# Did you learn with lessons or alone?



## labowsky (Sep 28, 2010)

i had only one lesson, and only to learn how to stop.
so i guess alone? but had a little help haha.


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## Extremo (Nov 6, 2008)

Alone but I was 11...I'd recommend a lesson now a days


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## HouseMuzik (Dec 22, 2008)

lessons.. probably the reason i progressed so fast 

Still a n00b in the park. trying to change that this year


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## NWBoarder (Jan 10, 2010)

I was self taught, but I was 16 and on some terribly ill fitting gear. I would not recommend learning this way to anyone. Thankfully, proper fitting gear and the internet has helped me clean up my riding technique quite a bit.


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## boarderaholic (Aug 13, 2007)

I'm one of those people who need guidance in life...so lessons for me. That's probably the reason I didn't quit either. Learning little tricks and stuff to make me a better rider was fun.


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## HoboMaster (May 16, 2010)

Was taught by my dad when I was 10, it was a long and painful process, he was a pretty good sport because I remember having some serious blowouts :laugh:. I would suggest getting taught by an instructor however.


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## ev13wt (Nov 22, 2010)

Self taught and when I moved to Germany, I met some instructors that I now ride with and got me some pointers, which really helped my skills.


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## rollandburn (Nov 24, 2010)

I learned on a 1987 Burton Cruzer on Ontario ice... sooo painful haha. Even if i wanted to, there was no one around to take lessons from... skating skills came in handy and I learned real quick! =]


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## c_mack9 (Jan 9, 2009)

took one lesson and sisnt even learn how to stop so self taught at riding but learned how to properly ride one footed and enter and exit the lifts and common courtesy while riding so it was worth it. i wouldnt have learned that stuff so quickly without that lesson, the riding came pretty easy compared to that stuff.


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## roremc (Oct 25, 2009)

Self taught. A painful and long winded way to do it. I would recommend at least a couple of lessons to get you going quicker.


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## Nose Press (Oct 10, 2010)

I was self taught, because I was so pumped to ride, so i just attacked the mountain best I could. It didn't hurt that I skate, wakeboard and surf. But that day was about 7 years ago, so it is really up to you if you want to take a long time to take lessons and go at the speed of your class, or learn at the speed of your self.


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## Technine Icon (Jan 15, 2009)

It seems like the majority of people have learned by their selves. I too learned by myself and wouldn't have it any other way...it may haven taken longer, but when I look back at how far I progressed I can proudly say that it was all due to me.


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## volboy23 (Nov 30, 2010)

This is my first season snowboarding and I took a lesson yesterday morning, only second time out ever. That hour and a half lesson yesterday helped me learn a lot about technique and what I should be doing versus just figuring it out myself. I still had to do all the work in getting down the hill and making it work, trust me, my muscles are telling me all about it today. I think the lesson helped me progress much further than I would have gotten by just doing it on my own. I also learned how to get down the hill in both directions, which I think is something that will be a great value down the road. 

I am also like snowolf, starting later than most, I'm 37. Yesterday was great and I can't wait to get back out again.


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## Technine Icon (Jan 15, 2009)

Snowolf said:


> While I agree and think it is cool, don`t discount the fact that people who took lessons still did all the work on their own. It kind of sounds like you are implying that taking a lesson is somehow "cheating"....
> 
> An instructor can give you the technical knowledge and demonstrate it, but it still take the rider to actually do the work an gain the experience that makes them a better rider...


O, haha, I did not mean for it to sound that way. I totally understand that the rider only becomes as good as they can through themselves taking the information from an instructor and learning it on their own. I meant that I am the type of person who enjoys experimenting through trial and error and figuring techniques out for my self.


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## sook (Oct 25, 2009)

I got abandoned at the top of Mt. High by two dudes that told me, "you're going to want to scrape down the mountain evenly on your heels... see you down there". Over that season, I learned by myself watching videos and watching other riders, but it took me almost 10 sessions to be able to dial in skidded turns and try a black. Lessons probably could have cut that down to a third of that


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## freshy (Nov 18, 2009)

I skateboarded for a few years before I rode, I think that was why I picked up snowboarding so quickly then again I was 13 and fearless too. No lessons here.


