# Day 1 down...now day 2



## Kjarahz (Jan 15, 2014)

Alright,

Made a trip to Maggie Valley in NC, everything went well. A bit of background I've skateboarded for about 15 years and surfed for about a season. Things went well, I stayed on the easy slope for about 3 runs, I was doing well then rode every intermediate hill and noticed speed was my biggest issue.

Even on the easy slope, I could carve between people breezing through no big deal and then towards the bottom it got pretty fast. The end was quite slanted and I would just haul and try to carve but I'd always end up on my heelside for a brief amount of time then stopped on my butt :dizzy:

After the day was over, I was killing the easy slope navigating carving up the 1/4 ramp shaped wall on the side going around everyone then I caught stupid speed at the bottom to my demise. I think I just knew I was going to fast and just gave up.

What can I do to prevent this speed issue, I also seem to have no issues toeside carving and scrubbing a bit of speed but heelside I can't seem to lock my body into position all the time and stay, sometimes I just swoop around switch without trying. Never happens toeside though and for whatever reason that ends up being comfortable.

Towards the end I could really go back and forth aggressively by taking and utilizing my back foot heavily. But I was eventually too tired to even do that and that was when I tried the last ride for the day...bad choice on the intermediate slope ha. 

Overall great experience but, what do I do next on my way to Colorado at Keystone. How can I make the most out of my trip while having fun and staying upright without gaining way to much speed. Ideas on my carving and how to not spin around and keep my body from just following through, I can hold it toeside like a big powerslide on a skateboard. Can't heel so easy unless I was really tired? :dunno:

Where do I go from here, cheers. :eusa_clap:


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## Snow Hound (Jul 21, 2012)

Get a lesson. You're going to hurt yourself/someone else if you carry on like that.


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

speed issue? you just make more turns to bleed the speed off.
also if you get on your heel edge and then the back of the board comes out and you lose balance two things, one you are weighting your back foot too much, two you are not bending your knees.
look for tutorials and correct your stance and learn how to control your speed.
on your first day I really doubt you are carving by the sound of it. carving is mostly initiated by front foot not back.


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## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

I'm not that experienced a rider so I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm mistaken, but if you are having trouble staying locked into your heel side when turning or stopping? You might need to dial in some more forward lean to the highbacks. Heel side is usually easiest to hold for most ppl. Just a thought. 



Btw, listen to the advice about lessons. Speed is sweet! Reckless, poorly controlled speed will get you or someone else hurt!


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## KansasNoob (Feb 24, 2013)

You're not carving. Sounds like you are ruddering, but even that should let you control your speed. Lessons.


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## lab49232 (Sep 13, 2011)

From the sound of your problem compared to how you say you're riding I have to think what you think you are doing well you actually aren't. If you can carve and turn down the hill then speed would not be an issue because you'd be controlling your speed with your turns. It's a common misconception by self taught riders who want to think they're good right off the bat that they know how to ride when really they are actually doing some modified falling leaf or just not falling. Knowing how to snowboard and knowing how to not fall at the top of the hill are completely different.

It takes time to learn to snowboard no matter what sport you did before, and there's no shame in that. If you're getting too much speed and don't know how to control it you don't know how to turn or carve. Take a lesson. And if you think I'm wrong I can assure you that when you said you we're controlling movement with your backfoot that's the first thing you learn not to do. You turn and control everything starting with your front foot.


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## sclogger (Dec 3, 2013)

Good ole Cataloochie, quite a jump going to Colorado!


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## MarshallV82 (Apr 6, 2011)

Sounds like you're teaching yourself quite a few bad habits. 
Snowplowing, Ruddering.. 

Seriously, lessons or even watching a ton of youtube videos helps! When I learned years ago I thought I was doing pretty damn good the first few days till I caught an edge at speed on a cat track. Broke my ribs :dizzy:

I never got lessons, the instructors at my hill where I grew up were glorified baby sitters and weren't really into it. I think they would've help tremendously though!


In any event, have a good time in Colorado!


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## Kjarahz (Jan 15, 2014)

I might pick up a lesson in Colorado then, going with a couple of buddies that are actually good but not sure if they are the teaching type. 

To clear up everything:

I can maneuver around fine, when going slow. At the top of the hill the speed was manageable for my terrible riding skills. I was never out of control there and could avoid any issues and even do some decent 'carving' around. 

