beginner snowboarding

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.

Check out this snowboarding tips for beginners!

Learning to snowboard at 50

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

Don Wildman

5 Tips To Learn To Snowboard at 30, 40 or 50

1. Wear pads, wrist guards and a helmet

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. 

Need help? Come learn the baby steps in Shred School. 

5. Create a practice routine

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.

Do this every time you go to the mountain, and you’ll consistently progress.

BONUS: Join Shred School

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. 

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THE STEP-BY-STEP SNOWBOARD TRAINING YOU NEED TO GO FROM BEGINNER TO BACKFLIP

Learn More

To learn more about snowboarding, read this posts:

• Edshreds Shred School Reviews
• 7 Best Snowboard YouTube Channels
• 6 Best Online Snowboard Schools

If you’re wondering how to start snowboarding for the first time or want to go snowboarding for the very first time because you’ve noticed it’s one of the most fun things you can do, you're in the right place.

It doesn’t matter if you want to start snowboarding when you’re 13 or 30, just a kid or about to be middle age. 

As long as you are basically healthy and willing to try something new, you can start snowboarding today for the first time in five easy steps.

How to Start Snowboarding Fast

Snowboard Resorts for Beginners

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.”

At 50 you can still learn snowboarding, click here to find out how!

What to Wear Snowboarding

If you go snowboarding without the right gear, you’re going to have a bad time. At a minimum, you need breathable base layers that don’t absorb water (that means no cotton t-shirts or pants) and waterproof-ish outerwear. 

Clothing designed specifically for snowboarding is best, but if you don’t own any of that Golf clothing, hiking clothing, and similar activewear are often used in place of snowboarding base layers. (Think wool socks for hiking)

For the outwear you’ll need snow pants, a jacket, gloves or mittens, goggles, a helmet, and if it's cold, a neck warmer.

Anything less, and you risk getting soaked after a few falls which could result in you getting cold at the very least, and much worse if you’re somewhere temperatures reach dangerous levels.

Your first time snowboarding it’s important to be as comfortable as possible so you like it enough to want to go back.

We put together a full beginner snowboard tips video on what to wear to the mountain that will help you figure out.

On this post are the best snowboard YouTube channels!

How to Setup Your Snowboard

Once you have your base layers and outerwear, you need a snowboard, bindings, and boots to start snowboarding. 

Snowboard bindings are pieces of metal and plastic that connect your boots to your board. Now, your gear should be specific to your skill level, height and weight, and mountain conditions. You're probably wondering, what size snowboard should I buy? Check out our guides on boots, bindings and boards to learn the specifics.

In general as a beginner, you want to use a shorter, softer snowboard. This will be easier to turn and learn on than a stiffer, longer snowboard.

If you ask your local snowboard ship or rental shop they’ll be able to get you pointed in the right direction.

You can also find snowboard gear on sale online, at garage sales, craigslist, or Facebook marketplace.

If it’s your very first time, I would recommend renting snowboard gear until you decide if you like it or not and want to continue.

After that, it’s nice to have your own snowboard that you’re used to, so you don’t have to start over with new gear every time you go to the mountain.

In order to setup your snowboard you’ll need to decide if you’re regular or goofy, and learn how to attach your bindings to your snowboard.

The short answer is, you’re regular on a snowboard if you prefer to ride with your left foot forward, and goofy if you ride with your right foot forward. It doesn’t have anything to do with whether you’re right or left footed, so if you’re not sure you can do a test.

Click here if you wanna know why you have to take snowboard lesson!

How to Get On and Off The Lift Snowboarding

One of the hardest parts about being a beginner snowboarder is learning to get on and off the lift. Before you even take one snowboarding run you have to tackle the scariest part!

Lucky for you, we put together a whole video on how to master the lift before you take your first run, including a couple of practice drills to do at the bottom of the mountain before you set foot on a ski lift.

Check out shred school for step by step drills to snowboard faster than you thought possible. To learn how to get on the lift on a snowboard, you’ll need to learn how to strap in on a snowboard, how to push with one foot, and how to ride the chairlift.

How to Take Your First Run On A Snowboard

Ok, you made it to the top of the lift, you’ve got your gear and you’re ready to start snowboarding for the first time. This is the moment you’ve been waiting for. The important part of taking your first run is taking it slow, and not going beyond your limits. It might even help if you learn to fall properly to minimize the risk of getting hurt on a snowboard. 

First, learn to stop on your snowboard. You’ll do that by turning your board sideways across the slope and applying pressure to your uphill edge. This means if your front is facing up the mountain, you’ll apply pressure to your toes. If your front is facing down the mountain, you’ll apply pressure to your heels.

