# ----How Did YOU Learn How To Snowboard AND How Long Did It Take You To Learn----



## cinnamonroll30

did you learn from a family member or did you take lessons,etc.
how long did the learning process take for you?
DISCUSS!!!


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## jacob22

i started boarding last season with my PE leadership class
i was the only one that nvr boarded b4, so it was either be a loner and learn a the bunny hill...or go up to do runs with my friends
turns out all my friends were reli good, so i was still the loner going on green and blue runs instead of double blacks

a reli nice guy decided to come with me and teach me the basics (falling leaf etc.) 
but it was fun, and i learned to link turns on my third day


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## Zee

I took one 60 minute lesson over 10 years ago, I'm stil learning...


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## john doe

Tried to learn on my own but that didn't get good results. Then I found this website and it helped me tremendously. It would be right to say I learned to snowboard from Snowolf.


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## fcpchop

I learned last year, learned with my cousin. Our friend showed us the basics for about an hour on a small mountain, than we just learned on our own, by the end of the day we were stopping very well, linking turns together decently and making it down the mountain well. By the second day we were sharping up those skills, by the third day we had it down pretty darn good. It worked out well learning with someone else, and the fact that we progressed within the same amount of time helped. Still learning new things every time though, that's part of whats so fun. I taught a friend this year, he had a bit of trouble the first day, but the second day he started linking turns together and getting it down, a couple more times and he'll really have it down. I guess everyone progresses differently.


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## tripper

I have always been the DIY type, so I refused to take lessons and learned completely on my own. First day, I ate shit so many times I almost gave up. By the end of the second day, I learned how to stop, but was still falling a lot. The third day, I began to grasp the art of linking turns. By the fourth day, I was able to go down a blue (still relatively slowly). This was during a four day vacation in Canada. 

Despite, what many people will say I believe it is possible to learn how to snowboard just as well without lessons. It may just take a little longer. Also, you HAVE to commit. It is so tempting to give up after the first day and then it suddenly just clicks. Good luck


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## kls

I learned on a HS ski trip. I had skied for about 4 years before it. I actually didn't fall at all my first trip out and was hitting very small jumps the first day. But I quickly learned the pain of falling when I started teaching myself switch riding!


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## Phenom

Took an hour lesson when I was 12 which taught me to turn heelside and stop heelside. Everything else has been self taught. I dedicated the last 3 seasons almost entirely to progressing in the terrain park and I've developed a lot of skills on my own.


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## Toecutter

The first couple of times I went with a coworker, who was also a total novice. We sucked!!!

Later I took lessons. The ski area had a deal of three lessons over three consecutive weekends and by the end I was linking turns and cruising blues mostly comfortably.

You could probably learn on your own if you are coordinated, but you'll need to "reinvent the wheel" if you do that. Lessons will cut past a lot of trial and error that people have figured out over the years and get you going sooner.


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## 181

Word of advice, I wasted the first half of my first day with a group lesson (spent 10x more time on sitting watching than I did actually on my board learning) and the next day and a half after that on some noodly p.o.s. burton hero that the rental guy gave me. Get a medium stiff board that has some dampening and edge hold so your not getting bounced around and skidding out all the time. I sure with experience you can carve what ever on those noodly park boards but its hard if you're a beginner. Got a burton custom on my 3rd day and was carving up blues on my 4th, that board made a huuuge difference.


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## pontiuspylate

I learned by watching a ton of youtube "how to snowboard" videos prior to my 1st day on the hill. Once on the hill I just had to put into practice what I had watched.

1st day = Falling leaf
2nd day = Linking turns

By the 4th day I was bombing down some steep blues. Snowboarding has the steepest learning curve out of any sport I have tried!


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## ev13wt

Never stopped learning.



jacob22 said:


> i was the only one that* nvr* boarded *b4*, so it was either be a loner and learn a the bunny hill...or go up to do runs with my friends
> turns out all my friends were *reli* good,


nvr b4 and reli is not cool. Please put more effort into your spelling, that is hard to read. Makes you look like a 11 yo.

regards,

spelling bee


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## shoe757

I use to ride my little plastic snowboard when I was 10 all the time. Lost interest because boxing took up everyday of my life except sundays. Two years ago a few friends and I decided to give it a shot, bought used boards and watched each other roll down the steepest hills we could find. By the end of the year we were seeing who could go the fastest down my hare scramble trails in the woods and eating shit off jumps. Last year we bought new set ups and started going to the local resorts and first time there accidentally went down a double black diamond trail and made it. We then went over to a blue and for some reason my friend kept getting slammed. Second time out we were having the time of our lives at the terrain parts. This year we are going to focus more on the terrain and try and find some nice powder in the mountains.


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## wetoddid

Hey guys and gals,

First post! The first time I had stepped in snow was last year at Steamboat (Im 29). So stoked to be there, ready to board. My only prior board sport experiance was perhaps 2 waterski days worth of busting my ass. 
I enrolled in lessons since the package was actually cheaper than rentals and lift tickets. If it wasn't for this, I wouldn't have took lessons. Probably a good thing I did. The first day of a group lesson, I couldn't even stand up on the board. I figured it was hopeless as I was only going to be there for 3 days. 
Let me backup to say, in my awe of the mountain, I had jokingly asked the ski rental dude "What are the chances of going down a black diamond after 3 days." He looks me up and down and says "No way." Bet on!
Day 2. By then end of the day, I had mustered up the skill to do the training slopes and linking turns.
Day 3. Judgement day. The instructor says Im ready to try a gentle blue hill (if there was such a thing). Up the lift I go. Grab my balls and off I go, and made it down without falling. Oh yeah. Enough of this blue crap, lets do the damn thing.
Approach the edge of the black diamond and I knew I was done for. Gotta do it anyway....the rental dude said I couldn't right? Off I go. 
While I'm not going to sit here and inflate the story to say I hit a 720 by accident, I was most definitly out of my comfort zone, probably going about 20-25 mph. My arms were probably flailing about and it looked like I needed medical attention, but I stayed up, and promptly got my ass off that slope in search of a gentler blue. By that time my thighs were on fire from trying to slow down heelside, and I forgot where I was for .00000000000001 of a second. While I was in the air reflecting on my mistake, I remembered to not catch myself with the wrists, so I took it like a man....on the forearms, punching myself in the face with a closed fist and breaking my Oakley metal sunglasses. Nasty black eye, and audible laughs from my wife for weeks.


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## roremc

I learnt at Keystone. I was working there any my brother had sent me there with his old board. I had skied up until that point. As I worked days I used to ride the bunny hill at night. Never had a lesson but the lifty used to give me tips. Spent a couple of nights there. Once I started riding with the guys I worked with I could either ride by myself on the greens or ride blues and blacks with them. As said above its a very steep learning curve. I'm still very grateful to those guys as I think without the push I may never have tried some of the harder stuff.


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## turbospartan

Skiied almost my entire life, starting when I was 3 years old. 

When I was 12 I rented a snowboard at Alpine Valley (small hill/bump in Michigan) with no idea what I was doing. 

Took the entire night but eventually figured it out, after falling probably 300 times. First day pretty much learned the "falling leaf" method where you stay on your heelside edge the whole time, then started doing the same but on the toeside edge... then linked them together. I was hooked instantly. 

Went soon after that and bought my first gear: Burton A49 (A = all mountain), RED bindings (yes, they used to make bindings before they even made helmets, etc.) and some Burton Work boots. 

I was still much better at skiing than I was at snowboarding at that point, and every year I would go with my Dad and his friends on ski trips out west. Mostly Colorado, but also went to Tahoe and Utah. We always rode blacks and double blacks... so I would always ski (couldn't keep up on the snowboard). 

After I was about 15 or 16 I quit skiing forever. Bought a new board when I was 19 (Ride All Mountain 155) and kept the old shitty bindings, and bought Burton Hail boots in about 2003ish. 

Just bought a pair of Burton Cartel's from about 04-05' on craigslist last year - light years ahead of those 15 year old RED bindings. Wow, what an upgrade haha. 

Now I just bought a Banana Magic (2010) and I'm probably going to get the Rome Targas. Keeping the Hail boots. 

Between the age of 12 and 26 (which is how old I am now), I've probably taught 10-20 different people to snowboard (my dad, cousins, mostly friends). Last year was the first time I really got to tear it up on my snowboard out west. 5 dudes, all pretty good riders, riding for 4 straight days line open to last call in Colorado.


I've found that the easiest way to teach them is the falling leaf method. Help them first get a hold of that heelside edge so at worst they can just slid straight down (like you would when you come to a stop on your heelside edge). Then slide to their right and come to a stop again. Then slide to the left and come to a stop again. Eventually they'll be comfortable with their heelside edge. Then start them off on their toe side edge doing the same thing: slide right, stop. Slide left, stop. link. After they master both edges... then they can start linking turns. 

Sorry for the super long post... but that is how I taught myself and taught many other people. I consider myself a pretty good rider now in that I will ride any part of the mountain (any mountain, not limited to Michigan obviously) (blue, black, double black, skull & cross bones). Never was interested in the park though.


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## newguy36

john doe said:


> Tried to learn on my own but that didn't get good results. Then I found this website and it helped me tremendously. It would be right to say I learned to snowboard from Snowolf.


I second this. I've also had 1 private lesson, and I've watched some youtube videos.

day 1/2 falling leaf, garlands
day 3/4 sloppy turns
day 5 good turns
day 6 controlled turns on steep blues/garlands on blacks
day 7 We'll See!


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## pmoa

I went with a college buddy that fortunately stayed with me and taught me the basics...last season was my first full season and I can link turns and get down the mountain on not too steep blues. I want to clean this up this season and also work on riding switch as I think that will be important if I ever want to do 180s. It just takes run after run after run. Build some confidence and f*** other people who laugh, cause they were all there too. Just have some fun!


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## LSchaeffer

I skateboarded for a long time before I got a little plastic target snowboard. I wasn't any good at skating or snowboarding, but I knew enough to balance. The only problem was that I'm goofy, and the boards come regular(I didn't know you could switch them). But now that I'm into it, I guess it was for the better. Backyard snowboarding switch for 3+ years helps out with switch comfort in the long run.


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## Hayes

I taught myself. Being from the southeast, I already had years of experience wakeboarding which seemed to transfer pretty easily.

1st Day - Leafing
2nd Day - Linking Turns
3rd Day - Could pretty much ride blues / greens comfortably.

Still the hardest thing for me is keeping my weight forward, I wakeboard 9 months out of the year and travel 2-3 times out West for boarding.


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## Extremo

Didn't I just answer this question two threads ago?

I did backflips on a trampoline until I turned into shaun white...now I have a sponsorship with walmart and 4-loco energy drinks


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## HouseMuzik

Better stock up on that sponsorship since loko's about to get lame.

It took me forever to learn. Actually two or three times to actually strap my other foot in!! haha then i took a set of lessons from our local club. I think its safe to say its what I needed and progressed pretty rapidly. I'm to the point now where my freeriding is where it should be.

So its time to get in the park

That said you're ALWAYS learning


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## SWAGGER

Snowolf and youtube pretty much taught me. I read and watched a bunch before my first time out. The very first run I just thought back on what I learned on here and put it into action. Im 28 and only started last year, none of my friends really ride so either I go by myself or my brother in law who skis. So it kinda sucks for motivation and noone to teach you. Ill get a private lesson this year. I took a group lesson that didnt really do shit. But this old ass dude at Wilmot gave me some great advice on turning toeside, bc I could not do it for shit, I think I was scared to have my back down the hill. But yeah, even tho when Snowolf posts I have to read it 5 times cuz hes so tech it helps alot. Thanks Snowolf. Anyone else ride solo?


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## Donutz

SWAGGER said:


> Anyone else ride solo?


