Its been a while since i’ve done a snowboard course, but this year is level 3 year.  The course was really fun and relaxed and really opened my eyes on how i was riding and how i now want to be riding.  For any level 2 CASI instructors out there i would highly recommend the level 3 course. 
So my main thing to work on is eliminating heelside chatter.  I’m going down the bending the knees more and trying to steer the board more and earlier.  If anyone else has had this problem and solved it, i’d be interested on any tips or stategies they might have to share.

Good luck in your course Aidy. I will be training for (again), and hopefully attempting to pass CASI 3 next season.

Heelside chatter is a problem I also have. One of the trainers told me to pull my back knee outwards (towards the tail) during the turn, which helped almost immediately. It wasn’t so much bending the knee more, but aiming it towards the tail. Give it a try an let me know if it helps.

cheers unit, will test it out when i next ride. hows your season going, i guess your busy as!  you riding any park? tell me stories…....i learnt back 3 melon yesturday, feels dope!!!!!

Hey Aidy, I’m actually not riding this season. I am in Sydney with my girlfriend for the summer. We have been surfing lots, which has been keeping me sane (just). I’ve been doing a lot of work on the skateboard section of the website. Lots of filming etc…  so I have definately been busy. My sister is getting married at the end of October, and we will be returning to Whistler shortly after that. I can’t wait to get back to Whis. I have big plans for next season. Where will you be next season? We need to go shredding again!

true dude, very true. glad to hear the skate section is coming on and life is sounding good for ya. whis next season, gonna give it a crack for sure! chile in the summer for me hopefully, yeah big mountain shredding!  hows your own skating going, man those crazy little boards terrify an oldie like me, best of luck with that one.

My own skating isn’t going too well… haha. Just to clarify, I am not one of the skaters being filmed.

Looking forward to having you back in Whistler, Aidy.

Hello all

I know we had a chat about the old heelside turn a while back. Did you end up buying the park pickle. It`s really hard to tell without seeing you riding. perhaps you could film a few turns and post the footage on the web somewhere so we can look?

It could be your toeside turn is the problem. If you don’t finish your turn side on the toes completely i.e end up with your trajectory pointing downhill a lot instead of across the hill then it is a lot harder to set the edge well when you switcn on to your heels. try turning so much on your toes so you end up riding uphill then put in a strong heel edge turn so people up hill can see your base and see if that helps.

have fun out there

I know there are differences with CASI and AASI, but I’ve been Level II AASI for 8 yrs or more now… I lose count. and I’m finally taking my first level 300 class.
The way the Eastern Division of AASI has it organized is that you take level 200 classes to prepare (and as a prerequisite) to your level II exam, and you take level 300 classes to prep for the level III exam.
I dont ride enough, honestly, to consider taking the level III exam yet, but I hope to continue to slowly progress toward it.
The past many years I have taken various level 200 courses and shadowed other events, even level I exams and took the first class toward the freestyle accreditation. AASI doesnt have a freestyle certification, only accreditation. I hope to progress toward finishing that as well.

So the weekend after this one, I’ll drive into Pennsylvania and take the level 300 class, i’m stoked about that. I’ve not been on snow for over a month all ready, just been too busy, sadly. and I know the 2-day class is going to kick my butt!
I’ll eat and sleep well before hand, and try to stay well hydrated so my muscles recover quick.

... a few thoughts on your heelside turns.

Compare the heelside turn’s body posture to that on the toeside… On our toe edge we tend to really stretch out our body and lay out a turn (to exaggerate) but on the heelside we tend to hunch over more and more as the turn gets more dynamic.

ask yourself where is your center of mass on toe edge (haw far displaced from the edge) versus on the heel edge.
just a thought to compare them.

Keep in mind also that GNU / Mervin manufacturing is deconstructing the heelside turn and with the Park Pickle using a tighter radius side cut to help make turns more the same.. I’m willing to suggest that it’s not the board, that make our heel and toe turns different, but it is our body posture.
If you want a board to turn sharper on it’s edge, you tilt it more and keep that edge pressed on the snow, right…. or you could just ride a board with a tighter sidecut. either way will produce the same result… but with the Park Pickle, I think you could avoid that construction with just using a similar body posture as your toe edge, and get the board’s edge angle on the snow to be the same.

About the chatter you are experiencing, I wonder if it is in the nose or tail of the board?
I guess it is in the tail???
and at what point in the turn is it chattering?
I’d guess at the end???
use the method of manipulating the weight along the length of your board so that you start a little heavier on the front foot, and end a little heavier on the back foot. this allows you to pressure part of the edge instead of thinking of the edge as one piece, but you then think of it as 3 pieces the nose’s edge, the center edge, and the tail’s edge. and while DRIVING the board and manipulating your weight along the length of the board, you work a lot harder and use more muscles riding, but you have greater CONTROL of the board, and isnt that what a level 3 rider should have? great command and control of the board at all times and in all conditions?

I ope this helps and gets you thinking about a few things.
I think I understand things about snowboarding better than I can display them.

Thanks for the feedback and ideas everyone, i’ve been focusing on pressuring and edging the board as early in the turn as i can and thinking about pressing the board from front to back like snowslider describes above.  Also will, what you said was exactly the same as what Graham (remember him?) said so i’m definately trying to focus on that…..cheers amigos!

Did Graham get his CASI 3 cert?

Please let us know how your CASI 3 exam goes…

OK first off if your in a freestyle stance it will make your turns weaker. Try a freeride stance for a day not going past negative 9 degrees on your back foot. This way I find you can create a more direct pressure on your edge with your back foot instead of just having it on the corner of your heel. Also front angle can be around positive 30 degrees. Dont be shy to make it a bit more narrow as well. Wide stances equals weak riding in my personal opinion.
Increasing the angle on your front foot will also do things like open up your knee for easier turns. Also when your carving make sure you watch your upper body position, especially your back hand keep it by your pocket or even hold on to it if you have to.
Also it is very important to keep timing your turns equally even if you dont feel like the turn is complete yet. Then when your at the bottom of your line look back and see how uneven it actually is and asses your next action. I always find the heel turns feel weaker then they look.
Try all this switch aswell! I find switch heel turns are alot more solid for some reason… Probably cause when we learn to ride switch we don’t incorperate all the bad habbits we learn in beggining stages of riding.
Hope that helps a bit

Nice pointers Shaner!! some really good advice there

Thanks for taking the time shaner, a few weeks ago i narrowed my stance and brought my back foot straighter with the board, i haven’t opened up the front foot in fact i’ve brougt that in a bit too, it just felt a bit awkward how it was…
I’m really working on springing off the tail of the board at the end of one turn onto the nose to start the next, kinda dolphin turn style…
The exam is monday and tuesday G is on the same exam, for sure i’ll let you guys know how it goes..

Thanks again.

hey, just a quick update, lets just say the level 3 didn’t go so well, in better news Graham passed….
Anyways thanks to everyone for their imputs on this thread.

Better luck next time Aidy, it’s not an easy task. Please tell Graham I say well done.