how to

how to wreck safely

How To Fall or Wreck Safely On A Snowboard

Watch The Video

How To Fall Safely On A Snowboard

Introduction

50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

What up shredder? 

Falling on a snowboard sucks… 

I’ve broken bones, had the wind knocked out of me, knocked myself out and bruised my internal organs.

I’ve had whiplash, torn ligaments, bruised body parts and a bruised ego.

For most of us, oftentimes the reason we don’t want to try a new trick on a  snowboard is the fear of getting hurt, or wrecking.

But today, we’re going to show you how to wreck safely. Because, believe me, there is a right way and a wrong way to wreck.

And when you understand the right way, you’ll get hurt less often, try more tricks and get better at shredding, without being afraid of getting hurt.

Here we go. 

If you want to learn ALL the pre-requisites, this week we’ve got 50% Off Shred School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

Snowboarding Fails

how to wreck safely

For anyone who has ever strapped in on a snowboard, you know that wrecking is an inevitability. It’s not a matter of when we will wreck, but how.

And if you know just a couple tips, you can drastically increase the chances that wrecking won’t actually hurt you enough to stop shredding.

The worst wreck I ever had, I broke 3 bones in my back and bruised my lung and kidney, and it’s because I broke the 3 rules of wrecking.

Avoiding Snowboarding Wrist Fractures

Rule #1: Keep your hands to yourself 

The most common snowboard injury, especially in beginners, is a wrist fracture. That’s because beginners go to fall over, and the stick out their weak, brittle wrists, which snap like twigs falling from even a few feet up. 

I know, because I’ve done it. In 2006 I broke my wrist on a backyard jump.

This rule is Especially important for beginners, you’re going to catch edges, and the #1 thing you can do to prevent breaking your wrist is learn this rule. We found the highest rate of injury among young, inexperienced, female snowboarders.

Wrists are weak. Butts, hips and backs are much stronger. All we have to do is pull our hands in when we fall, and choose to either fall on our backs or behinds, or roll over our shoulder on to our feet. 

Bend your knees deeply when you’re going down, and you can soften the impact. 

Now, if youre brand new, the best thing I can think of to prevent a wrist fracture until you get the hang of it is to wear wrist guards.

If you really want to soften the blow, you can even get body armor aka crash pants, although I’ve never tried it so I can’t tell you how these affect your riding.

Snowboarding Head Injuries

If we go back 15 years, just 25% of skiiers and snowboarders wore a helmet, but today that number has risen to 85%, and even higher than that with children

We’ve seen enough pros taken out by head injuries that we now know our brain is not something to mess around with. 

While a helmet reduces the incidence of any head injury by 30 to 50 percent, the decrease in head injuries is generally limited to the less serious injuries.

There has been no significant reduction in fatalities over the past nine seasons even as the use of helmets overall has increased, meaning, a helmet doesn’t save you from serious head trauma. That’s because if the brain twists inside your skill, or has a serious concussion, it doesn’t much matter that you’re wearing a helmet on the outside. Recent developments such as MIPS have started to do better in this area, but it’s still unclear how this affects overall head injuries and mortality rates. 

Don’t worry though, the fatality rate is still extremely low at 1 per one million ski resort visits, and 72% of those fatalities are skiiers.

Your best bet of not dying on the ski slope, is don’t ski! As a side note for all the anti-snowboard crowd, skiiers cause more serious accidents with other people on the mountain, than snowboarders do. Skiiers run in to more people.

Just to stress that you don’t need to worry, last year 35,900 Americans died in motor-vehicle accidents; 5,300 pedestrians were killed; 8,600 died from unintentional public falls; 4,500 died from unintentional public poisoning; 2,400 people drowned while swimming in public areas; 800 died while bicycle riding; and only 54 died at a ski resort.

Snowboarding is safer than many other things you do.

Stopping Abruptly While Snowboarding

Rule #3: No head on collisions – and what I really mean by this, is don’t come to an abrupt stop in any situation. Especially headfirst.

This means no running in to other people, hitting trees or lift posts, or landing on the knuckle or the flats. It also means learning to not catch our edge.

Most of those fatally injured are above-average skiers and snowboarders who are going at high rates of speed on the margins of intermediate trails.

Always stay in control and be able to stop or avoid other people or objects.

If we can stay on an incline and let the energy from our wreck disperse itself, we’re usually going to be ok. 

Kind of like a car sliding out on a country road with no one around. Usually the car is going to be just fine.

The issue happens when a car hits a brick wall, another car, or flies off the road.

Likewise with snowboarding, it’s ok to fall as long as we do it properly, and don’t go from a high rate of speed to a complete stop.  

How Not to Fall on a Snowboard

Here’s how to wreck in different scenarios. 

How not to wreck on the slope: 

  • Don’t catch your downhill edge – keep your downhill edge lifted at all costs 
  • Don’t stop in a blind spot 
  • Don’t run in to anyone else 
  • Don’t ride drunk 
  • Don’t ride fast at the edge of the trees 
  • Don’t ride drunk near the trees

I have a friend with a metal plate in his face. He may or may not have been doing all three of these. When I was in 5th grade on my first ever visit to Colorado, I ran in to my dad’s friend’s daughter, *while I was skiing, who was hosting us, and we had to call ski patrol. Needless to say, our host was not very happy with me. 

Keep in mind, only 21.8% of snowboard injuries occurred in the terrain park, so most injuries are going to happen out on the slope. How to wreck on jumps: 

  • Land on your feet first 
  • Don’t catch an edge going off the lip 
  • Don’t land on the knuckle 
  • Don’t overshoot the jump 
  • Get your speed right, and land in the actual landing 
  • If you do wreck and can’t get up: Get out of the blind spot so no one lands on you 

Your best bet here is to start small and work your way up, and don’t do things you have no business doing unless you have put in the required practice. 

How to fall on rails: 

  • Get away from the rail before falling over 
  • Don’t get your board stuck under the rail 
  • Detune your edges 
  • Wear a helmet

From personal experience, stay away from handrails in the city

What to Do When You Get Injured While Snowboarding

If you or a friend do wreck and get seriously injured, there’s emergency help at the bottom of the mountain, and you can use emergency phones to call. It’s also good mountain citizenship to help others who are in need. 

These days honestly I try not to ever really wreck at all. It’s more like sliding out. Disperse the energy, keep your wrists away from the ground, don’t hit any trees, hit the sweet spot on the landing, wreck away from the rail and start small and work your way up. 

The last thing I want to say is this – most people get hurt because they get out of their element. They try things they have no bsiness doing. They abide by the motto go big or go home, and then they end up going home on a stretcher. You have to start small and progressively work your way up. Don’t try to hit big jumps before mastering the medium jumps. Don’t try to hit a huge rail if you can’t even hit a box.

