Charging!...
The 4th of my monthly columns for Document Snowboard magazine. Charging!
You can feel the excitement building inside as you stand there and feast your eyes on the untouched terrain beneath your feet. The smooth silken blanket of fresh snow has been perfectly sculpted creating banks, rollers and drops. Sharp windlips wait like frozen waves, the air is still and cold and gravity starts to pull. You slowly push your front foot towards the fall line and let your self go, you are a surfer, a skateboarder, a jibber, a freestyler, you carve, you jib, you slide, you drop, you spin, you cut, you charge!
Charging is about riding everything, taking everything as it comes, charging is Freeriding and Freeriding is, for me, what riding mountains is all about!
So what makes a great Freerider and what is charging all about?
We’ve all seen the videos, amazing images of the top Pros riding big faces, dropping in and charging, no stopping, no pausing to check it out just full on power charging taking it as it comes. Racing sluffs, Slashing lips, cutting deep powder carves, dropping cliffs and straight lining out the bottom!
We’ve all seen it a thousand times and so now its your turn. You’re standing on top of the ridge looking down on your dream run, its all there in front of you, you’re first to take the drop, no tracks to follow, just you and the mountain so what are your thinking?
Of course what we don’t always see in the movies is the study and prep that goes into riding a big virgin face! We also don’t always see the times where they do pause mid run to check out what lies below! We don’t always get to see what happens when the run doesn’t go to plan, when shit hits the fan and it all goes a bit pear shaped.
And remember! These are the top Pro’s, riding with good experience and a full, Heli serviced, back up team in place for if anything does go wrong!
So back to you on the ridge! You’re about to take the drop, so what ‘are’ you thinking?
Here’s a few tips that I’ve picked up along the way might make your day a little more user friendly.
My first rule is to always assume that there is a strong avalanche risk. I never drop in on a steep virgin face with out weighing up the possibilities and outcomes of a big slide. If the negatives out weigh the pluses then I’m in the wrong place and I’ll pick another line. So listen to your instincts and use your knowledge to assess the slope and the risks. Assume the danger is there!
Next, I assess the possible lines. I always start with the safest option and build my line from there. I look for the easier angled areas, concave faces that are well supported from below and least at risk to sliding. I look for escape lines to high ground and make sure my line makes them accessible and I make sure I know where they are and how I’m going to get there.
I then build in the line I’d like to ride and look at the features I’d like to hit. I look at how they’ll fit into my run in terms of being safe and then I look at how much risk I’m willing to take to explore the potential that awaits below me.
On a big run like this there’ll be certain areas that pose more risk than others. Give these areas full priority and attention to detail and if you’re going to ride these higher risk lines then be aware of what’s going on as you ride.
Whenever I drop into a big virgin face I always keep my eye on the snow pack for at least the first 3 turns until I’m up to speed. The first few turns are very often on the steepest bit of the slope and the most likely spot for a slope release. If you can make your turns off to the side away from the main mass of the snow pack then do it.
Never dig too hard on your first couple of turns unless you’re trying to purposefully cut the slope and are ready to exit!
Once the initial drop is over, a slope often eases up a little and you can play around. Be aware though that what you are riding lower down might be supporting the slopes above and keep this in mind!
If there’s a steep slope below and you can’t see into it then look for high ground to the side that will give you a clear view before you get there. The Convex roll over onto the steeper ground is not the ideal place to stop for a look and is the most likely release point if its going to slide!
Keep riding out of the fall line! This is the natural line down the hill as taken by gravity and is the path that your sluff will take. If you need to stop for a look at what lies below then shoot off to the side so you don’t get carried off by the snow coming down from above.
My take on it is ‘survival first!’ I take a cautious view first off and then build possibilities from there. It might not seem like the most adventurous approach but the mountains are powerful entities and deserve full respect.
For me its all about balance, I weigh up the risks and the possibilities and make my decisions based on what I see and what I know and If you talk to any big mountain Freerider I think they’ll tell you they take the same approach no matter how big a Pro they are!
For me Freeriding is the fine art of Snowboarding! It is what gets me out of bed and makes me want to ride everyday. Everyday is a new start and every run a new beginning!
Get to it!
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