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#1
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First time on a board, wish me luck....
I've been lurking here a little while and reading the archives waves to
familiar faces. I'm off to Mammoth, CA on Thursday. Have a full day lesson booked on Friday and some friends to provide encouragement/laughter on Saturday. Can't wait to give it a whirl. Any newbie tips received with thanks. -- Dnc |
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#2
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First time on a board, wish me luck....
doetnietcomputeren wrote:
Any newbie tips received with thanks. I can only quote the classics: "Go that way. Very, very fast. If something gets in your way, turn." Seriously, you're already doing the right thing by taking a lesson. That will get you headed in the right direction technically more than any typed advice ever will. Just from a practical standpoint, make sure you have some good pants and gloves. You will spend a lot of time as a newb on either your ass or your knees and pushing your self up off the snow with your hands. Avoiding getting wet will make your day a lot more comfortable. Have fun! Neil |
#3
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First time on a board, wish me luck....
On Tue, 24 Feb 2009 02:10:32 GMT, doetnietcomputeren
allegedly wrote: Any newbie tips received with thanks. You'll find this place much quieter and less volatile than the other place. :-) Neil's covered the staying dry bit. You might also consider some knee pads and maybe some padding down your butt. You'll fall over a lot at the start, and whilst it's important to learn to fall properly, you'll still hit your knees and arse quite a lot. Protecting them a little means you won't be so sore at the end of the day. Having a hot tub after can help. Write-off the evening, you'll be spent. Stick with it. There'll be 2 or 3 days of falling over, frustration and pain. At the end of it, it clicks and nirvana awaits. - Dave. -- The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky. http://www.vpas.org.uk/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow. Donek Sasquatch 162, Prior Pow 181, Burton Canyon 162 The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://www.vpas.fsnet.co.uk/rssFAQ/ |
#4
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First time on a board, wish me luck....
Switters wrote:
On Tue, 24 Feb 2009 02:10:32 GMT, doetnietcomputeren allegedly wrote: Any newbie tips received with thanks. You'll find this place much quieter and less volatile than the other place. :-) Neil's covered the staying dry bit. You might also consider some knee pads and maybe some padding down your butt. You'll fall over a lot at the start, and whilst it's important to learn to fall properly, you'll still hit your knees and arse quite a lot. Protecting them a little means you won't be so sore at the end of the day. Having a hot tub after can help. Write-off the evening, you'll be spent. Stick with it. There'll be 2 or 3 days of falling over, frustration and pain. At the end of it, it clicks and nirvana awaits. The butt pad is one of the best things you can have. It keeps you warm and dry through lots of sitting on the snow. I cut a blue foam camping pad 18" x 24". Cut an 8" "T" from the bottom edge. 8" up, with a 4" top, rounding the edges of the top, and reinforce with duct tape. Slip it under your bibbs as you put them on. The "T" allows the foam to wrap around the back of your legs. This will avoid a lot of potential bruises too. And wear a helmet. It cuts down on whiplash when you hit hard on your back, by limiting how far back your head goes before it hits the snow. |
#5
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First time on a board, wish me luck....
Body armor, like this,
http://www.cambriabike.com/shopexd.a...ODY+ARMOR+2007 Mine fits under my jacket. Keeps the bruises to a minimum when sliding down the hill on your back like a turtle. And wrist guards, and a helmet. doetnietcomputeren wrote: I've been lurking here a little while and reading the archives waves to familiar faces. I'm off to Mammoth, CA on Thursday. Have a full day lesson booked on Friday and some friends to provide encouragement/laughter on Saturday. Can't wait to give it a whirl. Any newbie tips received with thanks. |
#6
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First time on a board, wish me luck....