Don’t charge through the trees if you can’t even carve down the open run. Ride at the edge of your abilities rather than beyond your abilities and you’ll get better every time you ride, and before you knnow it, you’ll be shredding with the best of them. 

Peace out shredder

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
50% OFF
Backside lipslide

How to BS Lipslide on a Snowboard

Watch The Video How to BS Lipslide on a Snowboard Introduction 50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school  What up Shredder? It’s Christian from Shred School.

Read More »
how to indy grab

How To Indy Grab On A Snowboard

How To Indie Grab On A Snowboard

Introduction

50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

What up shredder? 

There are subtle differences in the way  someone snowboards that make an  incredible difference in how good their riding looks.

What I mean is, the easiest possible trick can be done in a way that it looks pretty boring, or completely awesome.

Today we’re going to cover what is in my opinion, the easiest grab in snowboarding.

It’s the first grab you should learn, and also one that can take you years to truly master.

It’s the indy grab, and whether you’re hitting your first jump, or working on double corks, you can learn to add more style to your indy grabs by the end of this post.

If you want to learn ALL the pre-requisites, this week we’ve got 50% Off Shred School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

What is an Indy Grab?

How to Indy Grab

Like most snowboard tricks, the indy grab, or indy air was invented on a skateboard. 

The Indy air was originally called the Gunnair, which was invented by Gunnar Haugo in 1977.

By 1980, the trick was renamed the Indy air, which was popularized by Duane Peters, named after imdependent trucks.  The trick involves doing a backside air while gripping one’s board on the toe side, between the feet with the trailing hand.

If the board is grabbed during a frontside air, the trick is simply called a “frontside air”, as opposed to a frontside Ollie, in which there is no grab.

On a snowboard, we call everything where your trailing hand grabs between your bindings an indy grab. 

Now, People say “no technically that’s a frontside air. There’s no such thing as an indy if it’s not backside.” 

Or they’ll say, “Indy grab is a frontside grab when turning backside so technically a straight indy grab doesn’t exist.”

This is so dumb, they’re just seeking status.

It’s like saying that an iPhone isn’t a phone because it’s not plugged in to the wall.

Language changes, and anyone who  doesn’t get that, doesn’t understand language. 

Remember that all words are made up, their point is to communicate a concept, and what is generally accepted becomes a word.

So yes, in snowboarding, especially outside of the halfpipe, I will use the term “indy grab” to refer to any grab where my trailing hand grabs the toe edge of my snowboard in between my bidnings. 

And no, I’m not “wrong.” Maybe you shouldn’t be so pretentious Doug Smith.

But Here’s a “frontside air” to appease you.

Ollie Indy Grab

Ok, let’s cover some prerequisites.

Before you learn an indy grab it’s important that you learn how to ollie, and pop off very small jumps.

Once you can do that, all we need to do is add the grab.

Ride up to the jump like you would for a regular ollie, and when you snap off the lip, pull your knees in to your  chest, reaching your back hand between your bindings on the toe edge of your snowboard.

You can be patient here, and wait until you’re almost at the peak of your  airtime.  Trying to grab too  quickly will send you out of control, or cause you to hop instead of ollie off the jump. 

Notice that we didn’t bend over to reach the board, we brought the board to us while standing up straight. 

If you’ve practiced sucking up your back leg like we teach in the how to ollie video, this shouldn’t be a problem.

Note that we also grab in between our bindings. Grabbing outside would make this a “tindy grab” and that is a faux paus in snowboarding.

Meaning, it’s frowned upon. It’s a no grab zone.

Once you’ve grabbed the board, you  can let go, slightly extend your legs, and look for your landing.

Ride away just like you did an ollie. 

Indy Grab vs Stink Bug

Now here’s where things get a little more compicated.  

If all you do is  pull your board up and grab it, that’s technically called a Stinkbug 

Now look, you should definitely learn the stunkbug before you learn other grabs, but you don’t want to stick with it forever.

Almost all indy grabs are going to use some element of style, to avoid the dreaded stinkbug.

Lucky for you, indy grab is one of the easiest to tweak.

There are two main variations that I love, the indy nosebone and the crail grab. 

An Indy nosebone occurs when you straighten or “poke” your front leg, usually at a slight backside angle

You can have your arm go inside your knee, or outside your knee, but keep your hand in between the bindings. Personally, I like the arm inside the knee. 

To really get the poke on a nosebone, it helps to throw your front arm up in the air, sometimes called “The Burton arm” 

A variation that works well outside the knee is called a tuck knee, where you drop your back knee towards the top sheet of your  board and pull back. 

My go to grab for staying stable in  the air is The crail grab. This is where you grab indy near your front binding and tweak it frontside by pushing out your back leg instead of your front leg like on the indy nosebone. 

Just bring the board up to your hand, and once you get a hold of it, push that back leg out  hard, while holding on to the snowboard. 

Lastly there is the Backside crail grab which requires a bit of flexibility – This is the same as the frontside crail grab but you turn your board backside, and often grab outside the binding and straighten your legs.  I wouldn’t suggest giving this a go until you’ve masterd the other three variations…. And warmed up with some yoga. 

Indy Grab Fails

So What commonly goes wrong?

If you’re having trouble reaching  your baord, first lay on your back and get the feeling for grabbing indy and poking out your grabs 

Second, you can practice tapping your board with your  back hand before really going for the grab. If that’s still not working, you need to forget about the indy grab and practice and master your ollies before going for the grab. If you’re losing your balance in the air, chances are you haven’t practiced ollies yet. Remember, every snowboard trick is  built on the foundation of another trick, Don’t skip ahead until you’ve mastered the prerequisites.

Types of Indy Grabs

What are some variations or features? 

Frontside air in the halfpipe. (technically not an indy)

Backside air (Indy Grab) 

Frontside spins, i like the fs 540 indy,  backside spins, and backflips, rodeos and cripplers + handplants. 

That’s the indy grab, one of the most verstile grabs on a snowboard, that can be done a half dozen different ways. Remember the indy grab is when you grab your toe side edge in between your bindings with your trailing hand.

Go out there, poke out your indy grab, give it some style, avoid the tindy and the stinkbug, and let us see what your indy looks like. 

That’s all for today, see you on the next one. 

