Quote Originally Posted by biker chick
In Brian Lopez's book Mastering Mountain Bike Skills, p. 5, he writes," cross-country trail bike with 4 inches front and rear travel. I ride this bike most often...lots of hard climbs and fast technical descents... rocks, deep ruts, and rad, bermed turns. " I am sure an expert as himself gets out of the saddle even on a full suspension. On p. 2-3 he talks about hardtail or full suspension. "Hardtals...perform better in two particular conditions (1) cross country riding on smooth trails and (2) dirt jumping and bikecross on smooth courses. The lighter, more stiffer bikes transmit more power to the ground...In almost all other off road situations, full suspension is superior. You can ride faster and on rougher terrain with more comfort and more control than with a hardtail."
Whichever kind of bike you choose, you will be a better technical rider if you get off the saddle. And, as V pointed out, much less likely to tumble. A FS can really help smooth out a rough trail, but it will be even smoother still when you are out of the saddle and using your body in a dynamic fashion. When you just sit on the FS and let it do all the work, ( sofa butt) it's still a pretty rough ride, and less forgiving of technical errors.