How do you snowboard?

Question

i bomb at skiing but its lame
i went with my friends two years ago, and i was on my as s for a day but i just winging it and i was on a crappy rental board, i picked it up after two days
well, i dont remember anything anymore and im going to an actual mountain and im freaked out
any tips? im a women's 9 1/2 shoe size but what kind of boot or board or what the hell do i do?

Answer 1

Go sign yourself to snowboarding lessons...

Answer 2

You will probably be renting, so let the staff fit the boots and board correctly for you - and take a group lesson for a couple times and practice what you learn in the afternoon. Here are the basics of learning the way that I was taught to teach:

To determine your stance, have a friend push you, the foot you put out first is usually your front foot. Slide on a hard floor in your socks, which foot is in front? Left foot in front - Regular stance, Right foot in front - Goofy stance. The rental place will ask you this.

Day 1 lesson usually includes:

Learn how to fall. Forward on to your forearms - never your hands as you can break yours wrists. Backward onto one side of your butt and try to roll - never your hands or the center of your butt as you can break your tail bone.

Turning - think about turning as additional pressure on the front toe or heel.

Turning a snowboard is all about edge control. When you have the board across the hill and stand up on the heel edge, you can tilt your feet forward to slide down the hill, tilt back to get more edge bite and stop - the basic side slip.

To turn, you bite the edge into the snow and then put pressure on the downhill egde of your front foot. This will release the edge in the front only and the nose of the board will start to swing down the hill. This will also put your weight forward which is correct. Then, put equal pressure back on the uphill edge with both feet and you will turn back across the hill and stop. Practice this a lot until you can get the board almost straight down the hill before returning to a stop.

Day 2 lesson:

A complete turn is just a continuation of this exercise. Use more pressure on the downhill side of the front foot to release the front of the edge and the board will swing faster toward the fall line. You MUST wait for the board to cross the fall line (straight down the hill) before you transition your weight to the other edge (or you will catch the downhill edge - ouch). Then use equal pressure on both feet on the new uphill edge to get the board to move back across the hill - this is a complete turn.

Once you are doing these in both directions, you can start linking the turns.

Good Luck

Answer 3

Take a lesson at the mountain. Regarding the equipment: try on lots of boots before you buy. You want to get the best fit for you. The board and bindings are less important - just stick to reputable brands.