 

Peace out shredder

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
50% OFF
Keystone Early-Season Terrain Park Tour

Keystone Early-Season Terrain Park Tour

Watch The Video Keystone Early-Season Terrain Park Tour (Worth it?) Introduction 50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school  Whattup Shredder? Wondering what the early season snowboarding

Read More »
5 Tricks For Beginner Snowboard Tricks

5 Skills for Beginner Snowboard Tricks

Watch The Video 5 Skills for Beginner Snowboard Tricks Introduction 50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school  What up shredder…  It’s Christian From shred school  Are

Read More »
Land a Backside 360

How To Backside 360 On A Snowboard

How To Backside 360 On A Snowboard

Introduction

50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

What up shredder?

It’s time to learn the easiest 360 there is. 

Not a lot of people know this, but doing a straight air over a big jump, is actually pretty difficult.

It’s a lot easier to spin, once the jump gets to 40 feet or bigger. I almost NEVER straight air big jumps. 

And there’s one trick that I always do when taking my first run through a set of big jumps, that’s safer than a straight air. 

It’s My go to test trick. Now I don’t actually have that much footage of me doing this trick because it’s a throwaway, it’s a setup trick, a test trick, but I can tell you i’ve done thousands of them, and it’s one of my favorite tricks ever. 

The trick you’re going to learn today is backside 360, the first 360 that I learned.

If you want to learn ALL the pre-requisites, this week we’ve got 50% Off Shred School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

What is a Backside 360?

how to backside 360

When I was 11 years old I landed my first backside 360 off a side kicker, in front of a big group of older kids, and they freaked out. Then all rode up to me, stopped me and asked me how old I was. I remember I was 11. 

Now, by today’s standard, that’s terrible. 11 years olds are doing double backflips, but this was pennsylvania in 1998. I had made it. 

At the time, it was an initiation in to the world of snowboard tricks, and I was stoked. 

Today, I want to teach you your first 360, the backside 360, the workhorse of jump tricks, and the prequisite to cab 540s and backside 720s.

Now some prerequisites for this trick are the ollie, backside 180, straight airs off jumps, and half cabs, at least on the ground. 

Even though I said this is easier than a straight air over big jumps, i have to warn you, the backside 360 is significantly harder than a straight air if you’ve never done a spin before

And that’s mostly due to the blind takeoff. A backside 360 is one full spin, a 360 degree spin here the first 90 degrees of your spin you turn your back DOWN the mountain, hence the term backside.

The cool thing about this, is because we take off blind, we get to land open. That means for the majority of the trick, we can see our landing, and the exact reason it’s so easy over big jumps.

Well, that and it gives you something to do in the air, rather than just staring down at the ground, which is part of why straight airs are so hard, and why people flail so much. There’s too much time to contemplate what could happen.

Compare this trick to a FS 360 that has an open takeoff, but a blind landing. They are two completely different tricks, and they do not feel similar at all. Backside 360s are much easier to land, but a little harder on the takeoff. 

So a backside 360 is effectively the combination of a backside 180 in to a half cab, or switch 180. 

How to Land a Backside 360 on a Snowboard

For the takeoff, we want to use a heel to toe approach, approaching the jump on our heels on the right side (if we’re regular), and switching to our toes while we’re going up the ramp.

When we get close to the takeoff, we want to start spinning our head, shoulders and arms, backside to initiate the spin.

As soon as our head gets over our back shoulder, we’ll be able to see the landing, and float the rest of the trick.

Our head is basically going to be ahead of our board the whole time, which can sometimes look like a shifty on this trick, where our board is fighting to catch up in the air.

Now, I have the bad habit of bending over, touching the snow, pre-spinning and generally leaning in to the spin too hard.

With backside spins it’s ok to lean in a little more than most tricks, but if you do it too much, something like this will happen (digging in too hard off the mogul 360)

You want to make sure you stand up straight off the jump, keep your head high, and wait to spin your board, especailly off bigger jumps. Your board should be completely straight, and you only need a slight pressure on the toe edge. DOn’t dig in too hard.

Alex forgot to do that here, and he almost landed right on me. That’s because he leaned in to his toeside edge too hard and pulled it off the lip.

If you don’t go off straight, you’ll drift, which is also part of the reason Tara Dakides fell off the side of the Letterman ramp on a backside 360, that and not enough snow on the takeoff so when she turned her board, it threw her even more than usual.

You can use a little bit of windup, like a top with this trick, but the bigger the jump, the less windup is needed.

Now most people make the mistake of spinning on the same axis in which they took off, which causes you to land in the backseat.

The way to counteract this is to put the weight of your body over your back foot when you’re 180 degrees through the spin. At this point this foot will be in front, but this is your back foot when you land.


If we spin our weight over the back foot, and look down your back shoulder for the SECOND half of the 180 we’ll come around and land nice and even. Looking over our back shoulder is going to give us a perfect view of the landing.

If you find yourself landing in the backseat, try putting your weight over your right foot in the air in the second half of the spin (if you’re regular, and your left foot (if you’re goofy).

If you still can’t fix the backseat issue, practice your half cabs.

Chances are, if you can’t land the back 3, you aren’t very good at haflcabs. Again, it’s ok to cork the backside 360, you don’t have to flatten out the spin entirely, you just have to learn how to shift your weight to the landing gear. The easist way to learn that shift is practicing half cabs which simulate the landing of a backside 360.

Like most tricks, the spin is all in your shoulders on the takeoff.

After that, it’s just floating down to the ground, and since you can see the landing, it’s incredibly easy to land as long as you have the right weight. A lot of times, people will land on their heel edge, which is perfectly fine, but if you want to keep your speed up for the next jump, try to land as flat base as possible on this one.

I would never recommend that someone intentionally land on their heel edge.

But.. The other cool thing about the landing on this trick is, if you come up short, you can lean back on your heels and scrub around the rest of the trick. Just make sure that’ if you’re coming up 270 that you’re on your heels, and not your toes, otherwise you could faceplant like Ben here.

Backside 360 Tips and Variations

What are some variations of the trick? 

You can do a backside 360 with some shiftys, a melon grab, Indy grab; I think mute is the easiest because it keeps your head turning. Stale fish,tail grab is also super easy and fun. 

You can even do it on the flat ground, and over rollers. It’s a good idea to practice this trick on side hits and rollers first, but I actually find it a lot easier with more airtime. 

If your’e out there learning for the first time, look for a side hit that naturally puts you on your toes, it will do some of the work for you. 

This is also a great trick to do off of rails, over small jumps, off cliffs. To step it up, you can even do a backside 270 on to a rail, which is the same feeling as the back 3, but you REALLY need to get that weight right so you don’t slip out.

After you master the back 3, go try a backside 540, and a cab 5 as they both tie in nicely.

