# What do I expect?



## rvittoria (Dec 27, 2016)

Taking my very first boarding lesson (1 hour) this weekend at Kissing Bridge near Buffalo, NY. I signed up for 6 one hour lessons. What should I expect? Im 39 have experience skiing when I was young (Age 7-18) and have not been since. Extremely nervous, but very excited. I think I am prepped with the things I need:

New 2016 Burton Ripcord Wide 158
New Burton Freestyle Bindings
Burton Boarding Jacket & Covert Board Pant
Helmet, Goggles, padded compression shorts, wrist guards, base layer tights and top.

Thoughts on anything else? What should I expect to be doing for this first lesson? Should I remain on the slopes for reminder of the evening 7-10pm following lesson at 6? Any advice is appreciated. Thank you to all you boarders out there for advice and encouragement.


----------



## dave785 (Jan 21, 2016)

Looks like you're set! Good call on the butt pads and the wrist guards!

Just be prepared for disappointment. Snowboarding has a steep learning curve in the beginning, especially if you're already an adult. It took me four days and 12 hours of lessons before I could turn in both directions without having to stop first. Just be tenacious, stick with it, and be willing to fall and get back up again. Accept that it'll feel impossible and that everything you're trying still won't work. Then at some point it'll just click and you'll be bombing the mountain. 

Once you get past the beginner learning curve the sport gets a lot easier to progress in.


----------



## jae (Nov 27, 2015)

practice falling on your forearms and have your hands in fists. don't rely on those wrist guards. also try rolling out when falling backwards. stretch everyday for 30 minutes until your lessons, stretch everything, not just your legs, but stomach, back, neck, arms, shoulders. if it moves, stretch it, the goal is to get limber. you will fall in awkward positions that you would not think was possible. the day of stretch 15-30 minutes before and after. 

after your lessons, ride until they close, or get their early and ride before and after. watch the creepy basement vid everyday. the first time it won't make sense, maybe after the 3rd lesson and the 6th time watching the vid everything will fall into place. 

someone link the vid please.. don't have it bookmarked.


----------



## MMSlasher (Mar 18, 2016)

Gloves, you need gloves in that list.


----------



## t21 (Dec 29, 2010)

Gloves?! he don't need no stinking gloves:grin: just kidding! as mentioned already by others, practice before and after lessons,drink lots of water or something similar and patience is a virtue. It took me about 6 weeks(weekend rider) to get to my toeside turn and Boom!! got it still fell a lot when trying to progress from there. Practice (when ready) getting on and off chairlift. Getting on is easier but getting off is scarier cuz you will be sliding sideways not like on skis. BTW, you have snowboard boots?? its not on your list:wink:


----------



## rvittoria (Dec 27, 2016)

Thank you for the advice. Patience and persistence is I guess what I will need. Yes, I have Burton Invader Snowboard Boots and gloves too.


----------



## freshy (Nov 18, 2009)

Expect to have fun.
Expect to catch an edge sending either your face or the back of your head to the ground before you can react. 
Expect to be super sore the next day.
Expect to be totally addicted and stoked to get out there again.


----------



## SnowDragon (Apr 23, 2012)

All the advice above applies - follow it (well, maybe not the creepy basement video...I can't watch wrathfuldeity in his base layer:surprise.

Since you have your own equipment, do you know how to set it up? I'm thinking binding stance and angles.

Getting up once you fall: a lot of beginners have trouble getting up on their heel side on a slope. I suggest rolling over onto your toe side and then getting up.

Since you're taking 1 hour lessons, practice time after the lesson is important. You won't learn very quickly going out for one hour once a week.

Finally, you can't play the age card here. There are enough of us that started at an older age than you (myself included) who are hooked. As will you be.

Enjoy!:smile:


----------



## dave785 (Jan 21, 2016)

GreyDragon said:


> Getting up once you fall: a lot of beginners have trouble getting up on their heel side on a slope. I suggest rolling over onto your toe side and then getting up.


i've already logged 11 days this season and i still get up toe side first. 

i can get up heel.. but toe side is just easier. Plus i hate having my back exposed to the mountain.. especially on a beginner slope where people can't control where they're going! Safer to be looking uphill while you stand up IMO.


----------



## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

Probably death by avalanche. 

Really though, everything stated above is true.


----------



## Winter_Lion (Nov 30, 2016)

I'll agree with the previous post, getting up on toe side is way easier. Roll on your stomach and up. Then flip or jump to your heel side. Or just keep going if you are on bunny hill.

Sent from my VS990 using Tapatalk


----------



## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Ime...pre-dose before the lesson to help preventh the swelling, pain and biatchiness :surprise:


Ibuprofen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Ibuprofen is a medication in the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) class that is used for treating pain, fever, and inflammation.[4] This includes painful menstrual periods, migraines, and rheumatoid arthritis.[4]


----------



## dave785 (Jan 21, 2016)

wrathfuldeity said:


> Ime...pre-dose before the lesson to help preventh the swelling, pain and biatchiness :surprise:
> 
> 
> Ibuprofen
> ...


