DROP THAT CLIFF
Follow our guide to nailing your first cliff drop, with help from New Generation's Guy Coles. He’s here to prove it’s not as scary as it sounds…
The summer is now behind us and nights are drawing in, and in the New Generation office we are counting down the days until the lifts start turning.
In the last issue of Ski+board, we looked at how to choose and scope a line when skiing. This month we thought we would focus on adding those creative elements that punch up the excitement levels. The obvious way to do this is in the words of the legendary Shane McConkey: “Just ski down there and jump off something for crying out loud.”
Yes, dropping a cliff – even a small one – can be one of the most thrilling things you can do on two skis. And the best part is that it needn’t be as terrifying as it sounds.
GETTING STARTED
START SMALL It’s best not to start on an actual cliff. You can’t go too small when learning the skills and building confidence. Even dropping off the side of a piste can be a great place to start.
TOP TIP: If you are not comfortable in the air, start by practising straight airs in the snowpark, then build up to cliffs and other drops.
INSPECT THE LANDING Once you’ve found your chosen rock, wind lip or small cliff, it’s time to inspect the landing. Here you are looking for two key things: is the landing steep enough? Are there any rocks? Rocks present obvious dangers, but how do you know if a landing is steep enough? There is no fixed slope angle at which a landing becomes steep enough. Even if there was, you are hardly in a position to measure it. We would advise that, especially when starting, you find drops where the landing is steeper than the take-off: the flatter a landing, the more significant the impact on your body when you land.
Don't be tempted to overcompensate though, as steep landings require more pre-takeoff and mid-air adjustment to your body position. Over time you will get used to what your body can handle, and this varies for everyone.Remember too that conditions change. Just because you have dropped something once does not mean it will always be in good condition.
GET DROPPING We call it a cliff ‘drop’, which implies a passive action, like we are just falling off it. This idea could not be further from what you want to do. Remember the words of wisdom from Mr McConkey: “Just ski down there and jump off something.” The keyword is ‘jump’.
As you approach the edge of the drop, jump or pop, precisely as you would do on perfectly flat terrain. Starting in a neutral, well-balanced ski position simply extend at the ankles, knees and hips.
Your brain may be shrieking at you, telling you that you are mad because jumping will only make this drop bigger and scarier. Try to ignore it. If you don’t actively jump, when you reach the edge you will indeed ‘drop’ like you’re on a theme park ride. You may still land, but it won’t be the poised Instagram shot you were hoping for.
IN THE AIR Once airborne, adopt a semi tuck position, with your knees bent, hands and shoulders forward. As you see the ground moving towards you, start to extend your legs, so they are ready to absorb the impact. The key here is to extend, not straighten, your legs.
LAND IT Ideally, you want to land with your skis perfectly parallel and your body perpendicular to the surface of the landing. Think of this as the second half of the jump we did earlier. So again, land as if you were on perfectly flat terrain compressing at your hips, knees and ankles.
Landing on the tails of your skis with the tips high, especially as the scale of the drops increase, will put you in a backseat position from which you will need a lot of leg strength to recover. While you are in this backseat position, you will have little if any steering or control.
Landing tips first on all but the biggest freeride skis will probably see you go over the front in a forward roll.
Perfecting the angle at which you land will take some practise and is closely linked to your initial jump, which is partly why we suggest finding a landing that is a little steeper than your takeoff.
Assuming you are starting from a good neutral skiing position, performing the jump, or pop, will send your hips forward a little, in turn helping tip your skis and body forward. In time you will learn to adjust this motion and your actions in the air to ensure that you land in a nice neutral position.
THE NEXT STEPS
Once you’ve grown comfortable hitting small drops, the next step is to start gradually building the height of the drop. As the height increases, you will need to learn to make small adjustments fore and aft to the initial pop to ensure you land in an appropriate position and that you travel far enough forward to clear any obstacles below you. Very few cliffs are truly vertical.
FACTFILE
Guy Coles has been with New Generation for a decade. When he is not out shredding the slopes, he is at the New Gen HQ fulfilling his current role as Commercial Director. New Generation will help you develop technique, build confidence and have fun in 16 resorts throughout the Alps, from Tignes and Les Arcs to St Anton and Lech.
