Stance for riding powder?
Interesting, I’ve never done it. Why would having forward angles put more stress on the knees?
It’s unnatural for us to stand with both feet facing forward. Especially when you do a lot of jumping and spinning. Say you’re jumping up and down you will want to land with your feet slightly duck or for some people straight. I know snowboarding is a bit different than squatting. But when you squat you wanna push your knees out, and create a torque so you can engage the muscles surrounding your hip and thighs (Gluteus Maximus, Gluteus Medius, abductors, etc.). A lot of people when they squat they’re knees buckle inward and that creates a valgus force which is bad for the knee ligaments (same thing for jumping). Now try pushing your knees out with the back foot facing forward, it creates unnecessary torque because your feet are not aligned naturally (but then again when you snowboard with forward stance, your hips are also more opened up and not parallel with the board, so there’s that argument). It also tends to make the knee buckle inward more than a duck/0 degree back foot.
A lot of the videos I watch on people with forward stance has many people riding with their back knee inwards (knees together). However with Terje, Gigi, etc. I don’t really see that a lot. I’m guessing it’s because they have great mobility and flexibility in their lower body, especially their ankle and they’ve been riding this way since they were kids so it doesn’t bother them.
Anyways that’s my opinion but I maybe totally wrong. So if someone with more knowledge on the human body can correct me I’ll appreciate it very much.
I think riding positive angle on the back foot put even more pressure on the knees than knees straight and lots of guys have been riding with forward angles and still riding strong (e.g. Terje, Jake, Gigi).
Interesting you say this, one of the guys I was riding with in Japan races as well. His stance for racing is +28/+28.
Yeah man, almost everyone I rode with in Japan has an Alpine set-up. It’s a very different scene over there huh.
Oh, he’s actually American. 
But yes, lots of powder boards & both feet forward stances going on in Japow.
Riding with 0 angle may have some problem if you have bad ankle mobility or hip mobility, but as I said before most likely when you’re riding your knee will not be travelling up and down in a straight angle.
I have bad ankle and hip mobility. What angle should I have on my back foot? Right now it’s -3, but I’ve been dealing with a painful knee all season. It hurts on stairs when I bend the knee in, rather than consciously bend it over my foot, so I figure it’s my body telling me to change my stance.
Try riding more duck. Maybe try -9 or -12? I’m riding +21 -9 because I also don’t have the best ankle mobility, riding lesser angle than 9 feels weird to my knee, partly also because it doesn’t line up with my ankle and feet properly. However, I’m gonna try riding with -6 next time I ride and see how it goes. I feel that if I open up my hip just a tiny bit when riding (so not COMPLETELY parallel), it should be fine.
It’s hard to say without seeing you in person and doing a squat assessment. Because if you have bad ankle mobility with the feet pointed more straight it’s harder to bend the knee. Same thing if your hip is tight, it is easier for you to bend down (e.g. get into a squat) if your hip is opened up a bit more. Try to foam roll your quads, IT band, TFL, calves, and adductors daily. Use a lacrosse or massage balls to roll your glutes and piriformis.
thanks - will get foam rolling!
Just don’t smoke it!!!!!