Step in snowboard bindings are back in a big way with the K2 Clicker X-HB Boots and Bindings made with anti-stick coating so you don't have to worry about powder or ice getting stuck in your binding. But do step in bindings really perform?
I personally am not about to hit an 80 foot park booter without something strapped to my feet, but if you're looking for an easy solution to avoid sitting down, or you're trying to convert your skier friends, the Clicker X-HB could be a great solution.
Are K2 Clicker Binding's Worth it?
What up Shredder today, we're bringing in our gear and expert to give you an exclusive for a view of the clicker ex HB binding.
Now, back in my day in the early two thousands, when I was coming up in the snowboard world, clickers just started to get popular. They kind of faded out. I think they just weren't quite there yet. In the last couple of years, we've seen a resurgence in clicker, bottom from K2, from burden. And this is pretty much the cutting edge technology when it comes to step in binding.
So here's a person who just can't be bothered with ratcheting down that strap. And you just want to step in and go. I know someone recently said they're quitting snowboarding because there's too much sitting.
Now. This person probably needs quick bodies cause they don't want to bend over and strap in. This is going to make it easier. We're going to break it down. How this work is it safe? Can you hit jumps and do a double cork quicker bindings? And should you switch to a strapless botany? Don't forget to subscribe to the channel. Hit notification, give smash that like button let's do it.
Shutter just like young Christian said, we're gonna talk to you about the clicker X HB today, a new for the 20, 20, 20, 21 season. We're gonna kind of break it down, show you how to Mount this up and show you how to get in and get rolling. First things first, we've got to Mount this up. It's going to be like any other board out there. You can see we've got base plate covers. So you're going to want to hear a number three screwdriver just to take that cover off.
Like, so now we've got our disc here. You can see the holes on the side. So this is compatible with a burden EST, the channel system. Um, but we're going to Mount it onto a traditional four hole pattern right here now. So like any other board just got to get our degrees and our reference to it.
Just like that couple of minutes. We've got our bindings mounted. They knocked on like any other snowboard binding, obviously no stress. So we're going to show you how this interface works. So if you look at your toe plate and your heel here, this is going to be toe in heel down. And now we've got the boot to kind of show you how that interface works. So recess cleats.
So as you're walking in these, they feel really, uh, like a natural boot. You don't feel the metal scraping or anything. Uh, the boot itself is designed with natural. So this is a really natural lateral field. Um, it helps with, uh, turning, makes it feel just like any other snowboard binding out there.
So as we're getting in, we make sure that our lever is released. Start with our toe. As you pull up, it brings that Keela for clean, easy beliefs. Now you don't need to hold that up as you're going back in. As long as you get your toe in place, you hear that snap back down, and then you just want to make sure you're turning that. So you don't get released as you're riding and you're in and ready to go. Just jump right in.
So I always have people asking me, what dial do I start with? What do I do one second here? So once your foot is in comfortably, all kinds of use that side dial, make sure that's engaged. That's going to pull that Condit ship tight around any bolt and lock that heel in place. So you don't see anything turning. Cause that side dial is all internal. Then we have our teachers
Tighten that down once you're nice and snug power strap and you're locked in to go. So now we can see just how easy this is. The use. Make sure you loose. It starts with that toe. If you can get that. So in square And just like that, we're locked in. So you can see I've got regular movement from snowboarding without the straps where the dilemma of having to sit down and strap in.
Once you get your front foot in, we'll just go into our back here. And we're in really, really easy to make sure you're locked. So you're not going to release. You can see that natural flex that you get out of this. It feels just like any other two strap binding and we've got ourselves locked in there.
So to get out, start at the back foot as you pull that, it's going to release you release them.
Yeah, toes out. So if you look at the hook, it kind of goes to a point there. So as long as you're lining that up and you're totally.
And that's where you get that, you'll tell responsiveness, if you're all about ease and snowboarding, you don't want to lace up your boots. You don't want to do your straps. You don't want to do any of that. Kind of got it all solved for you here in the Mesa.
So I took the number one selling boot in the world, but in the Macy's and made it for this new system. Uh, I swear by it. I mean, I had my doubts, like Christian said, there was a lot of clicker in the early two thousands when we were getting into snowboarding and it left a bad taste in a lot of people's mouth. This is successively funds my palette of the clickers.
So let's stop, sorry, just too much to bear in life. And you want that fast action treading, no sitting down required. Maybe it's time to check out the K2 clicker, binding clicker, XHB clicker X, H P the latest renovation in the clicker world. And what kind of price point are you looking at for these just around?
So that's another great question, Christian, since this is a new product, it's not backwards compatible with those clicker stuff. So really if you're buying these boots, you're buying these bindings also. And I think the package deal comes in around 600 bucks. Okay. So you're going to need.
The boots and the bindings, and that's going to make sure you never have to strap in and they work together seamlessly and you're going to be good to go with those clicker ex HB, where can people pick up there.
Right now? They're landing at stores. Um, if you're in the Rockies area, I believe Kristi sport's got them in, uh, Eva. They should be available at some online retailers as well.
Yeah. So go check them out. Any last words of wisdom?
Get Your Own 24/7/365 Snowboard Coach For Less Than the Cost of a 1/2 Day Lesson On The Mountain
THE STEP-BY-STEP SNOWBOARD TRAINING YOU NEED TO GO FROM BEGINNER TO BACKFLIP
Figuring out the art of snowboarding can be a challenge. There are a lot of fundamentals to master. Fortunately, there are plenty of snowboard exercises for beginners to get the hang of snowboarding quickly and easily.
A lot of beginning snowboarders believe that the only way to improve is to hit the slopes, but they are missing a whole world of useful training.
Whether you are at home before heading to the mountain or in the middle of the off season, you can do some great exercises to help you quickly advance your shredding skills.
Read through these tips so you can find out how to get good at snowboarding.
4 BestSnowboarding Exercises for Beginner
How Can I Train Myself to Snowboard at Home?
The best way to develop your skills is to practice at home consistently and have a good training plan. Training yourself to be a strong snowboarder means putting the work in to get better.
Fortunately, there are a ton of off season snowboarding exercises to do all the above right from your home.
Pro Tip 1:
If you want to shred like the pros, one of the best things you can do is take advantage of the time at home, including during the offseason. There are plenty of ways that you can build up your skills without having to hit the mountain.
During the offseason, you can do a ton of exercises to increase your skills. By working through some drills over and over, you can improve your skills greatly.
When you are at home, you can work on several off season snowboarding exercises. One of them is air awareness.
With or without a snowboard, you can practice jumping on a trampoline, off of a diving board, or into a foam pit.
All of these will help you get more comfortable being in the air. As you get more comfortable, start trying to spin and practicing tricks. This will come in handy when you are on a slope and hit a jump.
Even skateboarding is a great way to improve your skills. Skateboarding can help you get used to keeping your balance, moving around, and maintaining speed on a board.
A lot of professional snowboarders have some background in skateboarding, so it definitely helps craft snowboard skills.
Other ways to improve your snowboarding include weight and balance training, which we will talk about more.
Want to learn snowboarding at home? this post is for you!
How Do I Get Better at Snowboarding Fast?
A lot of beginners want to know, “How do I get better at snowboarding fast?” Good snowboarders know that they need to strengthen their skills and strengthen their muscles.
This means that many of the exercises you can do to get better at snowboarding don’t even need a snowboard.
