovely in powder or spring snow but I am struggling on groomers.

Do you think a softer board might help?
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Maybe. What do you mean by struggling? What's better on other conditions in comparison?

What's your height and weight, and where do you sit on that board's chart? What boots and bindings are you putting with it? What techniques are you trying to use? How many weeks have you ridden, and how fit and strong are you?
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
@KernowRed,
A softer board might be more forgiving, but imho a stiffer board should hold the edge better on a hard piste.
Also when moving from one board to a another there are so many variables like @AdamNotts says.

What was the previous board you were using as a benchmark, and how many weeks have you done with the new board ?
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Thanks for the reply.

So I am 16 stone and 6"2. I have a union Force bindings and K2 RYKER boots.

I have had a season out in NZ, 6 weeks riding pow in Japan and then a week each year for the past 3 years.

I am just finding it hard to carve on groomers. Off piste I fine but as soon as i get on anything steeper on piste i find i am skin turning and a little sketchy.

I am 42 and not as fit as i should be but do a lot of core and leg work leading up to every trip.
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WindOfChange wrote:
@KernowRed,
A softer board might be more forgiving, but imho a stiffer board should hold the edge better on a hard piste.
Also when moving from one board to a another there are so many variables like @AdamNotts says.

What was the previous board you were using as a benchmark, and how many weeks have you done with the new board ?


so my old board was still fairly stiff but was old and starting to delaminate, it was a rossignal scope 2007, 162+. I have ridden the new one for 2 weeks in total. Some of that in nice floaty powder (it was really nice on that) and the rest on fairly icy to firm groomers.
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You have gone from a camber board with 2cm of set back to a rocker / camber hybrid with a centred stance. That is probably why it feels different on firm piste. At 16 stone a 161 Gnu should not be too stiff for you.
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 Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...
So would i be better setting the stance back a little and giving that a go?
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 After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
After all it is free Go on u know u want to!
KernowRed wrote:
So would i be better setting the stance back a little and giving that a go?

You could give that a go. Otherwise focus on your technique and let your weight move more onto the back foot once you have initiated your turn.
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Thanks, I am not going again til next year but might try an day at a fridge soon.
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A stiffer board should be easier to ride on piste, especially on hard pistes and for someone who is past their first month of riding.

Carving is about loading up the rear contact point, to stop it sliding. Almost impossible to make it hold a controlled arc/line on a soft board or a rocker board, but how a stiff board naturally wants to be turned.

You may just need to be a bit more aggressive with it.
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Setting your stance back will make the second half of your turn feel awesome at the cost of slower initiation. It will also shift the weight further back, which will help the nose to rise in deeper snow - but that's not relevent on-piste, and to be honest you might be better off centered on that particular board. You've not described why you're skidding, but does that sound like it'll help?

The sizing on that board looks spot on - you're right in the middle of the specs. It also doesn't look all that stiff - not in the grand scheme of things - and if you're skidding, then you'd generally want a stiffer board rather than a softer one to help you out.

What you're feeling is the change in profile like snowrider says. Anything with a rocker between the feet just ain't gonna carve as hard as a full cambered board. The board is trying to rise away from the snow and turn nibmly. If you put it on a hard floor and give it a kick I bet it'll just spin around like a top, whereas your old one would have gripped the floor. That's what you're feeling on the piste.

You can definitely carve center rockered boards though, but now you've taken a step back in terms of tech, you're going to have to add something in terms of technique. What are you doing with regards to inclination/angulation, pressure management, movements over the board and managing the tortion of the board throughout the turn? If you get those dialed, I bet you can rail that board nicely. If you've got questions about those (or you're not sure what they are!) then I think you need to look at lessons for a solution.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
Thanks for all the good advice. I understand what you are saying and i will bear it all in mind. I think refresher lessons might definitely help and just getting back on that snow.
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So if you're just off somewhere snowy come back and post a snow report of your own and we'll all love you very much
As said above the problem is not stiffness, stiffer is better for carving. The issue is change of shape, going from camber to hybrid, which is less suited to carving - but by no means impossible either.
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 You know it makes sense.
You know it makes sense.
What border2020 said. Also others about needing a stiffer board for carving hard on piste. Good that you're in the middle of the board's weight range, but those ranges tend to be very broad for Mervin boards.

For carving, you need to ride on the reference stance unless you've a very good reason not to. Shifting your weight back is a bad idea. Both feet need to be equally involved in the turn for most of it. There is a *very slight* front-back weight shift during a good carve, but that's almost more of a reaction than an action, and it's very, very slight. If your carves are excellent, you'll realise you're doing this. If you can't carve, you shouldn't even think about it.
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 Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Probably more of a technique issue rather than the board, but with a stiff traditional camber board it would be easier too.

I still ride a Palmer carbon circle pro, from about 94. Holds an edge fantastically, even with a rider heavier than you Very Happy
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 Poster: A snowHead
Poster: A snowHead
Brilliant advice, I have just booked a week in Mayrhofen, hopefully I can get a 2hr lesson and then just knuckle down and get a feel for the board. The main thing is in a bit of snow it's lovely to ride. Just those icey groomers are my nemisis.

This holiday is going to be a bit of technique polishing.
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 Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Icy groomers Shocked

I am going to Austria in 3 weeks, which will be my first time on European snow since about 2003. I have been spoiled rotten in Colorado over the last 5 Winters of never having a single icy run, alhough plenty of groomed hard pack.

I had a full days lesson with just 2 of us in an advanced group and to be honest I never really carved as well as I had hoped. I seem to have a tendency to sink the front of the board into the snow on toeside turns and become a bit unstable
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 Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Dougy Giro wrote:
Icy groomers Shocked

I am going to Austria in 3 weeks, which will be my first time on European snow since about 2003. I have been spoiled rotten in Colorado over the last 5 Winters of never having a single icy run, alhough plenty of groomed hard pack.

I had a full days lesson with just 2 of us in an advanced group and to be honest I never really carved as well as I had hoped. I seem to have a tendency to sink the front of the board into the snow on toeside turns and become a bit unstable


Don't think you should have too much of a problem with ice in Austria the way it's been dumping there of late.......... snowHead
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Yeah I am on countdown 32 sleeps until i am in Mayrhofen, Austria..... HOPEFULLY this weather keeps up!!
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 Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
rogg wrote:
Dougy Giro wrote:
Icy groomers Shocked

I am going to Austria in 3 weeks, which will be my first time on European snow since about 2003. I have been spoiled rotten in Colorado over the last 5 Winters of never having a single icy run, alhough plenty of groomed hard pack.

I had a full days lesson with just 2 of us in an advanced group and to be honest I never really carved as well as I had hoped. I seem to have a tendency to sink the front of the board into the snow on toeside turns and become a bit unstable


Don't think you should have too much of a problem with ice in Austria the way it's been dumping there of late.......... snowHead


That’s good Very Happy
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