This winter, a very spring like, un-New England one at that I decided to get back into snowboarding. Not that I was into it before. My previous two attempts at hurling my self down an icy slope, my feet strapped two a metal cafeteria tray like appendage ended disastrously and I promised myself that root canals was a less painful means of punishing myself.
This time I decided to do it the right way, I bought some protective gear. Knee pads are very very useful when you caught a toeside edge - more on that later. A helmet is regulation and crashpants (pants with padding around the butt, thighs) can help. I also enrolled in a series of beginner classes.
Class 1: Beginners bootcamp - showed up to class breathlessly late got my rental gear sorted and headed out to the slopes. Two really, really important pieces of information that will help any newbie’s - your boots and you your stance on the snowboard.
Boots - the obvious factors are comfort and style, make sure they're the right fit and they look cool, I got a pair of blue, suede K2's that fit the bill. Here's the important info - make sure that they're snug at the calf, snug enough not to allow a finger between your calf and the inner lining. Lacing is important too, for your front foot lace all the way to the top lock, for your back foot leave the topmost lock free - this allows you to flex your calf muscle to allow for more flexible movement of your body with relation to your board.
Stance (i) - mostly everyone rides "regular", left foot forward, right foot at the back - I ride "goofy" which is the opposite. The way you figure out which stance is right for you is like so: you stand naturally facing forward and imagine someone pushed you forward, if you put your right foot out instinctively then that's the foot you lead with meaning you're goofy otherwise you're regular.
Stance (ii) - your feet when strapped into your board can rest in various angles. O degrees is going down the plane of the board width wise. A beginner normally starts at 14/15 degrees which is standing on your board facing forward slightly. Some others favor the duck stance which is when your feet are splayed outwards both on your front and back feet.
Once you get all that stuff sorted you're ready for your first snowboard lesson - getting strapped in and skating.
Strapping in - get on your butt (see why the crash pants are handy?) and plant your front foot in your binding. Ensure that the you start with the ankle strap and ratchet it up nice and tight. Check to see if the back of your foot is snug against the "highback". Then ratchet in your toe strap. Leave your back foot out for now.
Skating - this is an important first lesson because it helps you get on and off the chair lift. With your front foot strapped in learn to push off with your back foot and when you gain some momentum learn to plant your back foot on or close to your rear binding. You don't necessarily need to be great at this to start with, just know that it is hard to get used to and over time it will become a natural part of your snowboarding skills.
So now for the big step - the chair lift. A lot of people get nervous getting off the lift, so the getting on part is pretty much a breeze. Here's how it works. Skate over to the chair as soon as you see the first lot plant themselves on the one in front - this will give you a lot of time to make a mistake and recover if you did. Once you make it the line look backwards so that you can position yourself well on the seat when it comes to you. Sit down, lit your foot and your board up to clear any obstacles and when you get up in the air bring down the lock bars and place your foot on the rests. Time for the harrowing lift exit.
Ok. So it's not at as bad as it sounds. First rule of thumb - don't panic and know that everyone falls. The trick is to look up at the direction you want to go in rather than down. Here are the steps to follow:
Exiting the lift
1. As the lift nears the exit point scoot over and perch yourself on your right butt if you're regular, left if you're goofy. You're now perched sideways, looking over your shoulder.
2. At the ramp push off the seat with your hands whilst placing your back leg (as with skating, above) on your binding or stomp-pad. In fact you can let your back foot drop over either side of the board to act as a brake or rudder even. The most important bit to remember is that you should be looking in the direction you want to go in.
In time you'll get better at this.
Next up, heelside and toeside, finding those dratted edges and brokeback mountain (quite literally)
