# Snowboarding Tips



## glenn (May 13, 2009)

Highback canting is for race dweeps and pipe jockeys. Save your calves and dial them out completely.


----------



## hojo (Jun 26, 2008)

DanOrion said:


> I got to thinking that after a couple decades dragging knuckles, I'm still learning stuff. This thread is to sharing tips that have made a difference. Here's a few:
> 
> Trailing hand in front of trailing hip: Greater balance, faster turns, more control.
> Canting highbacks forward greatly improves heelside carving.
> ...


Keep shoulders parallel to fall line.
Flex into turn initiation/Extend for turn transition


----------



## BarryDingle (Mar 13, 2008)

Check your landings.

Send it.


----------



## DanOrion (Jun 8, 2004)

BarryDingle said:


> Check your landings.
> 
> Send it.


Woot Woot!


----------



## BmfnL (May 23, 2009)

Some beginner/intermediate advice on form:

Don't hunch over!!!! Toe edge becomes really enjoyable only when you arch the back and stick your pelvis over the toe edge. Pretend a giant fan blade is going to cut your ass off. Drop them knees in there, feel the binding straps transfer the power to the board.

One of the more difficult things to teach and describe is heel edge form. Here's the best I've heard: Be in a position like you are seated in a chair and there is a cute girl four chairs down. You are stretching your shoulders and head over the back of the chair to check her out.

Note that neither of these forms on either edge is farking hunched over.


----------



## glenn (May 13, 2009)

hojo said:


> Keep shoulders parallel to fall line.


This is junk. Keep your shoulder roughly parallel to your board.



> Flex into turn initiation/Extend for turn transition


This is helpful sometimes and less helpful other times. The best rider will be able to extend/flex at any point through the turn. This is how you ride over terrain, not just flat groomers.


----------



## Jensjustduckie (Jun 29, 2007)

BmfnL said:


> Some beginner/intermediate advice on form:
> 
> Don't hunch over!!!! Toe edge becomes really enjoyable only when you arch the back and stick your pelvis over the toe edge. Pretend a giant fan blade is going to cut your ass off. Drop them knees in there, feel the binding straps transfer the power to the board.
> 
> ...


Yes!! This is how I learned to board, toeside my instructor said we needed to imitate Wayne from Waynes World doing a Schwing!! 

Also for women learning remember your "cowgirl" pose - ladies naturally stand knee's together but you need to open up your knee's to control and turn the board.


----------



## deepsouthpaddler (Apr 14, 2004)

Front forearm held up in front of your face when busting through tight trees can be a face saver!

Creeking is great for kayaking, but shitty for snowboarding. Avoid little snow covered drainages at all costs. 

Agree on a plan for what to do If you get separated BEFORE you get separated

Car time going snow boarding is a great time to plan next seasons boating trip


----------



## thayes (Aug 25, 2006)

Learn how to telemark.


----------



## chepora (Feb 6, 2008)

thayes said:


> Learn how to telemark.


or AT


----------



## Jahve (Oct 31, 2003)

thayes said:


> Learn how to telemark.


----------



## mommydevo (Jun 5, 2009)

I tried learning to telemark when my kids were learning to ski. I sucked at it and it wasn't very much fun. So I went back to snowboarding. Life is hard enough, my time on the mountain is precious, and now my kids are rippers and I can't keep up with them on skis anyway.


----------



## Jensjustduckie (Jun 29, 2007)

Not true RDNEK


----------



## mommydevo (Jun 5, 2009)

Jen that's awesome!


----------



## Jensjustduckie (Jun 29, 2007)

mommydevo said:


> Jen that's awesome!



 Thanks, I thought it was appropriate LOL


----------



## idahofloater (Feb 23, 2011)

I like to completely remove the high backs, no camber, go plateless, supper soft boots, wax for conditions, keep knees together, -5 +5 duck foot, and lastly "slow and low is the tempo" even when your going like a bat outa hell. boarding sence 1992..


----------



## idahofloater (Feb 23, 2011)

BarryDingle said:


> Check your landings.
> 
> Send it.


 Checking your landing is optional.

Sending it is required.


----------



## carvedog (May 11, 2005)

BmfnL said:


> Pretend a giant fan blade is going to cut your ass off.


This is great. Thx. I will borrow. Rinse. Repeat.


----------



## hojo (Jun 26, 2008)

*Douchebagery is no substitute for fundamental techniques.*



glenn said:


> This is junk. Keep your shoulder roughly parallel to your board.
> 
> This is helpful sometimes and less helpful other times. The best rider will be able to extend/flex at any point through the turn. This is how you ride over terrain, not just flat groomers.


*Sigh* Bored a work? I forgot you were here to criticize. I concede, I made up the bit about shoulders and fall lines. Please post video of you shredding steep bumps so as show my trashy advice.

And of course I meant that the flex/extend is to be done exactly that way all the time every time with no regard to terrain, speed, people on the slope, trolls correcting basic tips, etc...

Kind of like the duffek stroke. I might just post the description of a duffek but you'd just correct me by saying that each duffek stroke is slightly different depending on boat angle, speed, size of eddy, trolls calling decent, well meaning posters race dweeps and pipe jockeys. Thanks for the correction. We're all better for it.


----------



## one_elk (Jun 10, 2005)

The faster you go the funner it is......


----------



## Phillips (Feb 19, 2004)

Amen brotha. . . thats all the advice we need



one_elk said:


> The faster you go the funner it is......


