Sun, 06/13/2010 - 3:00pmSnowboard tricks: How to backside 720

The final instalment of our backside extravaganza.

This is a sick trick, verging on technical unless you are a pro – Ben Kilner got on the podium at the 2008 British Big Air champs with a backside 7. Sam Cullum talks us through one of his favourites…

 

 

 

 

How to do it

1
Make sure you are happy with the jump that you are riding. Take a few straight air runs over it and some more simple tricks that you know you can do.

2
Always stay relaxed on the run-in, and don’t try to think too much on what you have to do. Just make sure you have the speed first (trust me on that one).

3
On take-off turn your head backside and pop through the tail of your board to give you the height you need. As soon as you have left the lip look to find the grab you want.

4
Here I am grabbing nose, not the easiest but it works for me. Try maybe a mute first as that helps the rotation round until you know what you are doing and where you are in the air.

5
Where you place your head on take off depends on how flat or inverted the spin is. In this picture I duck the spin under at the last rotation – kind of a late cork on it. But to start with keep your shoulders level, and head the same, to guarantee the spin.

6
Keep holding the grab that you have chosen for as long as possible, when you are more comfortable with the trick you can start to add a tweak in the grab mid-rotation.

7
At around about 540 you will, or at least should, be able to start seeing your landing coming around. At this point you will know if you have judged the right speed for the jump and can pretty much see what will be happening on landing.

8
Let go of the grab (unless you are well over-shooting the jump, in which case, hold on and good luck) and keep your head twisted still in the rotation you are spinning.

9
Keep your eyes on the landing. Touch down as lightly as you can, slightly on your toes for grip. Bend the knees and try not to put your hands down.

10
Ride away as if it was nothing, give a high-5 to your mates, wink at the nearest good-looking girl/boy and feel chuffed with yourself that you learnt a new trick… job done!

 

Sweet Spots

Most jumps are built to have a defined take-off, platform or gap, and landing.
To enjoy a jump, and avoid injury, you need to carry enough speed to land in the ‘sweet spot’ of the landing. That is the part of the landing where the angle is perfectly pitched to catch the trajectory of your airtime.
Coming up short, or catching the knuckle (where the landing and platform meet) is often the result of going too slowly at the jump, or scraping too much speed as you try and huck a spin off the lip. On medium to large jumps and even small ones in hard and icy conditions, this is very dangerous.
Over-shooting is the opposite process where too much speed will see you fly over the entire landing ramp and end up in a whole pile of trouble.
Hence, the importance of judging the correct speed for a jump cannot be over-stated.

 

Trick: Backside 720 nose / Rider: Sam Cullum / Photographer: James Bryant / Location: Mayrhofen, Austria

 

Rider info

Name: Sam Cullum
Age: 21
Sponsors: DC, Oakley, Suso, Grenade, BawBags, Clast, Skullcandy, The Snowboard Shop, www.samcullum.co.uk
Favourite Resort: Breckenridge, Mayrhofen
Highs: Red Bull Railstorm in London and definitely going to the DC Mtn Lab
Lows: Injuries my broken back and leg for sure, missed flights, bad weather
Something that makes you laugh: I laugh a lot so pretty much anything (within reason)
Something that makes you cry: Fatalities and if you take my ice cream!
Never leave home without: Phone, wallet and car keys

 

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