I do, because my friends are all skiers, and middle-of-the-piste skiers at that. Simply not compatible with fun.


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## Droid Axiom

YOUTUBE FTW
I lived in Maryland all of my life. Im half Filipino, so that particular side of the family lives in California..I've actually been spoiled due to the fact that i havent really done any east coast (ice coast) riding and i learned on larger West Coast mountains..

Age:22 yrs
Weight: 230
Board Size: 161-164W
Riding Style: Freeride, Learning Park

1st Experience- I was roughly the age of 13 at the time, my uncle is an enthusiastic snowboarder, luckily only living 2.5 hrs away from Lake Lahoe and dragged me along to Sierra-at-Tahoe since he had an extra setup. He took me straight to the Blue run to start learning  My balance was exceptional due to my background in skateboarding, cant say much for my turning ability at this point, most of my day consisted of flat riding and catching edges. I would stand, make it a decent distance down the mountain, get speed anxiety and fall to slow myself down  At one point I accidentally veered off course onto a mogul black diamond which looked absolutely terrifying. I had no balls to even try it so i unstrapped my back binding and literally spun on my back down the entire run, it sucked. By the end of the day, i was eager to try snowboarding again and went home satisfied with my first performance and a crescent shaped gash on my back from catching on an ice patch


2nd Experience- Second experience was with my girlfriend. I believe i was roughly 19 at the time, so it had been a while since my last time on snow. She and I went to Massanuten, a shrimpy ski resort in VA. Unfortunately i had to rent equipment from the resort and it consisted of a crap Lamar board with step-on bindings. I entertained my girlfriend on the bunny slope until she got tired of falling at went back to the car after an hour. I left my girlfriend in the car for 5 hours :dunno:, she was irate, but i wasnt wasting the lift ticket. By this experience, i was 6'2 190lb, and older so i wasnt as fearless as the first time i went. I went down blue runs, trying to remember the concept of turning. I cant say that i progressed much on this trip. 


3rd Experience- I would have to say this experience was my favorite experience. 6'5 230lbs, I went this past christmas at the age of 22 back to Lake Tahoe with my uncle. This time, i bought my own gear a week before the trip. I purchased an Arbor Roundhouse, Ride SPI bindings, and Ride FUL boots off of a whim. I had a feeling that having my own quality setup would benefit me, not to mention i got it all 20% off because im a college student. During the trip to tahoe, we went to Sugarbowl and back to Sierra-at-Tahoe. If anyone on this forum was in the area at this time u will recall the stacks of fresh powder that graciously fell on the mountains. Powder was AMAZING. I seemed to float on clouds. It was a completely different experience than on groomers. Things to note, my uncle set my stance back, he said i would need it, he told me to carry my speed and dont turn to hard or i would sink. Sure enough, my first run 50ft off the lift chair, i spent 10 mins digging myself out of the top 4ft layer of pow. All the youtube videos in the world didnt prepare me for it, lol. By the way, before this trip, i watched a months worth of youtube videos on carving, linking turns, etc, because this was my weakest area. I was doing awesome after i adjusted. I will say this, the elevation at Tahoe is the shit, the runs are miles long. I f you want to learn, Tahoe is a place to do it. After the first day, i realized that my turns still sucked, i was so beat by the end of the day. I was a hip swinger, more so throwing my board under me rather than using torsional flex and proper turn iniation. I couldnt grasp these things even on my second day. My noob method got me kept me on my feet, and my uncle dragged me to black diamonds. I was so nervous. That sh** looked so steep peeking over the drop. I found that turning on black diamonds was easier. The gravity seemed to make me parallel to the mountain on my heelside and toeside turns. This was awesome. I fell a LOT, but hey, 3rd trip ever and im making my way down a black diamond??? I felt accomplished, not to mention the soft pow cushioned my falls .


4th Experience- This is my most recent experience. 5 days ago on the ice coast, Liberty Mountain in PA. I went with my buddy and his family. The conditions were icy/ hardpack groomed. After looking into torsional flex a bit more, i decided my Arbor Roundhouse was too stiff for a noob like me, and i needed a softer board. After a lot of research i ended up grabbing a Never Summer Revolver (wide version of the Evo), Union Forces, and some new boots. With the soft flex of the board and the Rocker.Camber technology i hoped this would improve my turning and reduce my chances of catching edges, and i could also venture into the park terrain when i became more confident in my riding abilities. All i can say is WOW. It seems like my abilities increased TENFOLD. I could feel the flex of the board under my feet when i pressed my toe and heels like pedals to intitiate my turns. I effortlessly stay on edge. I honestly didnt fall more than twice. The rocker seemed to help a lot and it felt completely different than the positive camber of my arbor board.I think a soft and forgiving board was a key to my acceleration in learning. I was so excited and i called up my uncle to ask if the season was over yet in Tahoe. The second day of this trip i got the balls to try small terrain. I literally sat at the drop to the box for 25 minutes watching kids press, spin, and switch ride. I sucked it up and hit the box, except i was going to fast and i flew over the damn thing. LOL, and i landed it!!!!!! YES!!! At this point i got the balls to try rails and weird shaped boxes with kickers. I didnt do anything fancy, just 50-50s, but a lot of kids, surprisingly were supportive and told me to start slow and dont leave my comfort zone. I did bonk my ass a couple times and it hurt like hell. I went to the bunny slopes and practiced butters (I AM SHIT), im still trying to get used to edge awareness when flat ground spinning, but i can pull off mad tail presses (manual?) for at least 65ft with the nose of my board 2ft off the ground :thumbsup::thumbsup: For some reason i feel more comfortable nollieing than ollieing?? any input on that would be appreciated, but my next investments shall be asspads and a helmet! 

FUTURE GOALS: On my next trip, i plan on changing up my stance a little bit, currently im 15+/-6 and i would love to learn to ride switch before i try any rotations on boxes, and jumps. I would also like to learn to butter and tail block because i think that stuff is so impressive and looks hella fun to do. SO, in conclusion, my analysis of myself was, i picked up turning and edge awareness much faster on more difficult runs (i feel that flat runs suck for beginners because u are going so slow u are more worried about balance than turning), and the only way to get better is to fall. I WILL SAY THAT YOUTUBE IS A FREAKING AWESOME INSTRUCTOR AND SNOWOLFS VIDS ALSO HELPED A LOT!! Thanks for readin my story  MY 5TH TRIP IS IN 2 WEEKS!!!! YES!!!!


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## tdn

Got called up by a friend who wanted to know if I wanted to go snowboarding.. I said hell yes and I was on my way to my first snowboarding experience. She took me onto a blue, where she did a great job explaining how to stop. She didn't do a great job at telling me how to turn. She ditched me after the very first run, and I taught myself for the rest of the day. By the end of the day, I think I made it down the blue without falling once. 

Second experience, another friend of mine took me onto a black and told me something to the effect of "learn now or die!!!" So.. without much of a choice, I learned and I learned very quickly. By the end of that day I was bombing down, doing pretty well. 

Third experience, on my own, it all clicked. The technique just came to me and I fell in love. Bought all my own gear soon after and have only gotten way more comfortable. Still learning and gaining the testicular tenacity to try different features, jumps and tricks.

This was all about February of 2010. Right now, Feb 2011, I'm currently getting better at 180's and grabs off of jumps, riding boxes/rails, perfecting my switch riding etc.


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## LuckyRVA

I learned from watching all of Snowwolf's beginner and intermediate lesson videos on youtube. 
I've only been riding 5 times so to say I'm stil learning is an understatement. But, I was able to link my turns the first time out (after about 2 hours or so). I can ollie, albiet going slow and actually pulled off a 180 on an embankment this weekend. Rode up the embankment on the slope, ollied and pulled a 180 and rode back down the embankment. I was pretty stoked. 

Oh and half the time I go out I go out alone. All of my friends ski and they don't want to go as often as I do. I enjoy riding alone though.


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## tj_ras

Learned how to board back when i was 8 or so, my parents skied as did i for a little then i got into boards took lessons got pretty alright then gave up for skateboarding. 

Middle of the season i went up a friends house, he had made an entire terrain park in his back yard(it is a pretty large yard in the woods) decided id give it a shot strapped into one of his brothers boards and took off toward the jumps was landing backside 180s at the end of the day and was really loving boarding so i decided to buy a cheap board knowing the season was almost over then last weekend i got a text from my friend saying he wanted to go to a resort and do some slopes/trails, i excitedly went......oh boy was i in over my head, i could keep up with my friends right up untill we got off the lift lol, they went off and did thier black diamonds and i just cruised(fell) on all the greenies. After about 3 hours of greens i went up to blues and by the end of the day had been linking the corners in the blue pretty well. 

So self re taught. Now i just wanna get a park board and start killin ramps and rails, my end goal for next season is a 100 footer...or a rodeo cuzz they look cool to me. Maybe il just combine the two goals.


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## lumberjack11

alright so one day just outta the blue my friend just asks if i wanna go to the local mtn. so i figure what the hell and grab my couysins stuff and go as we were walking up to get our lift tickets i asked if he was gunna ditch me and his answer was not if you can keep up. you can figure out the rest. i was scared shitless of being the loner that sucked so i learnd fast withen an houe or too i could stop and kinda keep my speed under control in like 2 hours i was keeping up with guys that have riden for years. now im hooked and go as many time i possibly can. so i guess i learend by myself trying to not be alone


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## newguy36

I started last year around this time. I took a group lesson which was a big waste of my money. Everything that we went over was covered in this forum. I have definitely taught my self a lot. I just hope I'm teaching my self the right techniques.


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## jyuen

Took a group lesson. It was part of the beginner lift ticket, rentals and crappy instruction package. The instructor taught us how to get up off our ass or roll over and push up off our face. then he said turn your head and shoulder like this... did two super giant carves and went down to the bottom of the hill and said he'd wait for us down there. really shitty lesson, and that's pretty much how i teach people now if they ask me to teach them lol.

I learned to carve after my first day but then didn't really pick up snowboarding until two years after, but I didn't really forget how to snowboard. Picked up dynamic turns by the end of the first season I guess and I've been trying to learn something new since then. It's my 4th season now.


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## fayewolf

How long it took me to learn? Freakn Forever.

I took group lesson the first time, and there were 10 people in the group, and half of the people cannot get up sitting down... you get the story. Progress was really slow, I spent most of the time sitting on my ass watching other people get up and fall, rinse and repeat. After an hour, half of the people in my group were gone, some freaked out, some hit themselves while learning and decided to leave, and finally the instructor was able to teach the few of us falling leaf and that was the end of the lesson.

2nd lesson was much better, only 3 people in the group, all of us were weak on toeside, so he spent a bit more time on toeside turn and at the end of the lesson, teaching us how to link turns. 

In all honesty, I learned really mainly from Snowolf's description, tips from here, and watching youtube videos. Things he taught me here was 100x more useful for me. But I for sure needed those lessons.


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## claus

Didn't take me to long. It was a hard transition for me going from surfing to boarding but like many others said the youtube videos were really helpful:thumbsup:. A little help from a friend in my backyard prior to going to the mountain and I was linking turns down blues at the end of the day. Definitely hooked for life and plan on buying a nice set up for myself soon. This forum is where its at! You guys rock!


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## Leo

My girlfriend (now wife) taught me. First day was so rough, I almost never got on a snowboard again. Then my wife's sister's boyfriend taught me more things and I was up and riding the second day linking turns. It just clicked and once it did, off I went.

Amazing feeling that I'll never forget. One run I can barely turn and the next, I just totally understood it.