When I got towards the bottom the slant was crazy in comparison and my ability to scrub speed go side to side was not something I could do. I would be hauling so much by then if I attempted to go on the heels I would be sitting to far back and go to my butt. I was entirely too scared to lean forward at that speed and catch an edge. Which I happen to do, sucked and tweaked my knee really bad. I remember seeing my knee up by my head and thinking oh that is bad. Was that last run when I was way to tired.

Anyway, lessons perhaps but I would be there alone with non of my buddies obviously. Am I doing well of course not and I have no shame admitting that. I would assume I could go and have fun without dying or injury.

So when the hill is mellow I have a great time and I can be "in control" meaning I won't hit anyone and I can keep going without much fear of dying/falling. What can I practice to hone my skills and become better suited for speed etc. 

I also think with the width of the runs in CO I'll have more options to learn how to go side to side more without fear of nailing someone three feet from me. The hill was quite crowded. I think that will help a lot. 

For the life of me I don't know why I could slide down the hill toeside the entire time with control, even from the other sports heel or frontside is so much easier. That was baffling. My buddy suggested I wasn't holding my body back which pulled me around switch sometimes on my heels. On my toeside I would look like I was doing an hour long powerslide on a skateboard, heelside I just needed to position my body more into the opposite direction perhaps.


Much learning, again I want to have fun not be a pro not a ton of snow in South Carolina. I do want to be comfortable in the easier slopes and mild blues.


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## Kjarahz (Jan 15, 2014)

Also the backfoot thing I think is the way I felt but it could be just my body positioning that made it feel like my backfoot.

I think I was just moving my body around into the direction I wanted to switch to which felt like my backfoot perhaps. I could be wrong, obviously.
Not quick back and forth, I'd right out heel/toe for a while.


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## MarshallV82 (Apr 6, 2011)

Kjarahz said:


> *Anyway, lessons perhaps but I would be there alone with non of my buddies obviously. Am I doing well of course not and I have no shame admitting that. I would assume I could go and have fun without dying or injury.
> 
> So when the hill is mellow I have a great time and I can be "in control" meaning I won't hit anyone and I can keep going without much fear of dying/falling. What can I practice to hone my skills and become better suited for speed etc. *


You're going to Keystone? 
Anythings possible there, that's where Texans go to die. I'd say it's one the mellower resorts in CO terrain wise. Tons of people everywhere though! 

Riding time and gaining confidence is all you really need. It'll come, just keep going. A lesson wouldn't hurt, just meet them at the kickapoo afterwords for lunch!


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## Mystery2many (Aug 14, 2013)

Keystone is much steeper than Cataloochee. And I mean MUCH steeper. The black diamonds at Cataloochee would be greens at Keystone. A lesson will tune your new skills up and help prevent bad habits and mistakes. A lesson will also allow you to enjoy the mountain quicker rather than spending the whole day falling and trying to figure out what you are doing wrong.


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## Kjarahz (Jan 15, 2014)

Mystery2many said:


> Keystone is much steeper than Cataloochee. And I mean MUCH steeper. The black diamonds at Cataloochee would be greens at Keystone. A lesson will tune your new skills up and help prevent bad habits and mistakes. A lesson will also allow you to enjoy the mountain quicker rather than spending the whole day falling and trying to figure out what you are doing wrong.


That's less than thrilling to hear :laugh:

Rode everything at Cataloochee but the black diamonds, not well though obviously.

I might look into some lessons, I'll be out at Keystone for two days. I don't think my buddy I'll be going with from work will ride with me too long anyway. He's only snowboarded 3 times but he's good to go, he was playing in the terrain park successfully at that. Natural though and a good skateboarder.

I need to see how much they are and how long etc. If I could go for part of the day then reconvene and have a chance at a couple successful rides that'd be awesome.


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## timmytard (Mar 19, 2009)

chomps1211 said:


> I'm not that experienced a rider so I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm mistaken, but if you are having trouble staying locked into your heel side when turning or stopping? You might need to dial in some more forward lean to the highbacks. Heel side is usually easiest to hold for most ppl. Just a thought.


That's what I was thinkin' as well.

I don't know what sort of gear you are riding but...

If your board is wide or your feet are small:dunno:

Try moving your bindings closer to your toeside edge.

I have that problem on ice sometimes because I have a size 9 boot & have a few wide model decks.


