 Poster: A snowHead
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Hey. I wonder if anyone can shed some light on a little problem...
I've been snowboarding for 5 years and have recently moved back to Vancouver to ride the local mountains. The board I bought in 05/06 (burton 151) has pretty much seen the end of its days (all 120+ of them) the edges are totally chewed up and the base looks like its been attacked by a bear. I've rewaxed and had it tuned a dozen times and I just can't keep up with my mates. Most of the guys I ride with are about 2 stones heavier than me and ride longer boards. They always get ahead of me on flats and cat tracks! so annoying!
HOW DO I GO FASTER! is it my riding? the length of my board? the age of my board? I'm 5'3 and I'm thinking of down sizing to a 147, something I can kick about a bit. any ideas guys?
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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Are you actually taking wax with you? I always take wax with me because the skiers I go with don't take pains to avoid the flats. If you're expecting any flats, green roads, or need to get some speed on then apply the wax in situ! It doesn't last forever.
Next thing is get a bigger board. A race board is probably too much of a change unless you're already a carver. I'd go for a wide, longer freecarve board. If you don't mind a unidirectional board then the Swoard is the best I know.
I have a 6'7" Lib Tech Doughboy and when fully waxed that's like a cruise missile (it's the body's air resistance that stops it going any faster).
A shorter board isn't likely to make you go faster.
Otherwise checkout your stance, flappy clothes, etc. Keep the board straight and flat, weight evenly centred, let the knees absorb any bumps, don't let the edges scrape the snow, etc.
I will add that I pretty much always overtake boarders and non-poling skiers on the flats and green roads these days, so I know how to keep the board/snow interface as low friction as possible (I hate walking, or failing to reach the crest).
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Well the traditional rule-o-thumb for speed is to go for a longer narrower board as Crosbie said.
As for the riding, stay low and centered over the board to improve balance and reduce wind resistance and stay out of the powder which will slow you down, probably not what you want to hear after moving to BC.
You could always try and eat more pie, put on a bit more mass 
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Go bigger, wax every fifth day (at least), ride straight
and welcome to 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Richard_Sideways, good point about the powder.
Now I know a bit about thermodynamics and that snow drag gets weird around melting point.
In order of speed:
1. Cold snow (packed snow is faster than loose)
2. Warm snow
3. Just melted snow
4. Snow about to melt
5. Slush
6. Wet gravel
7. Mud/grass/tarmac/concrete
8. Ptex 
The funny thing is that snow on the point of melting needs heat to melt and it will extract this heat in the form of friction on the base of your board, and that means your board goes slower on melting snow than snow that's melted. Sometimes you can observe this when coming down a long run and the transition from 'snow' to 'melting snow' to 'melted snow prior to slush'. After the anchors kick in on the warm/melting snow you strangely get some resumption of speed as you enter the colder part of the slush zone.
Even so it's still a bit of a game to see what part of a tree lined flat run has the least drag. Is it the snowmobile tracks, the skied out bit, the virgin snow, the corduroy, the sunny side, the shady side, the fir cones, the rocks, etc?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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So the fatties do go faster?!
Thanks for the tips guys. I'll have to get me some more wax for sure!
TBH all of my clothes are overly baggy, I tend to buy clothes online as I can't be arsed to shop. All the good gear is uber expensive in the UK. Thank the lord Canadian 'stores' are reasonable.
Have any of you guys ridden grouse or cypress? I went to seymour yesterday, heaps of powder but all in all it was pretty wet. I guess this is what you get when riding anywhere along the pacific ranges, although I did a season in whistler a few years ago and it never seemed as wet. The snow there at the mo is brutal, opening weekend was insane even though they only had 3 chairs open.
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Lycra ski suit
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| boardbum wrote: |
| So the fatties do go faster?! |
There's probably a sweet spot in terms of weight to board area - also depending on snow condition. For icy hard pack, a heavier rider may have the advantage, whereas for fresh or powder, a lighter rider of the same height might do better. Not clear cut.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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good point. I do like watching my skier heavier friends sink in the lush stuff!
