Snowboarding Tips for First Time Riders

Here are some useful tips for first time riders. Enjoy, and remember: be careful with all of that adrenaline!

Bindings:

Bindings are what attach your feet to your snowboard. Keep in mind that, unlike ski bindings, snowboard bindings are not designed to release your feet in the event of a crash.

1.        Lay down the board flat, perpendicular to the hill. Make sure you’re out of the way of fellow riders.

2.        Put your front foot in first.

          If you have step-in bindings, make sure the bottom of your boot is cleared of snow, then step in toe-first and click your heel in.

          If you have strap bindings, place your foot on the base plate and bend over to insert the straps into their respective buckles. Ratchet as necessary to fit your boot snugly.

3.        Put on your safety leash on your front foot. In case you fall over before you’re strapped in, it’ll keep the board from running away from you or hitting an innocent bystander.

4.        As a beginner, it’s a good idea to always sit down before you put in your back foot so you don’t slide away or tip over. Check your boot for excess snow, and then insert your back foot like you did your front one.

5.        Before you stand up, (if you needed to sit to put in your back foot) make sure your board is perpendicular to the hill so you won’t go zooming down before you’re ready. This technique goes for any time you might happen to be off your feet!

Standing Up

There are three basic ways to stand up. Always need to make sure you put the same amount of weight on both feet.

Push-Off

With your knees bent and your feet close to your bottom, lean back then thrust your weight forward and over your feet, pushing off from behind with your hand(s).

Pull-Up

With your knees bent and your feet close to your bottom, pull yourself up by the toe edge of your board. (If you have trouble, using one hand to push from behind at the same time helps get you on your feet.)

Roll-Over

From your sitting position, roll yourself over onto your knees, and then stand up by pushing your weight backward and over your feet.

Stopping

As any beginner knows, stopping is one of the most important things to learn. The following guidelines should help keep you from crashing into stationary objects or your fellow riders.

To stop:

Bring both feet perpendicular to the hill and scrape to a stop.

If you fall down when you try to stop, follow the guidelines for standing up and keep practicing.

Falling:

When you’re a beginner, falling is an unfortunate part of the learning process. The following guidelines will help to minimize injuries, even when you become a more experienced rider.

Safe falling:

The most common injuries, occur in the fingers and wrists because they take the brunt of the fall’s impact. Making a fist keeps your fingers from splaying out and your wrists from hyper extending.

Fall forward onto your knees and forearms

Putting your forearms down also helps protect your face from slamming into the snow.

 

Ollie

A most important part of snowboarding is getting air. Once you get more comfortable with your board and basic riding, practicing an Ollie is a great way for a beginner to get the feel for catching air. When you’ve mastered the Ollie on flat land, you can incorporate it into the takeoff of your jumps to get bigger air. Here are the tips to do it.

1.     On a flatter part of the ground, shift all your weight to your back foot. The tip of your board should lift off the snow.

2.      Jump off from your back foot, pulling your knees up slightly to get a little air.

3.      Land with your board flat and your weight placed equally on both feet. If your board doesn’t land flat, you could catch an edge and fall over.

Share this post