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## Zak

for christmas, my bro got me a used all mountain/freeride board for like $50, plus a pair of his old boots. I figured, what the hell, give it a shot.
I took a little group lesson, and the best thing i learned was how to travel with one foot out of the binding.
After that, it took about 3 hours (really fast now that i think about it) for my bro to teach me how to leaf, another hour to link turns. By the end of the first day, i was going down "double-blacks" with some degree of difficulty. Im over in the midwest, so it's most definitely not a double black diamond. Still, pretty good, if i do say so myself.
In the weeks following that, i got out as much as i could (once every two weeks, maybe) and now i'm bombing down the steepest trail here.
IMO, snowboarding waaaay increases confidence (as opposed to skiing), being that you have to be more aggressive and all that.:thumbsup:

goin with my brother and a couple of his friends up to canada over spring break to snowboard and get drunk!  

edit: come to think of it, i learned how to snowboard SHIT fast. XD


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## CKilger12

1st day had no clue...a friend tried to teach me...I was going straight down the hill...only knew how to stop by falling...so i tried the Bunny Hill...thats when I tore my MCL....I thought I was done for good with snowboarding...but I have been skating for years so I thought to myself lets try again.....First time back after tearing a ligament is nerve racking...but my friend showed me how to plow down the hill and them do a version of the falling leaf...I now working on linking my turns...still falling occasionally but progressing nicely...and I am actually going out tonight to work on linking turns more


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## C.B.

Well it all started when my friend who skis asked if i wanted to go to the hill with him, so i went but instead of renting skis i borrowed a good friends snowboard.(which i was probably better off with on account of i live in MN and therefore wakeboard all summer)

we get up there, get on the first lift get to the top my buddy stops and waits for me to strap in, then he says " oh yeah this hills pretty easy" and takes off down a black diamond(midwest that is) now i'm standing there looking like this  i then nutted up and tried it and fell and got up and fell again down all the way down the hill.

Right after that we went to a blue (which seemed like a piece of cake to me after my first hill being a black) and i could link turns by the end of that run.

By the end of the day i went back and made that first black my bitch:cheeky4:

Its all been down hill from there, granted i still have alot to learn


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## kraig4422

I first started riding in 1993. Back then there were no lessons for snowboarders, in fact there were exactly 6 snowboarders on the entire mountain. LOL, I remember riding with a bunch of experienced skiers from my junior high, basically it was DIY on the bunny hill for most of the day. I hated it so much, I scorpioned twice in one day and almost gave up. By the third time up everything clicked and I was riding black diamonds by the end of the season. I would never want to go back and have to relearn, lol. Although I would love to go back for the $99 season passes.


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## rasmasyean

I'm still learning stuff too, but here is how I started learning and the initial progression.

First day: I winged it with a friend and we both got beaten up like crazy.

Before Second day: I read a total of about 6 books on snowboarding at bookstore below my work during my lunch breaks.

Second Day: Practiced all the drills: falling leaf, J, S, carve, etc. and went from greens to a double black. First double black was mostly falling through like 80% of the trail because it was just sliding on my back since it was so steep. But learned from it and was only falling maybe 20% of the way throughout that same trail by the end of the day. It was a chute under the lift so some ppl must've had fun watching me. lol I actually remembered the name (Ripcord...at SugarBush, VT). 

Third Day and on: steep double blacks, mogul double blacks, no-fall zones, got bored with those...Then carving and more carving (I was gonna buy an alpine board for I think my second or third season but my friend convinced me not to).

But all of these things that I practiced were learned from reading those 6 snowboarding books, except maybe the moguls. I sort of had to figure those out myself. No one wrote about those.

Now I bought some Snowboard Addiction Coaching videos and am going to learn some freestyle and park moves.


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## rasmasyean

Donutz said:


> I do, because my friends are all skiers, and middle-of-the-piste skiers at that. Simply not compatible with fun.


I sometimes do. When I learnt new stuff, I mostly rode solo because you go at your own pace. If I get bored with my friends just cruising around the mountain taking pictures and crap...I just say, I'm gonna go fast...If you don't see me, I prolly took the wrong trail so I'll meet you at 4. Then I "go fast" to the park and hang out there myself. LOL


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## crazyface

I started about 8 or 9 years ago when I was about 10. I took a lesson the first day I went and just used that to get me down the hill. Next season, I took another lesson to learn how to link turns. From then on, I pretty much taught myself and learned from experience. I think it was 2 seasons ago where I noticed that I could truly carve on black diamonds. I fell that I've hit a ceiling for freeriding, so this season, I started to step it up in the par and I can now link turns on black diamonds switch.


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## SPAZ

Well we are always learning and perfecting because we are people 
But I personally was linking turns my second day, and first hit a box on my fourth.


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## freshy

Well for me it was back in 1988 and I was like 12, I hadent even seen a real snowboard till a year later. We used to take our trucks off our skateboards and ride them down a big hill tail first. The object was just to stay on for as long as possible.
I guess I picked snowboarding up real quick from skateboarding. I caught a few edges like everyone else starting out, but I was linking turns my first day just from watching others and trying to copy them.
Then it was all about keeping up with my fast friends.
Now it's at the point where I am relearning it switch.
So like the others said, your always kind of learning.


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## The111

In 2003, I flew across the USA and visited my uncle in NorCal... he took me to Tahoe and I saw snow for the first time ever, at the age of 21 (I grew up in FL). I was blown away just by the sight of it, since I'd always dreamt about it as a kid. He gave me an informal lesson and a spare board, and by the end of the day I was ripping down the bunny slope at Soda Springs. He tried to take me on a powder run and I kept up with him for a while, but eventually sunk in a flat and had to walk out for 30 minutes, so I sort of thought powder sucked after that. 2nd and 3rd day he took me to Sugar Bowl and by the end of the 3rd day I was doing steep blue runs with him, and eventually nearly knocking myself out on one of those runs (THROUGH a Pro-Tec helmet).

From 2004-2009 I had no more than 5-6 sessions while visiting friends in Colorado (still living in FL and shortly TX). Hard to progress only riding 6 times in 6 years on different rental gear, but I still managed to get pretty confident on most blues and even got a second chance at shallow powder with better luck than my first.

In late 2010 I moved to NorCal and this winter I've had just over 10 sessions in Tahoe on my OWN board finally! It's a dream come true of course... 2 weeks ago I did my first black run and yesterday I did my first double black... by accident amusingly enough (stuck out on top of the middle of the Cornice at Kirkwood and decided I'd go over rather than walk back to the lift), but then I went on to do a few more on purpose. Of course, I wouldn't have done any of these runs in "normal" conditions, but the ridiculous amount of powder Tahoe got in the past several days made everything pretty painless and easy to control my speed on. Also had some of my longest deepest powder runs and didn't end up TOO buried anywhere... and fortunately only on steeps so I could get going again.

Definitely still learning! Stoked to do a double black on my 20th ever session, but still have a lot of improvement to do on my carving and my handling of bumpy terrain.



rasmasyean said:


> Second Day: Practiced all the drills: falling leaf, J, S, carve, etc. and went from greens to a double black. First double black was mostly falling through like 80% of the trail because it was just sliding on my back since it was so steep. But learned from it and was only falling maybe 20% of the way throughout that same trail by the end of the day. It was a chute under the lift so some ppl must've had fun watching me. lol I actually remembered the name (Ripcord...at SugarBush, VT).


Damn, and here I was being proud of double black on 20th day! Nice progression... and I know what you mean about learning from reading. I've learned a lot from this forum and other places online to get me started carving... my favorites are the drills here.


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## PaintedPony

I grew up in the south so no snow hobbies until I was an adult. I opened an outdoor magazine one day and saw an ad for Winter Park, CO with a snowboarder in it. Decided at that minute to book a trip and learn to snowboard. Took a few trips each year and decided to move to Northern CA so I could ride more. I was technically "riding" by my 3rd day of riding.

My son started out skiing the same year I started riding because he was to young to board. He was 6 and back then (12 years ago), they wouldn't let kids take snowboard lessons until they were 8 yrs old (at Winter Park at least). He was ticked off but he rode his skis like a trooper. The next year we fibbed about his age and put him in lessons at 7yrs old. It's amazing how fast kids pick up riding. He was essentially riding in control and at decent speeds by his 3rd day. 

So, to anwer your question, we both learned through lessons because I felt that was going to offer the fastest learning curve. It took us about 3 days to get the basics down and be able to control the board.


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## jello24

i started back in early january of this year and i took my time in learning to snowboard. i figured winter's long, and theres no rush to get to the double blacks, and i'm not gonna hit the park ever because my work expects me to be there the next Monday, so why not just spend time on the basics?

first day i went i signed up for a 2 hour lesson, then sideslipped 90% heelside 10% toeside the way down the bunny hill the rest of the day. i did 9 laps that day, going 0/9 on the chairlift dismount. absolutely embarassing, considering i was the only guy that didnt fall when my group learned it on the little slope on the base area.

came back the next weekend and this time sideslipped 50-50 on both edges, and at the end of the day i was doing falling leaf on heel side, but still sideslip on the toe side. thats ok by me. also, chairlift dismounts are now 9/15 laps. not bad.

came back on the next tuesday, and this time falling leaf on the toe side, with garlands on both edges by the end of the day. chairlift dismount now 100%, so yeah getting cocky.

next saturday, i decide to learn how to link turns. heelside was good, almost natural, but toe side resulted in a painful wrist, bloody chin, and a throbbing front knee. but i suffer through the pain and by the end of the day i was doing wide C-turns down the bunny hill. cool sh!t, i say to my self, you're hardcore now.

the next weekend (a few weeks ago), i say good bye to the bunny hill forever and crack my goggles in the actual green runs because i'm trying Snowolf's dynamic skidded turns. I AM THE MAN i say to myself.


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## devin3294

just started january of this year by going up with a buddy the first time. Went down blues just out of control hauling ass down the mountain until i learned some control on the 2nd day out. then from there i progressed to black diamonds, then to the terrain park hitting some boxes and medium jumps, to trying out the moguls on the double black which were a disaster the first time trying.


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## cocolulu

I guess I'm a slow learner 

I started skiing around 2001 when I went with a few friends during college. I think I went a total of 3 or so times over a few years. On whim, one day, we all decided to try snowboarding instead, I think this was after we graduated around 2004. So we all signed up for lift/rental/lesson deals.

We were all pretty awful, but I think at least in the beginning, I could 'go' and 'stop' across the green runs. When I tried to link turns, I fell, so like most people I think I was sore after day 1.

For some reason, I stuck with it, when most of my friends ran back to skiing. I continued doing rental/lift/lesson packages, skipped the lessons, until I figured out that with rentals I was always getting a different board, and a different binding setup. I also hated the rental/return lines...

So I bought a crappy board (Snowjam), a crappy set of bindings (Ride LX), and on advice from the salesman, splurged on comfy boots (Salomon Diadems). At least my feet were comfortable and my setup was consistent now.

From around 2005 to 2009... I would go a only a few times a year. Around 2 or 3x. I had trouble finding friends to go with, or I was too busy, or I couldn't afford it. I even completely skipped some seasons. I never took it seriously, and I was still falling trying to link turns and so on... I think I completely skipped the 08/09 season.

In 09/10', my friend linked me on some deal for lift tickets. I took my snowboard out of the closet and went, and for some reason, I told myself I was going to make it down a green run without falling. I did that... then I told myself I was going to make it down a run with real turns (not sloppy riding an edge... anywhere)... and I did that.

I went home thinking I had accomplished something, and right away found lift tickets for the next weekend. Next weekend on the hill, I tried a blue... I feel every 10 feet. I figured out I was getting scared of speed and leaning back... so I went back to greens and told myself that I was going to speed down a green. I bombed a few greens, I sped down the next few times, practicing turning quicker, then put myself on a blue again. Well... I did fall, but I did a lot better.