On Feb 23, 9:10*pm, doetnietcomputeren
wrote: I've been lurking here a little while and reading the archives waves to familiar faces. I'm off to Mammoth, CA on Thursday. Have a full day lesson booked on Friday and some friends to provide encouragement/laughter on Saturday. Can't wait to give it a whirl. Any newbie tips received with thanks. This reply is probably a bit late, since you've already had your opening day by now, but I wish you good luck and much enjoyment. I have vivid memories of my own beginnings in this sport, including a classically bad first day (which you may read about at length if you are interested: http://groups.google.com/group/rec.s...48c64fb296a1a). If you persevere and take the occasionally bitter with the frequently sweet, you will probably grow to love snowboarding the way the rest of us have. Some simple recommendations, mostly echoing what others have said: 1. Wrist guards and a helmet should be considered mandatory -- they will help prevent injury. Make sure your gloves are big enough to fit over wrist guards easily. 2. Knee pads are great for reducing discomfort. (Wear them under your pants but over long underwear, if used.) You'll spend more time on your knees than you imagine. I don't use a butt pad, but there have been a few times when I wished I did. 3. Buy your own boots/board/bindings as soon as you can. Your equipment doesn't have to be expensive, but it must be well-selected. Good fitting, good performing gear will enable you to learn much faster, and give you more pleasure and pride in what you are doing. 4. Get real snowboarding pants, preferably with a lot of pockets. They are warm, waterproof, comfortable, convenient, and they fit over your boots. Don't use ski pants or (horrors) jeans or the like. 5. Private lessons can be great. Group lessons should be avoided. 6. Simple stretching and strengthening exercises for your legs and abdomen will make life on the slopes a little easier. 7. Full goggles are the norm, but are essential only if you will often go into deep powder, areas with a lot of blowing snow, or extremely cold environments. Personally, I prefer slightly oversized, wraparound sunglasses (mine are prescription as well) because they give me a larger field of view. That was particularly helpful when I was a newbie -- with goggles I couldn't see my feet or the board without moving my entire head, but with sunglasses all I have to do is move my eyes. Joe Ramirez |
#7
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First time on a board, wish me luck....
Switters wrote:
Any newbie tips received with thanks. You'll find this place much quieter and less volatile than the other place. :-) Apparently so! Neil's covered the staying dry bit. You might also consider some knee pads and maybe some padding down your butt. You'll fall over a lot at the start, Ain't dat da troof. Write-off the evening, you'll be spent. I have never, ever, been in such a condition where someone said to me "have a guess what time it is?" to which I could not only not answer intelligibly, but also be utterly astounded to hear it was only 8pm when it felt like 2am. Stick with it. There'll be 2 or 3 days of falling over, frustration and pain. At the end of it, it clicks and nirvana awaits. So, the Friday lesson was a bit, well, so-so at best. The group was reasonably small, me, missus and I think, four others. Instructor was however, a bit pants. I would have thought that a few minutes on terminology and perhaps some explanation of how the board 'works' might be first up, but apparently not. You can imagine when he said 'you need to lean forward', some of the group did exactly that (as opposed to leaning towards the nose of the board) and then promptly face planted. By the end of the day, we'd barely covered 'how to get yourself up', let alone getting anything close to competent at falling leaf, or turns. We had managed to get comfortable with balance and a bit of pre-fall movement. Day two (Saturday), we didn't have lessons booked, so figured that we'd go and wing it. The missus was done by noon, too much pain from falling. I however persevered, figured out by myself how to get up and that running toeside was much easier than trying to run goofy. Then by about 3pm had got to the point of linking 3 or 4 turns before stopping sharp or falling. Again. Then I took a tumble that really wrenched my ankle, so I figured I'd call it quits for the weekend. Sunday was a no-board day, as we had to get ourselves back home again (6hour drive). I really wish we could have recovered Sunday and had more play on Monday, but alas, that will have to wait. Overall I'm pleased - we had fun, didn't die, don't think we've broken anything (although she has a hurty wrist). I'm positive that I'll be giving it another go, and I'll give it 60:40 that she will. Thanks all for your responses - between you, you covered pretty much everything we needed. -- Dnc |
#8
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First time on a board, wish me luck....
