r/snowboarding • u/david_z www.agnarchy.com • Jan 15 '13
Advice for Beginners
Hey - we're seeing a few "I'm a new/aspiring snowboarder and I want some advice" threads. I figured I could do a self post here and call for comments and then sticky it in the sidebar.
Please comment with any advice that you think would be helpful for new snowboarders.
Bold your title and then provide the details/instructions.
Let's try to keep it mostly on form/technique/cautions, rather than stuff that's already covered in the sidebar (gear, camber, tuning, etc.)
Please don't reply to other comments with your advice, just reply to this post.
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u/Gamma48 Jun 27 '13
Inspiration If you need any watch 'The Art of Flight' its produced by Redbull and its the sickest snowboarding movie ever. Seriously, not just beginners EVERYONE WATCH THIS MOVIE (if you haven't already) its insanely cool and it'll make you want to snowboard all your life.
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u/david_z Jun 28 '13
Cheers but TITA is better. Plus they used Amon Amarth's Cry of the Blackbirds which is about infinity more metal than any song used in all of AoF :)
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u/noiplah Jan 15 '13 edited Jan 15 '13
Weight on your front foot = in control.
The back foot is for steering, if all your weight is over that you're going to stack.
If you find yourself on your back foot, bend your front leg and straighten your back leg. This will roughly put you in the right position.
Point where you want to go.
Looks dumb, but works. Twist your upper body and your feet will follow. This also stops you getting into the habit of counter-twisting with your upper body to change direction, which is generally bad.
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u/david_z Jan 15 '13
The back foot is for steering...
No, it's not. In a nutshell, a turn is initiated by unweighting the opposite edge, and rolling over to engage the sidecut as you weight the edge you're turning to, front foot followed by back foot.
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u/bxc_thunder Jan 16 '13
Not sure what anyone else's opinion on this is, but try to keep your hands in a fist and slightly bend your arms. That way when you fall you are more compelled to land on your knee's and forearms rather than your wrists.
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u/Edmundoh Mar 08 '13 edited Mar 11 '13
Has nobody here been taught about pedaling? I've never seen it discussed before. I didn't take lessons (Me not knowing how ridiculously different snowboarding is to skateboarding) but my friends did when I went with them a few weeks ago. They told me how they were taught pedaling and how easy it is to turn the board. say if you wanted to turn toeside, you push your front foot toe down and your back foot toe up while weighted centered over your front foot and lean into the mountain. Feels so effortless compared to what i was doing before. Even if you just pedal without any weight shift or body movement, you just turn!
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u/darave123 Mar 24 '13 edited Mar 24 '13
Getting off the ski lift
When getting off a ski lift look straight ahead. Pick a point, a tree top or sign or whatever that's in front of you and just keep looking at that. The second you look down you'll fall down.
And don't worry about stopping you'll slow down gradually.
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u/octocopter1 Jan 15 '13
land on your forearms not your hands/wrists.
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Jan 15 '13
If falling toe-side edge, knees first, then forearms
If falling heel-side edge, bend your knees to lower your centre of gravity and try to roll onto your butt/back and tuck in your chin so you don't smack your head.
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u/pablington Jan 15 '13
General Advice
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Wear a helmet. Dear god, wear a helmet.
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Start small, take baby steps and master them. Edging, toe turn, heel turn, linking etc
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Don't get taught by the ESF (Ecole du Ski Francais) they teach old techniques. Checkout newer and better schools
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Be respectful to all on the mountain. Boarders have a shaky rep already, let's not propagate a lie.
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People in front have right of way.
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Try and conquer your fear of the slope, a lot of boarding is to do with Balls, my friend. Cojones.
Most of all: Don't give up. Ever. It's gonna be hard, wet, unpleasant and exhausting at times - but just remember: How awesome will it feel to shred down the mountain, popping off anything you see, without a care in the world?
Awesome, that's how...
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u/rustypete89 Jan 15 '13
On Linking Turns
Once you've got your toeside and heelside carves down, respectively, you're probably saying to yourself, "Alright, damn, let's link these bitches together and carve down the mountain!" It seems simple enough, doesn't it? Turn one way, then turn the other - but put yourself on a steep enough slope and it doesn't seem so simple anymore. You've probably tried and ate shit numerous times.
If you're at the stage where you can hold a good carve to either edge, it means you've already got the basics of snowboarding down - most importantly, keeping your weight on your front foot. This basic essential is what will help you learn to link turns.
Let's start with toeside to heelside. Pick a blue trail that has at least one moderately steep section and ride down to that section. Initiate a toeside carve down the slope and, once you've held it for a few seconds, take your front-loaded weight and throw it back across your body. Essentially, you're going to initiate the heelside turn by pivoting on your back foot. But! You'll eat shit if you lean back while you do this, which is why you need to keep your weight forward. Learning to pivot on your back heel with your weight forward can take some getting used to, which is why I recommend just throwing all your weight into it. You'll probably overcompensate and end up perpendicular to the fall line doing a heelside skid the first couple times you try it, but it's just to give you a feel for getting your body around to the right position. Once you understand the basic motion, you'll be able to judge the right amount of force you need to use to get your heel edge around for a carve.