Final Notes on this Snowboard Backside 360 Tutorial

So the backside 360, one of the coolest, most floaty feeling snowboard tricks, one of the easiest to land, and my very first 360 on a snowboard. I’m in my 30’s now, and I’m still doing bs 360s. That’s over 20 years of backside 360s.

Remember, keep that head up on the takeoff, be patient and don’t start spinning your board until you’re off the lip. shift your weight halfway through at 180 over your back foot, and send it as big as you want on this one. Float to the landing, and go high five your crew.

We want to know, do you like the backside 360 or frontside 360 better? Leave it in the comments, and until next time. 

Peace out shredder

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
50% OFF
how to indy grab

How To Indy Grab On A Snowboard

Watch The Video How To Indie Grab On A Snowboard Introduction 50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school What up shredder?  There are subtle differences in

Read More »
how to hit kink rails on a snowboard

How to Hit Kink Rails on a Snowboard

Watch The Video How to Hit Kink Rails a Snowboard Introduction 50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school  What up shredder?  It’s (Christian) from Shred School. 

Read More »
Yes, You Can Ollie!

How To Ollie On A Snowboard

How To Ollie On A Snowboard

Introduction

50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

What up shredder? 

Have you ever seen those riders that seem to be able to make the whole mountain their park? They can catch air off of anything, and even when you try to hit the same feature, it just doesn’t turn out the same way?

Or maybe you want to learn how to hit small park jumps, or hit a rail from the side. 

Maybe you want to learn to butter. 

The point is, If you want to do anything cool on your snowboard, you have to learn how to Ollie. It is the foundation for everything else, and you’ll forever be stuck if you don’t learn the proper technique laid out in this video. 

And yes, you can learn to ollie, even if it’s your first day riding a snowboard. In fact, regardless of what level you ride, this video might just change your riding forever. 

If you want to learn ALL the pre-requisites, this week we’ve got 50% Off Shred School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

What is an Ollie?

toeside carve

Now first, let’s address the elephant in the room. What the heck is an “ollie” and why does it have such a weird name?

Well, an ollie is a skateboard trick named afer Allan “Ollie” Gelfland. Yeah, the name ollie is just the nickname of the guy who invented the trick. 

On a skateboard, an ollie is required to get off the ground, because unlike a snowboard, a skateboard doesn’t stick to your feet.

The ollie is performed by kicking the board with your back foot, and dragging your front foot up the grip tape, and then pulling your back foot up to bring the rest of the board with you.


Keep in mind that this is the proper form. While much easier on a snowboard, we still want to follow the basic form and timing of an ollie on a skateboard.

It’s going to allow us to use the power of our tail on the snowboard to snap off the ground and the tail will propel us in to the air.

Whether you’re on flat ground, jumping over a sign, hitting a jump, or a street rail, the ollie is the key to making it happen. 

 

When I told my friend I was starting a snowboard course, he told me he’d be my first customer because he wanted to “jump like me.”

What he means is, he sees me flying off everything and anything on the mountain because I know how to pop an ollie.

And after today, you will too. 

How to Ollie on a Snowboard

There aren’t many prerequisites for this trick. Just that you have a snowboard, can strap in and get off the lift – you don’t even have to go in the park for this one.

In fact, the best place to start practicing this is at the bottom of the mountain on the flat ground. 

To ollie, you want to rock forward just slightly and Apply weight to your front foot, then rock on to your back foot slide the board out in front of you to load the tail, your hips will move back over the tail. 

Press down on the back foot to load the tail up your board will spring you in to the air,  – when done properly, the board does a lot of the work for you. 

When you spring off the tail you want to launch your body straight up in to the air, going from a crouched position, lengthening the body, throwing the arms up in the air, and then pulling your legs up in to your chest as the last piece. 

Your legs should come to be bent at a 90 degree angle in the air, so you’re actually leveled out with legs bent at the peak of your airtime like you can see here. 

Now, don’t try to go directly to the angle of the landing, which is what a lot of people do, and then eat Sh**. 

Even on a hip, i’m going to aim for level first in the air, and then shift for the landing. If you don’t do this, and you stay at the angle of the takeoff, you’re going to land tail heavy.

If you try to adjust to the level of the landing, you’ll lose your balance in the air.

It’s almost like we’re “landing” halfway through the air, in the sky. Shoot for the peak airtime to level out. 

You can also keep your hands over the nose and tail in the air to keep your shoulders square so you don’t spin at all. We don’t want to open up our shoulders and spin sideways.

With this whole thing, It helps to think of it as pulling your knees into your chest. Again, you can see this so clearly on a skateboard, kind of like the legs are just sucking up into the chest, but you want to do the same thing on a snowboard. 

When we come down to land, we’re going to land just ever so slightly on our tail. Your legs go from a 90 degree angle in your chest to extended down to the ground to land, and then back to bent.

Don’t make the mistake of straightening your legs out too early before landing. This is a common intermediate mistake. You want to keep your knees bent until you’re almost to the ground.

Once we land, we want to land flat based and ride straight out of the ollie. If you have a hard time losing control here, practice riding in a straight line then stopping over and over, and it will help you deal with the speed you have coming out of an ollie.

Snowboard Ollie Mistakes

Now, what usually goes wrong with this trick?

Number 1 is not jumping high enough. To combat this, make sure you’re using your tail to propel you higher in to the air. Again, if you give a little rock on to the nose first, it gives you more momentum to put your bodyweight over the tail. 

Now beware that An ollie is NOT the same thing as a “hop” if you’re not using your tail to propel you, you’re not going to go very high. On jumps, the tail should be the last thing to leave the lip. 

No hopping.

Next, if you still can’t go high, try dropping your arms, and then throwing them up in the air as you jump like you can see here. This will throw your momentum up in to the air and get you higher off the ollie. 

Snowboard Ollie Tips

What can you do this on?

You can do ollies on the flat ground, off rollers, side hits and drops, you can ollie on to a rail or box, over an obstacle or off a jump.

Some variations on this trick include the ollie fronstide and backside 180, and the switch ollie, but really an ollie is present in every snowboard trick. 

Another common variation of an ollie is to shifty your board, either frontside, or more commonly, a slight backside ollie with the nose pointing down towards the ground.

Notice that pulling the backfoot up hard is the sign of someone who really knows how to ollie. Most snowboarders who don’t skateboard, don’t pull their back foot up far enough. 

Next thing that goes wrong is Hopping/jumping, just don’t do it. I don’t care if you’re on the flat ground or hitting a jump in the park, you should always be olliing. 

Don’t hop off a jump or on to a rail which is where both your feet leave the ground at the same time.

It causes you to take off all at once, instead of letting the tail or your board finish taking off, losing the “snap” off the lip which sends you in to the air. Not to mention you’re more likely to catch your nose on a rail or over an obstacle.