doetnietcomputeren wrote:
Switters wrote: Any newbie tips received with thanks. You'll find this place much quieter and less volatile than the other place. :-) Apparently so! Neil's covered the staying dry bit. You might also consider some knee pads and maybe some padding down your butt. You'll fall over a lot at the start, Ain't dat da troof. Write-off the evening, you'll be spent. I have never, ever, been in such a condition where someone said to me "have a guess what time it is?" to which I could not only not answer intelligibly, but also be utterly astounded to hear it was only 8pm when it felt like 2am. Stick with it. There'll be 2 or 3 days of falling over, frustration and pain. At the end of it, it clicks and nirvana awaits. So, the Friday lesson was a bit, well, so-so at best. The group was reasonably small, me, missus and I think, four others. Instructor was however, a bit pants. I would have thought that a few minutes on terminology and perhaps some explanation of how the board 'works' might be first up, but apparently not. You can imagine when he said 'you need to lean forward', some of the group did exactly that (as opposed to leaning towards the nose of the board) and then promptly face planted. By the end of the day, we'd barely covered 'how to get yourself up', let alone getting anything close to competent at falling leaf, or turns. We had managed to get comfortable with balance and a bit of pre-fall movement. Day two (Saturday), we didn't have lessons booked, so figured that we'd go and wing it. The missus was done by noon, too much pain from falling. I however persevered, figured out by myself how to get up and that running toeside was much easier than trying to run goofy. Then by about 3pm had got to the point of linking 3 or 4 turns before stopping sharp Toeside and heelside are opposites. Toe turns, and heel turns are opposites. Regular (left foot normally forward) and goofy (right foot normally forward) are opposites. Riding backwards of your norm is "switch". Most rider find learning heel turns much easier than toe turns. or falling. Again. Then I took a tumble that really wrenched my ankle, so I figured I'd call it quits for the weekend. Sunday was a no-board day, as we had to get ourselves back home again (6hour drive). I really wish we could have recovered Sunday and had more play on Monday, but alas, that will have to wait. Overall I'm pleased - we had fun, didn't die, don't think we've broken anything (although she has a hurty wrist). I'm positive that I'll be giving it another go, and I'll give it 60:40 that she will. Thanks all for your responses - between you, you covered pretty much everything we needed. You need to find batter lessons somewhere. It might be worth signing up for a private. Too late for your first trip, but: One of the first things to learn is to twist the front of the board to initiate turns, by pushing down or lifting on your front foot toes while resisting with the back foot. This releases the front edge, allowing it to begin sliding downhill, while the back edge resists, thus initiating the turn of the board. Then, and the board turns enough to lose all sideward motion, the toes of the back foot follow suit. If you learn to initiate turns this way, and to make sure your uphill edge is somewhat engaged between turns, most of the hard falls will be over. You want to learn to turnby steering the front of the board, rather than pushing the back end around, which is what most riders that didn't take lessons do. Additionally, when you are going straight down the flat areas, be sure to apply a slight pressure to one edge or the other at all times to avoid slams in those areas. If you let the board go completely flat, it will start to skid sideways, then catch an edge. |
#9
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First time on a board, wish me luck....
On Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:57:30 GMT, "Bob F"
allegedly wrote: You want to learn to turnby steering the front of the board, rather than pushing the back end around, which is what most riders that didn't take lessons do. Even some that have taken lessons still push the back foot around. Additionally, when you are going straight down the flat areas, be sure to apply a slight pressure to one edge or the other at all times to avoid slams in those areas. If you let the board go completely flat, it will start to skid sideways, then catch an edge. Until you get good, then running flat is a nice way to outrun the pack. - Dave. -- The only powder to get high on, falls from the sky. http://www.vpas.org.uk/ - Snowboarding the worlds pow pow. Donek Sasquatch 162, Prior Pow 181, Burton Canyon 162 The Snowboard FAQ lives here - http://www.vpas.fsnet.co.uk/rssFAQ/ |
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