Next, learn to turn on your snowboard. Combine the ability to stop and turn, and you’re “shredding!” You should be able to make it the whole way down the mountain with these two skills.

And even if you can only stop and not turn, you can perform what’s called a “falling leaf” to get down the mountain.

You did it! You're getting good at snowboarding. Congratulations now, there’s 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

Learn More

To learn more about snowboarding, read this posts:

• How To Learn To Snowboard At Home
• The 6 best online snowboard schools
• How hard is it to snowboard?

If you want to learn to snowboard from home, there are 5 things you can do to learn to snowboard with no snow, before you ever go to the mountain.

Now, just like you can't learn to ride a bike from reading a book, or get big and strong by watching videos about the gym, you'll need to eventually go to the mountain.

That being said, you can learn about 5x faster than your friends if you practice these 5 things before going to the mountain.

5 Tips To Learn To Snowboard At Home​

1. Learn to Setup Your Snowboard and Strap In

Part of learning how to snowboarding, especially when you learn to snowboard at home, is learning about a whole new world of snowboard gear.

Before you become a snowboarder, ripping down the mountain, spraying your friends with snow, you need to learn what to wear to the mountain, what snowboard is best for beginners, and how to setup your snowboard. 

You can learn all of these things before you go to the mountain, in fact, it's much better that way. If you own a snowboard, you can even practice strapping in so you're a. natural when you get to the mountain. 

I know when I was a kid I used to put on all my snowboard gear as soon as a chill hit the air, just to practice what it would be like when the snow finally did arrive. 

if you want to learn to snowboard at home, master the gear aspect of the sport before winter arrives, and be sure to boot up and strap in to your snowboard.

Check out this post if you want to learn to snowboard in the off season from home with no snow!

2. Learn To Use a Balance Board and Practice Board

Once you know how to use snowboard gear, you can start to work on specific skills that you'll need when you finally do make it to the mountain. The skill that is probably most essential and lacking in beginner snowboarders is balance. The good news is, you can train for snowboard-specific balance at your home. 

The first way to do this is with a balance board. This is a skateboard deck with a roller underneath, or you can even buy a specific balance board made to practice snowboarding at home. 

Do this for a couple minutes a day and you'll build your stablizing muscles and have an easier time when you do get to the mountain. 

The next level of balance training is what's called “jib training.” This is where we'll simulate “jibbing” aka rails and boxes in the terrain park.

Now, even if you're a beginner and you have no intention of ever riding through the park, this will help you master the feeling of balancing while strapped into a snowboard. A couple minutes a day consistently over time can make you a much better rider when you do make it to the mountain.

3. Learn Air Awareness on The Trampoline

If you want to learn how to ride park or hit jumps on a snowboard, you need to develop what's called “air awareness.” This is simply getting comfortable while being in the air, getting used to the feel of jumping with a board on your feet, and practicing absorbing the impact when you land. 

You can easily do this on a trampoline with a practice board, or even without a board strapped to your feet. The more comfortable you get jumping off snow, the easier it will be to jump on snow. 

If you're ready to take it to the next level, practice your snowboard grabs, jumps, spins and even flips. 

These days, after finally splurging on a trampoline, I usually jump on a for a few flips before heading to the mountain so I have a better chance of landing them first try when I actually have a snowboard on my feet. 

Even if you're a beginner, this will get you used to the feeling of having a board on and make you a better rider practicing from home. 

Check out these 4 tips on how to do snowboard tricks!

4. Watch Videos Before You Go To The Mountain

You've probably heard the term that “golf is 90% mental and 10% physical. Well, snowboarding is not golf, so I'd say it's more like 60/40, but you MUST understand how a technique works, what the most common mistakes are and how to avoid them if you want to learn how to snowboard fast.

You can learn to snowboard from home by watching instructional videos and learning about the techniques you want to learn when you do get to the mountain. Pay attention to what order it's recommended to learn certain techniques so you don't make the mistake of learning things out of order.

This will skyrocket your learning speed and get you to learn faster than all your friends when you do get to the mountain.

Just remember, just like watching videos about working out on YouTube can help you improve your form, technique, and get a better training program, you actually have to go to the gym to gain strength, just like you'll actually have to eventually go to the mountain and snowboard to lock in your new snowboard skills.  

5. Get in Shape

Snowboarding takes a certain level of fitness utilizing cardiovascular and strength capabilities. If you're completely out of shape, you're going to have a much harder time learning snowboarding than someone who does crossfit 5x a week.

