Big mountain slopes open riders up to extreme terrain with its natural obstacles, features, and highly variable snow. What worked on the groomers has little chance on these rowdy faces unless you make some adjustments to your game. My goal here (working off the superstar opinions of Jeremy Jones and Neil McNab) is simple. Learn how to control your speed by carving arcs that flow with the mountain. The application however, is more complicated…

Per the judge’s handbook, when they tried to score each individual category,“A problem occurred: one criterion would take too much value because it is easier to use the full scale on jumps than it is for control, fluidity or line. It made it difficult for someone riding steep and fast but with hardly any jumps to score well.”

“The goal of this judging system is to allow any style of riding to win on any given day. Whether a rider’s strength is steep terrain, big airs, technical tricks or speed, each style should be able to win on that day, the rider simply showed the most impressive run utilizing his own strengths….

With truly accomplished carvers McNab explains, “In the practiced snowboarder, a combination of subtle foot movement to apply pressure along the length of the edge of the board along with a combination of precise edge tilt can accurately define, control and shape the arc….”

The Little Big Air may have been Tavo’s start in competition, but it surely wasn’t his last. He still had plenty of riding and developing to do. And that’s exactly what did practicing and competing with Team Palisades Tahoe. Once he reached high school, Tavo again stepped up into a new age bracket. This time it was the highly competitive 15 to 18-year-old group with stronger and more experienced riders…

I would like to take a few days and let me introduce you to this amazing individual. Meet Tavo Sadeg a 19-year-old college student, pro snowboarder, and reigning Junior Freeride World Champion. Raised in Tahoe City, California, and coming from a snowsports family, it’s now obvious Tavo was destined to ride….