By putting in the work and building your strength off the mountain, you will be a stronger shredder when you are on the mountain.
Pro Tip 2:
The best thing that you can do for snowboarding is to train your muscles to put in the work so that it takes you longer to get tired. A big question that beginners have is, “Why is snowboarding so tiring?”
It is because your muscles are not yet used to doing all of the hard work that snowboarding needs. Although it seems like snowboarding is as simple as standing on a board, the truth is that snowboarding uses a lot of your muscles for balance, stability, and movement.
By strengthening your legs, you will build a strong foundation and prepare yourself to handle longer and tougher slopes. There are a ton of great home and gym exercises for snowboarding to help you do just that. These includes:
Squats
Lunges
Squat Reverse Lunges
Squats with Heel and Toe Raises
Hip Rolls
Repeat each exercise about 10-15 times, depending on your level. Make sure that you are building up your ability to do each exercise and don’t overdo them at the beginning.
It is also a good idea to include cardio, like running, into your workout routine so that you strengthen your lungs and heart as well.
Strengthen your core. A key to being able to balance and maneuver properly on your board is having a strong core. When you are carving or sliding, you will notice that you feel it most in your core.
Doing core exercises will make you much stronger and less exhausted the next time you hit the slopes. Options to strengthen your core include:
Russian Twists- Sit on the ground with your legs extended in front of you, bending your knees slightly. Reach your arms straight in front of you and twist your torso to one side, back to the middle, and then to the other side without moving your legs.
Back Extensions- Lay on the ground with your belly down, then lift your chest off the ground and bring it back down.
Mountain Climbers- Start in a push-up position. Bring one knee up to your chest and then return to the pushup position. Alternate your legs, then continue to repeat.
Planks- Holding a pushup position as long as you can. Try moving your legs around to test your core even further.
Try each exercise for at least 30 seconds. As with any exercise, don’t forget to stretch afterward so that you do not strain your muscles.
The truth is that when people ask, “What muscles does snowboarding use?” the answer is “most of them,” but your legs and your core are doing a lot of the work and need proper training.
In this post you'll lear how to start snowboarding fast!
Pro Tip 4:
For all of the work that you can do with home and gym exercises for snowboarding, nothing beats trying to improve your skills in the snow.
However, this does not mean you should automatically send it down the slopes.
There are a few exercises that will help you be ready to handle harder courses that you should practice consistently
When you get to the mountain, you should practice some of the key fundamentals to grow your skills. One of these is carving, which is riding along an edge on your board to make better turns.
Practice improving your carving technique and holding it up a halfpipe or up to a rail. You will also want to work on speed checks.
Practice turning your board the opposite way of your shoulders and kicking your back foot outward at a certain speed to get used to cutting speed on the slopes.
Another important skill is learning how to ride switch, meaning with your other foot forward. This will give you options for different tricks and backward landings.
You should also practice butters, which include shifting your hips to press into your nose or tail and spin either 180 or 360 degrees. Lastly, you should work on your ability to ollie since it will help you jump off kickers and onto rails once you are ready to shred.
For more details, you can check out each of these skills here!
The key to improving is making sure that you are taking it step by step. Do not rush your progress. Make sure that you can do the little things before trying to land a big trick.
Work through these drills to build yourself up and master the fundamentals so that you can take on the bigger tricks with confidence.
Snowboarding Exercises for Beginners
Overall, there are a lot of great exercises and drills to improve your snowboarding skills as a beginner that will show you how to get good at snowboarding.
If you stay committed to doing these exercises, you will notice an improvement in no time, and you will be on your way to shredding as the pros do. The off season lasts a while, so take advantage of it!
Once you are on the mountain again, you will be glad that you did.
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THE STEP-BY-STEP SNOWBOARD TRAINING YOU NEED TO GO FROM BEGINNER TO BACKFLIP
However, if you want to save years of time and thousands of dollars in hospital bills, you should find proper training like beginner snowboard lessons, online snowboard tutorials, or a private snowboard coach.
Snowboarding for beginners is definitely more than jumping on a board and cruising down the mountain.
For those of you wondering “Can I teach myself to snowboard?”
You can teach yourself to snowboard. The problem is time and money. How long do you have and how much money do you have to practice?
Trips to the mountain can cost a lot. Plus there is the issue of missing work or school.
Learning snowboarding alone will stretch out your time to learn and end up costing you way more than a coach in the long run.
There are so many things you need to learn, but it's possible to teach yourself snowboarding.
If you want to teach yourself to snowboard, but with the knowledge of an expert, check out www.EdShreds.com.
Can I Teach Myself To Snowboard?
Can I Learn to Snowboard in a Day?
Yes, it depends on your definition of snowboarding but you can learn in a day if your definition is being able to stand up and slide down a hill.
With Snowboarding beginners, often they are in a hurry to get out there and start doing backflips the first day.
The beginners will often ask “Can I learn to snowboard in a day?”
The answer is, yes, but no. You can learn to get on a snowboard and go forwards and ride around the mountain in a day.
However, if you want to learn how to become advanced enough to the tricks that will impress your friends, it will take a while longer.
Your skills will need to have a level of progression that builds on previous experience and tricks. Some tricks will be the foundation for more advanced tricks.
If you want to learn to snowboard in a day, you are probably wanting to look like you know what you are doing before you get on the mountain.
Going out there and feeling your way through snowboarding isn't going to accomplish much. Having a coach go out there and teach you in person will hold you back as well.
A traditional in-person coach will teach you just enough to make you feel like you are learning.
However, those coaches won't teach you as much as you could learn, because otherwise, you wouldn't keep coming back to them. Sucks huh?
There is another option to give you the ability to go to the mountain and know exactly what you are doing. If you join Shred School and follow the video lessons, you'll learn how to snowboard before you ever hit the snow.
This will allow you to focus your efforts on practicing the skills you learned online, instead of getting stuck just trying to strap into your snowboard.
If you want to learn the skills you need to learn snowboarding in a day, check out Edshreds.com
Get into the program for half off today: A year's access for less than the price of ONE in-person coaching lesson. Try it today by going HERE.
How Long Do I Need to Learn Snowboarding?
The short answer is that you need to spend as long as it takes to learn snowboarding, but it depends if you are trying to learn to simply move down the mountain in one piece or do professional tricks.
Trying to learn snowboarding yourself by watching youtube videos or practicing on your own will take many years and a lot of money for trips to the mountain.
You'll be able to play around on the mountain and ride down it fairly quickly, but you will spend a portion of your time in the hospital or tending a broken ankle if you try anything advanced.
If you have an private snowboard coach it can be cut down to a few years of training each season, and a large amount of money spent on trips and coaches.
Thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of training. If you live in an area that has year-round snow, you might be able to learn snowboarding in a year or two.
For most of us that have to travel and take off work, it will take us much longer to learn.
Don't you wish there was a hack to decrease the amount of time it takes to learn snowboarding?
Well, there is good news. You can learn ahead of time with Shred School's online snowboarding training program. It takes you through each step you need to know to get you from beginner to backflip in one season.
The benefit of learning online is that you already know what to practice when you do get to the mountain.
This helps you focus on the right things and make the most of your trip. Another benefit is not having to pay ridiculous training fees for something that's only going to teach you a little at a time so you have to keep coming back.
With Shred School, you get access to everything for less than the price of one lesson with a traditional coach. This will allow you to learn to snowboard in record time and get feedback from our coaches without having to be embarassed while you are out on a trip.
