zelo

Just to expand on this a little…

Hiya NEWBOARDCHICK!Well, as you may have heard from others, snowboarding is NOT an easy thing to learn – for anyone!  Here is my advice for boarding newbies:1) DRESS APPROPRIATELY.  Minimum be warm enough and cover your whole body with clothing.  Avoid cotton and do not wear jeans or Carharts.  Nylon snow-pants and jackets are fine, but waterproof/breathable garb is the best.

Wear layers… it is ok to strip layers off as you need to, but one layer of clothing will have you roasting in an hour or so.

2) PROTECT YOURSELF.  and wear proper eye protection (shades or goggles), hand protection (gloves or mitts), and if sunny WEAR SUNBLOCK.  UV rays are much more harmful in a mountain environment than what you are used to at the beach or at h

Just to expand on this a little…

Hiya NEWBOARDCHICK!Well, as you may have heard from others, snowboarding is NOT an easy thing to learn – for anyone!  Here is my advice for boarding newbies:1) DRESS APPROPRIATELY.  Minimum be warm enough and cover your whole body with clothing.  Avoid cotton and do not wear jeans or Carharts.  Nylon snow-pants and jackets are fine, but waterproof/breathable garb is the best.

Wear layers… it is ok to strip layers off as you need to, but one layer of clothing will have you roasting in an hour or so.

2) PROTECT YOURSELF.  and wear proper eye protection (shades or goggles), hand protection (gloves or mitts), and if sunny WEAR SUNBLOCK.  UV rays are much more harmful in a mountain environment than what you are used to at the beach or at home.  Wear something over your eyes AT ALL TIMES.  It only takes once of getting your retinas cooked to learn that lesson and the damage can last a lifetime.  One time I went out on a sunny spring day without sunblock and I MELTED!

It sounds weird but sunblock is a MUST. This cannot be understated. Think of it this way. The sun reflects off the ground. In the summer you get sun from the sky, in the winter you are getting twice as much exposure (sky & ground). Wear boarding mitts. Frosty may disagree with me with the mitts, but I find they work out a lot better than gloves. Make sure you wear goggles (same reason as above). Always wear a helmet.  I went down a fairly easy slope one day caught an edge and knocked myself out cold (no pun intended).

3) TAKE A LESSON.  In fact take a few.  It may be the best decision you can make.  Do not let a friend take you to the top and then ditch you there.  All resort mountains have friendly instructors and they offer group or private lessons.  Go with whatever you are comfortable with.  The instructors have most likely made all these foul decisions before and are there to help you have a good time.  It is not an easy job for them, but if they see that you were safe, had fun, and learned some stuff then they get really stoked over that.  If you have a positive experience, tip them down a few bucks.

Lessons are ALWAYS worth the money and if it is in your budget always go for a private lesson as a public lesson can get you stuck with 20 other people who are just as inept as you are and you will not receive the attention and therefore will need to take that many more lessons than if you took a private one. (Remember to tip!)

4) GIVE IT A FEW DAYS.  No one learns how to snowboard their first time out.  If you feel good, go back out the next day.  If you are feeling tired and your wrists and tailbone are a little tweaked, give a day for R&R then go back later for more fun.

Fun == Falling. Tell yourself that and you will have a blast for your first few days on the slopes.

5) DRINK WATER.  or at least fluids.  Not BEER, not MILK.  You know what I mean.

I prefer a sports drink like Gatorade that has electrolites in it. Water is good to rehydrate but remember you have to also replenish your salt, magnesium, potassium, etc…Most of all HAVE FUN out there. Laugh at yourself and don't hesitate to laugh at others as well. There is a great comrodery in the snowboard community and we all would love to keep it that way. In the same breath keep your determination. Frustration leads to failure and that is the last thing anyone wants!Zelohttp://www.zelo.comhttp://www.birthday-facts.com

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If you are coming from a skateboarding environment remember the rules are reversed for rail slides.In skateboarding, you have a very quick (depending on slope) deceleration in speed. When snowboarding it is like hitting a piece of ice… you are going to feel as if you are actually going faster than you are.Start out with small rails close to the ground. You ARE going to wipe out A LOT. Get the feel of it. Keep your body and weight centered on the rail and shoulders square to the pipe. Coming off the rail you will want to move your butt down and tuck for stability. Keep your arms out to start and then when you get your balance you can bring them in.When you get good enough you can go rail to fakie (what a RUSH!) by moving your head behind you as if you are looking at your back and allowing your board to swing around with you. There is no jumping required as in skateboardi

If you are coming from a skateboarding environment remember the rules are reversed for rail slides.In skateboarding, you have a very quick (depending on slope) deceleration in speed. When snowboarding it is like hitting a piece of ice… you are going to feel as if you are actually going faster than you are.Start out with small rails close to the ground. You ARE going to wipe out A LOT. Get the feel of it. Keep your body and weight centered on the rail and shoulders square to the pipe. Coming off the rail you will want to move your butt down and tuck for stability. Keep your arms out to start and then when you get your balance you can bring them in.When you get good enough you can go rail to fakie (what a RUSH!) by moving your head behind you as if you are looking at your back and allowing your board to swing around with you. There is no jumping required as in skateboarding where you need to go air to fakie but you will have to learn when to stop your twisting momentum. This is quite an advanced trick but one that is cool to try on small pipes once you get the basic slide down.Zelohttp://www.zelo.comhttp://www.name-stats.com

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It depends on what you are having a problem with. More than likely it is mental more than anything else. Everything is backwards, hence the reason it is harder.Do not think front/back or left/right but rather focus on heal/toe. Also, people have a tendancy to lean the wrong way (lean backwards) when they are riding switch. Remember to keep your weight balanced and towards the rear (carving setup) and ride a green slope all the way down fakie a few times. This will train your brain where your body should be positioned.When you feel comfortable then you will want to work on switching to fakie, again on a gentle slope. You should notice you will not have to think about frontside/backside… you will do it instinctively. The most difficult think about riding switch (fakie is not normally used in snowboarding) is looking over your shoulder and therefore not as easy to see. Aga

It depends on what you are having a problem with. More than likely it is mental more than anything else. Everything is backwards, hence the reason it is harder.Do not think front/back or left/right but rather focus on heal/toe. Also, people have a tendancy to lean the wrong way (lean backwards) when they are riding switch. Remember to keep your weight balanced and towards the rear (carving setup) and ride a green slope all the way down fakie a few times. This will train your brain where your body should be positioned.When you feel comfortable then you will want to work on switching to fakie, again on a gentle slope. You should notice you will not have to think about frontside/backside… you will do it instinctively. The most difficult think about riding switch (fakie is not normally used in snowboarding) is looking over your shoulder and therefore not as easy to see. Again this is but a little annoyance and is easily overcome.Zelohttp://www.zelo.comhttp://www.name-stats.com

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