Dropping in Hockfugen

FINDING THE FUN

How to handle drops on a snowboard

Dropping off anything into powder feels really good. It’s a great natural progression from just surviving in powder. The terrain becomes a snow park. You start to look around for interesting lumps and bumps to pop off. It doesn’t need to be anything massive. The smallest snow covered tree stump can boost you and it will feel damn cool if you can land and ride away.

However, when you start this adventure you’re going to eat a lot of shit. Which is also fun. Unless you’re unlucky enough to land on something solid you’ll generally be falling around in the pow and laughing at yourself and others trying the same thing.

So here are a few hints and tips to help boost your hit ratio when it comes to trying them.  

The Grab Effect of Powder

The weird thing about powder is it grabs the board as you land in it. This is what catches most people out. Guys typically ride cautiously off the drop so the snow has an even greater pull effect on the board and they fall over the front of the board.

To stand a better chance of success you typically need a little bit more speed to counter this grab action.

Take off Ollie

If we move to the take off phase then we need to look at keeping the board level as we leave the lip. You don't want to plop off the drop. The best way to achieve this is to pop a little ollie. That will bring your legs/board up into your torso and create a more stable posture that'll prepare you for the landing. 

Stability on Landing

As you’ll notice a lot of the guys are taken out as they’re not balanced when they land or take off. Sure you’ll most likely want to have a little bit of weight on the tail of the board when you take off, but only about 55%-60%. Nothing more really or you’ll slip out on the tail. 

In additon, if you absorb too much through your waist or your posture is too open then as you land your balance will be thrown off and you’ll fall. The aim is to keep some sort of alignment with the board on the approach and to absorb a lot more through your knees to help keep you stacked over the board. 

That covers off most issues that'll arise. You'll now have to try it this winter. Make sure you get a buddy to film it, because either way the footage will be golden.

Info links

TRAVEL GUIDES
KIT LISTS

Follow us

FOLLOW THE FUN & PROGRESSION

Join the community

SIGN UP TO BE INFORMED & INSPIRED

© Copyright 2008-2024 Maverix Snow Ltd - All Rights Reserved - Privacy Policy - Terms & Conditions - Sitemap