Beginner snowboarder.. need help

[vash]

before missy? wow! i guess it was the tinkers, neds, and missy that threw MB into the limelight. i jumped in during the bandwagon times. funny how missy is a litterbug, but back then it wasnt so taboo.

i saw a racer chuck a old chain into the bushes once.

[vash]

by the way, i broke my right tib/fib in a motorbike crash. you planning on have it removed later? i did. i kept it as a good luck charm, i think mine was stainless steel. my doctor told me if i was a horse he would have to shoot me.

[Frank B]

YOu forgot Dave weins Susan DeMattei (hottie and a half) and Hairball Greg Herbold-H-ball he was ****** crazy, Hans re was big too and Tomac, the king of all riding he basically won everything Ned Overend didn't win. Oh Sarah Ballantyne Alison Sydor.. the list is endless. Joe Sloop was huge too. Jeez, I'm having a way back moment.. I still have a couple of my Fisher racing jerseys from the 80's.. I ride an old Yeti pro fro that just screams everything... Ahh I miss the old days.

[Frank B]

NIcE!! shoht you huh?.. He wanted to cut my leg off, I said.. umm, let's not and say we did. Since it's Ti- he initially wanted to leave it in, but since I'm healing so fast he thinks my metabolism may cause a problem, with bone overgrowth at the entrance point. so now he "may" want to remove the rod and give me a new knee also. Dunno yet..

[Eric 951]

Frank,

That board set-up sounds just about right for a person your size--just make sure it is wide enough in the center when you have your boots on--hope the rehab goes well, so you can utilize it next year. Here is a brief introductory lesson(a 50.00 value )

First--your a$$ will get wet--dress accordingly.

When you get to the ski area--find a nice wide FLAT spot for starters. Have a seat and strap in your front foot only--when strapping in, make sure the heel of the boot is tight against the rear of the binding--ratchet in tight, so there is minimal slop in your boot, but not so tight that it hurts. Stand up so your free foot is behind you--pick the board up with your strapped-in foot--wiggle about. Set it back down--put your free foot in front of you--pick board up--wiggle about--walk around with the board in both positions--all of this is designed to help you get used to the heft and feel of the board(and others in the lift line will appreciate you having control of your board in tight quarters). When comfortable, do some light gliding--if in a regular-foot stance, have the nose of the board pointed to your left, rotate your body, so your free foot is to the right of the board, and your shoulders are now squared with the board, and you are looking in the direction you will be going--alot of people have a hard time with this, since when they square their shoulders, the board wants to slide or flop--think skate board here.--Give a few pushes with your free foot while keeping the board nose pointed straight, when you get some momentum, put your free foot on the board either on the stomp pad or on the rear binding--even weight distribution on both feet--and just glide. Do this for a bit untill comfortable with keeping the board pointed in a straight line--now part II.

Find a spot with a slight grade that runs out into a nice flat area. Take a seat strap in your back foot. Before doing anything else--remember this--if you start to fall--DO NOT stick your arms straight out to break your fall--you can easily break a wrist--if falling backwards--try to land on your elbows/forearms--if falling forward--try to land on your forearms--okay time to stand up.
From a seated position--keep your weight evenly distrubuted between both feet,the heel edge of your board will be dug into the snow, keep some pressure on your heels and push up with your arms/stand up in one motion--when up--try to keep most of the weight on your heels, so the "heel edge" of the board digs slightly into the snow--we don't want to move anywhere yet--just stand on the board in place.--Sit back down and keep doing it untill you are comfortable getting up from a seated position. If having problems, sit like you are doing a "cannonball" with your knees to the chest, push and sit-up in one motion. repeat untill comfortable. Take another seat, now roll so you are on your chest--flop the board around too! Now rock up so you are on your knees, and the toe-edge of the board is dug slightly into the snow--push with your arms/stand up in one motion--when up evenly distributed weight bwtween both feet, pick your heels up, so your toe-edge is slightly dug in--repeat until comfortable. Now that you can stand up from the seated and kneeling postions, time to start 'boarding--yeah!

