How to drop cliffs....

dxbskier

dxbskier

New member
Hey all. Just wanted to know everyone's opinion on how to drop cliffs correctly. Especially how to plan where to hit. I often check out the line I want to take, walk up and lose my place.

Cheers.
 
when you go off it have a good center of gravity and do not lock up when you land... you want to bend your knees and waist to take away some impact then ride away
 
This could actually be a good thread. Couple of hints I've learned.....The correct speed is very key. I used to think that more the better, not necessarily the case as some cliffs have rather short landings and going to flat can be a problem sometimes. I always bend my knees quite a bit. So I'm not "rolling down the windows" I lean forward almost racer pose and have my hands together pointing.

This is a little to "loose" for my perfect posture that I try and achieve but it still works.

I've also seen people try and reach for the safety/boot grab isntead of pointing hands fowrad. What I've really noticed is that you need to be loose when you hit the cliff but still in control. As LJ stated when teaching afterbang DON'T BE A BONER. https://portfolio.du.edu/pc/port.detail?id=108612
 
When standing on fop of a line, try to look for obvious features to spot (trees, rock features, spines, etc.). Hands in front when you air (keeps you forward, backseat is bad). Don't think about it too much, just point it and go.
 
Just send cliffs until you figure it out. The key is confidence. You need the confidence so that you commit and come down balanced, leaning slightly forward so you can stomp hard, but not so much that you go over the bars. When you're timid, that's when you come down and backslap and shit, which obviously isn't ideal.
 
Bend your knees for the impact, get some speed but not too much, jump don't just fall/ski off the cliff, and if you can try to aim for a spot to land...like jump to that spot. If not possible then at least give yourself a visual landmark like a rock, tree, etc (not to land on, obviously, but more to center you). Also, if you aren't just skiing off it and are, say, hiking up to a cliff to drop...don't just stand up there and psych yourself out too long. Look, spot the landing, survey the situation, and go for it. The longer you spend up there looking down (at least for me) the more you'll worry about it which I find leads to more mistakes.

Some good advice on this thread...it's good to read other people's techniques. Makes me miss winter though :)
 
I think everyone does it slightly differently..I spot the landing, check out the snow on the landing making sure there's not a pointy rock that's going up my ass if I mess up. Then I'll get some speed, jump and try to land where I planned to. I say it's better to backseat the landing than faceplant, but try and land in between the two and obviously bend those knees.
 
As long as you keep your hands in front of your knees you should be golden. I often like to do shifties because its easier to keep my balance than tucking up mid-air.
 
People who are telling you to try to absorb by bending your knees are all idiots. You wanna stomp the shit out of it. This makes for better shock absorption and a cleaner, more natural landing. Extend your legs are hard as you can when you're about to hit the ground.i f you bend them and just try to absorb it by needing them more you will end up backseat and in pain.
 
this. It doesn't help to ride up to the edge and just jump/"fall" off. sending it is the only way to go, way more control.
 
It's all about the hands. Get them in front of your knees. Usually, but not always, speed helps. When you land you want to have your skis at the same angle as the slope so you don't go over the handle bars or backslap. Be confident and send her. Rockered skis help because you can be more forward and not worry about doing front flips when you land. I like to bend my knees a bit, but not that much. When you are about to land, extend your feet to the snow, then take the shock out of it by allowing your knees to flex and absorb the force. As previously stated by others, throw your hands up in the air and CLAIM hard.
 
I just lean far back so my tips don't dig into the landing (I do this mostly on flats, but it depends what type of tranny you got to land on)
 
You need to scope your line by checking out the landing below. Dig a small pit, check to see what layers are in the snow and what you'll be landing on. If theres a fracture when you do a compression test with your shovel, the slope may slide on you when you land - in this case, remember to take the cliff with speed, because you'll be outracing your sluff AND an avalanche. But it will look cool on camera, so don't be a pussy.

After the snowpit, skin out to the peak directly across from the cliff. This way, you cut trail for your photographers/filmers/groupies-that-came-to-see-you-be-gnarly. Remember, happy media crew = drinks in the bar on them after. Once you get the far pan angle of the line leading into and out of the cliff, make sure to take a photo with an instant camera - now you not only have GTS (Got The Shot for those not in the know), but you can hike back up to the other line and GTS with your GPS, ASAP, AKF, G2G. Before you leave your crew, remember to remind them that its their fault if they fuck up the shot, so set everything up right - you're the one doing all the hard work here and skiing and crap.

Once your on top of the line, choose your entry point carefully. Like many first dates, if you dont ease into it, you might not get a chance for seconds. Best to avoid poking around in any tight chutes - stick to the main event for now and leave those till the ol' girls a bit loosened up. I'm not going to go over the skiing part, because you should know that already. What is this, amateur hour? After you've skied down and jumped off of something, you have two options for a mandatory stickin it type landing - hot tub party via sidecheck (you pussy, you want your knees when you're 30?) or just stomp it - heavy head is not big mountain style, so none of that shit please. Once you land, pitch forward as soon as possible, bury your tips and begin your high speed tomohawk. Remember, if the skis come off you risk less injury, so max out those DIN's to increase your chances of "well my equipment failed" settlement monies.

 
besides what ginko said, if its a cliff where i need to clear rocks, i like to "step off" just ride in as you would normally, then jump off one footed in a step motion, as if you were to do a lay-up in basketball, this gives a lot of extra pop and gives you a lot of controll upon takeoff

for landing, stand wide and keep your knees bent and apart to absorb the impact, keep em apart so you don't go knee to face and lose some teeth...

also try to land perfectly centered on your ski....
 
A lot of good advice already.

This sounds obvious but don't just concentrate on the landing, make sure you also concentrate on skiing out the 5/10/20/30 plus yards after the landing. Especially on bigger or sketchier drops so many people seem to just concentrate on the take off and the point of impact and forget everything immediately after that which ensure they eat shit pretty quickly on the immediate run out.

The impact is going to happen anyway, gravity will inevitably take care of that so put some thought into the split seconds after the impact - not just aborbing the impact with your knees but also keeping strong thighs and good form as well, ready to compensate for any slight imbalances or bumps in the snow etc. This means even if you don't nail the landing perfectly (which is bound to happen at times) you can still increase the percentage of cliffs you ride out cleanly from.
 
What if you're skiing a tree line and you maybe accidentlaly stumble into a tight spot and have to take a 10-15ft cliff to like a 20 degree ice slab. Any tips on how to not injure yourself?
 
for east coasters1. yell "IM GOING TO RIP THE SHIT OUT OF THIS"

2. ski down towards cliff

3. pop and tuck/do whatever trick you want to

4. look at landing and prepare for impact (impact is key in the east)

5. whatever you do do not try to jam on your brakes. Trust me you might want to but you will hit a fucking tree or eat it by catching an edge

6.make nice outrun and put in some nice turns

7. stop at the easiest place and be pumped. Like holy shit I made that.

these steps will work at trail under lifts or watching zones so to speak. or just because it feels good.
 
the more tomahawks the better...you are bound to have your shot used in the credits at least

whole post by Ginko was epic and there is actually some decent info in this thread, I was surprised
 
Thanks for everyone's advice. I hucked my meat and stomped the **** out of it!

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