The season ended, and 2010/11. Sadly I was so busy at work, I didn't get to the slopes until January. I missed the Nov. storms at Tahoe . But when I finally got on the slopes, I took the blues. I still fall a few times, especially when it's choppy and I get bounced around... but I was excited because doing blue runs, I could ride different chairs all over the mountain and wasn't stuck on the bunny hill. I felt like a broke through a wall...

I found this forum... read a bit. I got sick of my crappy board and my crappy bindings, and with some help from people here, I ordered new ones. The storms finally came back to Tahoe, so I hit the slopes with my old crappy gear before waiting for my new stuff to arrive.

I took a lesson... instructor seemed to like how I handled the blues, so he took my to a black diamond. I fell... alot xD but I made it down.

My new board arrived yesterday... Never Summer Infinity  can't wait to take it to the slopes. I keep staring at it propped against the wall xD

Sorry long story. Oh dear my carpel tunnel....


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## fayewolf

cocolulu said:


> I guess I'm a slow learner
> 
> I started skiing around 2001 when I went with a few friends during college. I think I went a total of 3 or so times over a few years. On whim, one day, we all decided to try snowboarding instead, I think this was after we graduated around 2004. So we all signed up for lift/rental/lesson deals.
> 
> We were all pretty awful, but I think at least in the beginning, I could 'go' and 'stop' across the green runs. When I tried to link turns, I fell, so like most people I think I was sore after day 1.
> 
> For some reason, I stuck with it, when most of my friends ran back to skiing. I continued doing rental/lift/lesson packages, skipped the lessons, until I figured out that with rentals I was always getting a different board, and a different binding setup. I also hated the rental/return lines...
> 
> So I bought a crappy board (Snowjam), a crappy set of bindings (Ride LX), and on advice from the salesman, splurged on comfy boots (Salomon Diadems). At least my feet were comfortable and my setup was consistent now.
> 
> From around 2005 to 2009... I would go a only a few times a year. Around 2 or 3x. I had trouble finding friends to go with, or I was too busy, or I couldn't afford it. I even completely skipped some seasons. I never took it seriously, and I was still falling trying to link turns and so on... I think I completely skipped the 08/09 season.
> 
> In 09/10', my friend linked me on some deal for lift tickets. I took my snowboard out of the closet and went, and for some reason, I told myself I was going to make it down a green run without falling. I did that... then I told myself I was going to make it down a run with real turns (not sloppy riding an edge... anywhere)... and I did that.
> 
> I went home thinking I had accomplished something, and right away found lift tickets for the next weekend. Next weekend on the hill, I tried a blue... I feel every 10 feet. I figured out I was getting scared of speed and leaning back... so I went back to greens and told myself that I was going to speed down a green. I bombed a few greens, I sped down the next few times, practicing turning quicker, then put myself on a blue again. Well... I did fall, but I did a lot better.
> 
> The season ended, and 2010/11. Sadly I was so busy at work, I didn't get to the slopes until January. I missed the Nov. storms at Tahoe . But when I finally got on the slopes, I took the blues. I still fall a few times, especially when it's choppy and I get bounced around... but I was excited because doing blue runs, I could ride different chairs all over the mountain and wasn't stuck on the bunny hill. I felt like a broke through a wall...
> 
> I found this forum... read a bit. I got sick of my crappy board and my crappy bindings, and with some help from people here, I ordered new ones. The storms finally came back to Tahoe, so I hit the slopes with my old crappy gear before waiting for my new stuff to arrive.
> 
> I took a lesson... instructor seemed to like how I handled the blues, so he took my to a black diamond. I fell... alot xD but I made it down.
> 
> My new board arrived yesterday... Never Summer Infinity  can't wait to take it to the slopes. I keep staring at it propped against the wall xD
> 
> 
> Sorry long story. Oh dear my carpel tunnel....



Girl, you and I both. I'm fairly athletic and snowboarding is the most difficult sport to learn by far. 
Do you live in SF city? I live in the peninsula and it takes me a good 4 hours to get to tahoe. Which resort is the closest and easiest to get to you think?


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## cocolulu

fayewolf said:


> Girl, you and I both. I'm fairly athletic and snowboarding is the most difficult sport to learn by far.
> Do you live in SF city? I live in the peninsula and it takes me a good 4 hours to get to tahoe. Which resort is the closest and easiest to get to you think?


Hi faye: it certainly takes perserverence xD

I actually live in Oakland, I dunno why I put SF down, it's a habit I guess. I think the closest resorts are Sugarbowl, Sierra-at-Tahoe, and Boreal. I've gone to the first two quite a few times  It takes me about 3 hours 30 min to get to those three.


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## rasmasyean

The111 said:


> rasmasyean said:
> 
> 
> 
> Second Day: Practiced all the drills: falling leaf, J, S, carve, etc. and went from greens to a double black. First double black was mostly falling through like 80% of the trail because it was just sliding on my back since it was so steep. But learned from it and was only falling maybe 20% of the way throughout that same trail by the end of the day. It was a chute under the lift so some ppl must've had fun watching me. lol I actually remembered the name (Ripcord...at SugarBush, VT).
> 
> 
> 
> Damn, and here I was being proud of double black on 20th day! Nice progression... and I know what you mean about learning from reading. I've learned a lot from this forum and other places online to get me started carving... my favorites are the drills here.
Click to expand...

Thanks, but just to clarify, I typed that kind of fast so it sounded like I skipped from greens to double black. But I actually went from green->blue->black->double-black...within the day though. But I wasn't "carving" like that link. No bamboo drills or anything like that. lol I was just doing leafs and and skids in all the trails until linking told me I was ready for the next difficulty...until I got to the double black where as I mentioned I actually fell thorugh 80% of it.  

But yeah, "pre-youtube", books were like the only reliable instruction off piste. I think it's still is true to some extent today. Because most good stuff you pay for. The best books I came across described the "physics of snowboarding" and like how the board actually works. I found out that despite it's appearance, a snowboard is actually a pretty well thought out piece of precision machinery. And those books described these aspects of the sport at a pace you can follow at your leisure. Well...I didn't actually pay for the books, but used the bookstore as a library during lunch lol, but at lease I bought some coffee. But even today, I bought some Snowboard Addiction videos and subscribed to their updates. And I still have the conclusion that it's many times better than anything "free" on the internet. And to those that want to LTR or get into freestyle, I recommend this. It's well worth the price of like a lift ticket to get this coaching program.


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## Olex

I started this season. After hating the rental board (front binding had a twitching freedom of 5-10 degrees ) got my own and went through 3 private lessons already. I am big on RTFM, so I gobble up any and all instructions I can get, got a deal of 6 more hours of those lessons coming up as well in whatever chunks of time I want.


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## neni

Was dating a guy long time ago who was snowboarding every weekend in winter. So I kind of had to try it too. Never had lessons but he and the rest of the pack helped a lot (it makes you brave if you're always the one they have to wait for). The guy is now my husband and guess what we're doing every winter weekend... 
I had several years where my mind was totally occupied on how to ride, how to move on each steep run (well, the guys don't like blues). I was so focused, I hardly had the time to enjoy  well, sure I enjoyed pow runs then too, but it was hard work, and aways combines with the voice in my head "don't fall, don't fall! - yiiiik! :dizzy
After 10 years, riding is just getting more kind of 'natural', meening, I don't have to concentrate on the movements 'cause the muscles simply know what's to do. That's great 'cause it gives me the freedom to concentrate on reading the terrain, enjoying the blow of the wind, listening to the snow below the board... I can now choose, today's a day were I concentrate on improving technique or today is more of a strait line fun day


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## Mooernator

Was taught by friends a little bit but mostly through trial and error. Even though I ate snow a lot, I still found it easier to teach myself rather than listening to friends. Guess I'm just one of those types.


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## crash77

Went on a family snowboard trip. Skipped the included lessons. Stayed on the bunny slope for 6hrs. and immediately developed a passion for it. Went home, did some research, bought my first set up. Returned to the hill for the second time and halfway thru the day, it just clicked. 

But I will say I use to ride skateboards for years, I was very athletic as a kid, and I was determined to get it. I looked at all of those people on the hill and mentally told myself, if they can do it, so can I.

And I've been progressing ever since....TBC!


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## wildshoetwt

I never took a snowboard lesson, I learned the hard way, taking the bunny hill as slow as possible from a young age. I remember after the lifts were closed, I was walking back up the bunny hill on the icy slope, falling over and over, every day of snowboarding ended in a significant dosage of Advil. 

I was going down blues in a very short amount of time, and stagnated. My snowboarding basically consisted of sideslipping, straightlining, and speed checks. I could go down blacks but never really progressed.

Then I forced myself to start carving, started watching some snowboarding videos, started applying what I knew from longboarding/surfing/skateboarding to snowboarding, started leaning forward into turns, etc, and it was pretty straightforward from there.

I'd say it took me a good 20+ days on the slope to hit moguls and double blacks, which seems like a short amount of time, but this was spread out over the course of like 5 years, maybe that makes it even more impressive, but I think I could have progressed much faster with a good instructor.


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## BigmountainVMD

Self taught until 2 years ago. I would have progressed 100 times faster if I took a real lesson instead of listening to all my dumbass park rat friends. "Just use your heels and toes bro."


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## t21

Self taught too. started back in '03-'04 skiing/skiboarding. learned to snowboard in 2010 by watching snowolf vid's,SA,and snow professor.also got some tips from my neighbor who is a instructor when i have a chance to ride with them. It took about a total of a week to finally get it down on basic turns.


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## stickz

first time I went was like 06'. mission ridge. my boy said c'mon dude it's easy just use your toes and heels. well obv that day wasn't very fun. in fact I didn't try again until jan 20th this yr on my bday. this time my sister taught me how to at least initiate turns. by the end of the day could go down daisy at Stevens but not without falling. next Sunday the Super Bowl by the end of the day made it down daisy twice without falling. fast forward to today. 8th time this yr and with the help of snowolf and a couple others was linking dynamic skidded turns all day down blacks and blues, I have no clue how to rate my progression is in measurements


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## Sincraft

cinnamonroll30 said:


> did you learn from a family member or did you take lessons,etc.
> how long did the learning process take for you?
> DISCUSS!!!


I told a co-worker that I skied for 20 years. He said snowboarding is harder. I said it looks like it. He said well dont try it, you are too old and will hate it. I said ok well then lets go....

so he put me on a horribly fitted rental with my wrong foot forward and taught me how to heelside slide / scrape down the bunny hill. Did that 3 or 4 times and then was on the lift to the blue slope. 

Second time out I was going left and right, only on my heel...and after the 3rd time out that season I went on my toe only.

no turns. 

That summer I bought a board, boots and bindings for $400 total NEW. I still ride that same gear and this is year 3. Im learning switch, I hit some smaller jumps and ride about 25-30 mph through crud on blues/blacks and usually can hit around 35-40 mph with a cheated carve on blacks when there isnt piles of snow around. Having fun dropping over steeps between slopes, hitting the sides of the slopes for some airtime, and hopping over sticks/stones/ small rodents for fun...

good times..

toeside > heelside turns for me were the worst. A good mountain should have a nice WIDE green slope to allow someone to learn this. Not too green. Maybe a cross between green/blue. OTherwise you turn too uphill on true blues and dont get enough speed on slow greens to really learn to turn and commit.


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## Mooernator

Sincraft said:


> . Maybe a cross between green/blue.


turquoise? might cause some confusion with color blind people though:laugh:


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## M.C._Dub

We have a program here for local elementary, middle and high schools where they can get a $20 ski pass and every Friday (weather pending) from Jan-March, kids get out of school at noon and go up and ski or ride for a few hours. It's part of the school program and really helps a lot of people get exposed to the mountain and winter sports in general. All volunteer coaches and chaperones who also get passes at a discount, and a lot of the town gets involved. Great program.