Check out edshreds.com for more info on how to learn to snowboard in a fraction of the time.
Yes. If you want to know if you can snowboard without lessons, the answer is yes. Can you snowboard safely without lessons? No.
It doesn't take rocket science to put on some gear and kick off a slope, but knowing how to do it without ending up in the emergency room is a different story. Everything from what kind of gear you need to how to stand on the board can determine if you end up in a caste or not.
Besides getting hurt, you probably don't want to look like an idiot in front of seasoned snowboarders. Snowboarders make fun of people that try to teach themselves and make mistakes.
They call them “Gapers” because of the gap on their forehead between their helmet and their eyes. It's a joke about the improper use of gear and knowledge. You don't want to go to the mountain without some sort of training and risk looking like a dork.
The truth is that you need lessons to learn to snowboard safely and in a reasonable length of time. The problem is when you have to hire a traditional in-person coach that costs hundreds of dollars.
The traditional coach that meets you on the mountain and gives you lessons could cost thousands of dollars over the course of a few seasons. They have an incentive to slow your rate of progress, so they can get more money.
Even if you choose to go the route of a traditional coach you should also be learning online. Taking online snowboarding lessons can give you all the knowledge you need before you ever get on the mountain.
This will help you make the most of your expensive snowboarding trips and enjoy your time on the mountain. Online lessons are great because you can train in the off-season or whenever you have freetime.
If you want to access to the best online snowboarding lessons, check out Shred School. Shred School also doubles as a traditional coach because you can send them videos of your tricks and they will critique your style as you progress.
If you want to learn more about how online snowboarding lessons work, and how to improve your progress in record time, go HERE.
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THE STEP-BY-STEP SNOWBOARD TRAINING YOU NEED TO GO FROM BEGINNER TO BACKFLIP
o are you about to go shredding and don't know what to wear to the mountain?
You better make sure you go prepared, otherwise, you are gonna be shivering under a tree wondering what you were thinking.
In this snowboarding gear tutorial, we break down the clothes and protective equipment you are gonna need on the mountain.
Don't skip this!
What to Wear Snowboarding
Christian: (00:00) What up shredder, one of the most confusing things about snowboarding is what to wear to the mountain today. We're going to break it down step by step. So you know exactly what to bring to the mountain.
If you want to make sure you never miss video, go ahead and subscribe to right now while you're at it, hit notifications and smash that like that,
Christian: (00:26) What to wear the mountain. It can be extremely confusing and it seems like you need 27 different pieces of clothing just to go snowboarding. I was available in a pouty with one of my new Stillwater friends last year in, we got out of the car and he said, you're really good at getting ready for snowboarding. And what he meant is he's scrounging around trying to find each piece.
And I just have everything neatly packaged up and ready to go get out of the car, get on the Hill and catch that power before anybody else does. So today, then it was much better than the stuff that I am is going to break down exactly what you need to wear to the mountain so that you have a great day out there. You don't get too cold, not too hot. And you're not scattered all over the place with your gear.
Ben: (01:04) Yeah. The first thing you're going to want to do is secure the bag. Now, what I mean by that is have a bag that you can kind of keep all your riding stuff centrally located in.
Christian: (01:11) Yeah. That's going to make like, reduce so much stress from your life, especially if you're going in the trip and you're not going to have to wonder, do I have everything? Cause you know exactly where everything goes in the bag and what you bring. All right. So let's grab that bag.
Ben: (01:24) Alright. So this is the perfect riding back. Chris, multiple pockets. You got your big one to kind of keep everything, uh, your, your pants, your jacket, your, your base layers. You can see the separate pockets up top with zippers and mesh. That's where I'll keep like my socks on the side here. We've got other separated pockets. You can keep your beanies, your gloves, anything inside there.
The same thing on the opposite side, I've got my tool snacks pocket right here on the other end good little pocket. This is where you can keep some extra face masks, another pocket on the other end. This is where I keep my backup goggles. Well, yeah. And then one of my favorite parts about this bag is really the boot locker.
If this is a little bit extra, but you can see a waterproof bag with ventilation, uh, to let those boots burrito all in one place, you're never going to forget anything and you can overpack it.
Christian: (02:22) Awesome. So is this called? It's no more guy. Like if you get this from a snowboard company,
Ben: (02:26) This typically designed to that, this is a snowboarding back. Yes.
Christian: (02:29) I always just use an Ikea plastic bag, but
Ben: (02:32) You can do better. So that's our riding bag. Again, you don't need a ride bag. You can go young Christian's way and get the big Ikea bag, but just one central place to keep all your stuff together.
Christian: (02:43) Yeah. I'm going to upgrade this year. So let's get rid of the bag and let's bring in another piece of gear.
Ben: (02:48) So here we are base layers, right? This is where it all starts. What I really like is the air blaster and Ninja suit. This is a one piece zip up runs the whole way down with a 359 degrees.
Zipper goes almost the whole way around so you can't get in and out of it easily. I'll show you real quick here, the whole way in case she got up, go to the bathroom, you got that covered.
And really what this does for me is it builds the foundation of my whole kit. So one piece with the little cufflinks, uh, you do have the optional hood and then it zips up nice and high with some softer material around your neck. So this is your base layer. You don't need to do a Ninja suit, but this is definitely my preferred baselayer these come in different, uh, varying degrees of, uh, how warm they can be.
They go all the way up to a Merino wool, which is going to be a little bit warmer. I just take the basic acrylic and it's a, it works just fine for me. And I'll pretty much wear this every single day I snowboard.
Christian: (03:45) Yeah. The proper base layer is so key. Like we'll see people out there snowboarding in khakis or wearing jeans on the mountain, or they have cotton base layers in. As soon as they get wet, they're pretty much done for the day or they're stuck up on the mountain and their clothes are freezing. They're getting hypothermia.
Ben: (04:01) Yeah. Cannot stress the importance enough of the base layer. This is where it all starts. This is going to give you your foundation. So this is actually going to wick away, sweat, right? It's not going to freeze
Christian: (04:12) Cause a lot of times story and you're going to get sweaty when you're running hard. And then as soon as you're having the lift, it's cold again. So you have the sweat freeze pattern going on. So you have to make sure you have something that can combat that pattern.
Ben: (04:22) Absolutely. And that's your base layer socks, right? Everybody has them. Does everybody have skiing or snowboarding specific socks? And what makes that a skiing or snowboarding specific sock? What I have right here, this is from a company called smart wool.
They did a CoLab with, we drink water, awesome company, check them out sometime, but what makes it a snowboarding sock is really the material that they put into it. And then the stitch work as well. If you see on the toe here, you want to go pro this shot, close up. What we have here is a seamless toe box. So there's no seam that's going to be adding any bunching.
You can see built up padding underfoot. So a little bit more support to wrap your arch more padding in the heel. And then a little bit of a elastic at the top, just to keep everything tight at the top of the sock, you don't want the sagging down and dropping. So this is a snowboard specific sock that I would highly recommend.
Christian: (05:15) There's a couple things I want to get to, but one is, I see people have boats that are too big from them. Maybe they borrowed from a friend or the hand me downs. And they think I'm just going to put on three pairs of socks to make this boot fit. Is there anything wrong with that or is that good or bad?