Don't take any blood thinners like aspirin though. High altitude + blood thinner = bad time.

I take two aleve before every ride, but it's for the arthritis in my knees


----------



## Trabi75 (Dec 12, 2014)

Flask of apple crown

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk


----------



## snowangel99 (Mar 11, 2016)

You will love it!!!! Perservere!!!! For my first day I was completely and totally exhausted after 1.5 hours on the magic carpet lol. So don't expect too much the first day. 
The second day I only did one hour and again exhausted but felt more confident. 
Third time was able to traverse down the hill. Then additional evenings was able to get out where I practised traversing and eventually turning...probably turning by the 5th or 6th outing. After that it's just been trying to get in as much practice as possible. 
For me short outings of 1 to 1.5 hours a pop did the trick for learning. So once you get the basics get out to the hill as much as possible to practice what is taught during the lessons.
HTH

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


----------



## DaftDeft (Mar 7, 2016)

snowangel99 said:


> You will love it!!!! Perservere!!!! For my first day I was completely and totally exhausted after 1.5 hours on the magic carpet lol.


Honestly though the magic carpet sucks for snowboarding. It's oddly exhausting! Back when I was skiing I don't remember it draining the energy out of me like it does when snowboarding. Not sure why but lift lines and magic carpets are 1000% more tiring when riding. 

I've actually taken to taking off both bindings and just standing in line when there's a long wait. I pop them back on just before the gate.  Thank you Flow bindings.


----------



## Argo (Feb 25, 2010)

dave785 said:


> Don't take any blood thinners like aspirin though. High altitude + blood thinner = bad time.
> 
> I take two aleve before every ride, but it's for the arthritis in my knees


Aspirin has shown in multiple studies to reduce headaches from alritude sickness by up to 50%. I would always tell friends visiting me at altitude, when we lived in vail at 8300', to pre dose with 600 to 900mg of aspirin and drink lots of water.


----------



## Noreaster (Oct 7, 2012)

He's going to Kissing Bridge, folks. Methinks altitude sickness ain't something he needs to worry about.


----------



## snowangel99 (Mar 11, 2016)

How did it go??????

Sent from my SM-N910W8 using Tapatalk


----------



## rvittoria (Dec 27, 2016)

*I had a blast....once I....*

The first 45 minutes of the lesson was really tough. Not gonna lie. I struggled trying to get up. I just couldn't do it using heals. I exerted so much of my strength and energy trying to get up and falling and trying to get up again that each time I went down I was so tired. I finally decided to try toe and then pull back and jump up and low and behold....it worked. I fell a few times after I would stand up, but no biggie. Got back up. Fell attempting to stop halfway down hill and slowdown. Struggled with turns and stopping. Was able to go down the hill 10x or so without falling at all and then back up to try again. I stayed after the 1.5 hour lesson and just kept going back up and boarding down until 10pm when they closed. I had the most fun once I figured out how to get up. 

I struggled with tightening and clicking my bindings in. Took me a while each time. Need to practice with that. Doesn't anyone make a click in binding for boards? If not, someone will make millions inventing it. As for my ability. It was a first day....I loved it once I got the hang of it. My falls were snow storms, but must've looked funny from a distance LOL. Im in lots of pain today, but its all muscle aches for areas I clearly don't work on at the gym 3-4X week. Thank you everyone for the advice and keep it coming. Im just glad Im accomplishing this goal before I turn 40 in March.


----------



## DaftDeft (Mar 7, 2016)

rvittoria said:


> I struggled with tightening and clicking my bindings in. Took me a while each time. Need to practice with that. Doesn't anyone make a click in binding for boards? If not, someone will make millions inventing it. As for my ability. It was a first day....I loved it once I got the hang of it. My falls were snow storms, but must've looked funny from a distance LOL. Im in lots of pain today, but its all muscle aches for areas I clearly don't work on at the gym 3-4X week. Thank you everyone for the advice and keep it coming. Im just glad Im accomplishing this goal before I turn 40 in March.


About those bindings: Flow and other companies offer "speed" or rear entry bindings that have the advantage of being a lot faster to get into at the top of the lift... once you get used to them. I hesitate to call them easier to use since they come with their own set of challenges. Either approach, traditional or rear entry, once you get used to it you shouldn't need more than like 30 seconds to setup and go. I've seen people ride off the lift in both setups and strap in without stopping so its possible to not be slowed down either way.

Personally, I rode my first season on a traditional setup and this season on Flows and for someone getting used to the sport, the speed entry has been great. 

Oh and the trick demonstrated in this video does work very well, it's just not quite as easy as he makes it look. You have to give a bit of force when you slam your heel edge in and make sure you are facing pretty square uphill.


----------



## Sons of Thunder (Mar 24, 2015)

This might sound silly, but know when to call it a day. I've had days on the mountain where I've made great progress and rode better than I ever have before, and I decide to take one more run before heading home. Usually at this point it's getting darker, the snow is starting to freeze and both my muscles and brain are pretty fatigued. That's when you catch an edge and tomahawk.


----------