Final Notes on this Snowboard Ollie Tutorial

o that’s the ollie, invented on a skateboard, but one of the primary building blocks of almost any snowboard trick. It’s how you turn the entire mountain in to your own personal terrian park, It’s how you go big off jumps, or ollie on to handrail, or just send it over a roller.

Make sure you pop off the tail, let your board do the work for you, throw the hands in the air, suck the knees in to your chest, level out at the height of your airtime, and bend those knees coming down.

If all else fails, practice the ollie on a skateboard and it will make you a 10x better snowboarder just from learning the true timing on this one trick. 

Go out there, try the ollie and let us know how it goes.

 

Until next time… 

Peace out shredder

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
50% OFF
snowboarding goggle guide

Snowboarding Goggle Guide

Watch The Video Snowboarding Goggle Buying Guide https://youtu.be/KVzCN_iH3Yw Introduction 50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school  Whattup Shredder? What up shredder? If you are just starting

Read More »
how to hit a jump

How To Hit A Jump On A Snowboard

How To Hit A Jump On A Snowboard

Introduction

50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

What up shredder? 

There comes a time in every snowboarder’s life when it’s time to learn how to hit a jump.

Yes, the one thing that is sure to strike fear into almost every new snowboarders’ heart, and get them excited at the same time. The key to getting high off adrenaline.

The stepping stone to grabs, 180’s, 360’s, 900s and backflips.

The first step to ripping the park.

The only problem is, most of us are terrified, and we don’t want to wreck ourselves and end our season just to catch a little air.

Today, we’re going to talk about how to safely hit jumps, even if you’ve never hit one before.

If you want to learn ALL the pre-requisites, this week we’ve got 50% Off Shred School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

How to Start Snowboarding

snowboard jump

I’ve seen  my Dad in his 50’s who  just started snowboarding learn to hit jumps. I’ve seen my girlfriend her first year riding crush it off jumps. All kinds of people can hit jumps if you just start small,  and work your way up. 

Don’t roll up to the biggest jump in the park and “go big or go home,” that’s how you go  home on a stretcher. And never want to hit a jump again. 

The Key to hitting jumps is in safely working your way up from the smallest possible jump, to the 80 footer you’ve been eying up in the  park. 

Now, Hitting jumps could encompass anything from hitting a side hit, to launching off a cliff, or sending it over a huge park jump.

The good news is, they’re all relatively the same, and once you start to learn one of these, they will all come more naturally. 

Snowboarding Jump Tips

FIrst, let’s talk about some key terms you need to learn.

A side hit or as we used to call it a “cut up” is a jump on the side of the run,  usually that has been formed by riders cutting in and out of the run.

A park jump is located in the terrain park, and usually has a takeoff (also called a kicker), a table (the flat part in the middle of the jump and the landing, where the jump slopes downward.

The very edge of the takeoff is called “the lip”  which is where a lot of mistakes happen.

Most of the time we want to jump from the lip of a jump to the landing, and “clear” the jump, which means, we aired over the entire “table” or deck, the flat part up top. 

If we go too slow and we land just before the landing, we say we “cased the  jump”, or we undershot the jump”  If we land on the very edge between the table and the landing, we land on the knuckle, or saw we “knuckeld” the jump. We might also  say we “came up short”  landed on the deck, or  decked out. Depending on  how far up the knuckle we land this could be a minor inconvenience, or completely devastating.

What we’re aiming for is to clear the jump, to “hit the tranny, the sweet spot, or the  landing of the jump.”

Transition or “tranny” refers to a downward slope that will disperse our momentum safely after coming down from  our airtime. 

If we go too fast  and go past the landing, we saw we “overshot” the jump, or “bottomed out.” Depending on the size of the jump this can  be very dangerous. 

Getting the speed right is crucial to  staying safe on jumps. We’ll dive into that in a minute. 

Lastly, a “straight air” means we’re going straight over the jump and not spinning or flipping. 

OK, now that we understand the terminology, let’s dive into  HOW to hit jumps.

How to Jump on a Snowboard

There are a couple prerequisites. 

The first reason most people suck at hitting jumps is they never learned to ollie. This teaches us the proper way to “pop” off a jump with our tail leaving the lip last.

If you skip the ollie, you’re going to “hop” off jumps, and eat shit.

Learn to ollie first and jumps are going to be so much easier. If you  haven’t learned to ollie yet, go watch the video on Shred School on how to ollie. 

The second thing you need to learn BEFORE hitting jumps is how to ride in a straight line.

Some of us have never ridden down the hill without being on an edge before, and the minute we start to go fast in a straight line we freakout.

This is going to cause all kinds of problems with jumps, so before you even get started on this, learn to ride in a straight line, then come to a stop, ride in a straight line, and stop.

This is going to get you comfortable riding up to the jump, and landing straight off the jump.  

Next, before we ever hit a jump we next want to get comfortable with changes in pitch. A jump is kinda like a roller coaster, going up steeply, and then down steeply. If all you’ve ever ridden is flat terrain, this is going to be weird.

Luckily, we can get comfortable with this before ever hitting a jump. The first step is to start riding Blue squares and black diamonds with rollers on the run.

After riding straight over the rollers a few times, we can start to ollie off the ollers and even throw in a grab if we want. This is great practice for the pitch changes on an actual jump. You can substitute side hits for rollers here and get the same affect. 

Once you’ve practiced riding straight, learned to ollie, and practiced jumping off rollers and side hits, it’s time to head into the park.

Good Snowboarding Jumps

 The first thing we want to do is scope out the jumps before hitting them. We don’t want to mess around with jumps as they have very real consequences.

We’re looking to see how big the jumps are, make sure we understand each feature, and get a feel for the speed. You can roll over the jumps and stop on the knuckle, and look at the jump.

Watch a couple people hit it from the deck, just be sure to stay off to the side so no one lands on you.

Next, we roll over the jump and throw a little ollie over the knuckle. This will give us the feeling of hitting the jump without taking any risk.

If you can confidently do that, it’s time to hit your first jump. 

How to Safely Hit a Jump When Snowboarding

 Next run through the park, roll up to the drop in of the jump. Spot someone who looks like they know what they’re doing, and ask them what the speed is.

There’s nothing wrong with asking what the speed is, even pro riders do this. It’s one of the most important parts of hitting jumps.

That’s because, our best bet of never getting hurt on jumps is to get our speed right. Even if we wreck, if we land on the “sweet spot” on the landing, we’re usually going to be ok.

People get hurt when they undershoot and land on the knuckle or overshoot and land on the flat. That’s Because there is no pitch to disperse all the force of us coming down from the air. 

