snowboard advice

[bokonon]

i finally got out for my first time in four years today and had a barrel of monkeys. i'm trying to actually develop skills instead of just raging out of control down the hill. i ride regular and find it super easy to turn left but i have a difficult time with right turns. i keep putting my edge in really far and doing face plants, which are only funny the first eighteen times or so. any advice from you experienced boarders? actually, advice about any technique at all is greatly appreciated. i found some books at the library but they were made in the early nineties so the sport has really evolved since then in terms of different equipment (they showed hard boots and plate bindings, are they still used?) and they were totally riddled with jargon which made them nearly incomprehensible. in short, they didn't help much.

[Paan]

Buy a toboggan.

[woo.]

AS a newbie u want to make a big "S" pattern down the hill. We r talking the whole width of the hill if possable. All turning is, is trasfering of your body weight from one side to the other. If your on your heal edge (your back is facing down the hill) Slowly easy off on your heal edge, but still stay on that edge ! AS u easy off the edge, the nose of the board will start to point down hill. At this point shift your body weight to the toe edge . Once again do it slowly, when your weight is on the toe edge your board will turn in that direction in till Your now going in the opposite direction, a 180 turn. DO this slowly!!! Dont go stright down the hill the whole time like u see the pros doing, thats much to fast for a newbie. Go left make your turn, then go right horazontaly down the hill. Oh and bend your legs and as u make your turn strighten them out. When the nose is pointing down the hill your legs should almost be stright, then when u shift your weight bend them again. Hope this helps, but its kind of hard to tell someone how to do it , its much easier to show people how to do it.

[CyberHippie]

Turning one way is always tougher than the other. Practice, practice, practice. You'll get more comfortable and better at it the more you do. Sounds cheesey, but that's the score.

[AD]

Yeah those tips are pretty much how you'd want to go about it. Gradually tighten the turns up too, so you don't freak out when you hit a really narrow run...

The best tip that I can give is to learn how to ride switch while you're learning how to ride normally. It will help you out so much if you're equally comfortable riding both ways...

AD

[Kaidy Mae]

Bokonon...where do you usually board? If you're ever up in the Horseshoe Valley/Mt. St. Louis area, let me know. We can fall and get whiplash together. Ha ha!

[bokonon]

Bokonon...where do you usually board? If you're ever up in the Horseshoe Valley/Mt. St. Louis area, let me know. We can fall and get whiplash together. Ha ha!

sweet! i live fifteen minutes from chicopee and since i have no car this is where i am likely to go most of the time. i can take a bus right from downtown kitchener where i live to the hill at the south east end.

thanks for the advice everyone! it did help, there was no jargon and slang from the early nineties, thank-you!