# First time snowboarding last weekend.



## ANGST (Feb 28, 2017)

Finally went snowboarding last weekend for the first time. Loved it. Definitely planning to go again, but I think this season is over here. I have a few questions of course. 

I took an hour lesson , it was pretty good. I learned how to put the board on , do heel and toeside turns , glide on the flat , how to stand , how to get on the lift . I used to skateboard pretty heavily , and I think that helps a bit with the "feel" of things . I need to remember to keep my knees bent and not to turn the upper half of my body. 

Over the course of the day I had pretty much "mastered" the smallest green trail , and explored all the other green trails without falling tons . 

I was at Timberline in WV , the previous week the temps were in the 70s and on the day I went out , it was raining and 50 dropping to upper 30s by later in the day. As a result I got soaked , I think rule 1 should be anticipate everything getting wet :smile: . 

*Question 1: *

Due to the conditions the snow was fairly wet/slushy . How does this effect the way I was riding ? Is this harder , easier then other types of snow ? Faster ? Slower ? My instructor said it was decent to learn on . 

*Question 2 : *

Most of my falling was due to my apprehension of going real fast. Whats the best way to control speed ? Just carving back and forth ? I was able to stop pretty well. 

*Question 3: *

What should I be working on next ? I can heelside and toeside , probably continue to get the feel of that , I can stop relatively well. Next step ? Another lesson ? 

*Question 4 , gear : *

I will only spend 2-4 days max next season snowboarding , so I will probably rent for next season again. If I go more after that , probably buy used. What I think I will buy is a helmet , goggles and probably a small pack . Good plan ? 

Helmet recommendations ? Goggles ? Pack ?
I figure the goggles and pack will be useful outside of snowboarding anyways . 

Thanks in advance. 

>


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## wrathfuldeity (Oct 5, 2007)

*Question 1: *
Yes.... decent to learn on . 

*Question 2 : *
Learn how to fall...search threads

*Question 3: *
Creepy Basement vid

*Question 4 , gear : *
Buy used board, bindings,

Helmet that fits, goggles that fit and have the right lens for the light/vis conditions...pack not needed.


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## htfu (Mar 18, 2015)

q2 :
- best way to control speed is proper turns, turning uphill will wash off a lot of speed and if you fall while doing it you have a shorter distance to fall

q3 :
- push your knees out along the length of the board, relaxed and bent knees, straight back (no bending or twisting at the waist), arms relaxed by your side, pedal

q4 :
- buy boots (see the boot fitting thread, wiredsports is the resident boot sizing/fitting/recommendation person) and spend the rest on lessons (that is if you already have all of the outerwear ... if not then get decent outerwear, a helmet that fits your head and some decent impact pants). board, bindings and that sorta stuff is something to focus on if you are going to do a lot of boarding ... rental stuff, while never the same and potentially can be pretty bad, is still cheaper than having to buy the luggage and deal with lugging it around and potentially getting to your destination without it


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## speedjason (May 2, 2013)

1. Slushy is probably the best kind of snow to learn on. You won't go fast on slushy.
2. I highly doubt you are carving after one day but yes, making turns allow you to slow down. Worse case a speed check if you are going way too fast.
3. Next step would be do it without thinking about what you are doing. It needs to become second nature.'
4. As for gear, get whatever fits your body and budget.


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## KIRKRIDER (Mar 18, 2008)

ANGST said:


> Finally went snowboarding last weekend for the first time. Loved it. Definitely planning to go again, but I think this season is over here. I have a few questions of course.
> 
> I took an hour lesson , it was pretty good. I learned how to put the board on , do heel and toeside turns , glide on the flat , how to stand , how to get on the lift . I used to skateboard pretty heavily , and I think that helps a bit with the "feel" of things . I need to remember to keep my knees bent and not to turn the upper half of my body.
> 
> ...



Any snow other than ice or morning hardpack is good. Buy impact shorts NOW. Not after you get hurt (like me) I also use Level protective gloves. 

Riding is like biking. If you try to turn going too slow you fall inside the turn itself. Speed is good for balance. 

If you buy gear start from boots and helmet. Try boots until you find a comfortable pair with no heel lift.

Get out there as much as you can!


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

KIRKRIDER said:


> Riding is like biking. If you try to turn going too slow you fall inside the turn itself. Speed is good for balance.
> 
> 
> Get out there as much as you can!


While this is true, I think in starting out it has the opposite effect of what you want, which is to learn turns. I was taught that if you can turn slow, you can turn fast. Long slow traverses across the mountain will really make you think about what's going on and how you're doing it.

I think too many people use speed as a metric for progression. After 3 days they haul ass down the mountain doing nothing but speed checks. That's not learning technique.


