What’s the point, going fast?  Not exactly, anyone can go fast, all you have to do is point it down the hill and pray.  But while the point and pray approach is fun, a race board allows you be in control at ludicrous speeds, and more importantly, carve some serious face flapping high-G turns.   Carved turns are the reason most people ride race boards, because they’re hard (but not impossible) to really bust out with a regular board and soft boots.  For those of you (like us) who never took lessons, carving is when you turn the board along its edge instead of skidding.  If you can’t picture that, it’s what a skateboard does, except there aren’t any skateboards out there which even come close to doing what a race snowboard does.  It’s really more like ripping a big turn on a motorcycle and getting low, or flying a fighter jet (if you’re good you can pull 3+ G’s)

A race board is designed specifically for riding on hardpack without making compromises for things like riding in powder or doing tricks.  Besides the obvious lack of any tail, race boards are long and skinny.  They’re long so you have a lot of edge to turn on.  (the average person who rides a 157 freeride board probably wants a 167-170 race board)  They’re skinny so it’s easier to change edges (makes a big difference.) If your toes were hanging off the sides of your board in a big turn, your toes would hit the snow and cause you to bail, so you ride with your feet pointed noticeably forward.  Having your feet point forward has the added advantage of letting you look where you’re going, especially on heelside turns.  In order to maximize your control of the board you ride in hard boots, which, like ski boots, have a plastic shell.  However they aren’t ski boots, they’re designed to flex the way you want when you snowboard (unlike ski boots which don’t flex much at all)

Why don’t more people do it?  Well, it’s not the easiest thing ever, there’s a whole learning curve for getting on a race board.  However if you’ve mastered getting down the hill on a board without falling then we almost guarantee you’ll be able to get the hang of carving on a race board.  Also a narrow board isn’t very useful in powder, it tends to sink, and the setup makes it harder to do technical tricks or ride a pipe.  If you get a lot of powder or are big on tricks then a race stick can’t really be your only board.  They do make freecarve boards, which are like race boards only more mellow, with more width and a tail, which work better for all mountain stuff.  However, if most of your riding is at resorts, on hardpack, a race board is the weapon of choice for tearing it up

Want to try it?  Great, and you don’t even have to buy anything (except a lift ticket.)  You can carve (to some extent) on any snowboard.  In fact, if you watch halfpipe competitions they all carve across the bottom of the pipe, and never skid, so even if you never plan to get a race stick carving is still an important skill to have.  Ok: First look at our setup page for tips on getting your stick ready.  Next go to the hill and do it.

Find a green circle run that isn’t crowded.  Carving works best when you’re going the right speed for your board, not too slow or too fast.  Letting your board run without slowing down for three to four seconds should be about right.  Now, here’s what has to happen: you have to lean the board (and yourself) while the board is still going where it’s pointed (no skidding remember.)  There are tons of articles written about this, but the real key is just doing it.  So get your weight on your front foot, lean the board up on edge, and LOOK WHERE YOU WANT TO GO.  The first time you do this you will probably fall.  If you plop on to the snow looking pathetic you weren’t going fast enough.  If the board whips out from under you and slams you onto the ground you were going too fast.  Now that you’ve fallen, look back at your trail in the snow.  If you see a broad swath of disturbed snow then you haven’t quite carved yet.  If your path is a pencil line groove in the snow then congratulations, you’ve just carved.  If you’ve left a three inch deep crescent shaped trench, and little kids are pointing at you and cheering from the lift then you’ve pretty much got it down.  (Don’t worry, this will come)

Practice the above until its pretty easy to make a slight turn without skidding.  Now, in the middle of the turn, when you’re leaned in, push down on the board as hard as you can, like you’re trying to jump off the snow.  This will bend and load up the board and allow you to make a tighter higher G turn.  You will probably fall the first time you try this too.  When you get good you’ll push down and the board will push back, so even though you’re pushing down with your legs your body won’t go up.  Now, like everything else in life, it’s a practice thing.  Keep doing it and you’ll get better.  However you can only get so much out of a freeride board, and freestyle boards are pretty useless for serious carving.  So if you want to rip some serious carves then get hooked up with a race board (see our getting gear page) and go tear some shit up

Note: for more (and better) articles on technique see Bomberonline.com