----------



## glenn (May 13, 2009)

hojo said:


> *Sigh* Bored a work? I forgot you were here to criticize. I concede, I made up the bit about shoulders and fall lines. Please post video of you shredding steep bumps so as show my trashy advice.
> 
> And of course I meant that the flex/extend is to be done exactly that way all the time every time with no regard to terrain, speed, people on the slope, trolls correcting basic tips, etc...
> 
> Kind of like the duffek stroke. I might just post the description of a duffek but you'd just correct me by saying that each duffek stroke is slightly different depending on boat angle, speed, size of eddy, trolls calling decent, well meaning posters race dweeps and pipe jockeys. Thanks for the correction. We're all better for it.


No trolling here... 

Bumps are the exception and even then if you aren't keeping your board more or less parallel to your body even in bumps you aren't doing it right. If you want to zipperline/straightline sure put your shoulder and your board parallel to the fall line. If you are making normal turns on a groomer/bowl/pillow line/pipe/approaching a jump etc then you more or less keep your shoulders parallel to the board. This of course has it's exceptions but more often than not you keep in line with your board. If someone is having problems staying on the fall line then maybe appropriate instruction would be to get them to point there shoulders downhill more which will in turn point the board downhill more. That's not the same thing as winding/unwinding the torso through every turn, which is definitely not what you should be doing. 

Personally I find no need to extend/flex during normal turns, but can make turns fully compressed and full erect assuming the terrain is flat. I can pump turns for speed by extending or make keep my upper still in bumps by extending in the transitions but again that's the exception.

Sorry I don't have a whole lot constructive to add. Others that I have covered the biggies. Don't let your hands get behind you, keep your knees bent, look where you want to be well before you get there and send it. 

In my journey as a rider I've had many "aha" moments where I thought I unlocked the "secret" to riding only to find out it was just key to the next level of riding. I hate to throw blanket advice out there when in all reality it becomes obsolete at the next level. 

Sorry I was short and dismissive of your comment but I really do think the technique described is only fully applicable in the minority of cases. I'm sure you're a great rider.


----------



## Jahve (Oct 31, 2003)

Jensjustduckie said:


> Not true RDNEK


You are right Michael would Tele ..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ozBYVnQSMI


----------



## ScubaSteve (Aug 30, 2010)

Jensjustduckie said:


> Yes!! This is how I learned to board, toeside my instructor said we needed to imitate Wayne from Waynes World doing a Schwing!!


Jen, at A-basin? That was me!


----------



## pbell (Oct 23, 2008)

In the snowboarding instruction world, they say that you want to have your hips and shoulders parallel to the board (generally) with your weight over the engaged edge and evenly distributed between both feet.

As for flexing/extending knees, it helps to be most flexed or extended at the edge change, which takes some weight off the board giving the rider a smoother transition from one edge to another -just like skiing. For bumps and more advanced terrain, we recommend the knees being most flexed at edge change.

I'd say 80% of the riders out there (95% of the riders if you are at Breck or Keystone) ride with their shoulders open towards the front of the board on toeside turns, which puts too much weight on the back foot making it harder for the board to initiate a turn. One way to remedy this problem is to hold both hands out towards the tip and tail of the board as if each hand was holding a rope attached each end of the board. Try this out on easy terrain, keep doing it, and eventually keeping your shoulders/hips parallel to the board will become a habit and your ability to ride on tougher terrain will greatly improve.

Also, most of us (especially myself) just need to be lower. Keeping our ankles and knees bent helps us ride over variable terrain more easily. Too many riders (and skiers) get lazy and don't really bend their ankles and knees much at all.

As for learning to Tele, I want to but the costs of kayaking in Colorado (replacing my creekboat annually, dental work, x-rays, copious amounts of alcohol, etc) make it so that I can't afford a whole new set of gear.


----------



## Snowolf (Apr 8, 2012)

glenn said:


> No trolling here...
> 
> Bumps are the exception and even then if you aren't keeping your board more or less parallel to your body even in bumps you aren't doing it right. If you want to zipperline/straightline sure put your shoulder and your board parallel to the fall line. If you are making normal turns on a groomer/bowl/pillow line/pipe/approaching a jump etc then you more or less keep your shoulders parallel to the board. This of course has it's exceptions but more often than not you keep in line with your board. If someone is having problems staying on the fall line then maybe appropriate instruction would be to get them to point there shoulders downhill more which will in turn point the board downhill more. That's not the same thing as winding/unwinding the torso through every turn, which is definitely not what you should be doing.
> 
> ...



I am a snowboard instructor and have been teaching for 7 years. Level 2 AASI, now doing private coaching. 

You are essentially correct especially for basic carving. Where the other poster is correct is in dynamic riding be it dynamic skidded or dynamic carved. In your more basic forms of riding, you do keep the upper body more or less aligned with the board. Actually perpendicular to your front foot so depending on stance angles, a rider may appear to have "open shoulders" especially if rocking a forward stance.

When we start getting into more dynamic riding for extremely steep terrain, narrow terrain, tight trees and moguls, upper and lower body separation becomes more important. When I am dropping a 55 degree chute with less than a few board lengths width, I am using a very dynamic skidded turn technique with a ton of flexion and extension, fore-aft movements and upper lower body separation. In these scenarios, I do keep my front shoulder more or less pointed down the fall line while using my lower body to control my board.

Obviously, I don`t ride blue and black groomers this way and as you point out, tend to ride more ore less aligned with the board. So, in a sense you are both correct, its just a matter of when and where to use certain techniques.

On that note, if anyone has any questions, I am always eager to talk snowboarding and if interested, check out Snowboarding Forum I am Snowolf there too and we have a very good tips/instructor section. I also work in the Portland area as a private coach and am the head coach for Snow Motion Sports and lead guide for split boarding tours in the Cascades. Next to rafting, snowboarding is my other passion.


----------