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## crsv619 (Feb 19, 2010)

Snowolf said:


> As someone who did not start snowboarding until I was 40, I had to approach the learning curve a little more methodically and therefore took a beginner group lesson. I rode about 5 or 6 times after that to identify specific problem areas I wanted to deal with and then took a 2 hour private lesson. From then on it was time behind the wheel so to speak until I became an instructor. Now, I train regularly and I have become a much better and more efficient rider as a result of ongoing clinics...:thumbsup:


this is very cool. gives me hope i can become "proficient" in snowboarding even though starting late in life (okay, i know mid-20s isn't "late" but it seems late when many start as kids).


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## crsv619 (Feb 19, 2010)

i'm all self taught. but i'm lucky to have found a crew that's better than me and patient enough to have me around--helps challenge me to try new things and "keep up with the boys." i think i learned/progressed more in the past year that i've been riding with them, than in the 5 years previous of going with people who were at the same level as me. in that sense, i can see how lessons would be very beneficial since you've got a more advance rider challenging you and giving you step-by-step instructions.


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## GavinHope (Jun 14, 2010)

I learned with lessons... I'm surprised by the results in the poll so far, I didn't think it would be more than 60% having learned solo. Interesting. I wrote an article a while back asking the question "can you learn without expensive lessons?" I'm of the opinion that there are plenty of people who can, but for some, lessons will be more effective...

I know it's not a huge poll, but still surprised


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## dksmith17 (Oct 13, 2010)

I've been on both sides of instruction and in the end I think on mountain instruction is a big waste of time and money TBH. Getting better is about one thing and one thing only, time spent ripping. And time spent standing around listening to someone is time wasted. I should admit that I'm a cheap impatient bastard also. As far as 'chairlift instruction' from your buddies goes, or watching vids/reading on off days, I'm all for it. JMHO


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## gjsnowboarder (Sep 1, 2009)

GavinHope said:


> I learned with lessons... I'm surprised by the results in the poll so far, I didn't think it would be more than 60% having learned solo. Interesting. I wrote an article a while back asking the question "can you learn without expensive lessons?" I'm of the opinion that there are plenty of people who can, but for some, lessons will be more effective...
> 
> I know it's not a huge poll, but still surprised


The results aren't all surprising. It does cost a little extra money to take lesson and a lot of people look at that cost short term. Not in the long term advantages of knowledge. A very typical american outlook. They are looking at the immediate day not the life long activity.

Take for instance people with high school degrees vs college degrees. Sure they will be able to get a job and make money. Some of them will even be very successful. However we know that on the average many of them have an average salary lower than those with a college degree. The people that went to college on average tend to acheive more of their potential.

I started out with a couple of friends, ditched them, and went riding on for 4 more years without instruction. Was I able to "rip it" and have fun heck yeah. Was I tired and sore? for sure. It wasn't until my GF at the time suggested becoming an instructor that I realized what I had been missing out on. Because that knowledge help me ride longer with less fatigue and progress with my own riding I have been instructing ever since.

Now I have seen in this thread "trial and error". I would counter to these learners that this is fine but wouldn't it be better to understand during your "trials" what it was that actual caused the mistake rather than having to take repeated beatings over and over again? I would think so. This part of what makes a lesson a much faster progression tool then going it alone.


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## lisevolution (Sep 20, 2007)

^^^^ I completely agree with gjsnowboarder on this one. I've been riding about 15 years now but really never more than maybe 30days max in a season and that was an "epic" year for me. I never took a lesson...my first day out my buddies took me to Stratton and on a borrowed Burton Backhill was told ok, now figure out how to get down to the bottom, we'll see you in a few hours. 

Now I can do pretty much any run I want but I still know I have terrible tendencies and bad habbits galore from being self taught. I've corrected many of them over the years by watching others, videos, info on forums like this one etc. but even with all the years of experience on the mountain I am still not riding as efficiently or as well as I could be had I taken lessons in the first place. I was smart enough to put my wife into lessons a few years back when we started dating and she decided to make the switch from skiing and I can say while she doesn't have the experience and guts I may have to go and try something, her form and progression has been much quicker. I'm probably going to take an advanced private lesson at some point this winter so I can work on some of my flaws and become an overall better rider.


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

I first winged snowboarding with a friend and we were falling all over the place. At the end of the day I made it to blues but I was really just "leafing" it and maybe "jump turning" to the other edge when given the opportunity.

Then I read 6 books on snowboarding at a bookstore during my lunch breaks. The next time I went snowboarding, by the end of the day I was linking turns on double black diamonds in a large resort in Vermont. I mean the first double black run, I fell through like 75% of the trail...cuz you know like how when you fall you just keep sliding and sliding?  But toward the end of the day I was able to maybe only fall through like 10% of the trail. :laugh:

I think I was mostly skid turning though. It took some practice to be able to carve because it required some balance and proper distribution of power and I had to kind of figure out that with my body over the next couple of trips.