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## KIRKRIDER (Mar 18, 2008)

f00bar said:


> While this is true, I think in starting out it has the opposite effect of what you want, which is to learn turns. I was taught that if you can turn slow, you can turn fast. Long slow traverses across the mountain will really make you think about what's going on and how you're doing it.
> 
> I think too many people use speed as a metric for progression. After 3 days they haul ass down the mountain doing nothing but speed checks. That's not learning technique.


Good point but I didn't mean speed as in ride faster, but in turning with enough speed, as you do on a bicicle, to not fall inside the turn itself. If you go too slow and lean toward the turn direction, you will fall unless the centrifugal force countering your body lean isn't high enough. Just like riding a bicicle, much harder to turn if you go too slow.


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## f00bar (Mar 6, 2014)

I know, just wanted to chime in to make sure he didn't read it as 'go fast, its easier!' Going real slow really works those foot muscles that are the basis of everything and you really learn how to flex the board to initiate.


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## ANGST (Feb 28, 2017)

wrathfuldeity said:


> pack not needed.


I only put pack down because I am with my 2 kids and need someplace for some snacks , sunscreen , water, extra gloves for them ,camera , hat/sunglasses for chilling out next to the slope to watch them , etc...


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## chomps1211 (Mar 30, 2011)

ANGST said:


> I only put pack down because I am with my 2 kids and need someplace for some snacks , sunscreen , water, extra gloves for them ,camera , hat/sunglasses for chilling out next to the slope to watch them , etc...


In that case yes.... a pack is a necessity! :grin:

In my case? I'm a pack rat who hates having shit in his pockets! (...and doesn't mind looking like a Dork on a 300 ft hill!)  >


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## SickTrickz96 (Jan 1, 2015)

Question 1: 

Due to the conditions the snow was fairly wet/slushy . How does this effect the way I was riding ? Is this harder , easier then other types of snow ? Faster ? Slower ? My instructor said it was decent to learn on . 

Slushy snow will be good to learn on here are a few things to consider:

- Slushy snow is soft and makes for a soft landing if you fall
- Slushy snow will be slower to snowboard on, so if a trail isnt very steep, slushy snow can slow you down to the point where you will go so slow it will be hard to turn because you will have to balance as well, some parts of trails you might need to unstrap your back foot and skate through very slow areas.
- If the snow is slushy it is probably a warm day out and learning to ride on a sunny day can be quite enjoyable

Question 2 : 

Most of my falling was due to my apprehension of going real fast. Whats the best way to control speed ? Just carving back and forth ? I was able to stop pretty well.

- If most of your falling is apprehension of going really fast this makes me think the trails you are riding might be too steep for you. You might be able to get down them ok, however when riding trails you want to thrive, not survive.
- As far as controlling speed goes there are a lot of ways to accomplish this
1) Your turn shape can be used to control speed, see image








Turn shape 1 shows when you turn to get the board across the hill, this will help moderate your speed
Turn shape 2 shows when you turn not only to get the board to turn across the hill but you can turn up hill to reduce your speed even more, however if this is done it will make more work for you to transition edges between turns however it is still a good way to reduce your speed
Turn shape 3 shows turns that DO NOT get the board across the hill, turn shape 3 will be significantly faster than turn shape 1 and 2

- you can also speed check (small stop) and skid out your turns to reduce your speed (low edge angle)

Question 3: 

What should I be working on next ? I can heelside and toeside , probably continue to get the feel of that , I can stop relatively well. Next step ? Another lesson ?

So now that you are able to toeside turn and heelside turn, i would spend a few days on the hill working on that before taking another lesson and really think about what aspects of snowboarding you like.

Once you can turn there can be several things to work on and it depends ultimately what you want to do:
- Try riding harder terrain (blues/blacks).
- Start working on carving (high edge angle)
- If you wanna get into freestyle start learning some basic ground tricks( ollies, nollies, flatspins, presses, and can progress to butters, 1's, 3's and so on) and try switch riding
- try to lean to ride bumps, bumps are great practice for tree riding


Question 4 , gear : 

I will only spend 2-4 days max next season snowboarding , so I will probably rent for next season again. If I go more after that , probably buy used. What I think I will buy is a helmet , goggles and probably a small pack . Good plan ?


Helmet recommendations ? Goggles ? Pack ?
I figure the goggles and pack will be useful outside of snowboarding anyways .

there are tons of good goggle, helmet brands, I like smith goggles/helmets but there are several brands that are good. I will say though that when buying goggle/helmet make sure that they fit to your head/face and feel comfortable and also make sure that they are compatable and fit good together. My first helmet goggle combo completely failed, helmet forced goggles down and i had to buy a totally new helmet to fix the issue

hope this helps, if you have any questions lmk


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