TT


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## Mystery2many (Aug 14, 2013)

Are you going back to Cataloochee before your keystone trip? If so, what days? I go every week, usually Monday and Tuesday and wouldn't mind helping you so that you can tear Keystone up.

Either way, you are gonna have a blast! :thumbsup:


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## Kjarahz (Jan 15, 2014)

Mystery2many said:


> Are you going back to Cataloochee before your keystone trip? If so, what days? I go every week, usually Monday and Tuesday and wouldn't mind helping you so that you can tear Keystone up.
> 
> Either way, you are gonna have a blast! :thumbsup:


I wish I could, it's definitely not planned but if so it would be a weekend. Using some vacation time for the Colorado trip.

Wish a half day lesson was a bit less, not sure what I'll do yet. Will run it past my friend probably get laughed at and then go from there.


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## ridinbend (Aug 2, 2012)

The board will never respond the way it's supposed to if your loading your weight on the tail on steeper pitches. Your edges will lock in when you try and turn to yr heel side and you'll land on your ass. It's imperative that you get this problem fixed otherwise you will eventually slam into somebody. If you can't get a lesson when your riding with your homies, focus on keeping your weight equally distributed through your legs and your board. When you get to steep pitches, you need to stay forward or just slow down.


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## BFBF (Jan 15, 2012)

this thread is reason #5000 why I don't ride fleastone..:yahoo:


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Kjarahz said:


> When I got towards the bottom the slant was crazy in comparison and my ability to scrub speed go side to side was not something I could do. I would be hauling so much by then if I attempted to go on the heels I would be sitting to far back and go to my butt. I was entirely too scared to lean forward at that speed and catch an edge. Which I happen to do, sucked and tweaked my knee really bad. I remember seeing my knee up by my head and thinking oh that is bad. Was that last run when I was way to tired.


You got to learn to move fore/aft along the board. Ur feel ur going too fast and thus in the backseat....BAD...get in the front seat, get on the nose and with the nose being generally in the fall line with weight on the nose...there is no edge to catch.


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## Kjarahz (Jan 15, 2014)

wrathfuldeity said:


> You got to learn to move fore/aft along the board. Ur feel ur going too fast and thus in the backseat....BAD...get in the front seat, get on the nose and with the nose being generally in the fall line with weight on the nose...there is no edge to catch.


If you are referencing falling when going in a straight line that's not the issue, I just sack the idea when I know I'm going way to fast, throw it heelside and ride out on my butt.

My speed scrubbing skills are non-existent. Staying upright and maneuvering around at slow speeds feels comfortable to an extent.


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

Kjarahz said:


> If you are referencing falling when going in a straight line that's not the issue, I just sack the idea when I know I'm going way to fast, throw it heelside and ride out on my butt.
> 
> My speed scrubbing skills are non-existent. Staying upright and maneuvering around at slow speeds feels comfortable to an extent.


bend your knees and stop throwing the board out with back foot. get in the front seat and get in a rhythm switching edges. also get on the edge properly. on your heel edge, lift your toes against your boots and get the board up so you are riding the edge. on heel side turn rest your shin against your boots and keep your body straight and knees bent.
changing edges needs to be a smooth and gradual movement. just because you throw the board sideways while going straight does not mean it will change your direction.


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

Kjarahz said:


> If you are referencing falling when going in a straight line that's not the issue, I just sack the idea when I know I'm going way to fast, throw it heelside and ride out on my butt.
> 
> My speed scrubbing skills are non-existent. Staying upright and maneuvering around at slow speeds feels comfortable to an extent.


You have several problems swirling...creating the vortex of shit...

1. ur in the back seat
1.5 ur not moving fore/aft along the length of the board
2. ur get yourself too locked-in on the heel edge
2.5 ur not in position to release the heel edge
3. ur ruddering to back leg/foot too much...abit is fine
3.5 ur bringing the board around too much
4. ur letting the board get too perpendicular or transverse of the fall line
4.5 ur trying to do too much
5. ur not anticipating what you need to do and thus sucking hind tit
5.5 ur reacting instead of reading and anticipating.

^this is very typical of a low intermediate rider...scrubbing speed is a skill that requires some quickness and agility.

