How to BS Extreme Carving with Freestyle Board

Name of motion and notes

This motion may be referred to as Bittery Turn, Extreme Carving, or Euro Carving depending on the region. There are various theories about their differences, but in this article, they will all be explained as the same concept.

Let me share an important point first. In the frontside, the body is leaned by utilizing the carving motion, but the backside (heelside) Bittery Turn is not a mere extension of the carving turn; it involves completely different maneuvers.

Equipment

Jones Tweaker 2023, Burton Malavita 2016, Vans Hi-Standard 2024

Believe me. The shape and setup of the board don’t matter. There is a unique method that you would never usually think of. In fact, the board I use is a freestyle board, with the heel cup extending significantly beyond the board. Unlike an alpine board, both feet are not positioned facing forward.

Step number one: Preparation. This trick utilizes the centrifugal force generated by the Frontside turn. The deeper you want to angle your body, the more important it is to accelerate sufficiently in the Frontside turn so you can increase the centrifugal force at the outermost part of the Backside turn.

The most important point

This first part of the turn is the most important point in determining the success of this trick. When you are ready, squash your body as small as possible while shifting your center of gravity toward the nose. There are two major reasons for this.

Reason #1 for shrinking the body

The first reason is to shorten the distance between your hand and body and the snow surface. In the case of Frontside, you can reach the snow by bending forward, but it is not so easy in Backside. By shortening the distance between the snow surface and your hip and front hand, you can touch it by extending your arm a bit.

Reason #2 for shrinking your body

The second reason you should lower your body is to bend your knees. The biggest challenge in Backside Extreme Carving is that the heel cup or highback touches the snow, and the heel side edge comes off the snow surface. If you try to go from a standing position to an Extreme Carving position all at once, you will fall with your knees extended, and the heel side edge will surely come off. By making your body smaller, you will force your knees to bend, which will eliminate the problem of the board angling too much.

Shoulder Angle

Also, when you lower your body, the angle of your shoulders should be parallel to the board. There are also two reasons for this.

Reason #1 for keeping the shoulders parallel to the board.

The first reason is that when the shoulders are parallel to the board, the body can be lowered more naturally. In a normal Backside Carving turn, the body is in a somewhat open and lowered position, but in an Extreme Carving turn, the body needs to be even lower than in a normal Carving turn. If the shoulders are parallel to the board, it is possible to lower the body even more than when the body is open.

Reason #2 for keeping shoulders parallel to the board

The second reason to keep your shoulders parallel to the board is to prevent the board from slipping off during the turn. If your body is open by the time it reaches the snow surface, the board follows the angle of your body and rotates too much. When you lay your body on the snow, your shoulders should be closed so that the board becomes parallel to the Fall Line, which is the shortest line between the top and the bottom of the slope.

Put your hip next to the nose

Before reaching the Fall Line, lower your body so that the side of your hip touches directly next to the nose. In the beginning, keep your body as small as possible. You may think that you won't be able to angle your body by putting your hip next to the nose, but think of it this way. No matter how small you make your body, your hip is still away from the board. If you try to lower it to the side of the nose in this state, it will fall around the heel side edge, and your body will naturally angle.

What happens when you put your hip too far

Suppose you try to lower your hip away from the board without understanding this characteristic. In that case, your knees will extend, and you will encounter the problem of the heel cup dragging against the snow surface, as explained earlier.

Note 1: Timing

The first point is timing. Try to put your hip on the snow surface at the beginning of a turn so that the start of the slide coincides with the beginning of the Fall Line. What will happen if the timing of lowering your body is too late? As you slide down the slope, your body gains downward acceleration. Since your weight is on the nose side, the force acting on your body will cause the tail to swing forward around the nose.

Note 2: Elbow Angle

When placing your hand, be sure to keep it bent. If you put your hand on the snow with your arm extended, all the force acting on your body will concentrate on it, causing heavy pressure.

Once your hip and hand are placed, extend your body as far as your board setting allows you or keep your upper body upright if necessary. Enjoy getting your face covered in snow as your hand blows it off. Just be careful not to slide for too long, or you will not be able to get up.

In order to get up, use the force of your body moving downward on the slope. By pulling your knees closer again, the heel side edge will get closer to your center of gravity, and the force acting on your body will pull your body up around it. Try to raise your body without pressing down on the snow with your hand as much as possible.

Try with diagonal slopes

This method is to practice only the posture of sliding diagonally downward. As before, lower your body toward the nose while riding on the heel side edge. Lower your body much lower than you think you should. When you are ready, let the side of it touch right next to the nose.

Slide in the same direction as approach

By lowering your body, your center of gravity shifts to the heel side, and you may be tempted to aim for the upper side of the slope, but this is a mistake. Once you lower your body, slide down in the same direction while approaching. By doing so, the board will flex and rotate in an arc up the slope without having to think about going up. Look behind, and if you see a thin line on the snow without the heel edge dragging, you are doing it right.