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Snowboarding Tips?

HardcoreRobot

HardcoreRobot

Lifer
Going next weekend for the first time. Never skateboarded, surfed, or wakeboarded (I don't even know if its anything like those things anyways). I have skiied though, and am pretty decent. Im not really afraid of speed or heights, so I'm nervous I might kill myself 🙂 I dont expect to pick it up quickly, but if you guys could share how you learned and pass on any tips to lessen the learning curve I would appreciate it.
 
It won't be bad as long as you dont go on any of the big hills. Learn how to leaf and stop and you should be more or less ok in terms of staying safe. As far as falling goes, i hear that you should try to tuck your arms in. Putting your hands out to brace your fall will only increase the likeliness of seriously hurting your wrists.
 
wear comfortable (AND WATERPROOF) clothes. Nothing ruins the day like having water seep through your pants and make your ass cold (your hands too...so waterproof gloves as well!!!)
 
i asked my friends to teach me a couple of years ago and they all left me behind. a$$holes. at least i was falling on my ass by myself.

Text

...and go get wrist guards. helps you a lot during the first day. 🙂
 
if you're decent at skiing, you'll do just fine snowboarding. If you can Parellel stop on skis it should be cake. main thing, keep your knees bent and don't shift your weight to the back, or you'll hurt your a$$. determine if you're regular or goofy. Heel and Toe turns are the keys to maintaining course and balance. to stop you have to shift your board and just use the friction of the edge and stop. IMO its easily and faster to stop on snowboard rather than skis. If you fall make sure you fall superman style, and don't twist your torso, could strain your hip.
 
Originally posted by: bR
i asked my friends to teach me a couple of years ago and they all left me behind. a$$holes. at least i was falling on my ass by myself.

Text

...and go get wrist guards. helps you a lot during the first day. 🙂
Click to expand...

One of my friends decided to come snowboarding with us for teh first time, instead of leaving him, we took him with us. To a black diamond. It was fun. But it's ok, he had a crash course on the bunnies first
 
Originally posted by: Mo0o
Originally posted by: bR
i asked my friends to teach me a couple of years ago and they all left me behind. a$$holes. at least i was falling on my ass by myself.

Text

...and go get wrist guards. helps you a lot during the first day. 🙂
Click to expand...

One of my friends decided to come snowboarding with us for teh first time, instead of leaving him, we took him with us. To a black diamond. It was fun. But it's ok, he had a crash course on the bunnies first
Click to expand...

lol. the bunnies were impossible, there was just too many people. especially the ones sitting and blocking everybody. 😕
 
Originally posted by: bR
i asked my friends to teach me a couple of years ago and they all left me behind. a$$holes. at least i was falling on my ass by myself.

Text

...and go get wrist guards. helps you a lot during the first day. 🙂
Click to expand...

Thanks for the link, im going through it now.

I just bought some new pants and a nice gore-tex jacket so hopefully i will be able to stay dry 🙂

 
You will have a tendency to go real fast with your board flat against the ground. Don't do this or you will go too fast and loose control. Keep your knees bent and stay on one of the edges (heel or toe) of your board. Get used to switching between your heel and toe edge on a smaller hill before you tackle the larger hills. Oh and have fun getting off the chair lifts 🙂
 
dont try to do a toe side stop first few times its much harder than a heel side and you cant feel when your board edge catches so you have no idea when your goin down.

wakeboarding is very similar.

MIKE
 
make sure you take a lesson. it might cover topics you could have figured out yourself but you'll learn much faster this way.

to determine which stance you are, regular(left foot forward) or goofy(right foot forward), determine which foot you would kick a soccer ball with or try running across the floor in your socks and slide across the floor on your feet and which ever foot you put forward should also be forward on the board. EDIT: the foot you kick a ball with will be in BACK.

another reason to avoid sticking your arms out when you fall, especially backward, is that you are highly vulnerable to shoulder injuries which really, really suck.

and definitely make sure you have waterproof gear, especially pants and gloves. you will most likely spend a lot of time getting up from a fall by pushing off with your hands and you will do a lot of sitting and kneeling.

just to reiterate, take a lesson. before i took a lesson i was falling all over the bunny slope. after the lesson i was riding down the blues, not altogether smooth-looking, but i wasn't falling anymore and it turned what started out as an awful experience into a great one.