Ben: (05:28) Yeah. You're not going to want to do that. Uh, if you are wearing multiple pairs of socks, what that does is as your body sweats, it kind of builds a layer of condensation between the socks, which is then more likely to get colder. And then you're actually kind of tracking a cold layer around your foot. So don't wear multiple pairs of socks. You want to get the right size fittingboot and wear a ski or snowboard specific socks. Yeah.
Christian: (05:51) And then do we have, depending on how old it is, do we have different like thickness or temperature rating? Absolutely. Christian.
Ben: (05:58) So this is a good sock for pretty much your everyday, you know, not a really cold day, but these will, these will get you through just about everything. And then if you are looking for a more, um, you know, really cold day sock, you can look into that thicker material, Marino Wolf. Again, you're never wanting to really double up on a sock. Maybe just get a thicker sock to begin.
Christian: (06:16) Yeah, come very common mistakes. So I'll talk about, it's going to make your feet cold or they're just going to freeze out and you're going to have a miserable time. So get the right socks and you're going to be happy snowboarding.
Ben: (06:26) And the pro tip here for you, that is going to be get two pairs of snowboard socks. You know, think about if you're going up to the mountains, you've got to make a Trek up there and you want to crash on a buddy's couch.
If you have one pair of socks and it's sticking up the place, that's going to be your only trip to that lady's place. So get two pairs of socks. I recommend more thin pair and then a thicker pair for the colder days. And this also doubles as you breaking in boots, you can start in thinner sock is that boot breaks in, and then they'll do a thicker sock once you're kind of packed out that liner.
Christian: (06:54) Awesome. Sucks. Let's go ahead and jump to the next item.
Ben: (07:00) Here we are. We're talking about bids now. Um, you don't need the rocket bib. I really like it cause I don't get snow down my pants, but yeah, this is going to be basically for the lower half of your body. You want a good waterproof material? I recommend at least 10 K. Um, we can go into waterproofing ratings later.
We'll explain all those, but a 10 K and up for anything here in the Rockies, depending on where you're at. If you're in the Northwest and get that wet, heavy snow and rain, uh, you're going to want to go with maybe a vortex material, but for the dry snow of Colorado, I get by with my 15 cave dibs.
Christian: (07:32) Yeah. So there's going to be the waterproof rating. You can see it on the tag when you're buying your snow pants. And again, Ben is wearing them. So it's coming only up to his chest. Not all snow pants are gonna look like that. Something just stopped like regular dates, but it's really up to you. I know I'm gonna style for awhile. And now they're back in. You have to on that.
Christian: (07:52) Personally I did last year and I loved them on mouth. They ride, the Powell just rolled around and not getting any snow on the vehicle.
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The Best Snowboarding Gear
Ben: (07:58) Yeah. So as you're out there looking for your new pair of snow pants, a couple of things you want to consider the waterproof rating, obviously see how they fit. You don't want some, well, depending on your style, you can go baggy. We want something that fits you comfortably.
Um, you know, do a couple of those snowboard movements and um, make sure you're not tearing out the Protz or anything and a mixture of those plants that can flex. Um, so if you look at the waterproof rating, make sure it's comfortable and the fit is right.
And then you can check out some of the extra features. You know, these pants come kind of loaded with stuff, be it all the extra pockets that you have. Um, the ventilation on these, this bent shock on the side. That way, if you're overheating, you can just undo these on the chair and you can breeze, um, for the pockets. I prefer like a sealed pocket. So, um, you're not gonna trash anything there and see it's a nice waterproof pocket. And then yeah, I mean all the way down
Christian: (08:50) The bib guards must have some cool stuff. If you're a fan of the boa, you've got the Gloria hole here. You can open
Ben: (08:56) That up and just turn your dial without having to take your cough up off your pants. So that's a really cool added feature that a lot of companies have, but not everybody calls it the same thing
Christian: (09:07) We got the pants let's get the next one.
Ben: (09:10) So as you can see, I've got my jacket on here. This is my interact pullover. I really like this jacket. It's got half zip, a great waterproof rating. They'll crawl on the cuffs to adjust that hot flank, to tighten up the so if you want to get that nice and snug over your glove, you can see the Velcro just coming in nice and tight again with ventilation.
This one has a little bit of a different style, just on one side coming the whole way down. Really pretty nice to let it air out and breathe while you're overheating. Um, big kangaroo pocket across the top. Again, zippers are very clutch when you're out there riding bell curls. Great. I trust zippers a little bit more for actually keeping stuff in the kangaroo extends across the middle.
And I can use that as a little storage pocket as well. Um, I prefer to have a jacket with a hood for those really brutal chair rides. When you're just freezing, you can pull this up tight and pretty much get into your bubble. It's a little bit warmer here today, but this is a nice way to really hit your eyes warm and dry material.
Christian: (10:14) All right. Yeah. So we got the, we got the base layer. We got the socks, we got the Piats jacket. It's time for some accessories. All right, we've got our accessories here on the table. You would walk us through.
Ben: (10:25) I just like to ride with a face mask. Um, you know, something you can kind of pull up and down, kind of cut off some of that light from the wind, really protect your nose and those really kind of sensitive areas that can get frostbit and without you noticing, so a face mask is a good one. Um, I go a little bit extra and rock this hood right here. Um, it just make me feel secure.
This is a for everybody, but it is nice. Cause it can kind of stretch over a helmet and give you that warms locked in in that sense. Um, a beanie, I like Pat more orange, one of my favorites from how there and then some mittens to mittens gloves, whatever your preference. I think mittens are great because you know, fingers needed friends again, shout out well light. But when you have the Mitt in there, it's going to keep your fingers together and they're going to generate the heat for each other versus a glove where every finger is kind of on its own.
Ben: (11:15) So maybe it's for me. And then of course the goggles I've got the dragon DX three right here. This is an awesome Goggle that is over the glass compatible. It's got great peripheral and it doesn't break the bank here with its lexicon lens.
There we are all complete, ready to ride. Layering is key, but as you can see, I don't really have any skin exposed. Um, for me that's kind of like a personal preference, but the sun, uh, and elements can be pretty damaging. So make sure you have this ability to get fully geared out and fully covered.
Christian: (11:49) Yeah, but I mean, it's gonna make your day so much more fun. If it's cold out there and go have anything exposed, you can just be nice and cozy in all your gear. And Ben has layers on right now, too. So he can always take off, you know, one of those face masks, he can always take off some of those layers and strip down to get a little more air going. I always say it's better to be too warm than too cold because I hate being cold. So I think that's all we got, but hold on my phone's ringing.
Christian: (12:16) Oh yep. Nope. That's your mom. Oh my helmet. Cause none of us want to relearn to read or walk or anything like that. You increase your chances of not doing significant brain damage to yourself. Probably like 70 or 80% of skiers and snowboarders wear helmets now. So it used to be like uncommon or maybe even a little taboo, but now it's become taboo not to wear one.
And so I know it can be tempting to want to be cool and not wearing a helmet. But the reality is you're not going to be happy with yourself. If you smash your head in like Benson, you have to relearn to eat or to walk or to do of those things.
Someone who's just the sport. It's a lifestyle sport. It is an awesome time, but let's be safe out there wearing a helmet and you're going to trip even harder. Alright. Can you sell Strider?
Get Your Own 24/7/365 Snowboard Coach For Less Than the Cost of a 1/2 Day Lesson On The Mountain
THE STEP-BY-STEP SNOWBOARD TRAINING YOU NEED TO GO FROM BEGINNER TO BACKFLIP
If you’re wondering how hard is it to snowboard, how long does it takes, or what’s the fastest way to learn how to snowboard, you’re in the right place.
