Originally Posted by wgscott

Most of the braking power will be in the front, so equal application of both brakes is probably the best starting point. The trick is not to make the front brake too grabby, so brakes that are good at modulation tend to be the easiest to use (eg: Shimano SLX, XT, XTR hydraulics). You also want to try to shift your weight backward on a steep hill going downward, ideally lowering your saddle (either manually with a stem-lock quick release, or automatically with a dropper post). In any case, you want to shove your center of mass toward the back of the bike, and use both brakes roughly equivalently.