good luck
 
make SURE you get your binds adjusted no matter how many times you adjust them, i board with a 3-3 duck(3, -3 maybe?) and love it.

also just get comfortable staying on your heels first instead of toes. watch out for ice, cant get any edge with ice and it hurts🙁 take your back foot out when getting on and off lifts to give you balance in case you start to stumble.

always fall backwards if possible and dont be afraid to fall if you pick up too much speed.
if avail. TAKE lessons for a few hours, i did my first day and it helped alot. i could go on my heels fine but it sucked because i had to pretty much stop to get going the other way, i finally picked up how to switch from my heels to my toes without falling and since then i can fly down mountains. ive only been boarding twice in new mexico and LOVE IT(going this year too) i can hold my own too, gonna learn the rails this year.(of course i wakeboard very good but its on water, it still gives you a little advantage and i used to skateboard ALOT).

if trying to switch from your heels to your toes, just kinda of turn your body backwards and kick your back foot behind you and it will throw you and your board from your heels to your toes, sounds hard but it works.

dont land on your back and let your wrists catch you, they will hurt BAD at the end of the day. just kinda cross your arms and drop back and roll back kinda(arch your body so it kinda rolls)

also watch out for dry spots(mud, dirt, grass, etc.) i went boarding last year in march and it was mostly manmade so when i saw a patch of dirt i went over it and came to a complete stop, it sucked. now i love seeing the dry spots so i can jump them🙂

i love snowboarding more than anything on the earth(even fapping) but it sucks cause i live in arkansas and can only go once or twice a year for 4 or 5 days at a time🙁 hopefully i can move to the mountains one day. if i grew up around snow, bet money i would become pro.


kinda typed too much, sorry but i love boarding so much😀


gl and report back with pics!!!! also if you know what manualing it on a skateboard, its twice as easy to do it on a snowboard, just lean back all the way and pick you front foot up, lots of fun if you can balance it.
 
make sure the pants you get are snowboarding pants. don't use your ski pants, they won't fit as loose. also, remember to let gravity turn you, don't try to use brute strength, you'll kill your knees.
 
Pain = Only way to learn

Let the board do the turning by using the edges (kinda like parabolic skis help you these days)

Don't "force" a turn, you'll tire out your entire body
 
awesome advice guys

im going with a big group of people (~20) and i think about half of them are beginners so I will have company. I would definitely take a lesson, maybe I can convince some of the other people too as well.
 
Try signing up for lessons -- they normally have great rental + lesson deals. It'll help you as a first timer, so that you don't develop any bad habits. One beginner lesson is sufficient and you won't regret taking it!
 
I'm in the process of learning, actually been a process over the last 2 years. I still can't turn toe side well, but I'm getting better. As some one up above said let the edges do the work when turning and everything seems to go much easier.
 
I've been skiing for 10 years or so ... going to try snowboarding for the first time this winter .. the boots just look so much more comfortable. 🙂
 
Personally I dont believe on learning on the bunny slope.

The hill is so miniscule and short, and there are too many people there. Plus, the snow is much sh1ttier there always. Now I'm not saying go straight to the black diamond, but you'll learn much faster on intermediate hills.

It's going to be frustrating as hell at first (and a lot more tiring), but once you learn things get 100x easier on the body and 100x more fun.

My #1 advice: Don't snowboard scared! If you try to half-@ss your turning and such, you WILL fall. You have to be willing to eat snow several times.
 
Originally posted by: chowmein
if you're decent at skiing, you'll do just fine snowboarding. If you can Parellel stop on skis it should be cake. main thing, keep your knees bent and don't shift your weight to the back, or you'll hurt your a$$. determine if you're regular or goofy. Heel and Toe turns are the keys to maintaining course and balance. to stop you have to shift your board and just use the friction of the edge and stop. IMO its easily and faster to stop on snowboard rather than skis. If you fall make sure you fall superman style, and don't twist your torso, could strain your hip.
Click to expand...

What's superman style? I strained my hip a lot last season 🙁
 
Falling leaf, and I'm assuming you're going to be renting so if thats the case tell the person that you are NEW and that you need a couple sizes smaller. Remember the longer the board the faster the board.

My first trip, I didn't have wrist guards and well that kind of hurt, but once again thats just extra apparell. Waterproof clothes is a must because your clothes can freeze. When that happens.... well that just sucks.

What else can I tell you... well thats it for now, post more later
 
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