"Joe Ramirez" wrote in
:

A couple of weeks ago, I started a thread here, "Snowboarding or
skiing?", that generated much discussion and many helpful
contributions from group members. To recap, I'm 42, my son is 14, and
neither of us had ever snowboarded before. We decided to give the
sport a shot at the Seven Springs resort near us in Pennsylvania. I
thought the group might be interested in learning how our first day
went. Those with a low tolerance for tedium may wish to stop reading
now.

Uh oh, don't like the sound of this!


What went right:
*After reading about how to dress for the slopes, we bought long
underwear, fleece, goggles, snowboarding gloves, etc. We were quite
warm today. *Our rental boots & boards used step-in bindings, which
turned out to be invaluable -- not just for getting into the bindings,
but also for getting out of them. I often found that the only way to
get from one place to another on the hill was to pick up the board and
walk.

This might have been a double-edged sword. Sure step-ins are convenient,
but they can also be a bit 'floppy' - I'm guessing that they are the
Rossi/Emory ones with a bar that sticks out either side of the boot?
These are very common on rental boards and really do suck, as they wear
very quickly and once worn are really imprecise.

*The snow-covered trees in the mountains southeast of Pittsburgh
were very pretty.

What went wrong: Just about everything else.

Actually, our first day of snowboarding was supposed to have been last
Sunday, but my son got sick and we had to postpone the trip for a
week. Too bad, because last week was consistently cold, and I think
the snow was in better shape (though mostly machine-made). This week
was very cold up until yesterday, when the temperature suddenly rose,
and it rained for a while. Then it turned colder again. The result was
a wetter, icier environment.

Not good - you will be falling a lot, and ice does hurt.


The day got off to a comic start this morning as I was viewing the
Seven Springs snow report on my notebook computer. I walked across the
room to show it to my wife, then returned to my seat, still staring at
the screen. Unfortunately, the screen was not transparent, so I did
not see the footrest sticking out from the couch, which I tripped over
magnificently. I banged and scraped my foot, shin and knee, though the
computer happily survived. This turned out to be my worst fall of the
day, though I'm not sure I can legitimately claim it as
snowboard-related.

Ouch. I did a similar thing on Christmas eve, except I didn't hurt
myself, but my powerbook is now in 2 bits (still works though!).


At the beginning of the drive to Seven Springs, we were descending a
steep hill in our area that turned out to be ice-covered and unsalted.
The car spun around several times before ending up in a grassy field
on the side of the road. Luckily, we didn't hit anything, so we were
able to pull back onto the road, gingerly crawl down the rest of the
hill, and resume the trip. But the near-accident turned out to be a
bad omen.

Seven Springs has a beginner package for $65 that includes boots and
board rental, a 90-minute group lesson, and a limited access lift
ticket. (The package is cheaper for skiers, because the ski rental
costs less. Why is that?) We purchased two of these packages for a
total of $130. We never even got near a lift today, so I guess we lost
money on that part of the deal.

I had thought that equipment selection and use would be part of the
lesson, but it wasn't. A guy just handed us boots after learning our
shoe sizes. There was no effort to ensure a truly good fit, or to
explain how all the various fasteners worked. I had to keep going back
to the rental desk to ask questions. After we got one of my son's
boots on and fastened, I noticed that the other one was missing a
strap, so we had to start again with a new pair. My own boots were
size 11. I suppose that they fit me adequately after a lot of tugging
on the laces, but I think that the model was probably too wide to
start with. My heels felt a bit loose, and there was a certain
Frankenstein's monster quality to my stomping.

From your experience's I guess you won't be too keen on spending more
money on the sport, but if you do decide to persevere (and you should -
it can only get better) really think about getting your own boots. They
needn't be expensive ones, just a pair of basic softboots.

This has 2 advantages:

- you get a pair of boots that fit you well. People have different shaped
feet and what works for one person won't work for another. If you go to
rent you're pretty much tied to the rental stock, if you buy you get to
try different makes and models, and you can go to more than one store to
find what fits. The single most important thing is heel-hold, you don't
want your heel slopping around in the boot; the 2nd most important thing
is comfort - no pinch points, you can wiggle your toes.

- when you rent a board you'll get one with soft bindings, rather than
step-ins. I really isn't a huge deal to strap and unstrap the board
(probably not much slower than trying to match the boot to the step-in)
and the increase in 'feel' from straps is worth it. You also will find
yourself moving around by scooting you board with your back leg - this
does actually help you get a feel for the board as well. (Rental boards
with soft bindings tend to be a little better too.)


After all the boots were tied, I happened to look down at my hand and
notice that the skin was shredded on two fingers from all the lace
pulling. The rental clerk responded vacantly when I asked where first
aid was, so I just wandered around until I thought of trying the
childcare area. Sure enough, the supervisor there had a whole box of
first aid supplies, so I was able to find a couple of bandages for my
fingers.

That sounds grim. You really shouldn't have to tie boots that tightly t
oget a good fit. The boots didn't fit.


My son and I were given the same model of snowboard (Rossignol),
though his was a little longer than mine. That struck me as odd, since
we are within .25" to .5" in height (he is tall for a 14-year-old --
about six feet), but I outweigh him by 40-50 pounds. When we finally
got out on the slope, I discovered that the binding for my front
(left) foot was almost perpendicular to the major axis of the board,
which turned out to be inconvenient for me. There was so much angle to
the foot placement that it hurt to twist my left knee when I had to
scoot with the left foot on the board and the right foot pushing.
Also, I keep my balance much better when I can turn my left foot more
toward to the direction in which I'm heading. It felt awkward to have
it pointing to the side. Our instructor said it was possible to rotate
the binding on the board, but I tried it on the hill and it didn't
budge.

