jjue
01-01-2009, 07:20 PM
You know , I envy Skafreak , gertting on the Sherpa and figuring it out in about one run and going to the board like a duck to water . For me it has taken a bit longer :)! Today I took my Sherpa out in the stuff that I have found most difficult on the big beast , 1500 vert of continuous moguls and very tight cruddy off piste glades with tight trees , boulders etc . This kind of stuff demands very quick turns and I have in the past found the shorter skiboards like my 120 , 110's and KTP easier , but today I think I finally got it dialed in . Thought I would share some of what I found out .
First , as a 56 year old ageing warrior , I just don't want to run through rough terrain at speed on my Sherpa like Skafreak . Just way too scary for me . On long and short skis I am a pretty good mogul skier , head straight down the fall line , use poles , pole plant and just unweight throw my tails around and edge and ride straight down the fall line . Riding the Sherpa like Skafreak I tried to just head down like he does like it is groomed snow , I usually end up picking up too much speed that I can't bleed off in the tight moguls and then fall back on my butt.
What I finally realized was that I was kind of afraid of the Sherpa , trying to dig in with my heels to slow down and leaning up into the slope and not being
able to make the next turn and running across the mogul field .
I finally realized the the Sherpa in all situations is a beast , it likes to go faster then other skiboards ,. you need to take this beast by the tail and drive it like you mean it and not like you are scared and then and only then can you tame the beast .
Here is what I did , you need to lean forward and down the steep mogul field and lean right forward on the balls of your feet and let the front of the Sherpa go right across the top of the mogul and into the fall line , then immediately you need to control the speed with sharp and precise edging kind of like a hockey stop , but not leaning into the hill ......your body needs to be facing foward down the hill while the feet are edging side ways to the fall line . Then what I do is just put my downhill hand down hill and toward the other ...direction , this is kind of what I do when I use ski poles , but without poles on the Sherpa this is a trigger to trust my skills I am going right down into the falline not up into the slope . In skiing this is called a bit of a counter rotation . My edges release from the hockey stop platform and turn right into the fall line as I lean right down the steep slope on top of the mogul . This filnally clicked in and I was able to ride right down the fall line non stop without poles on the Sherpa , without getting tired and in complete control and at a speed I wanted and maybe not what the beast wanted.
After a bit of training on the moguls , I took the Sherpa right out into the off piste crud , you know soft snow , cut up snow , pow patches mixed with hard snow .. the stuff that would challenge you in getting your balance right . I realized again , that in the past I was riding the Sherpa too much on my heels , worrying like I do with smaller skiboards of digging a tip and going over the handlebars. It is very weird , but with the Sherpa , the most important thing was not to worry about it , the board is SO stable , you just need to NOT worry about the terrain variations and again lean forward right into the fall line even though there are tight trees and big boulders etc right in front of you , you need to do exactly as you do on moguls go forward on the balls of your feet and trust that you will be able to make that speed killing stop as your body faces right down the fall line and your legs turn right and left underneath you . Sure if there is some soft snow , you might need to rock a little back in weight , but the strange thing is that in situations that you absolutely know you would go over your tips with other skiboards the sherpa just plows through . Again I used that downhill hand down and in front of me toward the other side to help trigger the next turn ... this worked fantastic and I was able to negotiate very tight technical terrain on the sherpa with controlled speed . .. absolute joy , the beast has become tamed for me ..!!
First , as a 56 year old ageing warrior , I just don't want to run through rough terrain at speed on my Sherpa like Skafreak . Just way too scary for me . On long and short skis I am a pretty good mogul skier , head straight down the fall line , use poles , pole plant and just unweight throw my tails around and edge and ride straight down the fall line . Riding the Sherpa like Skafreak I tried to just head down like he does like it is groomed snow , I usually end up picking up too much speed that I can't bleed off in the tight moguls and then fall back on my butt.
What I finally realized was that I was kind of afraid of the Sherpa , trying to dig in with my heels to slow down and leaning up into the slope and not being
able to make the next turn and running across the mogul field .
I finally realized the the Sherpa in all situations is a beast , it likes to go faster then other skiboards ,. you need to take this beast by the tail and drive it like you mean it and not like you are scared and then and only then can you tame the beast .
Here is what I did , you need to lean forward and down the steep mogul field and lean right forward on the balls of your feet and let the front of the Sherpa go right across the top of the mogul and into the fall line , then immediately you need to control the speed with sharp and precise edging kind of like a hockey stop , but not leaning into the hill ......your body needs to be facing foward down the hill while the feet are edging side ways to the fall line . Then what I do is just put my downhill hand down hill and toward the other ...direction , this is kind of what I do when I use ski poles , but without poles on the Sherpa this is a trigger to trust my skills I am going right down into the falline not up into the slope . In skiing this is called a bit of a counter rotation . My edges release from the hockey stop platform and turn right into the fall line as I lean right down the steep slope on top of the mogul . This filnally clicked in and I was able to ride right down the fall line non stop without poles on the Sherpa , without getting tired and in complete control and at a speed I wanted and maybe not what the beast wanted.
After a bit of training on the moguls , I took the Sherpa right out into the off piste crud , you know soft snow , cut up snow , pow patches mixed with hard snow .. the stuff that would challenge you in getting your balance right . I realized again , that in the past I was riding the Sherpa too much on my heels , worrying like I do with smaller skiboards of digging a tip and going over the handlebars. It is very weird , but with the Sherpa , the most important thing was not to worry about it , the board is SO stable , you just need to NOT worry about the terrain variations and again lean forward right into the fall line even though there are tight trees and big boulders etc right in front of you , you need to do exactly as you do on moguls go forward on the balls of your feet and trust that you will be able to make that speed killing stop as your body faces right down the fall line and your legs turn right and left underneath you . Sure if there is some soft snow , you might need to rock a little back in weight , but the strange thing is that in situations that you absolutely know you would go over your tips with other skiboards the sherpa just plows through . Again I used that downhill hand down and in front of me toward the other side to help trigger the next turn ... this worked fantastic and I was able to negotiate very tight technical terrain on the sherpa with controlled speed . .. absolute joy , the beast has become tamed for me ..!!