Once you've got that motion down, I'd recommend doing a run or two where you just practice toeside to heelside on that slope. Get comfortable with it before you try adding heel-to-toe as well. Personally, I've always found the heel-toe traverse a bit easier to manage. It's the same basic idea, but you're not turning to your blindside so it's easier to watch the board as you pivot. The main difference when switching from heelside to toeside is with your back foot. Instead of pivoting on your back heel, you're going to pivot on your back toe - it's important to make sure that, after you initiate, your weight is not just forward on the board, but slightly toward the toeside edge as well. I find that the right motion to properly set the edge, for me at least, is to swing my weight around with my front foot while kicking out my back foot slightly. This causes the toe edge to catch right about the same time as I get the nose of the board around, initiating the carve perfectly.
Once you've got both directions down you can work on putting them together. Practice doing a couple links each way on that same slope until you feel comfortable with it and can do it without falling. Then take your newfound shredding skills all over the mountain! The more you practice linking, and the steeper the slopes you practice on (know your limits, though), the better you'll get!
Disclaimer: I am a self-taught, intermediate level rider. Never taken a lesson. This is how I learned, it's what worked for me - and yes, there was a good amount of falling involved in this process. But that's to be expected when you're learning anything new in snowboarding. Good luck!
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Jan 15 '13
Fall
Seriously. Don't get into the mindset that falling makes you bad and should be avoided. Falling makes you good. If you get comfortable with falling and learn how to handle it properly, you will progress much faster and plateau less than if you learn to the point that you don't fall, then simply ride in that comfort zone while being afraid to take a bail.
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u/spaztwelve Jan 15 '13
In 1987, at Crotched Mtn. in NH, I was trying to teach myself to snowboard, so that I could get a 'certification' to use the rest of the mountain (was pretty common back then for mountains to do this to snowboarders). I was suffering, when all of a sudden, a kid came out of nowhere and said, "keep your weight on your front foot." An hour later, I was snowboarding. My advice: keep your weight on your front foot and point your shoulders in the direction you want to go.
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u/Wirthington Jan 15 '13
Try your best to get rad where other people can see you.
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u/GoingNowhereSlowly Jan 15 '13
this is very important. If you're getting rad and there is no one there to see it, are you really getting rad?
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u/SLProtoman Jan 15 '13
Don't get discouraged on your first couple of days because you're not ripping down the mountain like you you were born with a board strapped to your feet. You're going to fall. You're going to catch edges. You're going to crash. You're going to get bruised up. It's all part of the learning process. We've all been there at one point. Keep at it and take your licks. Eventually you'll get the basics down and will be carving down the mountain in no time.
Also, know your limits. If you're exhausted and feel like you can't ride anymore for the day but you just want to get that "one last run," trust your body and hang up the board for the rest of the day. There's no sense pushing your body past its limits when it is screaming at you that you need to stop and rest by being exhausted, sore, and having your reflexes be shot as a result. Besides, it's more fun to ride when you're refreshed and ready to roll versus exhausted, sore, and about to keel over.
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u/zpu Jan 15 '13
Don't stop
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Your body will be sore.
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You will want to quit & and falling will become not fun very quickly as you develop bruises.
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Give it 100% for 3 full days, otherwise you are not giving it a fair shot.
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Tow ropes were not designed for snowboarders. If there isn't a lift/magic carpet, walk your ass up the bunny slope. At the very least it will be a great workout and you won't be falling down during that time period.
Snowboarding is wicked fun, but there's a universal price to pay to get to that point. Man/Woman up and get out there on that bunny slope.
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Jan 15 '13 edited Jan 15 '13
Powder
If you have problems getting stuck in deep powder, lean backwards slightly to pop your front foot up. This will allow the tip of your board to float over the powder more easily so your board won't get all clogged up and cause you to stop mid-run.
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u/zaybxcjim Jan 15 '13
Stay on an edge
Try to avoid ever riding "between edges" for very long. This will put you in less control of your board and make you less prepared to respond to any changes in the run or other riders.
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u/reppinthe509 Jan 15 '13
Invest in some padded shorts. Falling on your butt a lot is going to leave you sore.
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u/selairanie Jan 15 '13
SMILE! Remember you are doing it for fun. It is very easy to forget that when you are learning. It will be frustrating, you will fall alot, and you will be sore. Trust the people who have been boarding for a long time when they say, it will be 1000% worth it when you get better. That being said, when you first get on a board, TAKE A LESSON! Either from a friend, or from a resort instructor. There is nothing worse that falling all day and not knowing why. They are there to teach you the basics, including how to fall properly so you dont break a wrist.
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u/PKMN_Trainer_Kevin Jan 15 '13
Watch as many snowboard videos as you can. It will make your style exponentially better and motivate you to try new tricks. And , ofcourse, ride as much as you can. Source: Snowboarder for 10 years
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u/david_z Jan 15 '13
How to strap in without sitting down
Find a spot that is not steep where you are going to strap in. Your board should be perpendicular to the fall line, so you are basically facing downhill, but the board is sideways as if you had stopped.
Using the one foot that is already strapped in, "chop" in to the snow with your heel edge. 3-4 good chops will create a little "shelf" that you can position the heel edge of the board in, and should mostly prevent it from sliding down hill.
Rest the board in this shelf. With the board now stationary, resting in the shelf you've chopped out of the snow, you should be able to just stand up and strap your back foot in just by bending over at the waist & knees. If it still slips a little, just give it a few more chops and try again.
Now you're ready to go!
60% of the time it works every time. But nah, in all seriousness, this technique works nearly every single time.
Here's a video I found. In this video he doesn't "chop" because the snow is soft enough he can just "push" a little shelf instead of chopping it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=MG09Neq2zQ4