The remedy...start at number 5.5 and do the opposite

5.5 learn to read and anticipate...fall line, traffic, snow conditions
5. anticipate and stay ahead of your board
4.5 shave off speed in bits...instead of 1 big bite
4. keep the nose within 45 degrees of the fall line
3.5 keep your leading shoulder pointing down the fall line
3 instead of ruddering...swish the tail back and forth
2.5 loosen up the back leg...let it float instead of being stiff and jamming it around
2 instead of moving your body back and forth over the center-line of the board...learn to move/scooch the board under your body...learn how to unweight the board
1.5 shift your hips first...your shoulders will follow
1 stay in the front seat...drive your leading knee and hip.
.5 get low...bend your knees and squat more...keep your back straight and shoulders closed

edit...re-read op...ur probably going wtf. But go to a mellow comfortable slope and try to get more dynamic...get low, loosen up and try to get flowy. Then try to tighten up or rail your turns. After you get comfortable with railing toe/heelside turns on the mellow slope...stay there and then try to lighten up the turns...be like a feather and finesse them...so that they are effective and efficient...effortless. Once you can finesse them...hopefully u will be more comfortable with speed, gain some real confidence in turning....then go to a steeper slope...and all u will have to do is...do the same thing but abit more sooner/anticipation, quicker with more agility. Most of it is just experience and learning to look further down the hill....like when ur bombing at 50mph...ur looking down the hill and anticipating 2-3 hundred yards out and realize that ur starting to scrubbing speed at the 100 yard mark.


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## Kjarahz (Jan 15, 2014)

Thanks wrathfuldeity I will try to do that...if I can remember it all.

Just planned a quick trip with two other buddies to Sugar Mountain in NC. Haven't been there but it's suppose to be pretty decent, anyone going to be there next weekend?


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## Jed (May 11, 2011)

I was going to write a longer post, but honestly at day 2, it's far too early to be going on to any other steps besides just learning to turn properly and getting your basic edge control down and I'm not sure if at this early stage you'd be able to do half the things we'd suggest.

Get lessons. Period. One lesson right now will save you weeks of riding time later because right now I *GUARANTEE* you're turning with 500 different bad habits that will engrain themselves into you and you'll have to spend weeks just to get rid of them later.

Honestly, lessons for your first few days on snow should be mandatory because it's where people screw themselves up the most and learn the most bad habits.

If you have a search on the forum, you'll find a lot of threads from people who didn't get lessons and just kind of learnt themselves or got friends to show them who now have really bad habits that they're working hard to fix.

Get lessons right away because we can all write a ton of tips to help you're turning, but there's zero chance you'll be able to do much of that on your first few days of snow. An in-person lesson is what you need right now.


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## Kjarahz (Jan 15, 2014)

Does anyone know if the lessons at Sugar Mountain are good/worth it?


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## Kjarahz (Jan 15, 2014)

It's $22 for an hour at Sugar, my buddy and I are going to take a lesson on Saturday. 

I hope we get something good out of it, how can I get the most out of the training session?


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## Zone (Nov 30, 2013)

It sounds as if your already developing some bad habits, so come to your lesson with an open mind and prepared questions on your stance and others


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## Jed (May 11, 2011)

Kjarahz said:


> It's $22 for an hour at Sugar, my buddy and I are going to take a lesson on Saturday.
> 
> I hope we get something good out of it, how can I get the most out of the training session?


That's a good idea. Besides the standard listen to the instructor, concentrate during the exercises, have a good attitude etc. etc., a good way to get something out of a lesson is always be willing to ask the 'stupid' question if you have any.

It can be something like "why do we bend out knee here?" or "what does this mean?" when you don't understand.

I find a lot of people get scared to ask these questions because it may make them look like more of a noob, but really it's those questions that will help you progress the fastest.

Besides that, pay attention to the drills and exercises the instructor uses and why he/she teaches them, then continue to do them after the lesson. Think of it as if the lesson is showing you what you can do to improve, then your free time can be used to actually work on each exercises and technique more and fine tune things even better.


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## Mystery2many (Aug 14, 2013)

Being a boarder and not a skier I would go to Beech. Sugar is more ski oriented and the vibe just isn't the same. But trust the professionals. They are always right.