If you remember one thing to  stay safe, it’s this: land in the actual landing with your board hitting the ground first at all costs. Most injuries can be prevented by following these two rules.

How to Approach a Snowboarding Jump

Now a couple more terms you need to know. 

A setup carve refers to taking a carve into the jump, like a heel to toe approach on a backside three or a straight air. 

A setup carve slows you down a little, but not much. Now, a “speed check” is where we intentionally slash a little bit of speed by pushing out our edge a little more on a setup carve to slow down.

An answer you might expect to get for “how are the jumps” is “setup carve in to jump one, speed check for jump number two, and point it for jump three” 

This means you can turn in to jump one, turn twice in to jump two, and you better not scrub any speed for jump three or you won’t make it over. 

Our goal is to land in “the sweet spot” which is just past the knuckle, giving us the softest possible landing, and keeping our speed up  as fast as possible for the next jump. 

The key to this is using the right approach. Generally I take a  heel to toe approach for a straight air over jumps, which means I come in slightly on the right side on my heels and switch  to my toes to go straight up the jump on my edge.

This makes it easier to pop and maintain m y balance off the lip. 

If you have the wrong approach to the jump, you may  start to feel squirrely or slide around, so it’s important to get this right so you can grip your edge going straight up the jump. 

How to Pop Off a Snowboarding Jump

Once we start to ride up the ramp of the jump, we want to  pre-load our legs by bending slightly more than in the approach, and “popping” just as our board is leaving the lip.

This is kind of like an ollie but less exaggerated  than an ollie you would do on flat ground. If we watch  it in slow motion, we’ll see that our tail is still the last thing to leave the lip, and is propelling us into the air.

Depending on how much  air we need to get to the landing, we can pop harder or softer to get more or less  airtime.  

When I’m taking  off I’m staring directly at my snowboard, to make sure it goes straight  off the lip, and that I’m popping at the right time. I’m not looking far ahead of me in the air. 

It’s kinda like jumping on a trampoline. Imagine doing a small bounce vs. a large bounce. If  you want to go higher, you’re going to need to push off the trampoline a little harder. Jumps work the same way. 

If  we just ride right off without popping we might not go very high, but if we load up our legs and pop hard, we’re going to go a lot higher. 

Now off a jump, it feels almost like a pump, with a snap at the end. I don’t care if I’m straight airing, frontside 360ing, or doing a cab 900, I’m going to ollie, I’m snapping that tail off the lip.

When you start to do spins and hit bigger jumps, a lack of an ollie is going to cause you to scrub off the lip, lose speed, and eat shit a lot more often. 

Now, the moment you  pop, you don’t want to start thinking about the landing. This is what most beginners do and they freak out in the air, go over the nose of  their board, or otherwise ruin their airtime. I know because I’ve been there. 

How to Get More Airtime

We want to focus on “landing” at the peak of our airtime, which  means we level out in the air at our highest point if we’re doing a straight air. If you can do this, you’ll naturally  float down to the landing ready to land. 

In my experience it’s all about being completely centered and balanced when you come off the lip – otherwise even a small tilt to the right, left, front, or back can cause you to twist while in mid air. Level out in the air trick.

Depending on the size of the jump, adding a grab here can  make it a lot easier to stay stable in the air. It also helps to  keep our shoulders in line over our snowboard to stay straight in the air, ready  to ride straight out of the jump. 

Once you’re  stable in the air, look at the landing. Assuming it looks like you’re going to  land in the landing, you can slightly extend your legs just before you land and then bend them on  impact. Make sure not to straighten out your legs too early in the air. Which is a common mistake. 

How to Land a Snowboarding Jump

Bending your legs def helps the most. My first few jumps I’d have my legs straight in the air and it killed all my control and stability and sometimes my landings would result in a spin out or carve or slipping out or just straight crash and also sending my body out of alignment in the air

Land slightly on  your tail to absorb the impact, and ride straight out of the jump  before setting up for the next one. You want to aim to land flat base as landing  on an edge can scrub your speed or cause you to spin out. Keep your shoulders over your board, look ahead of you and make sure you’re confident riding in a straight line. 

I constantly land on my toe edge hard when I land, possibly from playing basketball so much. I’m just used to it, but I veer off as soon as I land and it’s all bad. Any tips?

Congrats, you  just landed your first park jump! 

Dangers of Snowboarding Jumps (aka Snowboarding Fails)

Now, there are a whole host of things that go wrong. 

The first thing I recommend to prevent anything going wrong is, start on  the smallest possible jump, and MASTER it before moving up to a bigger jump. I  don’t mean hit it a couple times and then go hit the big jumps. I mean, get very very comfortable hitting the jump over and  over again. You should be able to land it clean 9 out of 10 times before thinking about moving up to a bigger jump. 

Next thing that goes wrong is  speed. Now, the more you hit jumps the more you’ll get an intuitive sense of how fast you should be going.

The best thing you can do initially is to ask someone what the speed is, and observe other people hitting the jump before you  do. 

How high up  did they start?

How many  turns did they  take before the jump?

Did they  go straight in  or did they scrub  some speed before getting to the jump.

You  should also make sure your snowboard is waxed and performing so that your  speed doesn’t drastically differ from someone else hitting the jump.

Once we get to doing tricks over big jumps, a fresh wax can  make the difference between hitting the landing, and hitting your face off your knee on the knuckle 

Now, hitting  jumps takes 100% commitment. That means you’re either  hitting the jump or you’re not. There is no in between.

Don’t do  what Ben did here and stop on the  jump last second with me riding right behind him. I ended up  casing pretty bad. 

Once you  know the speed, you have to commit to  that speed. Deciding at the last minute to give an  extra speed check is only going to cause you to “come up short” and it’s going to hurt. Don’t be stupid.  

Pro tip: once you’re on the takeoff, there’s no turning.

If you find going  up the takeoff that you’re going too slow, you can pop harder to make it over, or abandon ship. If you’re going too fast, you can pop less or absorb the jump and it will cut your airtime so you don’t go too far. 

Seriously, I see a lot of people do this, and it only ends in  disasters. Another thing people do is they land sketchy on jump number 1, lose all their speed, and  still try to hit jump two, coming up short. If you’ve lost your speed, just skip the jump, ride next to it and frontflip off the knuckle. 

The way you will break bones is the combination of losing your feet out from under you, and landing on the knuckle or in the flats. This is exactly how I broke my back, I landed on the knuckle, back first. 

If you can avoid these two things, always have your snowboard hit the ground first, and always hit the sweet spot in the landing, the chances of you getting hurt are much lower. Even  if you get one out of two, your chances of not getting hurt are a lot better.

