Is your heel to toe turn the weak link in your snowboarding?

by James Streater @maverixsnow

Do you suffer from lower back and/or back leg pain during your holidays both on and off piste? Do you often feel your heel edge locking or catching in the snow as you turn onto your toes? Do you struggle getting onto your toe edge in powder? Is riding switch a nightmare?

Have a look at this video and see if it looks familiar in terms of how you turn onto your toe edge.

Look at how they rise for the turn onto the toe edge and due to their weight being more towards the back leg/tail they have to use their shoulders and hips to force the board around. Of course you can kick the board around and make it down the hill in one piece, but at that moment of edge change you’re slightly unbalanced and vulnerable to what the snow throws as you (lumps/bumps etc).

This is a very common picture in peoples riding, which is often the result of how you’re initially taught to ride. The basic turn often involves standing up, changing edge in the fall line and sinking down to brake. That is a…