Does carving matter in powder and the backcountry? JSBA Interview, Part 3: The whole mountain and why we ride

What does carving have to do with backcountry riding?

西西

I love the mountains. Backcountry riding and powder are very popular right now, but I get the feeling some people think you can ride powder without carving technique, and without using your body with any finesse.

What do you think JSBA technique means for backcountry riding and for powder? I think it is necessary. How do you see it?

Teacher

It is just as the textbook says. You start by getting to know your equipment and learning to operate it. Next you learn movements, understand how they differ, and then choose among them to suit the situation.

See original graphic 1/5 (in Chinese)

Different snow calls for a choice of technique

Teacher

Hard snow or soft snow, you have to choose your technique to suit the conditions. In powder, for example, what happens if you still carve the way we were just talking about?

kaku

The board dives in.

Teacher

So you need to ride on the base. To help the nose float, you keep your weight further back.

Then how do you change direction? People who know how lead with the nose and draw the line with it, rather than swinging the tail around.

kaku

Right. It is a lot like surfing.

Teacher

Technique only means something when you can choose it like this, to suit the situation.

See original graphic 2/5 (in Chinese)

After carving, there is still the whole mountain

Teacher

Backcountry riding has open lines, and it has tree riding. Once you are in the trees, you need very fine board control.

If you understand the basic techniques we teach, you can apply them to different situations and enjoy the riding.

kaku

Now I understand the logic of the textbook. Learning advanced technique, learning to carve, is not the finish line. After it come applied techniques: learning and using different techniques across a much wider range.

I feel quite a few people don’t give this part much weight, but applying what comes after carving really matters. That is the fun we wanted from snowboarding in the first place.

Teacher

Wait a moment.

See original graphic 3/5 (in Chinese)

What the teacher came back with was an early textbook

[Interview note]

The teacher fetched an early textbook and turned to the text at the front.

Teacher

This is the textbook for the kōshūkai (seminars). It is probably different from the one you are using now.

Read on. Is there something more emotional in there? Does it say why people enjoy snowboarding?

kaku

Yes, it does.

Teacher

People step out of everyday life into something out of the ordinary, to reset their mood and find their balance. That is why everyone needs hobbies of one kind or another.

Snowboarding has a lot of that kind of fun too, the kind that starts from how it feels.

See original graphic 4/5 (in Chinese)

Why did you start riding in the first place?

Teacher

Not everyone comes to snowboarding in order to learn snowboarding.

People come to snowboard because they want to glide over the snow like that, as if riding on clouds, or to tear along and glide the way you would on a motorbike.

That is the goal everyone starts out with, isn’t it?

People don’t take up snowboarding because they think going to ski school to take lessons and learn is the greatest fun.

See original graphic 5/5 (in Chinese)

The original post copy

Part 3 | Threads post

The copy as it appears in the original document, translated without edits.

The three-day interview series closes on why we started riding in the first place.

People often equate JSBA with carving, but in JSBA’s teaching materials carving is only one part of “advanced technique”, and beyond it lies a much wider field of application.

Between a snowboard and every mountain, every field of snow, the possibilities are endless!

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Further reading

The Chinese–Japanese snowboard glossary (in Chinese) covers the technical terms in this post. To take the practice back onto the snow, see SnowWind’s courses.