Carvin' It Up

TIPS TO GET TRICKY

The first thing you must do when you begin to snowboard is relax. Yes the board will slip out from under you. Yes you will face plant and end up on your ass. This is all natural, and it’s all part of the learning process. If you relax your body, though, you will have an easier time listening to the movements of your body, and will react better and hopefully fall down less. If you are tense, when you fall you will risk some pretty nasty injuries, and that’s something we all want to avoid. Try your best to keep your knees bent, as they act as a shock absorber as you ride. Let your legs absorb the shock of any bumps you encounter along the way; that’s what they are there for.

I recommend that when you first get going, strap one foot in and see what it is like. A snowboard has a totally different feel than a ski does, since you are riding sideways. It took me quite a while to get used to the change in direction, so that’s why I recommend taking is slow. Once you get the hang of one foot, strap in the other and try riding down an easy slope. Use your front leg to guide the board and your hips for balance. When you want to stop, turn the board sideways. This will slow its progress and you will come to a stop. Congratulations, you’re now a snowboarder.

If you are just trying out the sport for the first time, it’s best to borrow a friend’s gear or rent a board to test out whether or not you like it. Snowboarding isn’t for everyone, and it takes a bit of trial and error before you find out how to control the board rather than letting it control you. It is essential that you remember that snowboarding is about freedom. It helps if you can take some time and mentally wrap your head around the concept of direction. What I mean is, with a snowboard you can ride downhill forwards, backwards, sideways, all of these are possibilities. While skiing is a frontal-facing ride, snowboarding doesn’t have a limitation on which way you face.

While snowboarding, you always want to put pressure on the uphill edge of your board. Again, which edge is actually facing uphill may change. For instance, if you are going downhill backwards, the toe of your board would be facing uphill, so you would keep pressure on the toe of the board. It’s simpler to experience than it is to explain, honestly. In fact, that is the case with much about snowboarding. I can write all day explaining the techniques of snowboarding, but until you set out on the snow yourself, you won’t quite understand.

TURNING
Starting with your board perpendicular to the downhill slope, apply less and less pressure to the edge. The leading foot will start slipping downhill. Now that you are moving downhill, if you dig in with your heels, you will turn heelside, and if you dig in with your toes you will turn toeside. This is the basic concept around turning on the snowboard; as you apply pressure to different parts of the board you affect the direction the board will go. This is a lot like skateboarding, and if you have done anything with a skateboard you will be able to apply the same concepts to snowboarding.

TYPES OF SNOW
The type of snow you encounter will affect your ride, more so than you might think. Especially if you intend to learn how to carve, it is essential you learn about the different types of snow. Powder is the best type of snow to ride on, as it is easier to control your speed in this type of snow, and carving powder is simply poetic. In contrast wet snow is absolutely horrible to carve in. It sticks to everything, which is great if you’re making a snowman, but terrible if you want to turn. Corn snow is refrozen powder. It actually looks like kernels of corn, and is pretty easy to turn in. Granular snow is frozen and very hard, and because of this is incredible difficult to control your speed in. Granular also makes it hard to hold an edge, and consequently difficult to carve.