Now, you don't need to be a gym rat to make it on the mountain, but it sure does help to keep you going longer, prevent injury and progress faster. 

At the very minimum, do a couple exercises in the months leading up to snowboard season, and try to stay active if possible. 

Congratulations. You just learned 5 beginner snowboarding tips to learn to snowboard at home.  Now, there’s 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

Learn More

To learn more about snowboarding, read this posts:

• How Hard is it to Snowboard
• 5 Steps to Start Snowboarding Fast
• Are snowboarding lessons worth it?

Table of Contents:

• How to do Snowboard Trick
• Learn How to Ollie on a Snowboard
• Learn How to Ride Switch
• Learn the Best Beginner Tricks to Try
• Learn How to Fall on a Snowboard
• So How Do You Learn to do Tricks on a Snowboard

How to do Snowboard Tricks

Learn How to Ollie on a Snowboard

The “ollie” is the foundation of almost all snowboard tricks. The ollie is how we “jump” on a snowboard, using the power of the tail of our snowboard to propel us into the air.

It’s not like a normal jump on your feet, it is very specific to board sports, and is how skateboarders fly through the air even though the board isn’t attached to their feet.

If you take the time to learn how to ollie properly, it is going to make every other snowboard trick 10x easier.

You can learn to ollie on flat ground, off rollers, and even on your living room carpet. The general idea is you move your hips over the back of your snowboard while jumping with both legs, allowing your tail to “spring” you into the air.

As soon as you’re in the air, suck your back foot up to be level with your front foot, and float back down to the ground.

To learn the ollie on a snowboard with a step by step tutorial, check out the video below.

Check out reviews on Trustpilot!

Learn How to Ride Switch

Most tricks on a snowboard require you to either spin, revent, swivel, butter, roll, or any combination. Don’t worry if you don’t know what these words mean.

The important thing to note is, most snowboard tricks require you to learn how to ride switch.

The thing is, most beginner snowboarders try to learn the trick first, without knowing how to ride away switch. You can imagine this results in a lot of falls and painful slams.

If you learn how to ride a switch first, then any trick you try with a switch takeoff or landing will be all the much easier.

Plus, learning how to ride switch is a trick in its own right, that will make you feel like you’ve conquered snowboarding all over again.

Learn the Best Beginner Tricks to Try

Learning how to do snowboard tricks is all about learning tricks in the right order, and staying just at the edge of your abilities.

If the trick you try is too hard, or you’re not ready for it, you might end up hurting yourself. If the tricks are too easy, you’re not going to have that much fun.

A great trick to learn once you’ve mastered the ollie and riding switch is the frontside 180 on a snowboard.

This trick puts the two together, and combines an ollie, with riding away switch. It’s also a building block to learning 360’s, butters, and more.

Remember, the more building blocks you have in your bag of tricks, the faster you can learn every other trick.

The frontside 180 is a 180 degree spin, meaning half of a 360, where you start out riding regular, spin halfway around with your front facing down the mountain, and ride away switch.

It’s best to carve on your heelside edge across the slope, ollie while at the same time turning your shoulders frontside, and ride away switch.

Once you master the frontside 180, you can conquer the backside 180 ollie, which is another 180, but this time you’re spinning in the opposite direction.

What makes this trick so difficult is instead of seeing your landing the entire time, this time you have a “blind landing.”

These 10 steps process will help you get good at snowboarding fast!

Learn How to Fall on a Snowboard

When learning to do tricks on a snowboard, it’s not if, but when you fall. And the answer to that is pretty much every time you try a new trick.

The good news is, falling on a snowboard doesn’t have to be painful, and best of all, we’re falling on snow, not concrete like on a skateboard, or on rocks, like on a mountain bike. You’ve got it easy as a snowboarder!

The key to learning how to fall without getting hurt on a snowboard is understanding the most common things that go wrong, and the most common injuries in snowboarding.

For example, most beginner snowboarders stick out their arms to catch their fall and end up breaking a wrist.

If you learn to tuck your arms in when you fall, you can avoid this common snowboard injury.

Wanna know how to ride tress on snowboard? read this post!

So How do you Learn to Do Tricks on a Snowboard?

First, learn to ollie. Then, learn to ride switch. Combine these two, and you can learn to do frontside and backside 180s.

Once you have all those tricks dialed, you can start “stacking tricks,” and learn anything you want.

To learn ALL the tricks on a snowboard, step by step with follow along videos, come check out shred school online snowboard 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

Learn More

To learn more about snowboarding, read this posts:

• How Hard is it to Snowboard
• 6 Best Online Snowboard Schools
• 7 Best Snowboard YouTube Channels