I learned to snowboard in 1997 the day after Christmas, after walking down the stairs on Christmas morning and seeing the greatest sight of my life under the Christmas tree.
It was a Burton Chopper 122, and from that day on, I was hooked. But… the first 2 days, I still fell so many times I was covered in bruises.
And if you’re never snowboarded before, I hate to break it to you, but there is a small “pain period” involved.
How Long Does It Take To Learn To Snowboarding For Beginners?
Why is Snowboarding so Hard?
There is a general rule in how long does it take to snowboard for beginners? It takes 2 to 3 days of pain to start snowboarding and to learn to control your edges on your snowboard, and you can have fun for the rest of your life.
In the first 2 to 3 days of learning to snowboard as a beginner, you will fall on your hips, wrists, butt, and even your face, quite a lot. It can be a frustrating, cold, and painful experience and you might wonder, should I just give up and stick to skiing?
And the answer is NO, absolutely not. Just because you think skiing is easier than snowboarding, does not mean you should be a skier. Just because you wonder, why is snowboarding so hard, does not mean it’s time to give up.
The best things in life require effort, and with snowboarding, that effort is at least 2 to 3 days of not having as much fun so you can be cool the rest of your life.
Three days after learning how to snowboard in Pennsylvania, I was hitting jumps, and doing frontside 180’s off moguls. Meanwhile, my friends were jealous I was getting all the chicks while they lugged around their skis and poles, and clunked down the hallway in ski boots.
It did help that I already knew how to ski before learning to snowboard, but even if you’ve never been on the mountain, you can make significant “beginner gains” in just a few days.
And lucky for you, if you’re wondering how long it takes to learn how to snowboard, I have a few tips to speed up the process.
Wonderin' how hard it is to snowboard? check out this post!
5 Best Tips to Learn How to Snowboard Fast as a Beginner
1. Wear protective gear such as wrist guards, butt pads and a helmet to protect yourself so you don’t quit before you get to the fun part of snowboarding
2. Get a snowboard instructor. You can see how much it costs here. If you can’t afford on mountain lessons, come check out Shred School and learn how to get a year’s worth of snowboard lessons for less than the cost of a half day lesson.
3. Dress warmly. Wear proper base layers, outerwear, and gear so you can stay warm, and have fun
4. Go with friends. Learning to snowboard with friends will be more fun than going by yourself and keep you interested long enough to get past the pain period.
5. Celebrate your wins. Whether it’s the first time you successfully got of the lift or your first toeside carve, you need to celebrate your progress no matter how small.
6. Checkout our beginner to backflip period that takes you through, step by step, exactly how to go from complete beginner to as advanced a rider as you want with practice exercises, examples, and off season training.
How long does it take to learn to snowboard?
It takes two to three days to start snowboarding, to learn the basics of standing up, getting off the lift, heelside and toeside turns, stopping, and how to fall.
Once you get that part down, you won’t exactly be Shaun White, but you’ll know enough to go out with your friends and have fun.
From there, your progress depends on how much effort you put in. If you want to get twice as good in half the time, checkout Shred School.
Get Your Own 24/7/365 Snowboard Coach For Less Than the Cost of a 1/2 Day Lesson On The Mountain
THE STEP-BY-STEP SNOWBOARD TRAINING YOU NEED TO GO FROM BEGINNER TO BACKFLIP
If you're looking for snowboarding tips for beginners, you probably already went snowboarding for the very first time.
If you're a beginner snowboarder and you're looking for tips to quickly and easily improve your riding, these 5 tips for beginner snowboarders will change your riding and help you get good at snowboarding fast.
5 Snowboarding Tips For Beginners
1. Use The Right Snowboard Gear For You
If you are a beginner snowboarder and you ride the wrong size board, have the wrong stance setup on your bindings, or don't wear the right outerwear, you might end up miserable, falling on your butt wondering, what does everyone like about snowboarding?
It's very important that you ride a beginner-friendly snowboard, with the appropriate stance for your height and body. This is going to make it so you can focus on actually learning instead of just overcoming the gear obstacles.
If you need help, ask your local rental shop, or even better, go to a snowboard specific retail store with snowboarders who actually know what they're doing. They'll be happy to help you set up your stance.
The same goes for outerwear. If you're wearing a cotton sweatshirt instead of a waterproof jacket and it's a blizzard outside, you're going to be cold and wet, and have a hard time actually learning to snowboard.
Wonderin' how to start snowboarding for the first time? check out this post!
2. Take a Snowboard Lesson
Yes, snowboarding lessons at the mountain can be expensive, but there are cheaper alternatives.
Especially if you are a beginner snowboarder, it's important that you learn the proper technique from someone who actually knows what they're doing.
The reason is, you're not the first person to learn how to snowboard. This means, you could either make all the mistakes that have ever been made yourself, and maybe end up getting hurt in the process, or you could just have someone who's already been through the mistakes warn you about them ahead of time.
This will shortcut your learning curve by years. Plus, you'll have more fun. If snowboard lessons on the mountain are too expensive, check out some online alternatives.
Just be wary of watching random YouTube videos in random order, as these are often made more for entertainment than teaching you how to snowboard in a logical, step by step progression.
You might get one piece of the puzzle, but be missing 10 others. Try to follow a step-by-step snowboard video tutorial that is in order of importance so you learn the right snowboard technique at the right time.
Want to get good at snowboarding? this post is for you!
3. Learn How To Fall
When learning how to snowboard for the first time, it's not if you will fall, but when.
Any by when I mean, probably every single run. That's ok because there is a lot you can do to reduce the pain involved with learning how to snowboard.
First, it helps to wear the proper protective gear. Wear a helmet to protect your head. You might even want to wear wrist guards or butt pads to soften the blow.
The most common beginner snowboard injury is a wrist fracture, so especially the first couple of days or weeks, wrist guards can do a lot to help.
Next, learn how to fall properly. Mainly, we want to protect our downhill edge at all costs to avoid the dreaded “edge catch,” and keep our hands in close to our body so we don't extend our wrists out to catch our fall.
Our butts and hips are much stronger and well equipped to take the brunt of the impact with breaking anything. I don't know about you, but I'd rather have a lightly bruised hip over a broken wrist any day.
Most people go to the mountain, figure out what they're doing wrong by falling over and over again, and then go home and try to find answers to their problems.
If you watch a few key videos BEFORE you go to the mountain, you'll learn much faster and avoid common mistakes in whatever it is you are trying to learn.
When I was growing up I would hit rewind on the VCR, and watch a pro do a trick over and over again to see their body position, timing, pop, movement, and more.
This helped me to visualize doing the trick myself and when I actually got to the mountain, I'd have a much better chance of landing the trick without taking some serious falls.
It doesn't matter if you are trying to learn how to carve, or do your first 900, watching the trick in slow motion and visualizing yourself doing it will help you tremendously.
5. Practice Your Lift Unloading and One-Foot Riding At The Bottom Of The Mountain
If you're wondering how to get off the lift as a beginner snowboarder, the time to find out is not when the lift reaches the top of the mountain. By then, it's too late.
Nobody likes falling in the unloading zone, having the lift stop, and making the entire mountain wait for you to pick yourself up and get out of the way.
The good news is, you can practice unloading at the bottom of the mountain before you ever get on the lift.