Ideal snowboarding body position for now is an athletic stance--weight evenly distributed between both feet, knees slightly bent, ankles slightly bent, waist slightly bent, arms out to the sides--for balance, head up and looking where you are going--not at the feet!--You don't want your A$$ hanging out over the heel edge of the board. Take a seat in the middle of the slight incline. Stand up so you are on your heel edge--our goal here is to edge-slip the board down the slope--your shoulders and body should be facing the bottom of the grade, your board should be parallel to the bottom of the grade,. You want to try to side-slip down the hill on your heel edge the whole time, while keeping the board straight--you don't want the nose or the tail to be downhill--just nice and straight--if going too slow,flatten the board out by pushing both feet down(like a car gas pedal)--too fast, dig the heel edge in harder--AVOID having your toe edge dig in--you will bite it. The point of this is to learn speed control. Repeat untill comfortable, then do the whole thing on your toe edge--edge-slipping down the hill while keeping the board straight--too fast press down on your toes to dig the edge in harder--too sloww flatten the board out, (most of this is done through the knees and ankles)--AVOID catching your heel edge while doing this or you will bite it.

Now, back on the grade in a seated postiton--get up on your heel edge--start edge-slipping again, but this time, let up the pressure on your heel edge, your board will flatten and the nose of the board starts to point downhill--you will gain some speed, but quickly scrub this speed off by getting on the heel edge and getting the board parallel again with your back foot/leg. repeat. Word of warning--if you start gaining speed while the nose is pointed downhill--leaning back will do nothing--keep your stance and get the board parallel on your heel edge. repeat often.

Then do the same on the toe-edge. When comfortable with maintaining and controlling your speed on both the heel and toe edge--do the same exercise, but don't scrub your speed--let the nose of the board get downhill--keep weight distributed and ride it out, this is why you want to do this an a slight slope with a FLAT run-out area. While doing this, the board should not be ridden on either edge--just nice and flat--time to do some turns!

Most people are more comfortable learning how to do a heel edge to toe edge turn, than vice-versa--so that is what this will be. Take a seat up the grade, get up on your heel edge in the side-slip position--start slipping, flatten out the board(get it off it's edge)so the nose will start to dip downhill(don't lean back, keep weight evenly distributed on both feet) when the nose of the board is pointed STRAIGHT down the hill, pick your heels up gradually, so the toe-edge of the board starts to bite--bring the back end of the board around with your back leg untill you are now on your toe edge--you should now be facing the top of the grade--dig in your toe edge/parallel the board so you stop--voila--a turn. Keep repeating the heel-to-toe turn, untill comfortable.

Then move to toe-to-heel turn a little tougher and I am sure you will bite it a couple times when your heel edge digs in unexpectedly.

Kneel on hill--get up on toe edge in side-slipping exercise, flatten your board out, by letting up on the toe-edge pressure, when nose is pointed downhill, gradually get on your heel-edge and bring the back of the board around with your back leg. You are now on the heel edge facing the bottom of hill, bring leg around untill board is parallel and you scrub off speed to a stop. repeat often untill comfortable. Time to link turns.

Start on heel edge, side-slip, flatten board, nose downhill, toe-edge, back leg around to finish turn--CONTROL SPEED, DO NOT TURN AGAIN UNTILL COMFORTABLE with your speed, because everytime you turn, you gain speed, when at right speed, flatten board, guide nose downhill, get on heel edge, bring rear of board around, finish turn, control speed. repeat.

The more you do this the easier it becomes, and you will learn the nuances of the board, how to fine tune your turns from a skidded to a carved turn, how body postioning affects the board, etc.. This is just meant to get you started, and 95% of beginners are doing linked turns by the end of the hour.

Just remember to not just jump on the lift and start at the top of a slope with your board. have fun and be safe.

[Frank B]

Again,
Thanks dude. I really appreciate this tutorial. I will save this page and read it until it's memorized.

Thanks,
Frank