Now this could be hard to hear for some people, but If you do  wreck in the landing… and this is very important. Unless you are paralyzed, get up and ride off to the side of the jump. I  don’t care if the wind is knocked out of you, if you broke your wrist, or you are dazed, if you hit your head. Pick your weight up onto your snowboard, and scoot off to the side. Otherwise you risk someone landing on you  from 30 feet up which could be a lot worse than whatever wreck you just had.

When I broke my back I was able to pick myself up  and get to the side of the jump before collapsing in pain  on the ground, but by then I was out of the way of any other rider coming down.

You need to  have an instinctual, urgent reaction to get out of the way on jumps. If you  are laying in the landing, you should be worried because no one can see you from the top.

The next thing that goes wrong  is Hopping/jumping off the lip instead of “popping” off the tail, just don’t do it. I don’t care if you’re on the flat ground or hitting a jump in the park, you should always be ollieing. Don’t hop off a jump.

It causes you to take off all at once, instead of letting the tail or your board finish taking off, losing the “snap” off the lip which sends you into the air, and you’re going to be more likely to  come up short, and lose your balance in the air. If you can’t pop off jumps, practice rolling off rollers and side hits over and over again, and you’ll start to get the feel for it. 

The kickers where I normally ride are very steep at the top and no matter how hard I try to stay centered I always land flat on my back. I’m really struggling with keeping my weight over the board, any suggestions?

I can almost guarantee this  person hasn’t practiced popping off rollers and side hits over and over again. The  other thing you can do here is absorb with your knee, and even practice skateboarding to get used to tranny. 

Snowboarding When the Weather is Bad

The other thing to watch out for  is changing conditions. Snow, wind, sun and ice all change the speed of the jump. 

To talk about my back one more time, the reason this happened was the sun went behind the clouds, it got colder, and the  slushy take offe froze and created ruts.

I’ve lost contests before because the sun went down  and the jumps sped up and I overshot the third jump. 

In general,  we only ride big jumps if it’s sunny, clear visibility  and low wind. The exception to this is riding contests, where i find myself casing a jump on a cab 9 because it’s snowing, and cursing myself for even  showing up. 

Final Notes on How to Hit Jumps on Snowboards

Now I don’t want to scare you, jumps are amazing and fun and safe if you  approach them correctly. I just want to make sure you’re prepared and acting responsibly. I see far too many  people NEVER learn to hit jumps because they don’t work their way up. 

Start in  the small park, hit the smallest possible jumps over and over again. Only  after you’ve mastered them, move up to the next size jumps. Again master those. By practicing  over and over again, we can move the whole way up to big jumps and hit them with confidence. 

I should mention  that “Straight airs”  once you’ve mastered jumping, are actually harder than spinning over a jump. It’s easier to go off balance in the air with  all that time just staring at the landing. I prefer to spin over big jumps. 

Jumps are pure adrenaline. They  give you a power up meter, and often hitting one jump can give you the confidence to try  that trick you’re scared of on the next one. I know my entire attitude changes once I get some adrenaline flowing, and it’s on. I get in to beast mode, and  you c an too. 

Go out  there, hit  your first (small)  jumps, work your way up  and let us know how it goes. Grab a shot for the gram, and keep going.

Until next time.  

Peace out shredder

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
50% OFF
why take snowboard lessons

Why Take Snowboard Lessons?

Watch The Video Why Take Snowboard Lessons? The First Step 50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school The first step in becoming the pro shredder you’ve

Read More »
how to ride switch on a snowboard

How to Ride Switch on a Snowboard

Watch The Video How to Ride Switch on a Snowboard Introduction 50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school What up shredder?  Ah riding switch…  The easiest

Read More »
10 best snowboard brands

Top 10 Best Snowboard Brands

Watch The Video

Top 10 Best Snowboard Brands

The Best Snowboard Brands

10 best snowboard brands

Having the best brand of snowboard is not necessary to become a great snowboarder but the quality of the board can make or break your shredding experience. After learning new skills you may find it is time for an upgrade. 

 

Some of the top snowboard brands are actively engaging in technology-driven research and design that has the snowboard business buzzing with new and helpful features. 

 

From flexibility to comfort, finding the right brand is not so much a choice as it is a journey. This is a list of ten snowboard brands that stand out in aspects of performance and quality.

  1. Burton: Burton has long been the gold standard in the snowboarding community. Having sponsored some of the best snowboarders in the world like Shaun White, Burton is constantly investing in innovation that is increasing performance on all fronts including foam cores and steel edges. 
  2. Rossignol: Often thought of as a ski brand, Rossignol has a history supporting athletes focusing on active lifestyles. Rossignol offers state of the art boars at a range of price points, making it perfect for the first time snowboarder.
  3. Lib Tech: Lib Tech offers admirable and staple design patents like the Magne-Traction edges and the Banana-Rocker shape. Riders feel seen when riding on a Lib Tech snowboard. This company designs boards that are dreamt of.
  4. Arbor: Their eco-friendly ethos has Arbor investing in its technology as well as the environment. They create state of the art snowboards while maintaining a dedication to the planet. They use sustainable materials and are famous for their Power Ply technology. 
  5. Capita: Capita is another company that has a focus on sustainability. They use creativity as a motivator in any new design. Their boards are guaranteed to be powerful and stable no matter the terrain. 
snowboards on rack

6. Rome SDS: Rome  Snowboard Design Syndicate has    manufactured a couple of the best boards known in snowboarding history. The Agent and Artifact are durable snowboards that made statements when they were first introduced. These boards are still praised in the community. 

7. Salomon: A company native to the French Alps, Salomon has geared themselves toward all outdoor sports. Simple design and clean lines are a staple of Salomon. Some well-known riders that belong to the Salomon Team are Bode Merrill and Louif Paradis

8. Ride: Another company that is running the game in sustainable gear is Ride. This company was created by snowboarders and strives to keep waste to an absolute minimum. When investing in a Ride board invest in a greener planet.

9. GNU: GNU is considered the weirdos of the snowboard world. Their boards combine outrageous graphics and styles that may differ from other brands. These hand-made boards have blazed the trail in deep carving, sidecuts. 

10. Nitro: Sponsoring riders like Tommy Delago and Sepp Ardelt, Nitro is a great place to find a board of every style. This company solely focuses on the production of snowboards allowing them to hone their craft. 

At EdShreds we recommend doing a bit of research and talking to our experts about the best snowboard brand for you. 