Find a small hill or roller, or just walk a couple feet up the mountain, and practice riding down to a flat area with just one foot strapped in.
The key is to lean forward on your front foot when getting off the lift, rather than leaning back as most beginners do.
Practice pushing and coasting across the flat with one foot in, and try the unloading drill as many times as necessary.
To watch it on video and see dozens of other beginner practice drills, check out the online snowboard school.
Congratulations. You just learned 5 beginner snowboarding tips to help you go from beginner to intermediate in no time. Now, there are about 100 more steps to go from beginner to pro in less time than ever.
If you want to shortcut your learning curve, avoid the major mistakes and have more fun snowboarding, check out our beginner to backflip snowboard tutorial video series.
Get Your Own 24/7/365 Snowboard Coach For Less Than the Cost of a 1/2 Day Lesson On The Mountain
THE STEP-BY-STEP SNOWBOARD TRAINING YOU NEED TO GO FROM BEGINNER TO BACKFLIP
The best way to enjoy winter is, without a doubt planning a snowboarding trip. There is a reason why it's a very popular winter sport. The thrilling activity can also be a great workout. It will take a little bit of practice, especially if you are new to it. But with the best snowboarding lessons, you will be a pro in no time.
You will be able to go faster and feel more comfortable on the ice when you get a good instructor. Start by looking for snowboarding lessons near me and learn as much as you can. The better you are at snowboarding, the more fun you will have when exploring the landscapes that surround you. So these are eleven of the best locations you can learn how to snowboard.
11 Snowboarding Lessons Near Me
1. Keystone Resort
If you are looking for Keystone snowboard lessons, look no further than the Keystone Resort. They have a team of expert coaches ready to make your mountain trip memorable. They help beginners learn their way around a snowboard faster so that you don't spend your whole trip learning.
Group lessons are available; you can mobilize your newbie friends and make the lesson a group fun activity. Aside from snowboarding, they have many other fun activities you can do around the resort.
Be sure to book a lesson if you are in Colorado and want to finally learn how to snowboard. The number of snowboarding classes you take will depend on how well you do in your sessions.
Big Bear Mountain Resort features the largest learning area in the whole of Southern California. They offer private lessons to all ages.
Getting a private coach can be the best way to learn snowboarding. All the attention will be on you, and they can work with the skills you have. But if you want a family or group lesson, you can access them as well.
Learning the sport will change your winter fun forever. Instead of staying indoors, you will always have something to do. Big Bear snowboarding lessons at the resort are very detailed and specific.
They are characterized mainly by age to ensure everyone is getting what they need. Visit the resort to learn more about all the available services and facilities.
3. Breckenridge Resort
Breckenridge's snowboarding lessons got better with the snowboard instructors at the resort. They boast of having world-class instructors for both private and group lessons.
The question most people ask is, “how much is a snowboard lesson?” Well, the truth is prices differ. You won't have to worry about costs a lot at the resort because they have friendly prices. Booking a session through their website is very easy, and the instructors are always available.
They try to make the learning as fun as possible for you. You won't lack other things to do at the resort, so your snowboarding trip will be a memorable one.
You can enjoy discounts on group lessons at the resort. Exploring the mountain with their knowledgeable instructors will be much easy especially for a beginner. Depending on your natural abilities and fitness levels, it won't be long before exploring the terrain alone.
A lot of people have used their instructors and have a lot of good things to say. You would be in safe hands at the resort if you were looking for snowboarding lessons in Lake Tahoe.
Even if you have no experience with similar sports, go to the resort and find out how you can build your skills. Taking a snowboarding lesson is the best way to learn; it's even better when you get professional instructors.
5. Mammoth Mountain
Mammoth Mountain offers the best winter escape. Their lessons are very varied and cater to people at all levels. Even if it's your first time on the slopes, the instructors will make you feel confident.
The fun and complex terrain of the mountain makes it a unique snowboarding destination. The private lesson allows you to get one-on-one instructions from an expert. You can invite four friends or less to join your private lesson if you want.
But you can consider a group lesson first because they are cheaper before you go for the private ones. They will help you take your skills to a whole new level. Mammoth snowboarding lessons are also fun, and you can rent the snowboarding gear.
This is the biggest snowboard and ski resort in Vancouver, Canada. Their respected snowboard lessons have helped other beginners like you build their skills. As much as it's a learning experience, the breathtaking views can't be ignored.
They have lessons for people of all age groups, including kids as young as four years old. You can book a family session and get an instructor for the day. That way, you can be sure all the family members get equal attention and learn from the best.
Cypress snowboarding lessons are very adventurous; that is why they are highly ranked. The resort also has the best dining establishments and other fun activities for all seasons. There is no better way to take downhill lessons.
7. Perisher Ski Resort
This resort is a popular snow getaway destination with some of the most advanced snowboarding classes. The group and private couch will nature your natural abilities and skills.
By the time your snowboarding trip is over, you will be nearly a pro. The four mountains are the biggest attraction and will give you a platform to explore different terrains and challenges. Even if you are an expert and want to improve your skills, you will get instructors to help.
They cater to family needs as well if you're going to learn as a family. Try taking lessons close together instead of taking one lesson and waiting for months. Spending more time on the snow is the only way to become an expert.
Want to learn snowboard at home? click here to find out how!
8. ESF Ski School Chamonix
The school has the best ski and snowboarding lessons in Chamonix. Whether you are in a group or alone, their team of 280 instructors is always ready to welcome you. They have experienced different learners over the years, so they will handle you in the best possible way.
Explore the beautiful area of Chamonix by learning how to snowboard. It doesn't matter if you are a beginner, advanced or intermediate; they have something for everyone. Their group lessons are budge friendly, and they include kids, teenagers, and adults.
For decades they have been welcoming international and local learners. That goes to show their level of expertise and the kind of lessons they offer.
9. Snozone Indoor Snow Resort
Snozone is the largest indoor snow resort in Europe. Their lessons can go from beginner to advance depending on what you want to learn. If you're going to experience snow and learn how to handle a snowboard with the family in Milton Keynes, it's the best place to visit.
Even though the snow is indoors, you will learn everything you need to know as if you were out on a mountain. The coaches are qualified to handle all the learners; your safety is a priority.
It’s a different way to experience snow and the best way to learn before you explore complex mountains. Anyone can learn snowboarding at the resort, starting from children to adults.
The instructors know the resort well and will guide you in the best way. They have tailored lessons to fit your individual needs. When you feel like you are above the beginner's level, you can boon an instructor to help you advance.
Everyone can take lessons at the school, even young kids. The instructors ensure they are having fun in the snow while building their skills. Private coaches work with you and your pre-existing skills.
Their vast terrains give you a chance to grow; when you learn how to maneuver different slopes, you become more advanced at the sport.
Bonus: Online Snowboarding Lessons
Click play On this video to get a preview of online snowboard lessons
As much as one-on-one instructions are beneficial, online snowboard lessons are also worth considering. Sometimes physical lessons are fast-paced, especially when it's a group lesson. It’s easy to miss crucial tips and instructions to help you grow in the sport.
But with online lessons, you can go at your own pace. You can select lessons according to your ability level, and you can repeatedly watch until you are confident you can advance to the next stage.
The lessons are broken down in a simplified way, and the video lessons can be very engaging. If you want to get the best lessons and value for your money, ensure you pick an online platform with many resources.
An online snowboard coach is capable of advancing your skills like any other instructor. If you wonder whether the online snowboard classes are worth it, try one and decide for yourself.