I started skiing in '98 through this program and did that for about 5 years and started snowboarding later when I was 13. Very first day out I went over my toe edge and broke my wrist :dunno: The next year I got back up there and within a few days I was able to link turns and progressed pretty quickly form there.

It's really interesting now that I'm an instructor, because when they teach you how to teach kids, it's totally different now from when I learned almost 10 years ago. My volunteer chaperones were all about the "square your shoulders and point your upper body where you want to go. Lean into the turn and steer with your back foot." Now, I'm teaching kids torsional movement with front foot steering and flexing of the knee and ankle etc. It's helping out my own riding and helping me break some bad habits I picked up when I learned. Pretty cool to see the difference in progression over the years!


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## Atoxa

I first started snowboarding Dec 21st, and I went 3 times in a row to Bridger Bowl. The first day I linked my first couple turns, and did some greens. I fell quite a bit but I was still able to link turns. The second day I started getting better at going from a heelside to toeside turn (thats where I'd always mess up) and I started hitting some little 1-2ft jumps. I was doing some blues pretty well then, then the third day I really started dialing in my stuff and was able to do some harder blues. After that I started going to my home hill at Great Divide, I took a couple lessons there, and started trying to learn the park. By my 7th day out I was 50/50ing some boxes, I'm better now, and today will be my 23rd time out this season!


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## jfergus7

I decided last year at age 37 that I wanted to learn to snowboard. I went out bought a board and all the gear I would need and hit the hill. Fell a few times the first few runs then figured it out. By my fifth run I was in the park hitting some of the easy boxes and rails. Absolutely love boarding now!


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## DesireeM81

The boyfriend taught me. He has unlimited patience. It's crazy. He was very patient and stayed with me on the greens until now when he has to keep up with me. 

I do wonder if I had taken lessons how much faster I would have progressed. Without lessons I am, as the boyfriend says, doing very well. I can carve, link turns, bomb blacks, do tree runs, and learning park. It does help that I get up onto the mountain as often as possible. :yahoo:


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## tokyo_dom

Decided to try boarding back in '97 in Japan. Back then nobody rented out boards, so had to buy everything. In fact, in Japan the mountains were segregated, and boarding was only allowed on specific runs (many mountains didnt allow snowboarding full stop). The mountain we went to had a sectioned off area for boarding but i was the only one on it.

Let me tell you... Hopping on a board without ever seeing anyone else boarding, without taking a lesson or watching a single video (youtube? 1997? hahaha), was HARD. I didnt understand the concept of using the edges and wondered why the board just went in every which way it wanted to.

After half a day i was ready to throw my board in the bin. A skiier friend, seeing my frustration came and gave it a shot (same size feet luckily). He understood the importance of using the edges from skiing, and worked out a technique of 'twisting' the board with heel and toe pressure, to increase the edge on one side compared to the other and control the rotation of the board. Using this method, i could link turns by the second day. 

It may not have been the right way of looking at it, but it actually turned out to be the same thing as the whole "point the shoulder in the direction you want to turn" technique, since both end up making the hips rotate.

Progress since then has been slow and steady. I have probably only boarded 30-40 days in the 16years since then (holy shit!), but I can hit 10 footers with ease and recently started sticking 360s. Most importantly, i have FUN out on the mountain.


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## extra0

fortunately, prior to my first day, I had heard someone say something about using your edges when snowboarding (shoulda known this from skiing, but thought they were 2 altogether different craft)....actually doing it was another story.

Took me about half a day to learn. I rented a board and (after landing on my ass real good off the lift) proceeded to slam on my ass every turn, even though I was really trying to use my edges. Somehow, by my third run, I started linking some turns and not falling at the lift. No lessons, no help. I was riding down easy blues a few runs later. 

however, getting so I could land 180 airs by instinct took about 5 years (I don't ride that much). Still working on 3s - I've made about ten, but finding a ramp big enough with what I feel is a safe landing is what keeps me from attempting them more often...I think


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## KansasNoob

I learned/am learning from YouTube vids, and the first time I went had an experienced snowboarder show me the basics. I found I learn better practicing on my own, so I did that for a while, and now that I can somewhat keep up I'm usually with a group. It amazes me when I saw people who are completely new and think "I was worse than them when I started!"


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## Sincraft

I was just hanging out on my chair watching hockey, reached down to do a nice guy scratch and found a super long hair wrapped around my junk. Not having any female contact that day, and having short hair myself, I got kinda freaked out and figured I was exposed to gamma radiation or, was abducted by aliens.

Either way........I figured if I put on a bunch of clothes it would make it harder for whatever to cause this to get me again.

Well, I got real hot real quick so I went outside..

Bored due to having a pretty severe case of hyperactivity even at my age, I decided to slide around on the snow...

then I had a thought! Wait, what if I had a board like I would have if it were summer, but without wheels.

So into the woodshop I went, I steamed a piece of oak after planning it down about 3/8" and walla, the first snowboard was invented. A few alterations later and I had some leather straps holding me in, and that's what got me started.

Took me a few dozen years to get the hang of it, and obviously many people have stolen my designs and , quite frankly made it MUCH better, but - I still rock my old board.

I call it "hairball"


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## YeahMan

This is my first season. First trip was presidents day weekend at Blue mountain, PA. I was invited by a friend and thought it to be a great idea coming from a background of skiing (family used to go on a winter vacation every year for about 5 years, so figure 5 years of experience french frying down the mountain.) I was cocky, denied free lessons offered with rental gear, didn't even look any basics up online, went at it with an "I can do this" attitude. What a rough day. I basically spent the whole day flatboarding until i felt uncomfortable with my speed, any attempts at turns/speed checks/stops resulted in a fall. My first day consisted of riding 10 or 20 feet, and bailing, which culminated in a pretty bad shot to the tailbone. I left the mountain that day beaten up, with a new respect for the sport and a burning desire to get back on the mountain. After my painful first trip i studied up on the proper techniques, using youtube videos (looking at you snowolf) and my friends advice, i set back out (with my own gear this time) to the mountains, this time Mountain Creek. Took the lift up and strapped in, couldn't even get my balance to stand up and started getting worried, would I honestly be no better then my first day? The plan was to do a falling leaf type traverse heel side for the first run down. I felt comfortable toeside, so i was going to work on my weak side. Got going, and fell a few times. I was with my friend whos got years of experience boarding, and he called out to me "trust your edges!" I don't know what it was, but hearing that made it click in my head, i had to trust my edges! I started side slipping heelside and felt a little sketchy so without even thinking i pointed the board downhill and transitioned to toeside (my comfortable side.) From that point out, on the very first run of my second day, i was linking turns, albeit in big wide "s" shapes. I fell a few more times my second day, but honestly once i started "trusting my edges" it was like a whole new world, and by the end of my second day, i was riding the blues at mountain creek quite confidently. My 3rd trip was back to Blue mountain to ride with some friends who i initially started with, by the end of the 3rd day i was hitting small jumps, boxes, jibs and going down blacks. Every time out my riding progressed a lot, to the point where im at now, with the end of my first season coming to an end. Im bombing every run at mountain creek and ollieing off little kickers confidently. I don't know what the future holds for me but im hooked and love getting better and pushing myself to go out of my comfort zone. Riding switch feels so wrong to me, though. I need to work on that desperately.


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## JDMITRB18CR

i'm a 3 yr snowboarder with 12 lifetime sessions with a 13th trip pending on Sunday (Stratton). my brother, NSXRguy, bday gifted me with Flow step-in bindings and Raider boa boots, which made me buy a used Ride snowboard.

(3 trips) my 1st season was mostly spent on bunny hills with occasional green trails practicing stops and leafing.

(3 trips) 2nd season was similar, but now i started hitting blue trails. i bought used Union Flites and changed my stance to a wider 12/-12. for my 2nd trip, we went to Killington where all of my brother/friends' advice and my personal instincts all came crashing down to my senses and for once, i felt that i had complete control. in short - *it clicked!*. i was now able to keep up with my group and my speed fear started going away. carving technique still needed work. after research, i sold my board/binding setup for a 152 Skate Banana and 2012 Union Contact Pros. for my last session, i used that setup in Blue Mtn.. i felt it was 'lacking' and I needed another board.. by this time, i'm doing mostly green/blues with an occasional black trail.

(6 trips + Stratton) for my current 3rd season, my fiance gifted me the Nike Vapens. i sold the skate banana board for a 2013 NS Cobra 153.. i rode the Cobra/CP for 5 sessions (Hunter Mtn 3x, Blue Mtn 2x, Camelback) and absolutely loved it. However, I recently sold the Cobra for the 2013 NS Raptor since Peter Glenn had a 28% off sale. It surpassed the high bar set by the Cobra by performing well during our slush day in Blue Mtn this past Saturday.

by this point, i can confidently do double blacks, but need improvement on moguls. eventually, id want to do *backcountry *and maybe *heli board *at least once.. IF my skills advance enough..


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## Bullboy145

So, here we go, this is my favorite story I have about my life.
One Christmas, I got a game for the Gamecube (Remember those?) called Sonic Riders. I was fascinated by the EX Gear boards the characters rode, and I figured the closest thing to riding a hovering board, was to snowboard. So for my birthday, my parents got me a cheap plastic board. The next Christmas, my mom got me yet another game, that was Shaun White Snowboarding for the NDS. I would also acquire the sequel on the Wii the year it came out, and naturally, I used the balance board to play it. So, January of 2010 rolls around, and I had joined the Ski Club. But what I did, well, was learn to board. I had to entertain myself for a few hours, so I pretty much took what I knew from playing videogames about the sport, and trasferred those skills to real life, and it served me well enough until I got a lesson, where I fine tuned both my skills, and reinforced my gluteus maximus! The best birthday ever would come that year. A few days before, me & my mom went to the local boardshop. I walk in, and there it was. A brand spanking new Burton Chopper. A guy I knew from ski club had told me to get a Ride board, but the shop had no Rides, and I was dead set on a Burton ever since playing SWS on the DS, and figuring out that's what Shaun White rode. So, I go up to this Chopper & say, "Mom! Mom! There it is! That's the board I was looking for!" Now, I needed a 125, but this was a 130. How much did you think I cared about 5 cm? Not much at all. So, once I convinced mom that this was the board for me, we tried to shove my big feet into Burton Groms. Didn't work well, so I moved up to Ruler Smalls, and the Custom Smalls bindings with that! I still have all that stuff from when I started, heck, I still use the bindings. So, yeah, that's mah story, and the rest, they say, is sushi. Wait, I meant history. Not Sushi.


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## FireStarter451

I'm still learning, but I've mainly gotten concepts from youtube videos and this forum. On my third day out snowboarding I got a lesson since I bought one of those lift+rental+lesson packages that was the cheapest option for first timers, but that lesson was horrible and I had already learned those concepts from youtube, although I wasn't able to execute them properly yet. I used the time as practice anyway, but the actual teaching was not very good. The kid, who was fresh out of high school, skipped some important basic stuff and started with turns!

I'm about to head out on my fourth day, and I'm close to getting the hang of linking turns. I can do them very, very slowly, and with a high fall rate lol so I don't really count that as being able to do them properly. Hopefully I get it down next time I'm on the mountain, but it wouldn't be a tragedy if it took two more trips. Still having a blast, even if it involves the falling leaf for now  LOL


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## jswift79

skier of 8 years. converted to snowboarding this season, but i still have lots to learn. im getting there lol


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## areveruz

With a thread like this I only clicked expecting egomaniacs claiming they learned in a day and much to my surprise there was hardly any of that. Anyway, my first time out my buddy took me to the summit to pretty decent blue run and told me to go. Me being the cocky sonofabitch that I am thought nothing of it and fell every ten feet.. It took me an hour for my first run which now only takes three minutes lol. By the end of the day I was miserable and bruised more than any day I ever endured playing football; though I thought I was badass for being able to do the falling leaf. I progressed pretty quick after that I guess. By the end of the first season I was carving well down blacks and hitting some features in the park.. but then again I got in 50 days so I guess that's nothing special. :dunno:

Now I'm trying to get decent in the park, because it's hard to progress anymore outside of the park at my local mountain. I can jib decently pretty well but I can't spin for shit.


