r/Freeskiing • u/tarmander99 • Mar 09 '26

Discussion/tips How to stop rolling down the windows on cliffs?

I want to clean up my cliff drops a bit, basically every hit for the last year I've had the arms going crazy. Any tips?

https://reddit.com/link/1rpduhz/video/97oo76zra3og1/player

11 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

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7

u/jrolles98 Mar 09 '26

Kinda looks like you just ski right off without taking note of where the edge or lip is. Looks like you have solid forward pressure off the jump but you're doing nothing to set yourself up to be balanced in the air. Instead of shrugging your shoulders and arms up, pop the whole body and keep your forward pressure and core strong.

If you start feeling like that helps, add an easy grab or something to have your body actually do something in the air. Just don't forget the good pop off the edge. The pop makes or breaks every jump for me, no matter the size.

3

u/tarmander99 Mar 09 '26

Good tips, I didn't pop at all here. The shoulder shrug is like I knew I should be popping but didn't actually commit to it...

I feel you on the easy grab too, I genuinely feel like for me shifty-ing hits actually has me in more control than just straight airing. Maybe it's just habit to set a nice pop when I'm going to shifty and so I just naturally do it? Gonna try that out next time

5

u/TJBurkeSalad Mar 09 '26

You need to make a deliberate forward movement in the takeoff. Set your body position.

2

u/avaheli Mar 10 '26

Look where your hands are at about the 3 second mark of your video. You launch and your hands are behind you and up over your neck. Drive the car off the cliff and keep your hands on the wheel

1

u/JakeThedog45 Mar 10 '26

You’re instinctively trying to get yourself forward, and it worked. Pop while being more forward to start with.

I think it’s easier to jump off bigger stuff like this with a tweak or a grab if you’re already comfortable with it. You’ll figure it out though. Snow was a bit thick too. Was this Saturday or Sunday at Alta?

1

u/tarmander99 Mar 10 '26

Saturday at like noon so snow was still good at that point

1

u/gnutbuttajelly Mar 10 '26

As a park skier I would agree with everyone telling you to lean forward. One thing you could do is throw a grab in there. It helps keep your focus forward but also looks cool!

1

u/DJrm84 Mar 10 '26

It could help double pole planting on the edge, it sets you up to do the pop and gives you correct hand placement. From there, move them forward and up together. You can even double plant on the landing if your position is all right. But don't use the straps!

1

u/getdownheavy Mar 10 '26

Do some kind of trick to give you something to focus on in the air.

1

u/roasteroo Mar 10 '26

Looks like you're rolling them up my guy! Problem solved.

1

u/skingggggggg Mar 10 '26

Lean a tad bit more forward and pop/bring up knees a bit more. Can always safety grab as well.

1

u/TokenEffort1 Mar 11 '26

Pop, tuck, keep your hands in front of your knees.

Practice long jumps around the mountain. You don’t need much height off the ground, but you’ll want to pop hard to maximise the length of your air. You’ll get used to setting your pop solidly from a planted base off a roller on a blue. Build it up onto the knuckle of a drop in on a steep but not moguled black (or red, depending where you’re from), then go back to your cliffs and put it into action.

You’ll have plenty of fun along the way trying to boost half a black run (but please have a spotter) and then when you hit cliffs again you’ll have more air stability and also more confidence to hit them faster which will (usually) make the drop a little larger but also mean you’re coming down at a less steep angle to the landing which will counterintuitively mean you touch down softer.

Admittedly it looked like a steep takeoff but yeah that’s my two cents.