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Dropping Cliffs?

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qyleberry
Posts: 788 - Karma: 2,211
Ok this is not a cliff obviously, but it was a natural feature that my friend and I found at tyrol and decided lets go off it. I am from the Midwest and this is the only thing that I have gone off of that resembles a cliff drop.

The reason for the slowness was because the "peak chair" wasn't open and we had to cut and go up a hill which slowed us drastically. This also looked like a monster when I was looking at it and now seeing the video I am like wow that looked super dumb and I landed backseat.

So now when I see cliffs that look huge on video I am like holy shit that was huge!
I have been introduced to a hole different kind of skiing and I can't wait to move out west to really live the full experience!

My question though is what's the secret to doing things like this bigger and cleaner? This didn't hurt my feet and no I didn't hit my knees on my face, but anything bigger would hurt me so how do you guys do it without getting hurt?

https://youtu.be/sNdeM4kjE_M
Feb 16 2016 8:19PM
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FarginBastage
Posts: 22 - Karma: 71
Arms level and forward, and popping either with both feet, or lifting one leg up really quickly right before popping with the other leg (Seth hop), and then sucking them up underneath you, usually leads to a nice body position. If u start drifting in one direction midair, you're probably subconsciously letting an arm drift. Also holy shit man that landing was flatter than my flatass ass.
Feb 16 2016 8:34PM
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S.J.W
Posts: 7609 - Karma: 31,186
spot your landing, keep your body forward with arms in a forward position. Try to flail your arms. And 4 point landings.
Feb 16 2016 8:56PM
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dan4060
Posts: 1458 - Karma: 847
S.J.Wspot your landing, keep your body forward with arms in a forward position. Try to flail your arms. And 4 point landings.


Definitely go for the 4 point landing. I don't drop cliffs much anymore, but going for 4 point helps keep you in a solid position and avoid flailing.

In general, things look flat and small on video. When you see someone skiing something that looks steep on video, and this is particularly true with gopro, it is generally much steeper than it looks. The same is true with cliff drops, they are much bigger than they look on video.
Feb 17 2016 12:48AM
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shin-bang
Posts: 4101 - Karma: 6,998
I've learned the hard way that pop is the first key component. If you don't pop, you're setting yourself up for failure/super backseat landing. So always pop off the top/lip
of the cliff.

In air control/body position- you should try to have your legs tucked up a bit, and arms should be forward, and your overall weight basically centered In the mjddle your skis.

Landing- always try to 4 point land. It just helps so much. On smaller cliffs you can manage landing with your weight centered, but as you go bigger and get into deeper snow, you want to think of driving your heels into the ground so you don't tomahawk. again try to keep arms forward. Then, just stomp that bad boy and ride away like a hard A.
Feb 17 2016 1:08AM
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Lbird
Posts: 401 - Karma: 2,190
I would say the main problem with this is the ridiculously flat landing. If you tuck up as if you were going for a safety grab it helps to keep balanced in the air
Feb 17 2016 11:12AM
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benlokhorst
Posts: 344 - Karma: 234
Make sure to pop instead of just riding off, so that you can avoid catching your tips.

Instead of staying parallel to the takeoff angle, take an aggressive stance by leaning forwards somewhat to match the angle of your landing. You want to stay centered over your skis so as to avoid backslapping or kneeing yourself in the face.

Avoid flailing or moving in the air as that throws you off balance/ axis. The smoother you are in the air the smoother a landing you will have.

Also, avoid cliffs with flat landings that made my shins hurt just watching haha.
Feb 17 2016 5:51PM
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qyleberry
Posts: 788 - Karma: 2,211
Thanks for all the tips!
Feb 17 2016 8:48PM
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