Can't slide a box (90 on) for the life of me

[fd8]

Hi, it's getting warm out there and when the snow is starting to suck I got the idea to start hitting the terrain park with some twin tips I picked up on clearance. I'm kinda old but I figure not too old yet.

For some reason, I just can not slide a beginner box. It looks like it should be easy but for some reason every time I try a basic 90 on my skis slide out from under me and I kind of fall backwards and a bit to the side (my ass ends up on the box with my skis sliding out downhill). I've tried jumping on the box almost 10 times now and haven't stuck it once, not even for like a second, just falling over instantly every time. My amateur guess is that one or both of 2 things is happening: my stance upon landing is too narrow and I'm leaning uphill or I'm not landing flat to the box somehow (too backseat at time of landing?). Anybody have any ideas? Maybe I just need to fall 50 more times and then it'll click at some point? I could shell out for a couple of hours w/ a freestyle instructor to spot my errors but it just seems too basic a skill to go full tryhard on it.

Fwiw obviously I'm very new to freestyle but I can ski switch alright, do straight airs, 180's forward, safety grabs off kickers, and straight air off 5-10 ft drops. I can go straight 50-50 on a box no problem. All these 12 yr olds on snowboards make it look easy, not sure what the deal is. Are they harder than they look?

 

[dbostedo]

Paging @dean_spirito

 

[cantunamunch]

Have you ever tried doing pivot slips on just groomer terrain and how did that go?

 

[newboots]

12-year-olds make everything look easy.

[I have nothing useful to add here, but wanted to point that out.]

 

[Kneale Brownson]

As tunamuncher says, try doing the 90-degree switch off the box before taking it to the box. If you can make it a true pivot slip, you'll be all set.

 

[Joal]

Hi, it's getting warm out there and when the snow is starting to suck I got the idea to start hitting the terrain park with some twin tips I picked up on clearance. I'm kinda old but I figure not too old yet.

For some reason, I just can not slide a beginner box. It looks like it should be easy but for some reason every time I try a basic 90 on my skis slide out from under me and I kind of fall backwards and a bit to the side (my ass ends up on the box with my skis sliding out downhill). I've tried jumping on the box almost 10 times now and haven't stuck it once, not even for like a second, just falling over instantly every time. My amateur guess is that one or both of 2 things is happening: my stance upon landing is too narrow and I'm leaning uphill or I'm not landing flat to the box somehow (too backseat at time of landing?). Anybody have any ideas? Maybe I just need to fall 50 more times and then it'll click at some point? I could shell out for a couple of hours w/ a freestyle instructor to spot my errors but it just seems too basic a skill to go full tryhard on it.

Fwiw obviously I'm very new to freestyle but I can ski switch alright, do straight airs, 180's forward, safety grabs off kickers, and straight air off 5-10 ft drops. I can go straight 50-50 on a box no problem. All these 12 yr olds on snowboards make it look easy, not sure what the deal is. Are they harder than they look?

From my observations most first efforts are essentially backseat and when they attempt the 90 degree pivot they apply way too much edge like a hockey stop. Keep weight on the balls of your feet do a light pop or unweighting, pivot 90 degree and land in a lowish stable stance on flat skis about shoulder width apart reaching with your downhill hand for the end of the box. Helps if your edges are slightly detuned. Just remember to keep a flat ski.

 

[fd8]

@cantunamunch @Kneale Brownson

Huh are you suggesting that instead of doing a 90 on I slide on straight and try pivoting while still in contact with the box? I can give that a go but for some reason that sounds sketchier to me than a 90 on.

Funny I was actually messing around a bit with pivot slips today. (Right now I'm actually primarily working on my mogul skiing, the park is just something to do when I'm tired and/or the sun has turned the snow into glue.)

Anyway wrt pivot slips I have trouble staying in an exactly one ski length corridor, I drift a little bit. Looking back at my tracks it looks like I make a corridor 1.5 ski lengths wide. My skis aren't quite perfectly parallel while pivoting they form a slight wedge some of the time. This is due to my downhill ski catching an edge on the tail. If I focus really hard on launching my weight downhill (extending a bit) while pivoting into the fall line and also tipping my ankles downwards that seems to mitigate the issue but it's for sure a work in progress. This is like the second time I've tried this drill ever and it's never been demonstrated to me in person.

How much of that applies to box slides? While side slipping a pivot slip my weight is between my downhill and uphill ski, which I think is the correct stance for sliding a box? Obviously everything I just said could possibly be completely wrong I didn't have a coach spotting me or anything and I am quite clearly a noob.

 

[Kneale Brownson]

By off the box, I meant taking it elsewhere than in the park.

Extending to start a pivot slip takes away from your learning to flatten and pivot the skis. In other words, you are not practicing the pivoting you need if you extend.