So last Saturday a group of us went to ride at Halifax. For most it was their first experience of snowflex, which made things quite interesting. Overall everyone had a good day, with each person wanting to ride there again…
The weather was fairly warm and windy, which made the slope pretty damn dry. I don’t think the sprinkler system was/is working as well as it could do, but there was at least some water coming out, which helped a little. The budget washing up liquid did it’s job.
I’m yet to ride the slope when it’s wet, so I have nothing to compare the first two trips against. When the slope is dry, it makes the kicker really inconsistent: one hit you’re sticking all the way down the run-in and you get no air, then the next hit is much faster.
But it’s not the dryness that I’m struggling with the most – it’s the transition to riding on snowflex. I’m still putting too much pressure on the heel edge which is making frontside rotations off the heel really hard. On the plus side though, I seem to be fairing much better taking off the toes, which has resulted in my backside rotations getting some much needed practice. In fact, Saturday was the first time I’ve paid any significant attention to the backside 180…
So, I’ve put some video clips together from the day. Whilst the camera was on I was trying to get to grips with a frontside shifty stalefish (I think) and a backside 180; both met some success, but they need more work yet. I just can’t wait to ride the kicker again! I’ve used a track by The Postal Service called We Will Become Silhouettes. If you like it, I’ve added it to my list of the best snowboarding songs ever made!