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## Kjarahz (Jan 15, 2014)

I just wanted to post back and say I'm still super pumped to snowboard. In fact I'm going back to Sugar this weekend :yahoo:

It will be my fourth time snowboarding, I just got back from Keystone a couple weeks back and it was amazing. I finally stopped thinking about carving and just started doing it. Made it down the entire mountain a couple times, here's a run:

Keystone - Full Mountain Run - YouTube

Two falls but one was really dumb...

Anyway, I'm sure I do some stuff improperly but it seems like I'm progressing.

Hoping to have a good weekend at Sugar and hopefully close out the season on a high note. Looking to investigate the terrain park section this weekend.


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## Varza (Jan 6, 2013)

Kjarahz said:


> I just wanted to post back and say I'm still super pumped to snowboard. In fact I'm going back to Sugar this weekend :yahoo:
> 
> It will be my fourth time snowboarding, I just got back from Keystone a couple weeks back and it was amazing. *I finally stopped thinking about carving and just started doing it*. Made it down the entire mountain a couple times, here's a run:
> 
> ...


Don't take this the wrong way, but what you seem to be doing in the video is not carving. Your POV looks a lot like mine (falls included  ), and I know for sure that I do not carve. 
In fact, I can't do anything remotely like it yet, it's on my list of things to learn and I'll probably look for a more suitable board for it before too long (camber, stiffer?)

What you're probably doing is dynamic turns and some skidded turns... hard to see from the POV shots. But when you carve, your body will be angled way closer to the snow, so the POV would look way different from yours.

Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying it and building up your skills!


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## Kjarahz (Jan 15, 2014)

Varza said:


> What you're probably doing is dynamic turns and some skidded turns...


This is probably quite accurate.

My problem was my friends would try to get me to go on the blues in CO and said all you have to do is go slow, I guess they don't remember when they first started the 'go slow' part was HARD. It just didn't work haha.

Finally it clicked and I was doing top to bottom runs which was cool. Tons more to learn but at least I can go down now and it's in a pretty controlled way it seems. Controlled at least in terms of not going so fast I have to sit down. And I can maneuver around people and go where I want also.

Anyone have tips on going straight? Whenever I tried to go straight the board was flat it felt like I was catching ruts from other riders and it would toss and move me around, not comfortable when you are going what you think is very fast.


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## Varza (Jan 6, 2013)

Kjarahz said:


> Anyone have tips on going straight? Whenever I tried to go straight the board was flat it felt like I was catching ruts from other riders and it would toss and move me around, not comfortable when you are going what you think is very fast.


This! I have the same problem on rutted runs... what I try is to ride an edge (toe edge usually), it makes me a lot more stable. And it works if there is an incline, but as soon as I hit flats, I find it really hard to hold that edge and flatbasing means I'll eventually catch an edge and slam hard. 

Your friends were, um... wrong. I saw a guy once on an easy blue... he had his butt on his board in between the bindings and was paddling down. I asked him is he was ok and then his friends were sitting lower down and told me "he's fine, he just doesn't know how to snowboard". "Then why did you bring him here?!" Some funny stuff, but I felt bad for the poor kid.

It's great when stuff just clicks though, isn't it?


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## Kjarahz (Jan 15, 2014)

Varza said:


> I saw a guy once on an easy blue... he had his butt on his board in between the bindings and was paddling down.


I ignored my friends about the blue until later that day which was great decision. I got more comfortable and have not ever had to butt paddle. I've seen others do it and I refuse haha. In fact last time at Sugar I did get rope a doped into the blue and wasn't ready.

20 minutes later I was finally down, mind you this mountain is barely a mountain in Colorado's standards...

Looking to kill this mountain this weekend, minus that double black. I feel quite confident since the greens and blue I went down in CO were insane, well that's how I felt. I managed quite well and would like to play in the terrain park and develop more skill and style overall.

Looking forward to really riding it this weekend for almost the first time since I get the whole scrubbing speed thing finally, seriously that should be a huge disclaimer for new people. Let them know it's going to be hard and discouraging and then eventually it works. My problem was way too much body movement resulting in falling or spinning around switch...seriously that crap was super deflating. Now I'm just so pumped :yahoo: I can really enjoy the rides now. Kind of like surfing really sucks early on with small rides then later it gets so much better with longer more fulfilling rides.