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## EastCoastChris

My brother started snowboarding in 1990. He never skied, just boarded. He tried to get me on a board for a couple season but I finally demo'd a board one weekend at Sugarloaf and took to it pretty easily. That was '92 and haven't skied since. That was back before they had twin tips even I think. My brother still boards but his two girls (7 and 5) ski. 

My first year in college I dated this guy who surfed and wake boarded. Now I kinda get that those are the hardest of the board sports. Snowboarding is probably the easiest of the board sports. But still this guy was like "teach me to snowboard." He rented this board and was like...ok. Lets just go to the top and work our way down. I tried to talk him out of it but he insisted he'd be fine. So we get up there, dude straps in. He then proceeds to SHRED a blue run. First time on a snowboard. It was crazy. He was having a good time on double black steeps at Sunday River by the end of the day. Never seen anything like it. Before or since.


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## jdang307

First day - Sierra at Tahoe. My girlfriend (now wife) took me for the first time. She boarded for a few years. My ego wouldn't let me look weak so I forced her away while I learned. Went down twice on their bunny slope and called it a day. Don't even consider that a real day.

3 years later score a trip to Denver, flight and hotel for $100 each person (glitch in Sams Club system). Decide to buy some gear and go to Keystone. Can't breathe up there. But go down their greens up top. No lesson, no stopping. Just point it down and pretend to link turns. Had fun. But could not breathe. I almost passed out twice.

3 weeks later decide to go to Mt High since I bought this gear. Was cruising along and discovered my Toe side. Hello! Finally had control it was amazing! Been hooked since (that was 2009-2010). Only went a handful of times that year. It wasn't until the next year i started to go with friends and really started going more often. That first year it was just me and my wifey.


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## Ljohnny

Started off "snowboarding" on a sled, moved up to a walmart snowboard, then rented at the ski hill, then bought my own


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## Soul06

JDMITRB18CR said:


> i'm a 3 yr snowboarder with 12 sessions total. i only went 3x each during my first and second seasons, but have gone 6x this season with one last trip (Stratton) this Sunday. my brother, NSXRguy, bday gifted me with Flow step-in bindings and boa boots, which made buy a used Ride snowboard.
> 
> my 1st season was mostly bunny hill trips with occasional green trails mostly doing stops and leafing.
> 
> 2nd season was similar, but now i started hitting blue trails. i bought used Union Flites and changed my stance to a wider 12/-12. for my 2nd trip, we went to Killington where all of my brother/friends' advice and my personal notes all made sense and everything came together. i was now able to keep up with my group and my speed fear started going away. after some research, i sold my setup for a Skate Banana and Union Contact Pros. i used that setup for one session in Blue Mtn and felt that I needed something else.. by this time, i'm doing mostly green/blues with an occasional black trail.
> 
> for the 3rd season, my fiance gifted me the Nike Vapens while i sold the skate banana for the 2013 NS Cobra.. i rode the Cobra/CP for 5 sessions and absolutely loved it. However, I recently sold the Cobra for the 2013 NS Raptor since Peter Glenn had a 28% off sale. The Raptor performed well above my expectations during our slush day in Blue Mtn this past Saturday. i'm definitely keeping the Raptor/CP for a while. by this point, i can do double blacks, but need improvement on moguls.


Mods please get this guy. He just stole my story. Plagiarism I say. PLAGIARISM!!! LOLOL

Nah but seriously our stories couldnt be more similar. I actually first went snowboarding back in 2004. Crap place, crap kid instructor but still had fun. Next time I went was in 2010 out at Shawnee. This time I watched a bunch of youtube videos to teach me which worked out pretty well. But like JDMITRB18CR, I've REALLY only been at it fo the last 3 years. First year I only went 3 times (Okemo, Mt Snow and Stratton). The next, last year I got 4 times out (same previous 3 plus Sunday River in Maine) . This year I've been 6 and hoping for one more. Been to Okemo, Mt Snow, Stratton, Sugarbush, Stowe and Killington. Not nearly as many as most on this forum who ride more in a month then I have in these 3 years but still I've been progressing pretty well. From 2011 till now I've been riding pretty exclusively in Vermont and once in Maine.
First year I stuck strictly to Green runs. Was scared of the blues. I just practiced my control. Stopping, Turning, Carving at moderate speed and all that. Second year I got a new board; 2010 Custom X; which I'm sure many would have advised against but it actually worked for me. Worked on my carving down blues with speed. This year I switched to a little stiffer boot (had Burton Hails. Now have Nike Kaijus) and moved up to blacks popping my black diamond cherry at Killy on Superstar. If I had more season to go and more good snow dumping I'd try to push to double black but the rapid east coast meltdown is just about underway. So next season. In the mean time I just purchased my 3rd board (2013 Custom X) which I am hoping gets here today...finally.


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## FireStarter451

Soul06 said:


> First year I only went 3 times (Okemo, Mt Snow and Stratton). The next, last year I got 4 times out (same previous 3 plus Sunday River in Maine) . This year I've been 6 and hoping for one more. Been to Okemo, Mt Snow, Stratton, Sugarbush, Stowe and Killington. Not nearly as many as most on this forum who ride more in a month then I have in these 3 years but still I've been progressing pretty well. From 2011 till now I've been riding pretty exclusively in Vermont and once in Maine.


Wow, you went to big mountains from the beginning. They're so far from the city, too. I'm saving those for end of season 2 or start of season 3.


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## JDMITRB18CR

Soul06 said:


> Mods please get this guy. He just stole my story. Plagiarism I say. PLAGIARISM!!! LOLOL


technically, you plagiarised me! hehe

but that is some coincidence..


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## Soul06

FireStarter451 said:


> Wow, you went to big mountains from the beginning. They're so far from the city, too. I'm saving those for end of season 2 or start of season 3.


I figured if I was going to go I might as well go big. Bigger mountains. Better snow conditions. Far more variety. And yeah it is a long trip but I use the bus companies so I'm sleep the way up and the ride back.



JDMITRB18CR said:


> technically, you plagiarised me! hehe
> 
> but that is some coincidence..


Technically you are correct but we will ignore the technicalities lol. And yeah that is a wild coincidence


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## MarshallV82

Trail and error with my skier friends laughing at me.
sometime around 2000


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## Deacon

Two years ago I rented a board and took the free lesson. Last year I bought a used set up and got out a couple times--- thought I was doing ok, looking back I was way out of control. This year I started slowly... Bunny hills and flat greens. When I got so I could ride some easier blues I identified I was having trouble transitioning toe to heel. Took a private lesson, found out I was shrinking from the speed. Learned to put my head where I wanted my board to go... To commit to my changes. I ride everything at Afton now but moguls and the park. Hated moguls on skis and i'm concerned about another injury so I keep my feets on the ground.


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## brucew.

I grew up skiing in VT so I was a familiar with using edges and comfortable in general on a mountain. I moved to NJ a few years ago and last winter was my first season on a board, where I mainly rode in the PA Poconos. I taught myself how to ride using youtube videos and info from the tips and tricks section of this forum. I stayed on green runs for my first 2 trips and by the 3rd I was linking turns and able to do blue runs. I think I did about 10 sessions my first season and this year I've rode every weekend since x-mas with a few midweek trips mixed in. I've gotten a lot better this year, I'm pretty decent at carving, I bomb the blacks/double blacks that are around here and usually get up to 35-45mph on most runs. I'm starting to lock in 180s & hitting kickers. There's still tons more I'd like to learn...I hope to be able to ride blues completely switch and do a few 360s before the end of the season.


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## FireStarter451

brucew. said:


> *I grew up* skiing *in VT* so I was a familiar with using edges and comfortable in general on a mountain. *I moved to NJ a few years ago* [...]


oh man, that sucks (for snowboarding).


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## brucew.

FireStarter451 said:


> oh man, that sucks (for snowboarding).


Haha yeah, it actually sucks for just about everything except for maybe going to the beach. My family still lives up north so atleast I can go visit, have a place to stay and ride some better mountains.


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## EastCoastChris

It doesnt suck for hair gel and pork roll. Lol

Sorry. I worked in central Jersey for a year (reverse commute from NYC) 
I'm still hoping it breaks off and floats away in the Atlantic. Bwahaha.


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## Psi-Man

The two places I learned to snowboard are now part of Nelsap, and one of them you would never know it was ski area....bummer.


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## luigi636

I went to japan with a couple of mates where they took me half way up the mountain to a slow green run, told me "carve to slow down" and off they went. I ended up walking like 2km down and spent the rest of the week on a bunny hill falling on my arse.. 
A year later back home in australia another friend actually _taught_ me how to carve, link my turns and not fall on my face. after a day or 2 i was battling moguls and did a short black run. feels good.


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## Some Guy

Day one, I had no lessons, knew nothing, hadn't even touched youtube, and was on a rental board. I was falling on my ass and had no idea what i was doing. The next day, I got some lessons. By the end of the day, I was getting down European blues without pulling a falling leaf. European reds on the other hand... I wouldn't say i was linking turns, but i was getting there. 

Later that year, i went out again. I bought a cheap used board before and on the first day i was linking turns. Granted the resort was a rather flat area, almost a glorified bunny hill at the bottom. The next day was the same thing, linking turns and what not. 

Later that year, i went on a week long trip. I advanced significantly during this trip. There was a downside to the old board though. The nose popped open in a two or three inch long segment starting around where the toe side edge ended. That was miserable and I was on rental gear again. The board got repaired and I was using it and bringing a rental board as a backup until I could buy a new board. 

This past season I learned a lot by following some advanced skiers everywhere. I went most weekends over winter on a bus to wherever it was going. (US military will know what MWR/ODR is) 

Now, I want to buy a new board cause I out grew the replacement I bought skill wise. I would say I am an intermediate/advanced rider.


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## midnightcaper

This was my first year, January 6th 2013 to be exact. A couple of us guys at work have always talked about it and finally decided to pull the trigger and make a run up to the summit at snoqualmie foe a night board session. For 40 bucks why not. I found a pretty good deal online for a boots board and bindings package that I couldn't pass on. Found a used pair of bonfire pants from a second hand store for 20 bucks and a never used spyder coat still had tags on it at the same store for $100. My buddy said it was a good deal. I.ve never heard of syder before but tag on it said $380 from Macy's so one bill seems like a good deal. We made it up that night and fell on our asses and faces all night. I ended up with a concussion but none the less I had a blast I went down greens blues and one black trying to figure it out. Out of all of us that went I'm the only one left that still goes. You could say I have the bug and can't shake it lol. This season is finally over for me but I must have gone up 12 times. Between snoqualmie and the last 4 at crystal. I'm still riding my bargin package from wiredsport. Camp7 Valdez board, bindings,and system boots. I link turns hit small natural terrain ride natural and goofy it really doesn't matter which way I go. When I started out I'd always find myself spinning either way so I forced myself to go down the hill both ways. Only thing I regret is starting to do this later in my life wish I would have started sooner. And sooner this season but I must say I'm loving it and can't wait for next season.


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## onthefence

The first time I snowboarded I actually made a bet that I'd do a backflip on my first day. Me and this guy were sorta competitive, so when he said "snowboarding isn't all rainbows and unicorns bro" I just said "yeah cuz you suck at it". Immediately when I attempted to get off the lift, I knew I was going to lose that bet. I proceeded to ass-slide down the first run I took (probably only a steep-ish blue).