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Balls as in Cojones
I used to back off a bit when I felt I was going 'too fast' for my comfort level...which is mainly why my mates would whip past me. I would (sub)consciously turn more uphill coming out of turns to shed speed. Then I did some riding with some seriously quick riders and had to learn to live with pace to avoid getting fully left behind..made a huge difference in my riding speed. I don't believe there's a massive speed difference between a 157 and say a 160 but I have found a stiffer board (I'm a big guy) helps me to ride faster.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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weight plays zero role in acceleration due to gravity (formula in GCSE/A physics but cant remember it now), thus a heavier rider will not go faster (all else being equal - may go slower due to increased resistance etc). much more likely to be riding style.
my 2p
big green monster because you can play in Canada this winter!!
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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boardiac, but if you hit a patch of sticky snow the heavier guy will lose less speed.
a longer board will be more stable at speed as will a stiffer one. It's hard to say though without seeing you ride it could be you just need to point it more. To be honest if you aren't that much slower it doesn't really matter unless you're beginning to hit big lines off piste, at most you'll be a minute or so behind so not really holding anyone up: you just won't get many rests.
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boardiac, yes, given no friction or air resistance, mass plays no role. However, those factors being present do mean that a boarder's speed is affected by their weight. There's not much in it, but after a long flattish piste it could mean a few yards difference. As you suggest, technique will also be significant.
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You know it makes sense.
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I'm always a second behind...no biggy but i wanna beat them all! these are the type of guys who buy a new burton custom every season. they're credit cards stretch (very green eyed)
New board is a must, although i was thinking shorter so i could jump around a bit in the park. i'm only doing entry level stuff, jumping onto boxes, rails, small kickers, nailing 180s etc. i was chatting to a shop guy who was saying a 147/146 would be a good move down.
has anyone been to fernie? i'm off at the end of march. 
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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boardbum, yep been to fernie, though a few years ago now. Great place - would deffo go there again. Get down in the tree line and your mates speed advantage is gone, plus your little board will be great for fast maneuvering between the trees.
GOing back to the speed thing, one thing that i've experienced boarding in Canada is getting the right temperature wax on the board - particularly if it's very cold. Board can literally freeze to the ground, was trying to set off from a lift at Lake Louise and the base of the board was stuck to the snow (was about minus 30 or so that day though).
Anyway moral of the story is the right temp wax on the board should help loads...
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Poster: A snowHead
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| tuxpoo wrote: |
| Lycra ski suit |
Just... no.
Stoppit.
Now.
Lets leave the Spandex onesies for our pole-carrying cousins.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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wow this post got quite complex .. i think the answer is probably yes your base is damaged is probably not holding the wax as good as it used to .. if what you say is true about the condition of your base no amount of waxing is going to repair that .. think about a new baby and keep your old one for your rock hopping days. look for sintered bases which will hold the wax longer and keep you sliding like a champion .. regular care and services are definately good advice and choose a high quality wax appropriate to the snow temperature to have you flying past your friends on the flats.
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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| Quote: |
weight plays zero role in acceleration due to gravity (formula in GCSE/A physics but cant remember it now), thus a heavier rider will not go faster (all else being equal - may go slower due to increased resistance etc). much more likely to be riding style.
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I did some back-of-an-envelope calculations on this a few years ago (I am, or used to be, a mechanical engineer). "Bigger" people should in theory go faster. If you assume that a "bigger" person is just scaled-up in all 3 dimensions (big assumption, I know) then a bigger person's gravitational force goes up as the cube of the scaling factor while the drag (which is proportional to the cross-sectional area) only increases with the square of the scaling factor, so a bigger person should have a bigger ratio of accelerating force to drag force.
I was bored enough at work at the time to actually put some realistic numbers in to the equations and do the maths on it, so I've proven it to my own satisfaction at least!
From anecdotal evidence as well, I go faster than my skinny mate!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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thought so...the tubbies fall down the hill faster!
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| boardbum wrote: |
| thought so...the tubbies fall down the hill faster! |
well at least we don't get blown off course by light winds.
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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boardbum, And give the board a wipe down with Zardoz Notwax each night / lunch break. That stuff makes your wax last longer and really does help you to zip past the opposition.
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i used to find i was a bit on the slow side and a combination of things helped:
1. Confidence (to point the thing downhill)
2. Longer board
3. Stiffer board
Hope that helps
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Skis.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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its bottle, nothing more, point your board straight down hill and count in your head upto the point you bottle it and put a turn in to scrub speed off, now do the same again but try to count 1 more, keep repeating and keeping the board straight and increasing the number you count till before scrubbing speed
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FAQ
