hand position in EC turn

[binaural]

Hi!

I´ve been studying the EC movies and instructions carefully this summer, as some of you might have noticed...
I noticed the hands are producing quite a lot of spray and I wonder if you actually ´lean´ on you hand(s). I suppose not, but somehow I´m not sure...

Jasper

[nils]

i assume J and P too... i tend to really touch the snow hard with hands, then arms, then hips etc...i'm not at the same level than them of course.. but the feeling of gliding on the snow with whole body is cool...

It means> reinforced gloves ( Jacques's have Ptex), I reinforced the bottom of palm with fiberglass and duct tape... they get worn out very fast ...
lets hope we can find a glove maker to work on the carving model.. i remember eloura used to make a GREAT carving glove with split fingers in the 94-95 area...they were strong as hell....

[rilliet]

Hi Jasper,

I noticed the hands are producing quite a lot of spray and I wonder if you actually ´lean´ on you hand(s). I suppose not, but somehow I´m not sure...

You are right to ask the question, because the problem is very complex.

The aim is, of course, not to touch the snow with any hand.
But riding at high speed with the body at a few centimeters of the snow just like this needs a so high precision that it seems too difficult and dangerous.

The front hand is our sensor and protection that tells us where the piste is. If we would'nt use it, we would crash at any change in the piste geometry, snow heap or technical error.

Imagine what would happen when your body suddenly touches the snow without having anything to control it: the snow would grab your jacket and twist your upper body!

This front hand is our guardian angel, protecting us agains piste irregularities and technical errrors.

To get some efficiency, this hand needs a little bit of pressure on the snow. The better the rider technique and snow condition are, the less pressure is needed.

This system is so efficient that it is possible to extremecarve in bad weather conditions when we just can't see the slope, or on a piste full of snow heaps.

This hand (and the back one in frontside) is also a protection for the head.
Just imagine yourself laying out an EC turn at high speed without hand protection, your head 5 cm over the snow . Unfortunately there is a "ball" of hard snow just on the way of your head...

Jacques

[binaural]

Thanks for the detailed explanation. Very helpfull... My fellow-snowboardinstructor always had wounded arms after a day of carving. He thought that was cool, I thought ´that must hurt as hell´...
Although snowboarding is a lot safer than a lot of people think (esp. alpine snowboarding!), this way of riding is a bit dangerous for the shoulders I guess. Good warming up required...

Thanks again!
Jasper

[fivat]

Although snowboarding is a lot safer than a lot of people think (esp. alpine snowboarding!), this way of riding is a bit dangerous for the shoulders I guess. Good warming up required...

Yes, it may be dangerous, especially if the visibility is bad... Running into a bump or a block of ice that one had not seen may be very painful. However we never injuried ourselves for the last 10 years.

At the beginning of a season, and after a long day of extremecarving, I like to feel the stiffness (tiredness) of my shoulders and my pectoral muscles
Extremecarving is a full (all-round) sport!

-Patrice