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

dksmith17 said:


> I've been on both sides of instruction and in the end I think on mountain instruction is a big waste of time and money TBH. Getting better is about one thing and one thing only, time spent ripping. And time spent standing around listening to someone is time wasted. I should admit that I'm a cheap impatient bastard also. As far as 'chairlift instruction' from your buddies goes, or watching vids/reading on off days, I'm all for it. JMHO


I think the problem with on mountain instruction is that it's like a box of chocolates. Sometimes you get a good instructor and the group follows well. Other times, the instructor thinks she's a kindergarden teacher and some noobs drag the whole class behind and you get nowhere. But overall, I still recoomend noobs take a lesson because at least you will learn the very basics and how to fall, etc. and important stuff that your friends might "leave out". Not to mention the fact that "friends" often give the wrong advice. And any noob should have the sense to not waste their friend's time with the very basics because it's like saving a few bucks of yours to waste a lot of theirs in an unecessary fashion.


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## GavinHope (Jun 14, 2010)

gjsnowboarder said:


> The results aren't all surprising. It does cost a little extra money to take lesson and a lot of people look at that cost short term. Not in the long term advantages of knowledge. A very typical american outlook. They are looking at the immediate day not the life long activity.


Hey gj, good point.

As well, with being from the UK, it's quite common to have lessons "before you go away". Most shredders over here will hit Europe for their snowboard trip, but at home, there are snowdomes and dryslopes, all offering small courses of lessons - to me, it seems like it's the "done thing".

Of course, I shoulda thought that it could/would be quite different elsewhere...

I'd be interested to run this poll on a UK forum.

Cheers, Gav


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## volboy23 (Nov 30, 2010)

I guess i got lucky with my instructor. We ended up with 3 of us in a group and the instructor worked well with us. I think the lesson was worth it because I learned some of the basics and the right way. I am lucky though, my brothers friend was an instructor for five years, so I have a connection there for some one on one time that will definitely help. Can't wait to be rocking some good slopes by the end of the year.


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## say chi sin lo (Oct 15, 2009)

Pointers from friends and random people here and there, but largely self-taught. And this...

YouTube - Shin Koyamada in NO MIND


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## Lab (Nov 21, 2010)

Took lessons for the first year, a total of about 8, and then taught myself the rest of the way, although there wasn't that much mroe to teach. Even though he was just a kid, he know his stuff.


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## Wrongday (Nov 5, 2010)

I took 2 groups lessons of 2 hours.. which mean you dont see a lot. But still, it was all i needed to have a good start. 

first lesson: we saw how to "brake" .. like going on the brake downhill, uphill (dunno how to saw that in english, is that right?)
second lesson: how to link some turns 

after that, i went to the big hill and started doing my own stuff. This is my second year and im doing greens easy, starting to do some blues fast enough. 

I feel like the 2 lessons were A MUST, to have a good base.


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## sleev-les (Feb 26, 2010)

I started by teaching myself, but then started riding with friends that have been boarding and started to pick up things and push myself to learn more.


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## InfiniteEclipse (Jan 2, 2009)

self-taught, but I'd probably get lessons if I could do it all again


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## GavinHope (Jun 14, 2010)

Hey, I know there's been an influx of Snowboard Addiction posts recently, so don't hate on this one... they do have a pretty good learn to ride program - might be useful for anyone who's thinking of learning without a lessons on the hill. If you're interested, these are my thoughts on it...


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## Pmart (Nov 19, 2010)

3 peat at mnt high the only way to do it


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Self taught...trial and error, books, forum and videos...too damm stubborn and cheap...however I highly recommend taking lessons...I should take some private lessons. My biggest improvements, being self taught, has come from trying to keep up with better riders and skiers.


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## ZOOM 3 (Dec 16, 2010)

self taught falling expert! lol 

I took one lesson which definitely helped with the basics...now just continuously work at riding more difficult slopes/paths! Hopefully one day I'll venture into a park area this year!


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## mrjimyjohn (Dec 18, 2010)

when i first started riding (when i was like...10 or so)I took a few lessons to learn the basics, but from there i pretty muchh taught myself, just trying things or getting little tips here and there from my friends id ride with. :thumbsup:


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

Snowolf said:


> Some students are kinesthetic learners, while others are visual, while others are analytical. Some people actually need verbal instruction while others must learn by feel.