The next time you search for snowboarding lessons near me, try the nearest, which is online.
They also have a cost advantage over hiring a physical instructor. You can get discounts and great deals online.
So if you want to learn faster and get a year's worth of snowboarding lessons in for less than the cost of a half-a-day lesson on the mountain, click here to check out the 50% discount going on now.
If you’re wondering how to get good at snowboarding, you might have already fallen in love with the sport, or you might be just starting out. Whether you’re a beginner snowboarder, want to learn how to do tricks on a snowboard, or still learning to carve, there is a proven way to get good at snowboarding.
How do I know?
I went from being so bad at snowboarding that I fell and broke my back in three places in front of everyone I know, to be a national champion in snowboard slopestyle. Here's what I learned.
You may ask “how long does it take to learn how to snowboard?”
It takes about 2-3 days to get down the basics of snowboarding, from how to strap in, get on the lift, stand up, carve and stop.
If you’re past that point, and you want to get good at snowboarding, it’s going to take much longer, but the reward is worth it. The more often you go snowboarding, the faster you will progress. If you want to get good at snowboarding, you should go as often as possible.
When I was in college, my girlfriend went from never having snowboarded in her life, to being able to backflip and ride the terrain park within one year. Keep in mind that she rode 100 days that year, and was able to ride with people who are much better than her.
If you can find someone who already knows what they are doing, you’re going to learn much faster, not only because they can tell you what to do to get better at snowboarding, but you will pick up on their habits, and push yourself to ride better just by being around them.
10 Step Process To Get Good At SnowboardingFast
1. Ride as much as you possibly can
It doesn’t matter if you can only ride 7 days a year or 70. What matters is that you ride as much as you possibly can, whatever that means for you.
That might mean joining a local snowboard club at school, or getting a job on the mountain so you can spend more days on snow. It might even mean moving across the country to live at your favorite resort like I did after graduating high school.
Wanna know how long does it take to learn to snowboard? click here!
2. Make friends who love snowboarding as much as you do
If you surround yourself with other snowboarders, not only will you make lifelong friends and have more fun, but you’ll actually get better at snowboarding much faster.
This is because you’ll push yourself to keep up with the best rider in your crew, you’ll snowboard more often, take more trips, and talk about snowboarding more. Plus, who’s more fun to hang out with than snowboarders?
3. Study snowboarding like you would a subject in school
Some snowboarders like to believe that snowboarding should come naturally with no effort. The truth is your favorite riders all study the details of snowboarding like you would a new subject in school.
This means watching trick tips, tutorials, slow motion videos of your favorite tricks, and learning about the mistakes you might make before you make them. Find your favorite online snowboarding school and start learning the fundamentals.
4. Record yourself and watch it back. Compare it to the pros
You might think you look awesome on a snowboard only to watch back a video and realize you’re flailing all over the place. One of the most important things you can do to get better at snowboarding is to record yourself and watch it back.
Get a GoPro camera, throw it in your pocket and have your friend get a couple of shots when you’re out on the mountain. Watch it back when you get home, and compare yourself to the pros. You can even get side by side video feedback in Shred School.
5. Create a practice routine
If you trained in any other sport, you would go to “practice” every week. Snowboarding is no different. For those of you who think it’s lame to “practice”, I can tell you that everyone has a practice routine, some just have designed their own while others have fallen into one automatically.
What do you do every time you get to the mountain? I recommend you start by working your way through each technique and trick that you can do one by one. Start with the easier ones and work your way up.
Before the day is over, try to work your way up to the edge of your abilities, and try one thing that’s beyond your comfort zone. Do this every time you go to the mountain, and you’ll consistently progress.
Snowboarding technique varies widely depending on the conditions. Some riders can only ride groomers, while others love powder.
Push yourself to ride in all types of conditions, so you become a versatile snowboarder who can do it all. Usually, only ride jumps? Try out rails. Love Powder? So do I, but can you ride on ice too?
7. Travel to different resorts
Traveling is one of the best parts of snowboarding, but also one of the easiest ways to push yourself. You might get stuck in a rut only riding your home mountain, but when you get to a new resort, you’re forced to ride different features, terrain, and conditions.
If you’re feeling stale in your riding, try taking a trip with your friends and watch yourself get better. I know I used to do some of my best ridings on my annual spring break trip in high school when my friends and I would travel to Colorado before we moved there.
8. Push yourself
The most progress is made at the edge of your snowboarding abilities. This means you work your way up to something that is challenging, but not so challenging that you injure yourself.
If you can consistently ride just at the edge of your abilities, you’ll get better every time you go without breaking yourself in the process.
9. Train in the offseason
Not all snowboard skills are made on the mountain. You can get better at snowboarding in the offseason and learn to snowboard at home without any snow by training your strength, flexibility, balance, air awareness, and skills. Checkout 5 ways to train in the offseason here.
10. Join Shred School
Want a shortcut to get good at snowboarding? We put together the step by step process to go from complete beginner to backflip in only one year. Not only that but we teach you the basics, butters, carving, rails, jumps, powder, and more.
It’s like having your own private online snowboard coach. Whether you ride 5 days a year or 50, just want to get better, or want to go pro, we have you covered. You can learn to snowboard at 13, learn to snowboard at 30, or 40 or 50. It doesn’t matter what age or what ability.
Those are my favorite tips for how to get good at snowboarding. If you can do those ten things, you’ll progress 10x faster than your friends who don’t do any at all, and next time you show up to the mountain, they might be asking “how did you get so good?”
Get Your Own 24/7/365 Snowboard Coach For Less Than the Cost of a 1/2 Day Lesson On The Mountain
THE STEP-BY-STEP SNOWBOARD TRAINING YOU NEED TO GO FROM BEGINNER TO BACKFLIP
If you're wondering if you can learn to snowboard at 30, 40, or 50 years old, you can. You just need to be aware of the differences in learning to snowboard at each age.
If you don't believe me, I have proof. The founder of Bally's total fitness Don Wildman is on record saying “I prefer heli-snowboarding because you can get more air off the cornices.”
The catch? He was in his late seventies when he said it.
One article even claims he was logging 80+ days a year on a snowboard in to his eighties. So if you're sitting there at 30 or 40… or even 50 years old feeling sorry for yourself, don't.
You can snowboard well into your sixties, and even get good at snowboarding if you're a beginner if you follow the tips below.
Learning To Snowboard at 30, 40 or 50 Years Old
Learning to Snowboard at 30
I'm in my mid 30's and I can still backflip, 720, hit handrails, shred pow and catch 80 feet of air off a jump in the park on my snowboard.
The only difference from my 20's? I get injured more easily and it takes longer to heal. I used to bounce back from an injury in weeks, even if it was broken bones.
Now, I fall on my shoulder one time and my rotator cuff still hurts a year later. Getting old really does suck, but at least I can still shred like I'm in my 20's!
The reason people struggle in their 30's is because some of you *ahem cough cough, have already started to let yourselves go.
No judgment, but if you want to be able to snowboard in your 30's and keep up with the crew, you need to start to train off snow, and keep your body in shape.
If you do this, you can snowboard just as well as your 20 year old friends. Just know your limits and work your way up slowly to avoid injuries, because while you might not be able to rip as hard, it still might take you longer to heal if you do get injured.
Learning to snowboard at 40
You can learn to snowboard, and even ride park at 40 if you take the proper measures off the mountain.
