Here I am camwhoring on the top of Hidden Peak (+11,000 ft) at the top of Snowbird in Utah. It was damn cold that day & the snow was up to my waist and didn’t let up all day.
Spent most of my runs shoveling myself out. $30 telescoping shovel is one of the best snowboarding investments I ever made….next to my helmet, which came in handy later on that day when that tree decided to jump in front of me.
wins highest altitude camwhore award
HOLY SHIT THAT WAS THE 890000 COMMENT
Do you snowboard or ski?
I’ve only been boarding once.
I was able to get high speeds, and do most skateboarding stuff, but turning I had a problem with – apparently it’s something to do with the “flexial” or something like that – how flexible the board is.
Also, you put one foot backwards, and one foot forwards to turn, right?
I’m a snowboarder and was a skateboarder growing up…definitely have lots in common…also very similar to surfing, although I don’t know how much of that get to do where you live.
I actually took lessons on my first day of boarding because I didn’t want to be on my ass the whole day.
Best beginning tip I got was to point with your front arm where you wanted to go. Doing that causes you to turn your hips enough to start the turn…eventually, you get good enough & you slice your way through turns by pushing down on your back leg which causes you to pivot and swing the board out with the front always pointing to the direction want to. Get that down & you’ll be flying through the turns.
Also, always stay up on an edge of the board (doesn’t matter how stiff your board is). You never really go straight, which is why they call it “carving”. You “carve” your way through the runs, making a long “S” up and down the trail. Once you let your board go flat, you end up on the ground.
Board stiffness depends on your style. Also length of board depends on what you’re doing. Lots of trails with heavy snow, go long. Going to be doing tricks in the park & want to make sharp turns, get a short board.
Most skiers who turn to snowboarding love it & pick up on it real quick…give it a day or two, you’ll be comfortable in no time.
I was scared that the board would slide out if I leaned back to much but it sounds like you’re saying it will not?
I did pretty good my first day.
I forgot to mention that you have to do all of this while you’re centered on the board. How you do this is by always having a bend in your knees…once you lock your knees, you eat it…always have a bend in your knees. Your stance is important too, but that’s not a big deal as long as your board’s bindings are setup correctly.
So, on a sharp turn, your board could get pretty angled but no matter what happens, center yourself on the board, even if that means being inches from sitting down on the board (from your camwhoring pictures, you seem pretty in shape, so this shouldn’t be a problem).
I’ve taken a jump and when landing, ended up sitting on my board but I stayed centered on it & my leg strength let me stand back up, saving the jump. If you want to haul ass, you could shoot close to straight down a mountain (remember, you always need to stay on an edge, so your “S” carves become longer and more drawn out), but like a motorcycle rider, you tuck yourself in, or in this case, start to squat down with more weight on the back leg (think fighting stance).
I usually was going full speed down the mountain until I realized I was going way too fast and when I tried to stop, I had a hard time and fell so bad my asshole hurt for 10 seconds.
But I know most of the routine because I skateboard, so that’s why I was fairly good to begin with.