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Dropping Cliffs

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wzrdtrx
Posts: 276 - Karma: 211
Yesterday, I dropped a cliff for the very first time on skis. According to plan, I ate shit. Double eject tomahawk front flip. I guess I leaned too far forward? I don't know.

What did I do wrong, NS?
Jan 11 2014 2:49AM
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catsRjerks
Posts: 291 - Karma: 1,163
You didn't film it... Next time film it, you should be sweet
Jan 11 2014 2:53AM
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wzrdtrx
Posts: 276 - Karma: 211
I'm super bummed I didn't film it. It was hilarious. I hit the ground and laughed hysterically.
Jan 11 2014 2:54AM
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iLLbiLLy
Posts: 2865 - Karma: 2,631
secret to stomping any size cliff: Right before you land, stand straight up as stiff as possible and keep your hands firmly by your side.
Jan 11 2014 2:59AM
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ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,455
This is a great way to fuck every joint in your body.





The most important part is looking at where you want to land (NOT at your feet). If you stay alert and do that, your body will (hopefully) naturally figure out what it needs to do to not kill itself. It doesn't always magically happen on the first try. You gotta play around with your individual style/ski setup.
Jan 11 2014 5:37AM
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Lewisd553
Posts: 52 - Karma: 286
You leaned to far forward , here was my first ever attempt after skiing a year and a bit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYxRur4rCsE
Jan 11 2014 6:39AM
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Lewisd553
Posts: 52 - Karma: 286
leaned too far forward. heres my first attempt .





http://youtu.be/gYxRur4rCsE
Jan 11 2014 6:43AM
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Lewisd553
Posts: 52 - Karma: 286
God dam thing didn't work twice, heres the hyperlink



http://youtu.be/gYxRur4rCsE
Jan 11 2014 6:46AM
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GayWolf420
Posts: 37380 - Karma: 119,948
this. I find that I land better with my hands in front, too.
Jan 11 2014 9:05AM
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caderobinson
Posts: 1193 - Karma: 4,770
I have never hit a cliff before (ice coast) but I'd say practice is probably key and don't go into the cliff thinking your gonna fall
Jan 11 2014 9:58AM
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conchetler
Posts: 280 - Karma: 609
you just leaned too far forward..ive done that many times. i try to keep my weight as centered as possible and usually it works well, but it also just takes time and practice. it also helps if your landing isnt flat
Jan 11 2014 1:12PM
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iLLbiLLy
Posts: 2865 - Karma: 2,631
what do you know?

I've stomped every cliff at all the ski hills in North Carolina using this technique.
Jan 11 2014 1:22PM
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MothaHucker
Posts: 4678 - Karma: 2,591
be sure to get some pop off the takeoff just like any other jump, you can't just ski off and expect to land perfectly and ride away.
Also, I find that flexing my core muscles just before landing helps the stomp and prevents me from eating my kneecap.
Jan 11 2014 2:14PM
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PartyHon
Posts: 2019 - Karma: 425
make sure your hands are out infront of your body. sorta like them leading you off the cliff. in the air keep your knees bent. and for the landing open up some to let your body better absorbe the impact. just make sure you have your hands NOT behind you cause thats how you backslap and look like a fool (speaking from experience)
Jan 11 2014 2:56PM
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freestyler540
Posts: 13083 - Karma: 18,720
Im glad you had fun hitting your first cliff. If you got deep powder, you can do the check landing. Stick your ass out and push your skis up up just before landing. It will be soft and the skis will come back on their own.
But this is the pussy way to huck.

The trick is to anticipate the impact. Visual is key to timing and coordination. When you set off, you wanna know your trajectory to anticipate your landing. On departure make sure you are standing up straight arms forward and looking ahead. Roll over the cliff and keep estimating your landing. Depending on slope angle you can drop your tails a little before the impact. On contact, pound into the snow! This will slow you down and give time to the skis to float again to regain your balance.

Keep having fun!
Jan 11 2014 6:31PM
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malonius_funk
Posts: 2249 - Karma: 1,500
right as you pop off of the cliff spot where you want to land and focus on that the whole time you're in the air. your body will naturally figure out the rest.
Jan 11 2014 6:49PM
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~Gotama~
Posts: 821 - Karma: 3,160
three parts to hucking a cliff of any size:

Take-off: Its usually easier if you take it with a bit of speed rather than barely hopping off at a snails pace. Approach in a good athletic position, leaning forward in your boots with your hands in front of you where you can see them. If you're interested in being cautious and in control, lift one foot before the lip and jump off the other foot. If you want to look steeezy as fuck, jump off both feet together.

