Swoard in action

[audacium]

...
Here we go...these pictures were taken at the end of september when I was riding in Soelden and I would like to share some of them with you - as you can see I had a lot of fun ! Weather was perfect, so was the snow and the slope !

My backside is not yet really laid down and I have to continue working on that. (But still this was two months ago and it has further improved since then ) (Besides: it is the jacket that makes me look somewhat "round" on the backside picture and not my humble person )

If you can see something on the technical side (even if it is somewhat difficult to tell from mere pictures) go on and critizise - we all want to get better at EC!!!

Depending on my workload I shall be in Soelden on Sunday, but unfortunately it is not very probable ... to those that go there: enjoy!


Carve low and Blue Skies,

Eduard.

[KYLE T]

Hi Eduard

Nice pictures
good looking piste for september.

Kyle T

[Hans]

Congratulations , Audacium, very nice pictures, great.

I have some new pics for my computer, now.

And the pictures are very sharp, which camera did you use?

Greets, Hans

[nils]

Great shots! amazing how a gold like goggles make suddenly the whole thing so lightly.. Very nice focus on the shots its rare!
Same question bout the camera!!

Nils

we're going to test a php gallery not too long from now, you'll be asked to post them in the gallery

[sic t 2]

Great riding and you look like you are having the time of your life on your new board.

LOVE those pictures. Obviously a high end camera with a powerful optical zoom and your focus is incredibly accurate for a ski slope shot. Let us hear about it.

sic

[vkrouverk]

Best is third one, where skier is looking in awe, how carving should be done

[rilliet]

Hi Eduard,

Excellent photos!
He, he, the EC family is growing!

Jacques

[rankov]

hi eduard,

very nice pictures! your frontside turn looks great!

If you can see something on the technical side (even if it is somewhat difficult to tell from mere pictures) go on and critizise - we all want to get better at EC!!!

when looking at your second picture where you carry out a backside turn i recognized two things:

1.) counter-rotation: in contrast to your frontside turn you could rotate your shoulder in your backside turn a little bit more towards the nose

2.) gesture purity: this is maybe only a matter of taste, but i prefer the 'minimal movement philosophy' of J&P, so you could try to keep your arm as close as possible to your body. in the frontside turn i also prefer the style where you go with both arms towards the snow...

as mentioned your frontside turn looks very cool and dynamic!

boris

[rilliet]

Hi Boris,

I agree with your statement, except nb1.
IMHO the backside rotation is enough. But there is something else you, Eduard, could improve: let your upper body go down to the snow.
In your mind, just imagine that there is your bed instead of snow, and let you lay down like you would do it on your bed.

Jacques

[cmachine]

Hi Eduard
Nice pics, especially the FS in the third picture.
They are taken at the left glacier in sölden, aren’t they?


Boris: “'minimal movement philosophy' of J&P” . Boris, you are a purist as I like it.

To all: See Boris’ avatar. This follows really the “minimal movement philosophy”. It looks as he is very stiff on the board.
But I assure you: This Master of EC gets admiring views from other riders on the slope.

Hi Jacques (the master-master of EC): I’m a bit confused. I would have argued as Boris.
For me there could also be a little more rotation until the shoulders are orthogonal to the SWOARD.
Is this wrong or just a matter of taste


G
Olaf

[rilliet]

Hi Olaf,

I’m a bit confused. I would have argued as Boris.
For me there could also be a little more rotation until the shoulders are orthogonal to the SWOARD.

Sorry to confuse you.
I admit that in backside turns Patrice and me are more rotated than Eduard on the photo.

I think it would be good to explain the usefullness of a rotation in EC (and carving): to make the board turn without indroducing any strength on the edge during the turn.
The EC turn needs to keep a minimum of edge pressure to prevent skidding. Turning without body rotation by just inclining the board (as it is done in race style) inevitably introduces forces on the edge to make the whole thing turn (body and board). With a body rotation, these forces are produced during the transition when the edge has no other force to handle.

So, to come back to the topic, I would say that the minimum needed body rotation angulation is the one that respect what is said above.

If Eduard can perform perfect EC turns without skidding or falling (and with nice style ) with such a rotation why should he make more?

Jacques

[cmachine]

Hi Jacques

Thx for the explanation.

For me there is also an other reason to rotate a little more:

Rotating the hip (and not only the shoulders) helps also to keep the center of gravity over the board in the bs-turn. The "butt" is also not to much outside (as it would be like "sitting down) as in a race style.
It does not look very nice whe the butt is too far away from the board.

But of course you are right: Why should Eduard rotate more if he can do good turns and feels good.

olaf

[Hans]

I think it would be good to explain the usefullness of a rotation in EC (and carving): to make the board turn without indroducing any strength on the edge during the turn.
The EC turn needs to keep a minimum of edge pressure to prevent skidding. Turning without body rotation by just inclining the board (as it is done in race style) inevitably introduces forces on the edge to make the whole thing turn (body and board). With a body rotation, these forces are produced during the transition when the edge has no other force to handle.

So, to come back to the topic, I would say that the minimum needed body rotation angulation is the one that respect what is said above.

Jacques

Hi, Jacques
I am a little bit confused about the things you said in this topic about the technique. I don't understand the consequenses of the technique you described before. If the board is not pressured in the backisde (is this also for the frontside?) how those the board behave on icy slopes then?
Or is the ECcarving/turning technique only a matter of using your knees under your not moving/keeping still body without pressuring the board into the snow/ice?

Greets, Hans.

[rilliet]

Hi Everyone,

A few precisions:


Olaf:
I agree 100% with you. When I say rotating the upper body, I mean the hips and all what is above. Perhaps I should say "body"?

It does not look very nice whe the butt is too far away from the board.

YES!!!!

Hans:
Stop! there is a misunderstanding here!
I meant that the rotation help not to add more forces to the edge than the huge ones that are already there (centrifugal and gravity).
Every force we can save is welcome to help the edge to grip, especially on ice.

Jacques

[audacium]

...

Hello,


Thank you for all your answers, I am happy that you like the pictures!

I strive myself for gesture purity, so I agree that especially on my backside I have to reduce arm movements further. I think it is simply a matter of routine - with more exercise the corrections of position get finer and smaller until at some point they are almost invisible, as Jacques and Patrice manage it to do.

However I think the rotation is enough. As Jacques said one should only rotate as much as necessary. More rotation only leads to a stiff body position with too little flexibility, in my opinion. Additionally I would reason that too much rotation on backside inevitably leads to pressing the knees together instead of keeping a relaxed and flexible leg position.
So it is important to avoid counter rotation, especially on backside turns, but one should not "overrotate" either.

Some asked about the camera. It is indeed a high end model: the Canon Eos 1Ds. I should add that it is not mine , unfortunately. But thus the quality of the pics is excellent. I do not know which lens etc. was used, but it was a big and long one, so much I remember .

The pictures were taken on the glacier in Soelden, on the Rettenbachferner piste. It had snowed one meter some days before, that is why the piste is in excellent shape already in september. Also, Soelden simply is a very good resort with very nice pistes and good snow quality most of the time.

Thanks to Jacques for building such a great board! And thanks to Jacques and Patrice for having "invented" EC and introducing others to this discipline!


Greetings, see you on the slopes,

Eduard.