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## CassMT (Mar 14, 2013)

you just have to ignore those lil twitches when riding 'flat'. stay low, forward, and determined 

but don't go there til you have 100% speed control, and stopping *dialed*


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

^what cass says, also got to have your self stacked, aligned, and compact...in a neutral, quiet and relaxed position, let your knees/ankles ride loose and suck up/float over the imperfections (can't be stiff) and have confidence in the board. Look at the riders in your vid that blow past...look at their neutral relaxed position, arms relaxed and etc....they are just letting the board run. Its a progression...first learn to ride the nose, then neutral and then later you can even ride the tail flatbased.


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## F1EA (Oct 25, 2013)

Kjarahz said:


> I just wanted to post back and say I'm still super pumped to snowboard. In fact I'm going back to Sugar this weekend :yahoo:
> 
> It will be my fourth time snowboarding, I just got back from Keystone a couple weeks back and it was amazing. I finally stopped thinking about carving and just started doing it. Made it down the entire mountain a couple times, here's a run:
> 
> ...


Looking at your video it shows you're at a good point for a private lesson. Tons of bad habits not worth discussing because it would just sound overly critical instead of helpful... With a private lesson you will tackle these bad habits one by one and from then on you'll actually be able to progress instead of just surviving.

$22/ hr is not bad at all. With a 3 or 4 hr session you'll get a lot done for less than the cost of a day of riding. And trust me, you learn far more in a 4hr lesson than in a day of survival riding. THEN you can focus on practicing by yourself as much as you want.

Unless you have VERY patient, helpful and knowledgeable friends to teach you... lesson is the best.


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

Kjarahz said:


> I just wanted to post back and say I'm still super pumped to snowboard. In fact I'm going back to Sugar this weekend :yahoo:
> 
> It will be my fourth time snowboarding, I just got back from Keystone a couple weeks back and it was amazing. I finally stopped thinking about carving and just started doing it. Made it down the entire mountain a couple times, here's a run:
> 
> ...


not a single carve was done in that video.
if you are catching on the ruts, you are not riding fast enough and relaxing your joints enough. at the speed you are riding there isnt much carving because at that speed your board wont flex enough to carve and your centrifugal force is not enough to stand the board up on its side to carve.
not bad for a beginner tho.


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## timmytard (Mar 19, 2009)

chomps1211 said:


> I'm not that experienced a rider so I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm mistaken, but if you are having trouble staying locked into your heel side when turning or stopping? You might need to dial in some more forward lean to the highbacks. Heel side is usually easiest to hold for most ppl. Just a thought.
> 
> 
> 
> Btw, listen to the advice about lessons. Speed is sweet! Reckless, poorly controlled speed will get you or someone else hurt!


Bam! Right there.

Forward lean. 

Do you know what it is & what it does?

It's a finicky one, only a tiny bit does a lot.

That adjustment & maybe move your bindings closer to the toeside edge of your board.

I have size 9 boots & some of the boards I ride are a lot wider than normal.

You can also get that lack of heelside carve if your bindings are too big for your boots.
Even though the binding is centered on your board your boot isn't centered in the binding


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## tannersdad (Jan 9, 2013)

MarshallV82 said:


> or even watching a ton of youtube videos helps!



Good advice. There are hundreds of videos on you tube on the basics of snowboarding. I'm sure they are not as good as the real thing, but I have learned a lot from them. Watch them over and over, not just once and go.


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## tannersdad (Jan 9, 2013)

Mystery2many said:


> Being a boarder and not a skier I would go to Beech. Sugar is more ski oriented and the vibe just isn't the same. But trust the professionals. They are always right.


I was going to say the same thing. Beech is better. Also, after the lesson, go and work on what you learned. Beech has some nice mellow green areas with lots of room. Stay there and practice what you've learned during the lesson. Think of it as a learning day. Stay off the blues until maybe the last couple of runs. Good luck!


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## Kjarahz (Jan 15, 2014)

The terrain looks more advanced at Beech with most of it's population being black diamonds almost.

I was gravitating towards Sugar just for it's long blue run which should be a good ride and no big deal. I might end up going Sugar one day and Beech the next possibly, but would like to hear why it's a much better place.

In terms of orientation it really doesn't matter if they prefer skiing or snowboarding, just care about the ride I get. If anyone has some information I'm all ears. No reason I can't go to both if it's worth it.


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## neni (Dec 24, 2012)

Kjarahz said:


> Anyone have tips on going straight? Whenever I tried to go straight the board was flat it felt like I was catching ruts from other riders and it would toss and move me around, not comfortable when you are going what you think is very fast.


