Heelside Remedy: Use Both Feet!
by Jack Michaud
(March 26, 1997)

Having trouble with that pesky heelside carve chattering out? Part of the remedy may be a trip to the tune-up guy, but more likely it is that you're forgetting the distinct advantage snowboarders because we have both feet on one edge. While it is refreshing to see more skiers feeling a true carve with the new shaped ski revolution (inspired of course by snowboard envy), they are forever constrained by the handicap of only one point of interface with their carving edge. But we have the ability to actively and aggressively work the board to our advantage.

The concept is fairly simple: we want to pressure the nose at the beginning of each carve, and pressure the tail at the end of each carve, shifting weight gradually back throughout the carve. Chattering generally occurs when the board naturally wants to do one thing, while we tell it to do something else. One of the reasons toeside carves are typically easier, is that our body mechanics, alignment, and binding angles encourage a forward carve initiation and the tailward shift necessary to allow the sidecut to do its job. Heelside carves, however, require a more conscious decision to make the right moves. This usually goes right out the window when we are scared by high speed, ice and steep slopes.

What often happens on heelside turns is we end up staying on the front foot throughout the turn. This excessively loads up the nose of the board which responds by trying to make a tighter carve than the tail. The result of this conflict between nose and tail is chatter. The board naturally wants us to follow through to the tail at the end of each carve, but by staying too far forward, the nose thinks it supposed to be carving back up the hill while the tail just slides along.

Inspection of a chattering carve track in the snow compared with a clean carve track shows the obvious difference. If the chattering was not too severe and the board maintained a more-or-less circular path, the chattered carve track will show a rippling in its width along the path. The clean carve track will show a consistent width. The rippling in the chattered track is evidence of the nose and tail trying to take different paths. This is analogous to a skidding car, whose back wheels are following a different path than the front wheels. Where the ripple in the track is widest, is where the nose was trying to carve back uphill and the tail was sliding ineffectively along.

The solution to the chattering problem is a pronounced forward and back weight shift throughout each carve, which must be coordinated with the side to side weight shift when changing edges. At the initiation of each turn, our weight must come forward to start the nose carving the beginning of the turn. Immediately after we've established the beginning of the carve up at the nose, we must then continue with a smooth transition back to the tail as the carve progresses. The sensation is as if you were trying to feed the board through the turn with your feet, sort of like feeding a crisp dollar bill into a change machine.

Pressuring the tail at the end of the carve acts to lock the tail into the end of the carve until we are ready to release it by shifting quickly up to the nose for the next turn. This builds up a lot of energy in the tail which we can use to our benefit. We can harness this energy by using the spring in the tail to assist our shift up to the front foot. By making a quick transition up to the front foot at the beginning of a carve, the energy in the tail is used to propel both us and our boards forward into the next carve and onto the other edge, reinforcing edge hold at the beginning of the next turn. This starts the other edge carving as quickly as possible, optimally while it is still the downhill edge. This minimizes the time where the board is just sliding on the base. This is a fairly gutsy maneuver; a slow or hesitant transition to the next carve will dissipate the energy in the tail and it will not be able to be used in the next carve. By manipulating the springy characteristics of the board with our two feet, we can work the board in such a way that both facilitates and improves stability and edge hold, and eliminates chatter.

As with any new skill, this technique should be practiced and mastered on a relatively gentle slope that will provide adequate speed without distracting your attention with excessive steepness or difficulty. The total combined weight transition takes a figure-8 shaped path in the center of our board. Starting with a toeside carve, we begin with our weight on the toe edge and on the front foot at the very beginning of the carve. As the carve progresses, we shift tailward onto the back foot. At the end of the toe carve, we spring forward onto the front foot and change to the heel edge, crossing the board diagonally through the center. At the beginning of the heel carve, we feel pressure against the front/heel side of our boot cuff. Again as the carve progresses, we shift back to the back foot and load up the tail for the transition. At the end of the heel carve, we launch forward and onto the toe edge, completing the figure-8. The combined transitions of front and back, side to side, result in crossing the board diagonally, but equally in both directions. We initiate both heel and toe carves in the same place along the length of the board, and is therefore not an asymmetrical maneuver.

This technique is only fully realized with the knees apart method described in our last discussion. Independent leg action is imperative for the successful execution of this maneuver. With our knees stuck together, our efforts work through the single point of support that our two knees become, almost like a skier must work with just one foot on their ski. We cannot fully pronounce the significantly large fore and aft shift, thereby reducing the desired effect in the transmission of our weight power to the board. The forward facing, square hips, level shoulders stance should be maintained for greatest effect, but while practicing this technique on a gentle slope, other techniques may be neglected in order to isolate and concentrate on the figure-8.

The dynamics of snowboarding are important, and are showcased in this technique. We never want to be standing in one place on our snowboards while carving. We need to be moving at all times to adjust our position with respect to our direction of travel, gravity, and the forces acting upon us while we are traveling along an arc in the snow. With this technique, we ensure that we are always active on our board. With our two feet on the board, we have the ability to really drive the snowboard, and not just ride it.