I'm not sure what I can add-likely too much.
But what I tend to do is to take a wider line around the cones...not cut so close- just for a cone or two. This pushes the traction of your wheels causing them to "chirp" and that helps in slowing down.
Having your weight further backwards as opposed to forwards also will reduce your pump- and cause you to gradually slow down and keep the rear wheels in contact with the ground...but it takes a while for this to work so I don't use this technique as much.
You can test the surface of the course after a run by taking wide turns and trying to slow down.
Typically A long drawn out turn that is "gradually sustained" can result in a slide that builds...though could go out of control if you push it for too long...and by then you are in a less than optimal balanced position.....unless you want to go into a full slide- which most do not in slalom. I do anything I can to avoid this type of slide. AS you have too much weight rearward.
You can see in Mollica's videos of Olson at La Costa that he "double turns" some wider gates so he doesn't go into a slide and gets some double pumping action as well. Olson is trying to avoid a long drawn out slide that would take away a lot of speed. This technique takes a lot of skill.
Instead of a using a long drawn out turn- using A short "quick lateral- pop" can induce a wheel chirp and since your body is only in this position and back on the way to a balanced position before the slide even commences, I think this is a good way to lose speed quickly and relatively safely.
But it does take a bit of practice to do. The advantage of this is that the slide won't get completely out of control because you already have regained your balance before the slide begins.
If you didn't estimate how much chirp you needed you'll have to do it again on the next cone. There is a limit as to how much you can dump in speed per cone. It is best to do one chirp of the wheels as close to the technical section as possible as it tosses your weight forward and sets you up for the attacking the tech section.
Its a tricky thing and has to be done very quickly, and better pavement is more suited to this. Soft wheels will work for this on very steep pavement though better if the core is large relative to the wheel. Otherwise mid durowheels...ie not as hard as you could run, and not as soft as you could run, work optimally. Smaller diameter wheels are also better suited to this.
Its like giving a quick pop to your brakes before you hit the apex of a turn on an offramp in your car.
Lets say you go into the turn with too much speed and you know if you apex the turn- you will end up in the grass. So before you apex you pop the brakes- (just a quick pop). This will weight your front wheels giving you a little more steer, yet if done fast you won't take much weight off the rear (if your front suspension has anti-dive geometry)......just add a little bit of downforce overall. This is good to correct for just a few MPH. A slow application of the brakes means you don't get that "sudden peak loading" of the front wheels and definitely unweights the rear- which could result in blowing out of the turn.
In your car of course you don't want to hear a chirp as you are just hitting the brakes, in skateboarding you use this sudden steering as your brakes.
So the force you transfer can't be done delicately, but quick deliberate and precise and use your ears as your guide to listen for the chirp when skateboarding.
This is what I do on steeper Ts courses at speed just before I hit a very tight or technical section and need to dump up to 4-8 mph in a cones length.
I haven't run a truck with lots of rear steer since I rode Bennetts in the 1970's and have run low steering trucks like Tracker full tracks. What Jani said about low steerings trucks is true in that they are harder to initate a slide. In higher geometry steering trucks I find that the slide can really "get away from you" if the rear oversteers. You can trim your rear grommets down in thickness and add washers to take up the slack to introduce "turn limits" into a regular rear trucks. This can stop teh rear truck from turning at a point and reduce the chances of an endo slide.
What I do is this. I run the course- adjust my trucks for the amount of traction needed. Then if there is a section where I feel I could enter fast and chirp the rear truck to slow down and make a more technical section I loosen my rear truck about 1/4- 3/4 of a turn so the back end will loose traction if really pushed.
If anyone has the ability to host a video I'll email them a clip where you can hear and see this being done. The chirp is just loud enough to be heard on the camera.
<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: John Gilmour on 2003-09-22 12:21 ]</font>