Brad Hogan positioned properly. Photo: Pete Vordenberg
For the splitboarders among us, foot stance is critical. Here’s the THR primer on stances with an emphasis on the double posi.
It all started in the 90’s. Snowboarding was getting bigger, and so were the airs in the superpipe. And, of course, you looked at these superpipers and wanted to be just like them. Long hair, baggy clothes, bad attitudes, and a wide stance on the snowboard. Positive angle on the front binding, negative angle on the back foot for landing those 540s in the pipe. You had to be ready to ride switch.
These concepts have clung to the snowboard culture to this day. Of course, styles have changed. Superpipe and slopestyle aren’t the only popular means of snowboarding, and I’d like to think the bad boy attitude isn’t as prevalent as it used to be. Despite those changes in snowboard culture, the angles at which we set bindings haven’t changed much in the general population of snowboarders. And, by extension, that applies to splitboarders, too.
Mitsuki Ono performs at the Laax Open in Laax, Switzerland. Photo: Ondrej Kolacek / Red Bull Content Pool
Most snowboarders in the backcountry, aside from a few exceptions, don’t ride switch. However, many snowboarders have a positively angled front foot and a negatively angled back foot. Call it duck-footed. This “+” toward the nose and “-” toward the tail is best suited for the folks getting wild in the pipe and park as they have better control when landing that cork 540 or whatever they do to land backward.
Looking forward, not backward, the stance set up by a downhill snowboard racer is quite different than a superpiper’s. Snowboard racers have a double positive stance (double posi) to allow for control at high speeds while carving through gates. They also have aggressive angles set for both their bindings. Chris Klug, who is not pictured below but is a former professional snowboard racer, claims to run a +55-degree front binding and a +48-degree rear. (Both feet point aggressively toward the nose.)
Benjamin Karl with pucks angled for carving—a double posi stance. Photo: Arvid Auner / Red Bull Content Pool
Consider another board sport with a double positive foot stance, surfing. While you do not have the confines of bindings on a surfboard, generally, your feet point forward. My neighbor Delgado confirmed similar stances for snow surfing and longboarding. It feels natural to point your feet in the direction you want to go: Your body naturally faces that direction, and you have better control.
Delgado showing off his stance in the snurfer worker shop in Moose Pass, AK.
The Double Posi
Now, let’s talk about the double posi stance on a splitboard. Unfortunately, getting angles as aggressive as Chris Klug is not feasible on most splitboards due to the uphill touring hardware being in the way. Depending on the snowboard and uphill binding mount pattern, I have found that around +40 degrees is about as aggressive as you can go with your front foot. Granted, this is using the Spark R&D hardboot bindings, which have no limit on the angle you can set. Phantom bindings will only allow you to top out at a +/-30-degree angle for both feet, which is great for many snowboards as they won’t accept a higher angle due to the uphill hardware being in the way. My front foot is generally 7-10 degrees more aggressive than my rear foot; however, on a deep powder day this winter, I tried a +30 front foot and a +5 degree back foot and found it to be very fun and playful on the shapely WNDR Shepard.
The space between the puck and the toe piece is the crux for how positive your stance can be set.
On the three boards I ride regularly, my 172 Prior Spearhead has the lowest front foot angle, 30 degrees, with the rear foot being 23 degrees. Unfortunately, these angles are limited by the uphill hardware, my preferred stance position and width for this big board, and the type of snow and terrain I ride with it. I would love to have it angled more aggressively, but regardless, the Prior has perhaps been my favorite snowboard to ride—more on that stick to come.
Snowboarders seem to be coming around to the double-posi stance, which years ago was not the case. I believe the average user’s experience is generally more akin to that of a snowboard racer than that of a park rider. I prefer to go fast and make fun turns, so why not set yourself up for what you’re doing most?
The quiver of splitboards with a variety of positive angled pucks from left to right the Jones Ultra solution 164, WNDR Shepherd 166, and the Prior Spearhead 172.
This is not a “this way is better” article. This is a primer to try something new. Something that could be better for some could be worse for others. Not every snowboarder will like the double positive angle; some find it uncomfortable, while others find it unlocks a more comfortable stance. All this to say, being comfortable while you ride is important, and it’s something to think about.
Couldn’t agree more. I’ve been posi-posi on my splits for 2 years now and won’t go back. Two of my splitboard partners still ride duck in the backcountry, when I asked why they said “this is just how I’ve always done it”. I personally run +21, +6 on my powder split and +18, +3 on my freeride split. I like the lower angles on the freeride split as I’ve found it’s easier to do hop turns (for me) with slightly less back foot angle. I almost always run hardboots but run this the few times I’m on softboots too (just every so slightly wider stance angle on softboots than hardboots).
I went back and tried the standard duck foot stance maybe a year or 2 ago and i found it super uncomfortable! Robertson, do you find it more playful and less inline than a higher positive angle on the backfoot? I’ve enjoyed angles similar to yours in powder conditions.