Flying: Suck up your knees to your chest and keep your hands out way in front of you, arm nearly straight. It may feel awkward doing that, but it will help you maintain control. spot your landing as soon as it comes into view.

Landing: Just before touchdown, put down the landing gear by extending your legs. Ideally your skis will hit the snow perfectly flat, but since it can be easy to fall forward, Its advantageous to land a bit on your tails. Let the tails touch down and then the rest of the ski can follow, sort of like landing an airplane. Absorb the impact through the knees. Keep on skiing after, don't just turn up the fall line and hip check to a stop.
Jan 11 2014 6:59PM
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wzrdtrx
Posts: 276 - Karma: 211
Thanks for all the tips NSers. Guess what? I tried the cliff drop again today, and almost landed, but really, I still ate shit and tomahawked hard. This time, only one ski fell off. The difference from the first and second time was the second time, I popped off harder, and anticipated leaning back more than the previous time. I might be able to get it tomorrow.

Aside from that, Lost Trail has gotten over two feet of new snow since Thursday, and even though it's about the tenth or eleventh time I've skied, I still feel ballsy enough to drop cliffs, just because the landing feels better than a foam pit.

Hope everyone is having a good winter!
Jan 12 2014 12:31AM
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Benson.
Posts: 2739 - Karma: 3,787
Ski MRG, some nice cliffs there.
Jan 12 2014 12:39AM
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K-Dot.
Posts: 3739 - Karma: 7,737
Think about "stomping" the landing. Not a really hard stomp, but doing this should keep you more centered when you land
Jan 12 2014 12:47AM
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skiersupreme
Posts: 1549 - Karma: 4,872
the main thing that helped me was keeping my knees together and near my chest
Jan 12 2014 1:25AM
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MAWman
Posts: 142 - Karma: 49
Stomping all those gnarly cliffs in the south eh....
Got any other cliff/backcountry advice? Id love to hear it....
Jan 12 2014 1:29AM
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goodnoooo
Posts: 555 - Karma: 2,075
usually i just black out mid-fall and hope i land on my feet. hope that helps.
Jan 12 2014 1:31AM
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CaderTots
Posts: 488 - Karma: 34
I would probably add that a ski that isn't a noodle helps a lot. Having a pretty burly tail gives you a nice platform to stomp on. Soft skis make it far harder than it actually is. I don't know if this is the case for you
Jan 12 2014 2:14AM
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Byron_tha_gr8
Posts: 4573 - Karma: 14,299
the softer the ski, the more backseat you might have to be. With a nice stiff ski I can land almost parallel
Jan 12 2014 4:20AM
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kebbek
Posts: 408 - Karma: 170
Choose cliffs with good angled soft landings or you will damage your knees very fast. 

Jan 12 2014 9:49AM
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snomaster
Posts: 3344 - Karma: 5,748
THE MOST IMPORTANT THING ABOUT STOMPING A CLIFF is anticipating the speed upon landing, keep your body square to the fall line and don't try to turn for a full one-missippippi count. a four point landing helps lots too: two feet, two poles. stand up and punch your landing. keep it together in the air and keep your eyes looking ahead. stomp that hoe, I mean whoop that trick!
Jan 12 2014 7:47PM
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YoUnGinAYo
Posts: 307 - Karma: 226
speed to trajectory ratio based on how steep / flat the landing is. 
Jan 12 2014 9:07PM
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LoneWolfe
Posts: 74 - Karma: 89
What were you sending at LT? Rendek?

Anyways, it does sound like you landed too far forwards and your tips dipped.
1.Just make sure you set your pop nice and centered, this is the most important part.
2. Suck your knees up and wait. When you're airborne, don't be surprised by how much time you'll be in the air, you want to continue to be centered with the fall line and balanced. If you begin to panic and flail, you're more likely to eat shit.
3.Just land centered and ride out the speed you get from sending a cliff. Make sure you don't straighten your legs when you actually do land, otherwise your knees may explode.
Jan 12 2014 9:21PM
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ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,455
Sounds like you're still leaning back, which is expected if you're jumping off a cliff and have less than 15 total skiing days in your life. I've been skiing for 22 years and cliffs still ain't easy. Whomever added keeping your hands out in front of you was a good suggestion too.

