A lot of people might think the only way to accelerate a board is to point it downhill, but we’ve all encountered those dreaded flats where we come to a stand still as our two poled buddies cruise past without a care in the world. No resort is 100% boarder friendly, so we need to up our skills to survive these thigh burning terrain traps.
It might seem weird to think you can accelerate the board when you’re not on a slope, but it’s really possible and super useful.
What you’re aiming to do is use a skateboard mini ramp technique. Just like us Skateboarders need to maintain momentum between hits. They achieve that by pumping the transitions.
They bend their knees and push the deck away from them as they reach the bottom of the wall creating acceleration. We can do the same thing with a board.
You can see the results from a fun session this summer. This ‘pump track’ was on the flat. If I didn’t use the flex and pushing/pump technique I would have come to a standstill very quickly. Let’s break down this technique so you never get caught out on the flats.