Archive for August, 2009

When it comes to heel flips, some beginning skaters have trouble flicking there heel to flip the board unlike kick flips. Before trying this trick, you should get your heel flips down pretty consistently. This trick, is a combination of a b/s pop shuv-it, and a heel flip. This trick requires a lot of footwork while in the air. Read these four steps and learn how to do it.

Step 1.) Start buy knowing how to properly set up your feet. Set up your front foot in the heel flip position, with your toes hanging off the front edge of your board. Set up your back foot to where your heel is a little more off the back edge and your weight is more on your toes.

Step 2.) Now that you know how to set up your feet, start at at a slow speed, with just one push. Set up your feet like in step 1, and pop. When you pop, you want to slightly scoop with your back foot like a shuv-it. Flick your foot like a normal heel flip.

Step 3.) The most important thing about this trick, is that when flick your foot, you want to keep your leg kicked outward. This allows room for your board to flip and spin under you. If you were to kick it like a normal heel flip, the board would just get caught up in your legs.

Step 4.) Leave your leg out long enough for the board to make a full flip and spin. Try to keep you body over the board while in the air. Many skater find their boards launching in front of them. Always keep the board under you. when you see the grip tape, stop the board with your feet and stomp down for a landing.

Skis designed with the downhill-oriented skier in mind-lift served and backcountry, telemark or AT-continue to feature ever-widening dimensions, more durable construction, and control-enhancing improvements to the tip, tail, and overall shape of the ski. Several skis in this review feature “rockered” or early-rise tips. These are ski tips that begin to lift farther back along the ski than what most of us are used to. Rockered tips shorten the running surface of the ski on firm snow, while improving floatation in soft snow. Manufacturers are also offering a greater range of ski designs for women, and for shorter and lighter skiers, too. Some of the shorter skis on the market are also proving to be especially well-suited for backcountry skiers who spend a lot of time in the relatively tight confines of the natural northeastern forest. Here is a look at some of the backcountry ski offerings for 2010.

BIG POWDER/BIG SNOW
Skis in this category excel in soft and deep snow conditions. To tap into their full potential, these skis like to be driven with bigger boots by skiers with solid downhill skiing experience. At the same time, however, the wider dimensions of these skis make them an excellent quiver ski for dedicated backcountry skiers who prefer a mid-weight boot, but would like more flotation in low- to medium-angle terrain.

BLACK DIAMOND JUSTICE
Dimensions: 138-115-123 (188cm)
Lengths: 175/185cm
Weight: 4.15kg (9.2lbs)
MSRP: $749
Featuring a wood-core, minimal camber, a rockered tip, and enough sidecut for enhancing control in harder snow conditions, Justice loves powder, and lots of it. It’s a bit heavy to be lugging around in the backcountry, but with the four-buckle boots needed to drive this ski to its full potential, it won’t really matter if you are in solid touring shape. From a backcountry standpoint, these would make good quiver skis, ideal for days when skiing powder is the main objective, or for powdery days when a combination of lift-riding and side-country touring is in the cards.