At a big air competition in high school, there was a 40 year old snowboarder who was throwing down backside rodeos.
The kicker? He had only learned to snowboard two years earlier. I saw this guy take some serious hits on a snowboard at 40, but he bounced right back up because… he was a bodybuilder.
Now, I'm not saying you need to become a bodybuilder to snowboard at 40.
What I'm saying is, the stronger you are, the harder you can get hit and get back up. If you want to be riding park in your 40's, you need to be training strength and flexibility to avoid injuries and maintain your prowess.
My Dad learned to snowboard in his 50's after I had been shredding a couple years and could no longer allow my father to be a dreaded skiier!
Welcome to the dark side pops. Within a year I had him hitting the jump at our local mountain. Within two he was ripping black diamonds out west.
If you're 50 or older and want to learn how to snowboard, it's not too late. I would just recommend staying away from the rails in the park as those things hurt, and let's be honest, your rail tricks are really only going to impress the 20 year olds.
Stick to the pow and your fellow 50 year olds will be stoked for you.
I prefer heli-snowboarding because you can get more air off cornices
As I've said, the biggest difference between learning to snowboard as a kid and learning later in life is your ability to heal after an injury.
The best way to deal with it? Don't get injured in the first place.
The first 3 days are the most brutal when learning to snowboard at 30, 40, or 50 so make sure to use protective gear so you don't walk away with a broken wrist, or worse.
2. Strength train, do yoga, and don't forget cardio
When learning to snowboard at an older age, the problem isn't that you're old, it's that you're out of shape. Our lifestyles usually don't catch up to us until after our 20's.
Once you're in your 30's or later, that 3 beers a day habit really starts to show, and all of a sudden, your lack of cardio prevents you from completing a full run without stopping for a break.
Start lifting weights, doing yoga, and working on your cardio and you'll have no problem snowboarding in your 30's just as hard as the kids.
3. Train your board sports skills in the off season
As an older snowboarder, you don't have the luxury of learning mistakes the hard way.
The way to get around this is off season, off-mountain training. Learn to skateboard, wakeboard, or just use a balance board in your living room on the soft carpet. Jump on a trampoline.
These things will all teach you crucial snowboard skills to help you learn even faster without getting hurt, even if you're pushing 50 years old.
4. Know Your Limits
As a kid, I would smash my face off the ground and pop right back up. I would break bones and be out snowboarding the next day in a cast. I would tumble like a ragdoll and think nothing of it.
At 30, 40, or 50, these snowboarding injuries are going to last a lot longer, keep you off the mountain, and probably require physical therapy.
If you're already prepared by getting stronger, more flexible, and in better shape, you wear protective gear and train in the offseason, the next best thing is to take baby steps and know your limits.
You don't have the luxury of overdoing it and finding out the hard way that you weren't ready to attempt that backflip.
If you trained in any other sport, you would go to “practice” every week, especially if you don't want snowboarding to be hard to learn.
Snowboarding is no different. What do you do every time you get to the mountain? I recommend you start by working your way through each technique you can do one by one.
Start with the easier ones and work your way up. Before the day is over, try to work your way up to the edge of your abilities, and try one thing that’s beyond your comfort zone.
Want a shortcut to get good at snowboarding at 4o years old?
How about 60? We put together the step by step process to go from complete beginner to backflip in only one year.
It’s like having your own private online snowboard coach. Whether you're 40 and stepping on the board for the first time, or 50 and trying to keep up with your adult kids, we have you covered.
Those are my favorite tips for how to get learn to snowboard at 30, 40, or 50. If you can put these into practice, you can learn to snowboard fast, prevent injuries and keep up with the kids out there on the slopes.
If you're looking for beginner snowboard lessons, learning how to snowboard, or trying to decide, are snowboarding lessons worth it? Then you're in the right place.
Before you decide if snowboard lessons are worth it and can help you to learn how to snowboard faster, we need to take a look at the cost and the alternatives available to you to make a fully informed decision.
We'll help you decide, what is the best option to get good at snowboarding.
Are Snowboarding Lessons Worth It?
The Cost of Snowboard Lessons
If you’re looking for the best mountain for beginner snowboarding, the answer is, the mountain you’ll actually go to. For some of us, this means hiking the local golf course after a snowstorm. For others, this means world class mountains in our backyard or anything in between.
The best mountain is one you can get to, can afford, and will actually go to. If you can, make a trip to Colorado, Utah, or California, but if that’s not in the cards, don’t fret. Smaller mountains are great for learning how to ride, even if it’s in Pennsylvania, New York, or Maryland.
As a beginner, we’re looking for “groomed” runs, meaning the snowcat has made the ski slope nice and easy to ride down, “green circle” runs, which is the easiest difficulty rated ski run, and maybe even a “bunny slope,” which is a term to describe a run meant for beginners at a ski resort.
Almost every mountain will have a bunny slope, you just have to ask where it is. If you’re looking for a snowboard lesson to get started or wondering, are snowboarding lessons worth it checkout these beginner snowboard lessons at the mountain, or these “snowboard lessons near me.”
Snowboard lessons cost between $80 and $800 for a private half day lesson, and between $40 and $400 for a group lesson.
For most people, this is going over budget. It doesn't help that at this point you've already spent money on travel, lodging, food, lift tickets, rental gear, and more.
You might be able to find a package deal at your local mountain targeted towards beginners that offer rentals, lessons, and lift tickets together for a more affordable price.
You can also look for a private snowboard coach who isn't affiliated with the mountain, or look for online snowboard tutorial videos to walk you through the steps to learn for a fraction of the cost.
Even though snowboard lessons are expensive, the cost of not getting lessons might be even more. Let me tell you what I mean.
You already spent hundreds of dollars on equipment, travel, and lodging. What good will it be if you DON'T learn how to snowboard? It's like all the money is going down the drain.
Even worse, if you end up injuring yourself because you didn't take the time to properly learn how to fall safely, how to stop, and how to carve on a snowboard, it might cost a lot more than a daily lesson in medical bills, lost work, and suffering.
Lastly, what is it worth to you to progress at snowboarding? The future memories you'll create with your friends and family, the trips you'll take, and the rush you'll feel?
For some of us, this is worth the money to find an instructor who can help us get better at snowboarding faster. If we start next season at exactly the same level we're at now, that might be a lot more painful than spending the money on lessons.
The choice is ultimately yours, but I always think getting expert help is the better option. Luckily, you can find lessons much cheaper than the mountain rate.
If you’re wondering how long does it take to learn snowboarding, click here!
Are Snowboarding Lessons Worth it?
Yes, snowboard lessons are worth it if you want to prevent injuries, make the most of your time on the hill, and get better faster.
Getting the insight of an experienced instructor can shave years off your learning curve and get you shredding in no time. Let's talk about how to save money on snowboard lessons.
Learn to snowboard at home with an online snowboard school or online snowboard coach. Not only is this more flexible, you can work through it at your own pace, and you get access forever, but you'll get much more for your money than if you take on mountain lessons, and likely get a much more experienced instructor.
It's a dirty little secret of the snowboard industry that beginner instructors often, but not always, don't have much experience on a snowboard.
By joining an online snowboard school or using an online snowboard coach, you can get an instructor with 20+ years of experience, get a year's worth of lessons, and pay less than the cost of a half day lesson on the mountain.
We put together the step by step process to go from complete beginner to backflip in only one year.