I never took a lesson, and my first day was spent 100% heelside. I prefered to sideslip because I was afraid of turning... since the only way I knew how to turn was forcefully swinging my back foot around. Many an edge were caught. Many. An. Edge.  I left slightly frustrated... I had this idea that snowboarding was supposed to be easy, but I got my ass tossed around like a ragdoll. The next day I wondered why my arms and kneecaps were sore. Surprise, it was from falling. To this day I have no idea why I didn't just quit snowboarding immediately, but something inside of me must have known better...

A year later on my 2nd trip to the hill I got the hang of heelside falling leafs (initiated with my back foot...) and basically did that all day long. I still ate shit frequently, and felt like a clumsy idiot. The next day I decided that falling leafs were for bullshit, and decided to get a lil adventurous. I would point my nose downhill and straightline to pick up as much speed as I could, and then suddenly jerk my back foot around to skid to a stop. I caught a couple edges really hard, like multi-cartwheeling 'where-did-my-beanie-go?' kind of spills. This day I got pretty good at falling properly lol.

On my third trip to the mountain (another year later), I convinced myself to learn toeside turns. I was still jerking my back foot around, but I managed to do a few toeside falling leafs. I felt pretty good about it, like I was learning quickly or something  I tried to get a little playful with flatspins and hops (not ollies) and whatnot, but everything still felt really sketchy. I may have even linked a couple sloppy 'turns'. 

And so came a time where I stopped and said to myself "Ok, I need to find out what I should be doing, and start doing that". I started to seek information on youtube, and on this forum. I read that I should be leaning downhill, and initiating turns with my FRONT foot. I felt stupid when I read this, because its only common sense that it would be infinitely harder to initiate with your back foot and swing all your weight around suddenly, rather than to use your front foot to _guide _your weight while maintaining momentum. This blew my mind. 

On my fourth trip to the slopes, I practiced everything I read. I was more conscious of my board, my technique, and the physics of everything. At some point in that day, everything clicked together like puzzle. Suddenly and all at once, everything I did felt so effortless and 'right'. I could use my edges properly, link turns, and confidently catch speed. That day, I felt like I learned how to fly :yahoo:

Summary: I've never taken a lesson, but I at least should have researched my shit online before I tried to magically figure it out all by myself. Much more efficient. Less painful too. I recommend it.


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## Clayton Bigsby

Myself and 4 of my buddies went out and bought our first boards (Burton Woody's), not a very big selection to choose from 27 years ago. We drove up to Mt Rainier and hiked some thigh deep powder behind the Paradise lodge, no video's, YouTube or even someone to ask how to ride, just strap in and point it downhill. Our Woody's didn't have steel edges so we only rode powder, that even goes for today, except we have edges. One of the guys in our group went down on his second run and hit a tree breaking his leg, we weren't about to leave because of a silly broken leg, so we threw him the keys as he sat on his board and pushed himself to the parking lot, after we were done we took him to the hospital, now that I think about it, that was the last time he rode with us


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## AntipodeanSam

I have had the opposite experience to a lot of you who just grabbed some gear and went for it. I am a school teacher so have had over 4 full weeks of lessons, from beginner to advanced. That was all the boarding I did however over 4 years. I moved to NZ last season and obviously had a pretty sound technique but not very confident at speeds or doing jumps/tricks etc (I often had to stay at the back and keep an eye on the weakest child in that group), clocked over 30 days last season and improved a great deal just from regular days trying things out and teaching my girlfriend. Snowboarding has gone from an annual trip to dominating half of my year, love it!!


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## stan_darsh

I grew up skiing - started around 7 years old, and quit when I was about 13 or 14. I was pretty good at it, since my step-father was an instructor on one of the better mountains in the state. I got to go all the time, and learned with the best. I was hitting double blacks and heavy moguls by age 10. I had picked up skateboarding when I turned 11, and after that, really thought that it was too much of a hassle to go up to the mountain for fun... and skateboarding was so much "cooler" than skiing to me at that age.

In December of last year, I was in Park City for a week, and was supposed to learn to snowboard. I didn't really care that much, as I always thought it was sort of what people who were scared to skateboard did (I was wrong - it's fun on a whole new level). While I was there, I had big a client drop a huge deadline (with a huge bonu$ as well) on me for a website that needed to be up by the first of the year... So I didn't get to try snowboarding. I guess that _not getting to go_ was the start of it all, because when I am denied FUN, I will go for it at all costs. 

It was on my mind every day after that. So in February of this year (age 27), I got fed up, I asked my girlfriend (who is a great snowboarder and previously a surf instructor), to go up with me and teach me. We went up to Snow Summit, I rented a Burton "Learn To Ride" board (which I later found out was a mistake for me - already being familiar with board sports, I should have had something with sharp edges), and I started learning. I was so confident on the way up. Thinking and talking about throwing 180s, and now fast I was gonna go... LOL...

I got there before the lifts were going, so we walked up the bunny hill about half way, and I started trying to link turns. By the time I got to the bottom of that first "run," I could sort of link them both ways... And by then the lift was going. So we did the bunny hill twice, I felt pretty comfortable, linking turns all the way down, and only fell a few times. HEY GREAT IDEA - let's go to the top of the mountain and ride down... This is where I learned about "washing out" and "edge catches." Holy shit I thought I broke my tailbone by the end of the day. But I was going down blues with skidded turns and _lots of falling_ by day 1. So I was hooked. I have to add that one of the main motivational factors was that I thought she was going to be NICE about teaching me, since she is usually pretty sweet and used to teach kids... But since I was so confident about my skateboarding translating into snowboarding, she was yelling, "GET UP, YOU PUSSY!" in front of everyone every time I'd go slow or fall. I might have quit early that day if it wasn't for this - I couldn't let her win. HAHAHAHA

I was SO hooked, that I bought a board after that day, cause I was convinced it was that rental board that was my problem. I went up with another friend the next week for two days. I started to get dynamic turns and flat based 360+ rotations, and a little bit of switch riding. By the next trip - day 4 - I was back in New Mexico, so I went to my local mountain. I was super comfortable, and cruised all around, learning presses on the snow, 180s on gentle slopes... And I worked on my "flat ground" control and switch riding on greens and blues for the next few days. 

The day that changed it all for me, was my 8th day riding. I went to a new mountain, rode down from the top, and I was kinda shaky. It was spring time, so the snow is super icy till about 11am or so, and then nice for a couple hours, and then usually slushy in the afternoon. I decided to go have a beer or two until the snow softened up. I guess it was the end of the season, and lessons were slow, because a bunch of instructors ended up at the bar. We got to chatting about music, fishing, and other stuff... And they invited me to go ride with them. I figured it would do no harm, I could always bail out and sideslip if shit got too scary. Well, I pushed myself, felt good, and watched them to see how they were turning on the steeps and keeping so much speed and control. They gave me some good tips, and I learned to use my sidecut more, instead of twisting and sliding my board so much. I REALLY started to "get it." I was "scarving" down blacks at speed, and feeling on top of the world. Well, I guess I kind of was...

I slammed hard a few times learning how to do turns at speed on steeps, but I think I improved by about 10x that day. I was pushing my short park board to the limits, and loving every second of it. Before that, I knew I was hooked, but after that day, I knew I was hooked for life. And BAD. I got a handful of days on the hill after that, I'm somewhere in the mid teens I think. At this point, I believe my dynamic turns are really solid, and I can read the terrain very well (the years of skiing really helped here). Thanks to 17 years of skateboarding for everything, it has helped me SOOOOO MUCH. I learned to pop 180s in all 4 ways off of rollers, side hits, and tops of cat tracks into runs by about 9-10 days of riding. On my last day up, the snow was super slushy and forgiving, so I made a little lip off of a cat track, and got a floaty backside 360 second try... Going pretty fast. This was seconds before the end of my last run of the season, and it ended on such a high note that I'm seriously like... DEPRESSED... waiting for either next year, or to snap and head to Oregon to harass Snow Wolf for advice, or maybe even drive to A Basin before they close. I'd really like to get (pencil) carves down consistently... I can do a few, but always end up skidding a bit at some point in a run because I'm still not that conscious of my side cut engagement and how sensitive the board can be at speed. Man this is fun! 

I'd love to thank this forum for all of the info I have absorbed through the months of lurking since December, you guys are all pretty rad. :thumbsup:


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## stan_darsh

Advice I can't share enough: SKATEBOARD when you're not on the snow. It really helps...


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## stan_darsh

Clayton Bigsby said:


> One of the guys in our group went down on his second run and hit a tree breaking his leg, we weren't about to leave because of a silly broken leg, so we threw him the keys as he sat on his board and pushed himself to the parking lot, after we were done we took him to the hospital, now that I think about it, that was the last time he rode with us


that is terrible, but one of the most awesome things i've read on here


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## King_Pin_Rich

Got up, fell down. Repeated. Never had lessons and just copied what other people did, that, and read lots online. In hindsight decent lessons would have helped.

I'd say around 2-3 weeks before i could link turns with reasonable confidence. 
I still have to eradicate the 'dam it would suck if i caught an edge right now' type of thoughts if I’m going faster. 

IMHO you never stop learning.


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## xIceHoundx

Last july I got stationed in Germany and spent allot of time with little to do, winter came and I needed to get out and do something, burn off some frustration and get into a hobby. I had left the modified import car world back in the states as there wasnt a chance in hell my modified RX7 would pass laws and inspections here with how loud and powerful it was, so decided to go at snowboarding. Had always wanted to do it when I was younger growing up in Washington but didnt have the kind of money to make it happen. So I went ahead and did research on snowboards and decided to pick up a Salomon The Villian 155 midwide, Burton Freestyle bindings, and some DC Phase boots. Went over to Zugspitze, which is Germany's largest mountain, with a friend who was also first timing it, he had wanted to do some bunny hill stuff but I said screw it so we went to the top and went game on. Figured theres only one way down and wed get there eventually. First day was pretty rough we got back pretty beaten up, bruised, and sore. Next day we went over to Garmisch-Classic and went at it for another full day. Been self taught ever since except for maybe watching as other snowboarders ride by and picking up on things they do, and snowboarding with friends ive made along the way this season. First season down cant wait for 2013/14 winter season to hit.


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## lander91

Started in November/December 2011, my husband asked if I would be interested in snowboarding (he'd wanted to learn for a long time but never had the chance). I said it sounded fun, and that's where it started.

We live in London, so we booked two fast track lessons at Milton Keynes indoor snowdome - started out with kneepads, impact shorts, and wrist guards. We found out exactly how skank rental helmets were on the first lesson and bought our own before the second lesson! The two lessons got us linking turns well enough to be allowed on the main slope (indoor domes require turns and speed control for safety reasons).

Our first time on the slope on our own, we made the mistake of going in the evening when the slope was really cut up with spots of hardpack everywhere. It was three hours of misery, and we nearly booked another lesson right away but decided to give it one more go. Next time out was an early morning session and we had the slope nearly to ourselves for an hour until it started to get busier. Everything just clicked for both of us, and we've never looked back.

We went on a flatlands/ollies course after a couple of sessions, and later in the year took a kickers course too. We had a week in the French Alps this January and loved riding real mountains; we're going back next January with the same group. Now the plan is to move to Colorado in a couple of years - bring it on!


