control with the back leg?

Hello group,

I hope your new year is going well everybody...

I'm new to this group, and to snowboarding. I just spent the weekend at
Boyne Mountain in Michigan where I snowboarded for a couple of days.
This is my second time snowboarding; the first was last year (done it
only once as only one time for few hours - but absolutely loved it).

I bought my own snowboard before going this time (picked one off of
ebay, 156cm freeride). I went from the bunny hill to Deere Run (easiest
slope I guess). The slope starts very (very) steep - was kinda scary at
first, but I got used to it, and was able to make it all the way down
without falling (very hard).

My problem is I've been using my back leg to control the board. So, I
put all my weight on my rear leg when going down. By the thirteenth
run, my leg cramped so hard I couldn't even stand any more. So, I
started doing things like sitting on the board's tail while going down
to relief the pressure off my rear leg (kinda fun, but allows no
direction control).

I would really appreciate it if someone can give me some tips on how to
relief pressure off my back leg (I think I'm doing something wrong
here). If you know of any good websites that give some pointers and
tips to beginner snowbarders I would be very grateful if you list them.


Thank you,

Jay