Does any one know if knee dragging, like on a street bike, is the right thing to do in deep snow?
This is what I've been doing and it just feels right to me.
Technique in deep snow
Started by
Wetbed0
, Feb 12 2010 08:38 AM
18 replies to this topic
Posted 14 February 2010 - 07:41 PM
Some call it "wrong foot forward"
It can help get your center of gravity further uphill when sidehilling.
It can help get your center of gravity further uphill when sidehilling.
Posted 16 February 2010 - 01:46 PM
seated or standing?
almost all of my deep snow riding is done standing, to carve a tight corner you want to actually counter steer (like a street bike only MUCH more drastically) and lean. ie if you want to go left turn your bars right and lean hard left, depending on the degree of turning desired you might want to use the "wrong foot forward" approach by standing with both feet on one side and if even more is needed or desired hang one foot off. for example carving left you'd have your right foot on the left board and your left hanging out in the breeze off the side.
almost all of my deep snow riding is done standing, to carve a tight corner you want to actually counter steer (like a street bike only MUCH more drastically) and lean. ie if you want to go left turn your bars right and lean hard left, depending on the degree of turning desired you might want to use the "wrong foot forward" approach by standing with both feet on one side and if even more is needed or desired hang one foot off. for example carving left you'd have your right foot on the left board and your left hanging out in the breeze off the side.
Posted 16 February 2010 - 01:55 PM
I'm sitting for all of this. We may be on two different pages here though. The snow that I'm referring to is really only 2.3-3 feet of fresh soft powder but to me this is deep but the way my sled reacts in it is completely different then in 1 foot of powder or hard packed. I've tried counter steering before but this was in shallower snow. In the deep snow my track doesn't slide at all. Is the technique the same on my 380 as it would be on a 700?
Posted 16 February 2010 - 02:04 PM
yeah it's pretty much the same from sled to sled but when your turning you'll want to pin the throttle, the track speed/spin facilitates the turn. You can also use the counter steer while sitting and "dragging a knee". granted with your 380 your not going to be ripping doughnuts in 3 ft of fresh like you see on the videos but you can make it carve none the less.
and yes on the reacting differently in deep vs hardpack, it's a completely different technique. On hardpack you want to lean hard to keep the sled from rolling over in a hard corner and in the deep stuff you lean the sled with you to carve the corner.
and yes on the reacting differently in deep vs hardpack, it's a completely different technique. On hardpack you want to lean hard to keep the sled from rolling over in a hard corner and in the deep stuff you lean the sled with you to carve the corner.
Posted 16 February 2010 - 02:05 PM
I'll try to find a picture that shows the body, machine, and ski positioning for turning in powder for you.
Posted 16 February 2010 - 02:19 PM
here's a picture of me from the side during a hard carving turn you'll see how far the sled is leaned over in the snow and how high the right ski is in the air, also notice how the skis are turned to the right while I'm turning to the left.
Here's one of Mule turning left and you'll see in this one while he's making a pretty good turn the skis are still nearly straight, this is because he's coming down hill and you need to be a little less aggressive when doing it downhill.
Here's one of Mule turning left and you'll see in this one while he's making a pretty good turn the skis are still nearly straight, this is because he's coming down hill and you need to be a little less aggressive when doing it downhill.
Posted 16 February 2010 - 02:22 PM
I'll have to try this when I finish putting a new piston in my 380. This looks like a bit more fun then what I've been doing.
Posted 16 February 2010 - 02:24 PM
Oh it is trust me, that's why I can ride all day in deep powder and hardly ever touch hill climbing.
Posted 01 March 2010 - 02:51 PM
yammy1320 said:
Deep snow?
WHERE?????????
WHERE?????????
At eh time I had between 2 and 3 feet. Then I melted a piston on the highway. I should be fixing it tonight.
Posted 03 March 2010 - 07:05 AM
I want to see another pic of Mule about 4-5 seconds after you snapped that one! 
Posted 03 March 2010 - 06:52 PM
yammy1320 said:
I want to see another pic of Mule about 4-5 seconds after you snapped that one!
Posted 25 March 2010 - 06:46 PM
XC has great advice. Knee dragging, IMO is a great way to catch your knee on hidden stuff under the snow and ruin your season or just plain ruin riding for you.
Posted 26 March 2010 - 06:56 AM
If you are sidehilling that fast you have greater odds of hitting something with the sled and getting bucked off down the hill. IMHO.
The better the rider, the slower they sidehill......... and the steeper too!
The better the rider, the slower they sidehill......... and the steeper too!