This comes with practice. As soon as you'll ride low in your knees in balance, knees, ankles and hips will act as bumpers and thus crossing ruts n bumps won't disturb you anymore. But it needs some time to a) develop that balance and b) the muscles to ride low. It just needs time...


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## snowklinger (Aug 30, 2011)

Even when riding "straight" or "flat" it is important to always keep an edge pressured MINDFULLY even if in reality it is very slight. This will alleviate that bounced around feeling as that pressured edge becomes the snow pusher as opposed to the snow bouncing you around.

Also I think it helps to think of edges as being 4 (front heel and toe, back heel and toe) instead of just 2 (heel and toe) because proper technique for learning is getting that board torsion to work (even on stiff boards, the concept still works) as you move between edges. Becoming comfy with this concept will allow you to apply very basic techniques to all kinds of terrain and situations (avoiding another beginner on a green run, front foot ruddering through trees, stopping halfway down a cliff face to readjust your line....etc..)


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## tannersdad (Jan 9, 2013)

Kjarahz said:


> The terrain looks more advanced at Beech with most of it's population being black diamonds almost.
> 
> I was gravitating towards Sugar just for it's long blue run which should be a good ride and no big deal. I might end up going Sugar one day and Beech the next possibly, but would like to hear why it's a much better place.
> 
> In terms of orientation it really doesn't matter if they prefer skiing or snowboarding, just care about the ride I get. If anyone has some information I'm all ears. No reason I can't go to both if it's worth it.


The Lower Shawneehaw at Beech is a very mellow blue slope. And the green Crossover is very wide with lots of room. In my opinion Sugar has narrow cuts through the woods while Beech is much more open. If you can ride both places, by all means do it. :thumbsup:


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## Kjarahz (Jan 15, 2014)

Well we decided to go Sugar 2 days in a row over the weekend. I heard something about a mountain being closed on the first day in the locker room, didn't know which but decided to keep it at Sugar for the two days.

Here is the progress:
http://youtu.be/e968cj98iR0

No issues, pretty happy. I can control myself and assess the situation I will be in moments later, for crowd control/evading beginners.

I pushed myself to learn how to control speed and flat base with control and no fear. The tip on relaxing in a squatted position is the key. I felt quite comfortable, in fact this was the last run Sunday where I pushed for the fastest time I could down the entire run, happy with a four minute run. Think I might have cooked one even faster at night on Saturday though.

At night when the mountain was groomed I did just fine but it definitely was different. Conditions were quite slick and icy, I had to dump speed more often and be more aggressive in terms of using more of the mountain after grooming.

All in all I had a great season, I wish it wasn't over I'm super bummed on having to wait half a year right now...need ideas!

Sure I still have bad habits also but I feel comfortable, unfortunately I need a larger mountain haha.


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

time to stop using upper body counter rotating your lower body to turn.
you spend 2 minutes going from top to bottom and you need bigger mountain? thats like my dream.


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## Kjarahz (Jan 15, 2014)

speedjason said:


> time to stop using upper body counter rotating your lower body to turn.
> you spend 2 minutes going from top to bottom and you need bigger mountain? thats like my dream.


Colorado was 25 minute rides and the ski lift didn't take double or longer depending on if someone wasn't able to get on.


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## Thatsnowboarder (Mar 9, 2014)

Best suggestion is to take a one hr lesson yo u gotta be safe not just for you but also for the people around you


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

I do notice you are mostly just scrubbing speed off in a straight line fashion even tho your board is at an angle. you are just slip turning down the hill with very limited control over which direction you are going. your turns are huge because your edges are not engaging at all. you are actually more likely to crash going slow and not having your edges engaging in rutted conditions like this than going fast and carve down.


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## Varza (Jan 6, 2013)

snowklinger said:


> Even when riding "straight" or "flat" it is important to always keep an edge pressured MINDFULLY even if in reality it is very slight. This will alleviate that bounced around feeling as that pressured edge becomes the snow pusher as opposed to the snow bouncing you around.


I tried this and relaxing into a low, knees-bent position over flats this past weekend and it felt great! No more caught edges and stupid falls at low speeds! Thanks a lot, I'm so glad I figured this out!

Heh, I sound like such a noob! "I figured out flats, I am so excited now!" :laugh:


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