A good way to visualize how you should be composed is to stand up straight, walk away from the computer, go into the hallway, and jump up as high as you can from flat ground. After you land back on your feet, take note on how your weight is distributed at the moment of impact when your feet hit the ground again. That is how you should aim to land on skis. Often even further forward to compensate for landing on a downhill slope and carrying your speed out. Just don't stick your ass out too much.
Jan 13 2014 12:24AM
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wzrdtrx
Posts: 276 - Karma: 211
WOLFE!!!! You know me. Just Judy's run/minefield cliff. That tiny one with the flat landing.


Smoking cigarettes is bad. I'll see you Thursday or some shit.
Jan 13 2014 12:46AM
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2L208
Posts: 1075 - Karma: 308
Point and shoot. Act like you are cannon balling in the pool. Not sending a cliff dawg
Jan 13 2014 12:58AM
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Kronor
Posts: 217 - Karma: 167
Every time I drop into a small cliff or hit a jump I end up getting really bad shin bang and I have honestly no idea how to fix it. I've tried tightening my boot a bunch, loosing my boot. So many different things. What do I need to do to not get shin bang? I have boots that are fitted to me, not heat molded but fit me well(Full Tilt High Fives) and I just can't figure it out. I know this probably isn't the right thread to try this but I tried a back flip for the first time today and got super bad shin bang so it made me think of this haha.
Jan 13 2014 1:02AM
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brenker
Posts: 3188 - Karma: 71
When I learned this a while back it was huge, makes a biiiiiig impact on your stance.
Jan 13 2014 1:05AM
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wzrdtrx
Posts: 276 - Karma: 211
Wow
Jan 13 2014 4:18AM
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Huck_Norris
Posts: 11487 - Karma: 18,627
I try to ski cliffs like everywhere else. Just be centered and stacked when you launch, give a tiny little pop so the air is on your terms and pull your knees up/extend hands out front and then visualize your next 2-3 turns when in the air-just before you land, extend out your legs to absorb impact. Land as centered as possible, and immediately use that compression rebound to enter into your first turn with a pole plant since your hands are still out front.



Unless you're going megahuge, then you should just backslap it and ski the bounce.
Jan 13 2014 10:25AM
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freeballer
Posts: 726 - Karma: 960
Start claiming real hard before you land.
Jan 13 2014 2:55PM
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iLLbiLLy
Posts: 2865 - Karma: 2,631
I think you missed the joke...
Jan 13 2014 3:21PM
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ThaLorax
Posts: 21083 - Karma: 8,455
Oh, oh, pick me, I got the joke!
Jan 13 2014 4:27PM
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Goku
Posts: 8119 - Karma: 4,223
1. Tighten your boots more
2. Make sure there's no gap between shin and boot tongue, if there is stick a beer coozie in there
3. Don't land backseat
Jan 13 2014 4:30PM
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iLLbiLLy
Posts: 2865 - Karma: 2,631
This is all that needed to be said.

All the booster straps in the world won't prevent shinbang if you're constantly landing backseat on decent size drops
Jan 13 2014 4:35PM
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Kronor
Posts: 217 - Karma: 167
Word, thanks for the advice.
Jan 13 2014 9:20PM
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2L208
Posts: 1075 - Karma: 308
there is no such cure for shin bang, lol coozies or booster straps just scream i fucking suck ass at skiing. stand in your boots right or get banged out.

Click for larger image
Feb 4 2014 5:46PM
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Huck_Norris
Posts: 11487 - Karma: 18,627
What the fuck did I just read?



Feb 4 2014 5:58PM
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wzrdtrx
Posts: 276 - Karma: 211
Best photo ever.
Feb 4 2014 6:05PM
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GrahamGould
Posts: 713 - Karma: 2,439
make sure you have some speed. Its really hard to overshoot a cliff, so more speed is better.

Depending on the cliff, you will want to give it some pop off of the takeoff, but this isn't always necessary.

Keep your hands in front of you, and bring your knees up a bit.

Stomp the shit out of it
Feb 4 2014 6:05PM
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2L208
Posts: 1075 - Karma: 308
Show me one pro who uses booster straps, i'll reconsider.
Feb 4 2014 6:06PM
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Petey.
Posts: 5736 - Karma: 4,885
wow this is fantastic
Feb 4 2014 6:18PM
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Goku
Posts: 8119 - Karma: 4,223
Every ski racer on Earth ever
Tecnica's got it down with their system, I love mine
Click for larger image
Feb 4 2014 6:39PM
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galardogod
Posts: 1698 - Karma: 5,209
Did this exact same thing yesterday on a 20 footer under the lift :( i pussied out but still hit the cliff
Feb 4 2014 6:43PM
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wzrdtrx
Posts: 276 - Karma: 211
Film it next time hombre
Feb 4 2014 6:47PM
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