Backside 360
- Skill:
- land a backside 360 off a kicker
The backside 360 is a full rotation spinning with your back toward the downhill side. It's often considered harder than frontside because more of the spin is blind. But many riders actually find the takeoff more natural because of the heel-edge approach.
The wind-up happens on your toe-side approach. You pre-wind the shoulders away from the hill so they have maximum range to unwind through the spin. At the pop, release the shoulders hard in the spin direction. The first 180 degrees is blind; the second 180 brings the landing back into view over your leading shoulder, usually around the 270-degree mark.
Where backside 3s trip people up is stalling out at 270. Your brain sees the landing appear and instinctively wants to stop rotating, but the board hasn't caught up yet, and you land diagonal or on your heel edge. The fix is to keep your head and shoulders rotating even after you see the landing. Only at 360 do you open up and extend to stomp. Staying tight through the spin and committing past the "I can see the ground" moment is the whole trick.
Learn more here:
Video by Snowboard Addiction
Key tips
- Solid backside 180s are a prerequisite
- Ride in with slight toe-edge pressure. Your shoulders should be slightly open in counter rotation to the spin.
- Commit to the full rotation. Stay tucked up and looking for the landing through 180. Bailing at 270 is worse than over-rotating
- Look over your trailing shoulder to initiate, then keep your head turning
- The landing comes into view around 270 degrees. Spot it
- Open up for the landing