Yeah, I learned snowboarding by reading books. Some might even say that's a weird way to learn a sport, but I guess I'm more of an analytical learner where I need to connect with the details of what's physically happening between the board and gravity and snow, etc. I was always the kind who would get very little from listening to the teacher and mostly just learn from a textbook. But I'm also the kind of person who reads calculus books for fun.


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## rasmasyean (Jan 26, 2008)

Snowolf said:


> Some students are kinesthetic learners, while others are visual, while others are analytical. Some people actually need verbal instruction while others must learn by feel.


Yeah, I learned snowboarding by reading books. Some might even say that's a weird way to learn a sport, but I guess I'm more of an analytical learner where I need to connect with the details of what's physically happening between the board and gravity and snow, etc. I was always the kind who would get very little from listening to the teacher and mostly just learn from a textbook. But I'm also the kind of person who would read calculus books for fun.


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## Karasene (Oct 20, 2010)

crsv619 said:


> i'm all self taught. but i'm lucky to have found a crew that's better than me and patient enough to have me around--helps challenge me to try new things and "keep up with the boys." i think i learned/progressed more in the past year that i've been riding with them, than in the 5 years previous of going with people who were at the same level as me. in that sense, i can see how lessons would be very beneficial since you've got a more advance rider challenging you and giving you step-by-step instructions.


That is awesome! I'm 24 and started late in the game as well.. No lessons but I had the same kinda crew last year. I progressed more in one season than any of my friends have ever seen in a beginner. Riding with good riders and trying to keep up with "the boys" is one of the best ways to suck it up and learn quick. The one girl I rode with (also my best friend) use to race back in high school and she waits for no one. The guys would all say she rides like a dude. The fact that she didn't wait for me.. was a chick and a way better rider drove me enough to get good. Fast. (I'm super competitive "anything you can do I can do better" mentality) By the end of last season I was able to ride hard, keep pace and improve my freestyle. Cheers! (^oh and thanks Morgan )


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## basso4735 (Nov 27, 2010)

My first trip to a mountain (actually a hill, less than 1000ft summit) was on 1/1/01. Took a quick 30 minute or hour lesson that pretty much only covered how to slide down on heel and toe edge. Never took another lesson. I would usually just build a kicker in someones yard with a friend and do some 1's and grabs. I think I only took 2 or 3 trips to real mountain and had a hard time getting down blues. If I remember correctly I could barely link turns. Gave up on it maybe 3 years later.

Fast forward to this season and on my first trip out in 6 years I could link turns pretty well. Isnt that something. :laugh: Ive only been out twice so far but I am already better than I ever was before. Must be because I'm older and more mature now right?


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## Bones (Feb 24, 2008)

Snowolf said:


> As someone who did not start snowboarding until I was 40, I had to approach the learning curve a little more methodically and therefore took a beginner group lesson.


I took lessons to start when I was 40 and 10 years later I still do. I'm lucky in that 3 or 4 of my original beginner classmates still fire off an email at the start of every season and we all like having a scheduled night to ride. Doesn't hurt that 10 weeks of night lessons only costs $120. Stops a lot of bad habits from sneaking into my riding without realizing it.

I find a lot of what I get out of lessons now is little self-corrrection drills that help me when I'm a little puzzled about why something is happening. I'm a kinetic learner and I go by feel, so it's difficult for me to notice when things slowly sneak into my riding.


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## TripleToe81 (Mar 22, 2010)

This is only my second season but i had my first private lesson today. Totally worth it. Last year I had no clue what I was doing, all self taught until I figured out how to do heelside and then before i knew it season was over  earlier this season i was trying to teach myself toe side, but didnt like how i was falling (like it seems like im going to twist my knee off) so i figured i should have a proper lesson. instructor was impressed with what i could already do so we worked on the toe side and he had me linking turns by the end of the lesson  and he gave me tips and pointed out my bad habits which were originally causing the toe side not to happen for me.

i'm 28 years old and i also take figure skating lessons, i just find it easier to see someone demonstrate it for me, then i try it with their suggestions and then be corrected on what i'm doing wrong. as opposed to being self taught (i guess for myself, there's only so much i can teach myself from just watching others). If i had extra money i wouldnt mind taking another private lesson for snowboarding. maybe if i get some christmas money. but right now im happy to finally be linking turns so i can practice that for the remainder of the season.


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