CincherSince I can't afford to take a mountain trip this year, I set a goal to improve my skiing here in ManiSNOWba; that means stepping up my park game.
Thing is though, I'm rather average in the park at the age of 23, even though I've been on twintips for 6 years now.
Popping is one of my weak spots.
I can slide rails, but currently only if the jump's at rail height. There's a 30ft rail at Springhill that I'm scared shirtless of hitting because the jump is half the height. The fear of injury is a big demotivator for me. At the same time I hate that I can only hit 1/2 the features with confidence. So how do you pop higher? How do you hit rails with a half height jump? Or one with a gap between the rail and the jump?
I can't 360; or rather I haven't landed one yet. I can 180, but then kinda stop. I don't get how to spin while carrying enough speed to clear a jump. Do I prespin? Do I use my skis?
That's all I can think of right now, but if I can think of more I'll post it here. So really what I want from you guys is just some advice on how I can get better. I've always been two steps behind my brother and I want to close that gap.
The thing about lips like the one you're talking about that we generally call "urban" is that on a down rail, the place where you actually land can be much lower than the front looks. Especially if you come on with speed. Speed is key. You don't want to charge in at mach, but if you roll up at a snails pace you probably aren't going to get on top of the rail.
If you can find a rail that's in between. If there aren't any, maybe build a pvc one and set it up at your house/nearby hill with takeoffs on the side. It's a bit to get used to, but the biggest thing is just getting the courage to do it right without over thinking it. The angle you approach the rail makes a big difference when trying to get centered and slide longer rails as well.
For the 360, I would wind up. Especially if you're doing it on a small jump. Make sure to turn your head. Sort of like an owl. Try and turn your head around for the 360. Your body follows your head. Prespin, then when you swing your arms past, pop as they go past you and turn your head with them. Hold your arms and head to the side until you can see the landing at 270.
If you're having problems getting the last 90, hold it longer or get a little more height. 360, and 540 are the hardest ones to learn.
How big is the jump? Is your spin issue related to your comfort spinning that jump? We had pretty small shitty jumps we built when I learned but I've noticed that sometimes if a jump is bigger than what somebody is comfortable with they may not initiate a trick the same as they would on a smaller jump. In that case you could have a ton of airtime, but if you don't spin it correctly it won't get you there.
Try spinning on the ground a bit. Sometimes getting a feel for it on smaller cut ups is good. You might be able to get it around. We'll probably see some differing opinions on that but IMO, if something is low consequence you're more likely to commit to it.
Everyone's different, that's my 2 cents. I'm pretty mediocre at skiing at this point honestly. Actually I'm beyond mediocre, I'm pretty bad. I need to get out more this year.
