How to Snowboard: A Beginner’s Guide – Part 1
Hey guys! If you’ve never been snowboarding before, wants to know how to snowboard? this is the perfect series for you. We’ve got some basic tips and tricks to prepare you to roll before you even set foot on the snow.
This is part one in a three-part series and in this part, we’re gonna cover the following things how to put on your boots the parts of a snowboard properly and how to get in and out of your snowboard, your snowboard stance, and a couple of easy ways to carry your board around.
Chris Rogers, a Snow operator and the American Association of snowboard instructors
proper boot fit is one of the most important aspects of your experience on the mountain. When trying on boots remember you should only have one pair of socks and nothing else should go inside the boot.
Pull your socks up tight to eliminate wrinkles in the boot and slide your foot smoothly into the boot. Kick your heel back a couple of times before tightening your boots. This will make sure that your heel is back.
There are a few different types of boot laces. The main lacing system you’ll find in rental shops or traditional laces BOA dials and pull and lock laces like the burton speed zone.
Regardless of the type, the boot must fit right and the laces will firmly hold your foot and prevent ankle slip.
As snowboarders, we slide sideways wherever we go. That means we have a lead foot. I ride with my left foot forward. That’s called a regular stance and I ride with my right foot forward that’s called a goofy stance.
There’s no right or wrong it’s just all about what feels good to you. Now that we’ve got our boots on let’s take a closer look at our snowboards.
So, you’ve got the front of the snowboard that’s called the nose and then there’s the back of the snowboard that we call the tail.
Then there’s the heel side edge and the toe side edge. They call it the heel side edge because it’s behind your heels and the toe side edge. After all, it’s by your toes.
Bindings are what attach your feet to the snowboard. Usually plastic composite or metal with plastic straps and a ratcheting system to securely attach your boot.
The first time you strap into your snowboard you’re gonna want to find a flat surface feed. The ladder into the ratchet and crank the ratchet to tighten to release and pull the buckle away from the ratchet.
I am about to tell you how to get around with your snowboard on. But sometimes we’ll be walking around the mountain with our snowboards off as well. Here are a few ways to carry your snowboard.
First, you have to pick it up put it under your arm, and walk with it. If you’re walking on snow, you can also just pick it up by the binding and drag it next to you. And while you may have seen people carrying their snowboards like this.
While hiking the pipe or in the backcountry, I try to avoid these crowded base areas for obvious reasons.
How to Snowboard: A Beginner’s Guide – Part 2
Hey guys I’m Chris Rogers and if you’ve never been snowboarding before this is the perfect series for you. We’ve got a bunch of super basic tips and tricks to get you feeling comfortable and prepped.
Before you even set foot on snow. This is part two in a three-part series and in this part, we’re gonna cover the following things how to skate and glide, how to get up from a sitting position with both feet strapped in and how to climb uphill without on strappy.
One foot in one foot out is how we get around on our snowboards. It’s how we’ll skit up to the chairlift and it’s how we’ll get around anytime.
We’re in the flats our first few movements on a snowboard are gonna be just with our front foot strapped in.
So go ahead and get that front foot strapped in and I’ll get a feel for the snowboard attached to your front foot. Put your back foot on the snow and try lifting your front foot off the snow.
Feel the weight of the snowboard and just get used to having it attached to your foot. Snowboarding is adopted a lot of terminology from skateboarding.
Just like skateboarding we’re gonna be pushing with one foot on the ground and one foot on our snowboard.
With our front foot attached to the snowboard and our back foot in the snow. On the heel edge, we’re gonna take little steps and push ourselves across the snow.
Skating is how we push ourselves around on the flats riding is how we’re going to slide with one foot in and one foot out but with a little bit of a downhill pitch for the glide.
We’re gonna take our back foot and step onto the snowboard between the bindings and let the snowboard slide forward a little bit as we get comfortable with this.
We can try it. I’m a little bit more of a hill ok let’s go over how to stand up from a seated position with both feet still strapped in because unfortunately, snowboards don’t come with life alert from a seated position.
You’re gonna bend your knees and scoot your board towards your butt now lean forward with your upper body and stand up using your quads in your core try this in the flats a few times so you don’t have to worry about sliding while trying to stand up.