It sounds like they gave you pretty much what came to hand first. The
main criteria for sizing a board is weight rather than height, and foot
size - big feet = wide board.


The group lesson itself turned out to be of little use. There were
about five groups of eight for the 2:00 p.m. snowboarding beginners'
lesson, and probably as many for the skiing lesson, so if you pictured
the slope as very crowded, you'd be right. I was the only adult in our
group of eight. The instructor went through a series of lessons in a
set order, and from my perspective it didn't seem to make much
difference whether the students mastered a step or not before the next
came along. Stand on the board | Push the board | Slide with both feet
on the board, but only one in the bindings
| Toeside turn | Heelside turn | Try both feet in the bindings | Now
| try
linking turns. I wasn't close to being able to turn effectively -- in
fact, I really couldn't get the board on edge at all -- when we were
supposed to try linking turns. I'd say that of the eight people in the
group, perhaps two (both little kids -- this seems to be a relatively
bad sport for taller folks to learn) could do a half-decent single
turn. Everyone else would slide down the hill a bit, make some kind of
effort, perhaps turn a little, then flop over in a heap. This was
about one hour into the lesson. At this point my son, who was very far
from enjoying himself, and I just left.

From what you're saying and from seeing people learning in some resorts
in the Alps, I am *so* glad I learnt at Whistler. (Did the 3 day 'Ride
Esprit' program in '99, with two really great instructors - Arnie and
Jay.)

Others have already covered this, but it sounds like your teaching
quality wasn't great. After skating the board, the whole learning process
is about side-slipping, first on your toe-edge, then the heel-edge, and
learninh how looking up and making the edge bite into the snow controls
your descent. Then you do the falling leaf - side slipping from side to
side, still using the edge to control speed. Once you've done enough
falling-leaf, you will naturally feel the desire to turn a turn -
probably only one one side. You should never find yourself not in control
or going anything above a quick walking pace.


An even bigger problem, from my perspective, was that the slope was so
crowded. Boarders and skiers were everywhere, moving in every
direction, or sometimes just sitting or lying on the snow. It's fine
for a skilled instructor to maneuver among the crowds, but I don't
think it's right to ask someone like me to learn in such conditions.
Child beginners tend to be heedless of where they'll end up when they
start moving. However, as an adult, I have the responsibility to think
about where I'm heading. Also, though I'm not a huge person, I'm an
adult male and can do some damage to anyone I collide with. I know
that once my board starts moving, I can't stop and I can't turn. When
the slope is crawling with people, where am I supposed to go? I can't
just say, "Anyone in my path be damned!" As a result, most of my trips
were very short. Once I picked up a little speed, I seemed to have no
choice but to take a dive in order to stop before I became a missile.

See above. Also, surely the resort should have a beginners area (bunny
slopes we used to call 'em) where anyone not in a lesson isn't allowed.
It makes it a whole load nicer to learn, if only becuase you don't feel
so self conscious!!


By the way, is it possible for a snowboard to be too fast, at least
for a beginner? A little more friction would have been welcome. I
didn't like the foot-on-a-banana-peel sensation of zipping away with
no control. Since the sport has no "crutch" -- the hand on the wall
for the novice skater, training wheels or a parent's grip for a new
bicyclist, poles for the beginning skier -- there doesn't seem to be a
way to master the balancing gradually.

Too fast - not really. So long as the board isn't something really
'special', which it won't be.

The whole balance learning is what you are doing when you side-slip and
do the falling leaf. You aren't actively learning to balance, you're just
getting used to being on a board in a controlled way, the balance just
comes over time.


On the whole, the experience was like learning to ride a bicycle by
going downhill with no brakes, and with dozens of pedestrians and
other riders crossing in front of you. When we were seated in the
shuttle bus headed back to the parking lot, my son remarked, "Well,
that's one thing I never want to do again. That was horrible."

Do try again - it can only get better


Anyway, if we do this again -- and I'm not sure we will, given my
son's perspective and my disinclination to go alone -- we'll have to
try private lessons and figure out when there'll be some real open
space available for learning. I'm not sure what to do about equipment.
Today's experience confirms my general view that it's impossible to
make progress in anything with one-size-fits-all rental stuff (I
didn't start improving as a skater until I got my own, well-fitting
skates), but it's very expensive and probably imprudent to buy
equipment we may seldom use. I already feel as though today's $130 was
flushed away with little to show for it.

Yup, you had a pretty unfortunate start to your boarding adventure, but
remember the words of Obi Wan "Everytime you strike me down Vader, I'll
come back stronger" (or something to that effect).


Sorry for the extreme length of this report. If you're still awake,
thanks for reading.

Joe Ramirez


Couple of other things:

Maybe try and go away for a long-weekend to learn. It will take more than
a day to start to really feel that you are making progress, and it's
worthwhile having a block of time to do that. Maybe a long weekend in
Whistler - use your US$ to get a good deal

Also, there's a book called "Snowboarding" by Rob Reichenfeld and Anne
Bruechert (ISBN 0873226771), Amazon have it. It's a good introduction and
light on the 'woah, dude' type stuff. I found it really useful to read
through what I'd learnt that day in the bath(!!) after the lesson. It
helps to see the theory behind what you've been trying to learn. It's
also got a good chapter on pre- and post- riding exercises, which do
help. (Also some stuff on equipment, but it's a little dated, although
the basics remain the same.)

Give it another go, and let us know how you got on!

AC.