10 Tips To Learn How To Snowboard
Figuring out the whole snowboard thing can be confusing. We get it. Sometimes you just need a little bit of help to differentiate a Tail Grab from a Tindy. That's why we put together our top 10 tips to learn how to snowboard... and most importantly, stoked on snowboarding!
Tip #1. Buy The Right Snowboard
Our first tip is where it all begins, getting the right board. It can pretty much make or break your snowboard experience. Check out the tutorial below for all our advice or click here for the full tutorial.
Tip #2. Figure Out Your Stance
The next step is to figure out your stance and set your board up. This will mean you are immediately comfortable on your board and give you the best chance of loving it from the get go.
While this tutorial is on one of our training boards, because they are made the exact same way as a snowboard, you can use the tips in Setting Up Your Training Board to dial in your stance.
If you're just starting out, we recommend duck foot at 12°/-12° or 15°/-15° and a stance anywhere from 15" to 23" wide depending on your height:
Tip #3. Get Familiar With Your Gear
Now it's time to get familiar with your gear and figure out how it all works. Check out all our insight into the different Parts Of A Snowboard with this cracker little tutorial.
Tip #4. Find A Quiet Place To Strap In
Strapping In as we know this can be a frustrating one for new snowboarders. Oh, and it's fairly important that you are locked in to those bindings. Check out the tutorial below or see the full blog on how to strap in here:
Go to the side of a run, or a relatively quiet run with plenty of open space. This will give you all the room you need to get it figured out and will mean you won't get in anyone's way. Make sure it's a fairly gentle slope too just in case the board slips out and goes for a bit of a ghostie.
Tip #5. Get Your Foot Right In There
When you are strapping in, make sure to jam that heel all the way into the heel cup. This allows your bindings straps to fit snugly around your boot and make that beautiful, firm locked in feeling. Get this right and you'll thank us later.
Tip #6. Figure Out That Skating Thing
Our next two tips come from our How To Skate blog as this can be one of the toughest parts of learning how to snowboard. Check out the video below for skate tips:
The first part to skating is getting comfortable moving in a straight line, then using the heel of your rear foot to gently slow you down.
Find a mellow slope. With just your front foot strapped in, cruise in a straight line. With your back foot resting against your back bindings, shift it backwards so your heel extends out over the edge of your board. Gently drop your heel into the snow and it will act like a little anchor to slow you down and bring you to a stop.
Tip #7. Skate Off A Chair Straight
Probably the most intimidating thing about snowboarding for beginners is skating off your first chairlift. Remember the tip above for skating; stay calm and ride straight off the chair. Don't try to turn too early, don't lean on others for support and don't try to stop just after you've stood up. Just ride away in a straight line then put that anchor down once you feel yourself slowing down.
Tip #8. Put That Board Face Down
Our final tips all come from our Beginner Hacks Tutorial.
When you're not riding, always place your board facing with your bindings down. While that slick bottom is good when you're shredding, it's not so good when a human isn't attached. By placing your board face down means it won't go anywhere and will save you an embarrassing download.
Tip #9. Ice Free Footbeds
Snow building up on the baseplate of your binding can be a real day-breaker. Instead, every time you strap in, use the buckle of your toe and heel strap to attack the ice and clear it out first. This will give you a clean ice free footbed so you can lock in tight.
Tip #10. Don't Be A Hot Head
Most beginner snowboarders have their goggles fog up on them. This really sucks because it either makes you blind (it's really hard to snowboard blind) or renders them useless. To stop your snowboard goggles fogging up, never place them on your head. If they do begin to fog, let them air out or gently place (do not wipe) some paper towel in there to draw away the moisture.
That's it! Snowboard Addiction's Top 10 Tips To Learn How To Snowboard! Let us know any beginner snowboard tips you have or any beginner snowboard questions you have and we'll get back to you. Happy shredding!
Alex McCann
Snowboard Addiction
Our Goal Is To Improve Your Riding