Another way to get up is to flip over to your toe edge simply bend one knee roll over and stand up on your toes.
So, say you were snowboarding down the hill and you stopped just a little bit further down than the rest of your friends and you want to get back up to them.
All you have to do is dig your toe side edge in and continuously hop up like you’re jumping over a tiny jump rope.
It might take a little time but you’ll get there.
A Beginner’s Guide – Part 3
What’s going on everybody I’m Chris Rogers and if you’ve never been snowboarding before you’re in the right place. We’ve got a bunch of super basic tips and tricks to go over to get you feeling comfortable before you even set foot on the snow.
This is part three and the final part of this series. let’s jump into what we’re covering today. We’re gonna teach you how to stop, how to turn and how to ride the chairlift so you can get around the mountain.
There’s an acronym for that it’s called Ozzie. Before we learn how to go and turn, we want to learn how to stop and control our speed on our heel side with a board across the hill. Stand up and find the balance point where your board is slipping down the hill.
Without moving from side to side you should be in a mid-squat like you’re halfway. That’s sitting down in a chair with your toe edge up off the snow.
Your back should be straight and your hands out in front of you. The more you push down on your toes the more speed you’ll have in your slip. On the toe side similar to the heel side slip.
If you want to be standing in your athletic stance balanced over the toe edge of the snowboard, think about tightening your core and pushing your hips out over the toe edge of your snowboard. The more you lean over the toe edge the more you’ll slow down.
Once you’re comfortable stopping and controlling speed on both your toe edge and heel edge you’re ready to start learning how to turn.
Start with Garland’s, Garlands are like half a turn and they’re how we start teaching the turning movements we call them garlands. Because they kind of look like a garland on a Christmas tree.
From your peel sides slip you learned earlier you’re going to bend your front knee and put a little more weight on the toes of your front foot.
That side of the snowboard will start to lead down the hill slightly. Now ease your weight back to the Center and move the board back across the hill.
Repeat to work your way across the hill leaving a track that looks like a Christmas tree garland. Once you’ve mastered this heel side it’s time to do it on your toes.
Flip yourself over and this time you’ll flex your lead knee and put some additional weight over the heel edge of your front foot.
As the front foot starts to lead down the hill even out the flex in both knees and shift additional weight. Over the toe, edge to return to the toe side slip, and control your speed again. You’ll repeat this to make your way across the hill and a toe-side garland.
As you get more comfortable with the garland start letting the snowboard move farther and farther down the hill. Before you pull back and stop you’ve got that Garland’s down and you’re ready for your first C turns.
Now at this point, I think it’s important to note that some resorts have special terrain-based learning areas that offer shaped snow features that can help you control your speed as you try these.
First turns from your heel side put your weight on your front foot, push on those front toes and let the boards start to move down the hill just like a garland.
Keep your weight over your front foot as you shift your weight over to your toe edge and finish the turn in a toe side slip. Now, we’re on our toes and we want to go back to our heels.
We’re going to add our weight to our front foot shift a little weight over the heel and again let the snowboard go down
The hill even out the flex on both knees and shifts your weight over the heel edge to return to a heel-side slip. Our goal here is to get comfortable with both the heel side and the toe side.
Turn once we’re comfortable with both of them we can link them together. Into that picture of an S turn, you’ve seen so many times before this is snowboarding.
Okay now that you know how to turn and stop here’s how to ride the chairlift so you can explore the rest of the mountain.
So, this is where you’re gonna use skating skate up to the sign. That says wait here when it’s your turn. Skate to another sign that usually says load here. This is where you’ll want to put your back foot on your toe side edge it’s just going to be easier to sit down.
When the chair comes around sit-down scoot to the back of the chair put the safety bar down and enjoy the ride.
Up a couple of key parts for getting off the chairlift safely. First point your snowboard straight you want the nose of your snowboard pointed right at the unload ramp as the chair comes into the unload are. Keep the board straight and stand up with your back foot on the board.
Just like we learned in the glide earlier look ahead. To where you want to go and slide away straight.
All right guys that wrap up part three and this series. Like I said before there’s so much more to experience and enjoy when it comes to snowboarding. So, when you head out to the mountain go check out snow school and get yourself a lesson. It is one of the best ways to experience snowboarding for the first time.
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