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## miplatt88

I just took the lift to the top of a blue and went. Was linking turns after a couple hours. Next day I went back and started taking hard blues and blacks. For some reason I picked it up extremely fast and very easily. When my girlfriend wanted to learn I had her do the same thing I did and it didnt work. She struggled for about 7 days and the farthest she got was snowflaking. So she took a 60 minute lesson and by the end of it she was linking turns. Poor girl. Not really sure why I picked it up so quickly. But I am glad I did. I dont think I could have survived 7 days of killing myself snow flaking


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## SnowBat

I've been snowboarding for years, but I never get out as much as I wanted to. I decided to invent a snowboard training system called the SnowBat which I use to prepare myself for snowboarding. The SnowBat trains snowboard specific balance, core strength, global strength, endurance, flexibility, and body awareness; all the fundamental skills of snowboarding.

Click here to help support SnowBat


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## koi

I took lessons at Big Bear...the only thing that I learned was how to get black and blue. After that a buddy tried to help and after an hour we wanted to fight each other, which probably wouldn't have worked out for me as I was black and blue again...When my buddy and I were about to go to blows a girl I knew stepped in, gave me 15 mins (tops) of instructions and I have been riding ever since (12 years).

I think lessons can really help, but a decade ago I feel they were still fixing the kinks in the "lessons," part.


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## Joe77

Took me almost the whole of last season riding by myself knowing nothing at all and just concentrated on the learning more than the having fun part. I guess it's a fair amount of time considering i chose the hard way in from knowing nothing at all. 

Looking back I am glad my mind won over matter and I held on to it even after countless bruises, painfull joints, a swolen knee, minor concussion, and binding split in half toe to heel because i am now comfortable carving switch.


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## Olex

koi said:


> I took lessons at Big Bear...the only thing that I learned was how to get black and blue. After that a buddy tried to help and after an hour we wanted to fight each other, which probably wouldn't have worked out for me as I was black and blue again...When my buddy and I were about to go to blows a girl I knew stepped in, gave me 15 mins (tops) of instructions and I have been riding ever since (12 years).
> 
> I think lessons can really help, but a decade ago I feel they were still fixing the kinks in the "lessons," part.


I wish my instructors told me (or knew?) about turning with the front foot. Without that I have suffered for a good dozen snow days before I got my turns down. :icon_scratch:


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## AntipodeanSam

lander91 said:


> We live in London, so we booked two fast track lessons at Milton Keynes indoor snowdome


Another MK learner, you should check out the having a blast thread, bought back good memories for me.

I did a fast track lesson too, then a few trips to the dome, then being a PE teacher I got to go on several ski trips before I moved to NZ. Moving out of the UK for snow is the way forward!!!


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## SHREDallDAY

*How I learned*

1st day: I took a couple runs on a green circle, then took the lift to the top at BV and went down an easy black without even knowing it. Started working on easy tricks like Ollie's, tripod, butters, and started on wildcats (the wildcats didn't go too well).
2nd day: started going on harder blue and black runs and practiced tricks on the blues.
3rd day: I started doing some tricks on blacks.

Also just like my name, when I go to a mountain I get there right at opening time and don't leave until its closing time.


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## weave312

ev13wt said:


> Never stopped learning.
> 
> 
> 
> nvr b4 and reli is not cool. Please put more effort into your spelling, that is hard to read. Makes you look like a 11 yo.
> 
> regards,
> 
> spelling bee


why dont you shut up before I smack you?


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## MountainMystic

weave312 said:


> why dont you shut up before I smack you?


*ev13wt*

Registered
Joined Nov 22, 2010
Last seen Oct 4, 2012


Dude, ev13wt left the building about 9 years ago. I don't think he cares what you think. 

Also, why carry on like that for a first post?


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## weave312

MountainMystic said:


> *ev13wt*
> 
> Registered
> Joined Nov 22, 2010
> Last seen Oct 4, 2012
> 
> 
> Dude, ev13wt left the building about 9 years ago. I don't think he cares what you think.
> 
> Also, why carry on like that for a first post?


You do realize I could easily destroy him....


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## Rip154

weave312 said:


> You do realize I could easily destroy him....


welcome back ev13wt:>


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## weave312

Rip154 said:


> welcome back ev13wt:>





Rip154 said:


> welcome back ev13wt:>


Ha. Love how he's running scared now. 

He knows he can't step to this!


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## Powdertrax

Me and 3 of my buddies walked into a board shop 37 years ago and all bought Burton Woody’s with no edges or highbacks, then headed up to Mt Rainier Washington. 

We hiked a hill near Paradise in waist deep powder, after a couple hours one of the guys hit a tree a broke his leg. We weren’t about to give up on the fun so we threw him the keys and told him to go to the car, I’ll forget the scene of him sitting on his board and pushing himself down the road to the car.

Our next experience was on chairlifts a week later at Mt Baker, again we had no edges so we had to stay off of the groomers and only run under the chair where the skiers on the chairs would yell at us to get off the mtn, spit at us or throw snowballs. Back then we couldn’t ride the entire mtn until you took a mandatory snowboard control test, which involved you signing up for the test to have one of the ski patrollers follow you down a couple runs to verify your abilities to turn and stop. I they felt your abilities were good enough you had to get a photo I.D. that you had to wear and show the lifties on all of the other chairs, boy this sport has come a long ways, you younger riders don’t have a clue of all the bullshit we went through


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## Phedder

weave312 said:


> You do realize I could easily destroy him....


Is this for real? You actually exist? And you go through life acting this way? May I suggest removing the stick firmly lodged up your ass, take a few deep breaths, recite to yourself "I will not act like a macho tough guy asshole online or in real life" and then continue on with your now vastly improved quality of life. You're welcome.


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## drblast

Phedder said:


> Is this for real? You actually exist? And you go through life acting this way? May I suggest removing the stick firmly lodged up your ass, take a few deep breaths, recite to yourself "I will not act like a macho tough guy asshole online or in real life" and then continue on with your now vastly improved quality of life. You're welcome.


Phedder, you're a sissy pants. Come at me bro!


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## Phedder

drblast said:


> Phedder, you're a sissy pants. Come at me bro!


You seriously think you can handle this!?


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## htfu

learned by taking my first lessons in a french resort from a bunch of excellent coaches, still learning. want to add some complimentary summer activities to enhance things. will take lessons at every opportunity to work on form and new things ...


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## d3tro

Strong thread revival lol

Oh well, took a one hour lesson in 1995 and it was done. Never stop since then.

Envoyé de mon LG-H873 en utilisant Tapatalk


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## drblast

I taught myself in 1998 by throwing myself down a hill in Massanutten, VA. At night. With snowblowers blowing in my face. And no goggles. In a jogging suit. On a rental board with a broken binding. On a Christian snowboard retreat even though I'm an atheist. Jesus and I high fived as I tumbled down the lift ramp.

Fucking epic. Couldn't wait to go do it again.

We had full camber boards made out of oak and we liked it.

By the next winter on day 3 I was riding competently down blues. I'm still learning. I don't know at what point I'll ever say "I learned to snowboard" past tense unless I'm unable to walk.


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## Jimi7

Started in ~01/02. Learned at A-Basin - at least I never got stuck in the flats (A-Basin is steep - everywhere). First season I taught myself with some tips from a friend of a friend, who didn't know what he was doing either but he knew more than me. I skateboarded and some of that transferred to snowboarding. After my first season, I started volunteer instructing at El Dora for a group that worked with handicapped people (aka Adaptive Skiing/riding). There I got exposed to some really good riders and instructors and they really helped me advance my riding. At the beginning of season 2 I was skidding turns, by season 3 I was on a Burton T6 and absolutely flying down the mountain. Got certified and taught a couple a years and spent almost every weekend from Halloween to Memorial day on the mountain and progressing for years - 30+ days was the norm for me. Season 4 I learned how to bomb the moguls. I spent most of season 5 in the trees and learning how to find/ride powder and that's still what I enjoy the most although age and slowing reflexes limits my tree riding now. 

Now I'm a rad dad learning to deal with getting old. What can't my body do this year that it could do last year? It's been ~14 years of dealing with that - I actually stopped snowboarding for a while because it's depressing when your body stops doing what you tell it to do. I definitely understand why pro-athletes cry at their retirement speeches. However, snowboarding is too fun to give up and now I'm teaching my kids (to ski). 

When I was instructing at El Dora, there was this old guy with a Santa Claus beard that I'd see riding every weekend. He had perfect form, it never looked like he was trying, all his movements were perfect, smooth and in total control. He made everything look effortless. I remember thinking some day that will be me. Now I'm that guy and I understand why his form was so good. Yeah, years of experience has a lot to do with it. However, now my form is perfect because that's the only way I can make thru the day. Every little skid, every little error in form or movement saps my energy. So I focus on keeping every little thing perfect. I don't look effortless because I'm that good, I look effortless because I'm literally trying to conserve every bit of energy I can - I suspect Santa Claus was doing the same. I hope that guy is still riding. 

Good revival of an old thread.


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## freshy

I learned in the 80's by taking the trucks off my skateboard. Then with the ultimate in shitty rentals, and my dads old Sorels. Back then a board was a board in my mind, and me not being able to ride a halfpipe with my eurocarve rental only meant I needed to practice more. Every day I rode was packed full of riding because it was pretty rare I could afford a ticket or find friends and parents to ride with and drive us.


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## buller_scott

I was lucky. I learned in '95 at Purgatory, under an ex-pro instructor, and a guy who was sponsored and instructing as a means to get days on the hill for free. This was back in the day when they taught you properly - learn to link turns on beginner flats with your back foot out, before being allowed to strap your back foot in and go up the chair. 

Was linking turns within 3 hours. 

Since then, I've had approx. 10 weeks of snowboard camp in Whistler, but my best improvement took place at my home mountain in Japan - a small resort with some of the most incredible freestyle riders I've ever seen. Like, give these guys a big enough kicker, and they'll be spinning 1260's like Marcus Kleveland.... and yet they ride with broken ratchets and are blown away when you tell them that they can detune their contact points for a more forgiving ride!

Took a brief hiatus whilst I was stupidly telling myself that I had to pursue a "corporate" job in the heart of Melbourne - that was a waste of life. Got serious again around 2016, getting as many days as I could up at shitty, shitty, deplorably shitty Mt. Buller. Now I live 25mins drive from a resort that has closed for the 3rd time this season, due to Covid taking place hundreds of kilometers away. 

Been a long time coming, but I'm getting back into the swing of things - it's taken lots of $$$ and experimentation for me to realise that really, I belong on 2D camber. I still hold out hope that I can be back and spinning on the medium line, in future.


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## WigMar

I didn't start snowboarding until I was a freshmen in college. At the time, I was in a downhill skating crew and was bombing hills regularly. We would ride in the Rockies some, but mostly rode in the foothills where they were building new subdivisions that offered fresh new roads without the threat of traffic. We would also share a snow skate between us and bomb the sledding hill hitting kickers. 

My crew talked me into trying snowboarding. We went to Copper and I rode my friend's sister's board in my hiking boots. One of my friends taught me the falling leaf, how to turn and how to link those turns, and I was off! We were bombing blues by lunch. My roommate was so mad I learned so fast that he took me through some trees. I bounced off of a few, but floating in powder stashes felt amazing. After I made it to the bottom unscathed, he wouldn't talk to me for the rest of the day. Snowboarding was everything I'd always wanted skateboarding to be, and so much more.

I worked construction that summer and saved up for my own gear and a pass to Copper/Winter Park. I've been snowboarding as much as possible ever since. I still love carving groomers and ripping through tree stashes, and probably always will. Snowboarding has given me so much joy over the last 20 years. I'm immeasurably grateful my friends dragged me to the mountain.


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## freshy

WigMar said:


> Snowboarding was everything I'd always wanted skateboarding to be, and so much more.


This rings so true for me. I kind of saw snowboarding as skateboarding in the winter. Plus I could actually catch air in a half pipe and blast a method off a kicker...Something I could never ever do on a skate.


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## Jason4

I first snowboarded over 30 years ago and I'm still learning! That's part of the snowboard lifestyle.


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