# How Long Does It Usually Take to Be Able to Ride on Black?



## Guest (Feb 23, 2009)

Starting from bunny hill...


----------



## Guest (Feb 23, 2009)

Depends, you can ride on a black when you should be on a green but does that mean anything? No.

That being said I felt comfortable after a couple seasons riding on blacks and not just falling leaf down them.


----------



## Guest (Feb 23, 2009)

It depends.


I learned the hard way, I always snowboarded with my friends who raced on skis, so naturally they went on the steepest, fastest trails.

I followed them and I always followed them on like black diamonds, and I'd always get my ass handed to me. This was of course after I learned basic stuff, but I was no where near ready for the type of trails they were bringing me on. I would always be last and they would wait, but they said it was better for me. They joked and said, it builds character! 

But it worked I guess. I'm a solid, solid rider now, obviously not perfect, but you get the idea.

I'm not saying go all out, because it's easy to hurt your self as a beginner, but don't judge a trail on it's ratings. I've been down tons of blacks that seemed like greens, even blues at best, and some pretty freaking gnarly blues that surprised me big time.

Ride comfortable, ride within your limits but push your self a little bit more each time and you shouldn't have a problem getting to the point where you can ride almost all trails comfortably. 

Also, protip: watch others on the lift.


----------



## Guest (Feb 23, 2009)

I can honestly say I'm not ready for most blacks, but I go on them anyway. I do it to really learn how to throw my weight around. Here on the NE, you really can't just bomb a black at full speed - they're often very hardpacked and ungroomed (the ones I was on anyway). I have had instances before where I fell down on my ass and was not able to dig the edge in enough to stop myself from sliding :dunno:


----------



## SB4L (Jan 12, 2009)

It largely depends on your resorts definition of a "black". I learned to snowboard on blues and blacks, but this was at Glen Eden in Ontario - all of 300ft vertical... there is nothing that should be called a "black" there.


----------



## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

It depends on how long is the the black run.


----------



## Grizz (Nov 10, 2008)

Sn0nMasher said:


> Starting from bunny hill...


1.733333333333333333333 days.


----------



## MunkySpunk (Jan 7, 2009)

Somewhere between 1 and 1,000,000,000,000 days.

i.e. There's no right or wrong answer because there's no real answer.


----------



## campfortune (Apr 22, 2008)

I think it's easier to ride on black when you are skiing than snowboarding. there were far mor skiers in the black I went to last Saturday than snowboarders.


----------



## SB4L (Jan 12, 2009)

campfortune said:


> I think it's easier to ride on black when you are skiing than snowboarding. there were far mor skiers in the black I went to last Saturday than snowboarders.


That's a rather large generalization to be based on one Saturday.


----------



## Guest (Mar 3, 2009)

It really also depends on what you plan on doing down the black slope. As soon as you can stay up all the way down the green, really you can go down a black, but just not very fast, and probably lots of traversals and stuff. I went down the black slopes the 2nd or third time boarding, i just stayed on one edge the whole time and took it slow.


----------



## Guest (Mar 3, 2009)

SnowBun said:


> I can honestly say I'm not ready for most blacks, but I go on them anyway. I do it to really learn how to throw my weight around. Here on the NE, you really can't just bomb a black at full speed - they're often very hardpacked and ungroomed (the ones I was on anyway). I have had instances before where I fell down on my ass and was not able to dig the edge in enough to stop myself from sliding :dunno:


you can bomb blacks in the n.e, you just can't speed check, that's when you fall 

to op:

Took me a season (about 13 trips or so) to get comfy on blacks.


----------



## KIRKRIDER (Mar 18, 2008)

Sn0nMasher said:


> Starting from bunny hill...


You can slide down any black if you want to but what's the point? 
Enjoy your progression and get there when you actually WANT to be there because you need more speed than before, not to prove something.

Blues are better to learn..a bit more speed on a board is good for balance, that is really hard to keep when you go slow.
WEar protections and learn how to fall..it's way more useful than just do a black <> for the sake of it.


----------



## Guest (Mar 3, 2009)

Depends on the particular person. My goal for this season was to perfect greens and maybe start blues. Im REALLY comfortable with both and I'm starting to venture into the blacks and some mogul fields.


----------



## v-verb (Feb 1, 2009)

Trace63 said:


> Depends on the particular person. My goal for this season was to perfect greens and maybe start blues. Im REALLY comfortable with both and I'm starting to venture into the blacks and some mogul fields.


I can only dream about that! Although I remember my first time and seeing people come screaming down and stopping toe and heel side and wishing i could do that without falling. I was able to do that 3rd time out and I've been abt 7 times now. Last time I was linking turns and then crashed hurting my hip.

With my newly acquired butt pants I'm looking forward to this weekend progressing further. Altho I remember when I learned to ski it was MUCH faster and easier...sigh...


----------



## arsenic0 (Nov 11, 2008)

Its also hard to answer this question because every mountain has varying degree's..theres no set standard for what a Green run is..green just means easiest...

There are some green runs on Hood during certain conditions that could easily be a blue or black on some other mountains im sure.
Hell even some of their blue runs are trivial compared to certain green runs


----------



## jmacphee9 (Nov 11, 2008)

it took me 2 days to hit my local hills blacks. thats not saying much at all, each location is different. within about 10 days i could hit what i would call a real black which was a gnarly steep, then there are glades which took me much longer to hit, with all the quick edge exchange..


----------



## scottland (Jan 8, 2008)

Blacks on the east coast are not the same as a black at say.... Jackson Hole.

There's no way of telling how long it will take you.


----------



## Guest (Mar 3, 2009)

so hang on, arnt you the kid that said you can land 7's and asked if you practiced everyday if it could be possible to be like shaun white? 

if so, this is great! you cant even ride a black or double black.

I love kids, they are such a comic releif!


----------



## Guest (Mar 3, 2009)

sjm0300 said:


> so hang on, arnt you the kid that said you can land 7's and asked if you practiced everyday if it could be possible to be like shaun white?
> 
> if so, this is great! you cant even ride a black or double black.
> 
> I love kids, they are such a comic releif!


Two words: First Descent.

Available at all stores and your local library.


----------



## Music Moves (Jan 23, 2009)

If you're on the east coast, I'd recommend staying away from them until you not only have a good amount of control in general, but also a good amount of experience with ice.

As the blacks are obviously steeper, windblown conditions come more easily and there tends to be bald spots.

Always think progression and everyone does that at his/her own pace. But yeah, definitely get your ice game up to par if in the east.


----------



## FoShizzle (Nov 6, 2008)

You can ride blacks, even double blacks, maybe even take a heli to the alps on the first day. But, you might get hurt.


----------

