Riding techniques

[X_RS EXTREME]

I always thaught it would be cool to start a riding techniques and a suspension set-up forum but anyway....let's start a thread

I haven't riden alot out west but I'm a decent rider. Every time I ride back at home I look for the most challenging sidehills and tree lines to practice on and try to manouver my sled from either side on the steepest hills I can find. Turning it around and back up and getting flat and turning it over again facing all different ways with obstacles in the way.

The hardest thing to do...turn the sled over and back up hill on fairly firm snow while facing down hill on a downward angle. With minimal room.

What are your techniques and suspension set-ups to make this easier? I find it easiest on my xp to get close to the front and counter steer alot and pretend your flipping the sled over to inspect the bottom. Once it's over it seems easiest to control if you move back to about mid seat. If you stay at mid seat when it's flat pointing downward it seems like I'm high sided and have to much weight counter acting what I'm trying to do.

Would more or less preload on the center spring make this easier?

any other tips or techniques you want to discuss. Please chime in.

 

[sl3ds@vior]

i like to throw a leg out and counter steer while side hilling. while carving to get those really tight turns i like to straitin the skis the counter stree and dip my body really low it help me a ton.

 

[mit9750]

at last

now this is a thread I've been lookin for, good post dude. i too am lookin for tips on the down hill turns,side hills ect. hope this keeps goin.
Not got anytime on a XP, just the rev. anybody know if moving the steerin post fwd. REALLY helps, or is a cool factor. I got mine fwd. but not goin west till the 11th. feels better now.

 

[himarker]

all i kno is use liberal amounts of throttle...when in doubt-hammer out...lol

Good thread

himarker out

 

[LADIES MAN]

get a good sized counter steer pendulum and you will have no problem side hilling, etc.. and you will not need to throw a leg or dip real low like sl3ds@vior said..

LM

 

[907RYDR]

grip it and rip it !!!

 

[Circus Midget]

I can pretty much make my sled do anything i want it to do with body english...however I'm bigger than most guys. The turning back up hill seems to be the hardest, but I've found I can cut a much tighter turn if I lean into the turn to get myself started going the way i want to go, then throwing my body more towards the back of the sled when hanging off the side. Leaning into it causes more of a push and keeps the front end more on the ground. I think throwing my weight back does two things 1) transfers weight towards the rear of the sled, getting the front end out of the snow, creating a shorter wheelbase to turn around. 2) it helps pivot the sled around its center axis when you hammer the throttle. If the snow is deep enough I can actually kick the back end of my sled out from under me in sort of a skid.

 

[X_RS EXTREME]

I can sidehill pretty decent. I can pick my lines. But on FIRM snow or a not very deep snow with a hard *** base. Getting the sled pointed in the right direction when you lost all momentum is where i need the most practice.

I challenge you guys to find a hard wind blown sidehill, stop with your sled pointed straight down it and get it turned back up without going down the hill more than 10-15 or even 20'. If this is a piece of cake for you, you are a very good rider and I would like to see a vid to see what you do.

 

[H2SNOW]

by the look of your avatar ...you aint fraid ....just put that into a sled

 

[Taminator]

This website out of Golden, BC has some 'riding tips' on sidehilling, countersteering, downhill carves etc...check it out.

http://www.sledshot.com//index.php

I also came across this last year, which was helpful...

http://akmining.com/snow/powder1.htm

 

[Ollie]

I found it easier to ride from the neutral position (one foot on each running board) and then just counter steer and throttle. You can toss the sled around quicker from a neutral position without having to jump from side to side. Takes more practice, but it works really good. The newer chassis are so much more responsive than the sleds of just 4 or 5 years ago that using loads of body english isn't really necessary unless you are trying to do something really radical.

If you are on a steep sidehill both feet on one side. One forward and one back. I don't like to hang my leg out since the time a guy I know discovered a big azzed rock just under the snow. The sled didn't hit it, but his leg did. He had to ride about 12 miles out with a busted leg.

 

[theslednutz.com]

When it comes to hard snow you really have to creep. Once you are headed downhill counter steer lets say to the right and tip it on its side. You should be able to sit on the side of the mountain with your sled on its side. Remember to have your right foot on your left running board and your left foot out for balance. Once you have the sled on its side you can start pushing the throttle a little bit to get the a$$ end down. As soon as you are parallel you can throttle out but if you throttle too late you will be pointing straight up and more than likely get stuck.

Get good at it in deep snow before trying this because one false move and your sled will be rolling down the mountain!

 

[decarls]

riding technique...

face down *** up, thats the way we....

sorry couldn't resist. good thread though, lots to be learned from experienced people.

 

[mil81]

I am a firm believer that you can not be taught how to carve, sidehill, turn out...Small tips might help the process slightly, but practice is all that can help you.

The best way to get good is to ride with people who are better than you. If you can see someone with similar equipment to yours do something you can't do, that is drive to improve yourself so you can keep up.

 

[X_RS EXTREME]

At least there is time to ride my bike after work in the summer. It gets dark too fast in the winter. If I could do it in the dark it would be that much more impressive!!!

Practice and learning by watching is definetly key.

 

[BigMan]

Lean hard and use that throttle...

 

[WYsteph]

Any tips for an downhill to uphill transition for a 115lb gal? It's the one thing that is still haunting me, got into a bit of trouble last ride coming down into a clearing with a drop off, couldn't get her turned back up in time.

 

[Ollie]

Any tips for an downhill to uphill transition for a 115lb gal? It's the one thing that is still haunting me, got into a bit of trouble last ride coming down into a clearing with a drop off, couldn't get her turned back up in time.

Both feet on one side, countersteer like crazy and throttle to the bars.

I would suggest practicing when you don't have a cliff to fall off of if it doesn't work out right.

 

[shortstop20]

I've found the only thing that works for me when I need to turn uphill right away is to put my inside foot on the back of the running board, put my weight into the hill, countersteer and give the sled alot of gas, even if that means I'm going WOT towards a tree or rock, you've just gotta be confident than you can avoid that tree/rock and that you WILL go back up that mountain. If your mind doesn't believe you can do it you won't do it, even if your name is Chris Burandt.

 

[TC M8]

Take your right foot and put it on the left running board in the very front and take your left foot and plant it out in front of you. Then feather the throttle and counter steer and your sled will come right over. Then just keep feathering the throttle until you are pointing generally uphill and give it full throttle. By doing this technique I found I can have the sled completely stopped and do this or be going at what ever speed I need to be going. This is for doing a left hand turn back uphill. Just reverse the footing for a right hand turn.