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
50% OFF
How to ride moguls

How to Ride Moguls on a Snowboard

Watch The Video How to Ride Moguls on a Snowboard https://youtu.be/2m25UGdNA9Mhttps://youtu.be/FIu3_aG_X08 Introduction 50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school  Whattup Shredder? So you want to ride

Read More »
choosing the right snowboard size

Choosing the Right Snowboard Size

Watch The Video

Choosing the Right Snowboard Size

Your First Snowboard

why take snowboard lessons

50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

Before hitting the slopes you need to prepare. This means thinking about your outdoor clothing as well as the equipment you will need to invest in to get started. With many snowboarders, it is common to rent before buying and this can help you to get accustomed to the type of board that best fits your goals and needs as a future snowboarder.

There are many things to consider when buying a snowboard and by far the most important is choosing a snowboard with the right measurements. This can make the process a bit cumbersome but it is better to take the time to get this exactly right before you purchase something. Different sizes suit different needs and different body types. 

This article will provide a brief overview of how to choose the right size snowboard for you.

How Long Should A Snowboard Be?

large snowboard

The length of a snowboard is determined by the height and weight of the user as well as how they want to use the board. How long is a snowboard? The shorter the rider the shorter the board. A common way of measuring is by finding a snowboard that measures as tall as your chin. Anything longer than this will prove to be more of a challenge decreasing your ability to control the board. 

Choosing a board that is any shorter than your chin is recommended for freestyle and park riding. If you think you will be spending most of your time on the mountain shredding power you may prefer a board on the higher end of the spectrum. This would be a board that measures to around your nose.

How Wide Should A Snowboard Be?

The width of your snowboard determines how much room you will have for your bindings and boots. It is typically favored that the tip of your boots should be just slightly over the edge of your board. The manufacturer of the snowboard will usually sell boards with recommended bindings. Depending on the make and model, width will vary so you want to keep in mind the size of your feet. If you have size 16 feet you are going to need a very wide snowboard. But don’t worry, there is a snowboard for every shape and size person. It just takes spending a bit of time with the staff of a snowboard shop to get the measurements right.

how to choose the right snowboard

Snowboard Styles

In addition to the size of your board, there are different styles for specific kinds of riding. This is a list of different board styles, each with a tailored experience:

  • All mountain snowboards
  • Freestyle snowboards
  • Freeride snowboards
  • Powder snowboard
  • Splitboards

Aspects such as flexibility, material, and design will all come into play when choosing a snowboard. By looking at the process with an open mind, you will be able to find excitement at the future abilities your new board will provide. Once you have the proper measurements chosen, you just need to enroll in some lessons and start practicing. The more you get out there the better a shredder you will become.

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
50% OFF
how to snowboard in powder

How to Snowboard in Powder

Read The Post How to Snowboard in Powder How to Snowboard in Powder Learning how to snowboard in powder as a beginner, intermediate or expert rider

Read More »
5 Switch Riding Challenges

5 Switch Riding Challenges

Watch The Video 5 Switch Riding Challenges https://youtu.be/DBxcVIMknEQ Introduction 50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school  Whattup Shredder? Once you figure out how to ride switch

Read More »
10 most influential snowboarders of all time

10 Most Influential Snowboarders of All Time

Watch The Video

10 Most Influential Snowboarders of All Time

The Best Snowboarders Of All Time

10 most influential snowboarders of all time

50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

As aspiring boarders it’s important to acknowledge the pros that have come before you. Look to them for inspiration and hope. As young riders, you may have watched movies and read magazines featuring snowboarders who compete in the X Games and the Olympics. These famous snowboarders are some of the most talented athletes in the world and can be highly decorated with medals and awards.

 

These are legends in the snowboarding world and have shaped the game to what it is today:

  1. Shaun White: The most widely known snowboarder of all time is Shaun White. He is highly decorated with 18 X Games medals as well as 3 Olympic gold medals.
  2. Travis Rice: In a list made by Snowboard Magazine, Travis Rice was listed as the thirteenth most influential snowboarder in the last 20 years. He has been compared to Shaun White as the best snowboarder of all time. 
  3. Gretchen Bleiler: Starting at the age of 11, Gretchen became an Olympic silver medalist and one of only four females invited to an exclusive event called the Arctic Challenge. She also won four gold medals at the Winter X Games. 
  4. Terje Håkonsen: A Norwegian snowboarder who has been named one of the most influential snowboarders ever in history, Terje is believed to have revolutionized the sport. Terje participated in the documentary First Descent where he was the first person to snowboard down peak 7601 in Alaska. 
  5. Danny Kass: A New Jersey-born legend, Danny is a six-time X Games medalist and two-time silver medalist at the Winter Olympics. Danny was also in a hit TV show called “The Adventures of Danny and the Dingo”
10 most influential snowboarders of all time

6. Anna Gasser: This Austrian snowboarder is an Olympic gold medalist and in 2018 she was the first woman to land a Cab Triple Underflip. In her early years, Anna was part of the Austrian National Gymnastics Team which translated perfectly into slopestyle. 

7. Chloe Kim: The youngest snowboarder on this list as well as the youngest woman who at the age of just 17 won an Olympic gold medal in the snowboard halfpipe. Her skills in the halfpipe led her to be the first woman to complete a Frontside Double Cork 1080. 

8. Mark McMorris: One of the most decorated snowboarders, this Canadian hero was the first person to ever complete a backside triple cork 1440. Mark has experienced numerous injuries that were documented in a film about his life and is one of the greatest snowboarders of all time. 

9. Lindsey Jacobellis: An absolute powerhouse Lindsey has paved the way for women snowboarders around the world. She has taken the top spot in world snowboarding cross country numerous times.

10. Max Parrot: A six-time X Game gold medalist, Max landed the first backside triple cork ever witnessed in an X Game slopestyle event. After a tough cancer battle, Max came back to the sport winning the X Games snowboard big air event in Norway.

11. YOU: While you might not be the next Shaun White, you will ultimately be the most influential rider to yourself. Your ability to shred will impact how much fun you can have, the memories you make and the fun you have with your friends. 

Want help becoming a legend yourself? Check out how to become the best snowboarder you can be here. 

<Become The Best Snowboarder You Can Be 

Snowboard heroes instill in us a sense of wonder and exploration. At EdShreds we are constantly striving to be teachers to our community and have high hopes for all our young snowboarders.

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
50% OFF
choosing the right snowboard size

Choosing the Right Snowboard Size

Watch The Video Choosing the Right Snowboard Size Your First Snowboard 50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school Before hitting the slopes you need to prepare.

Read More »
why take snowboard lessons

Why Take Snowboard Lessons?

Watch The Video

Why Take Snowboard Lessons?

The First Step

why take snowboard lessons

50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

The first step in becoming the pro shredder you’ve always dreamt of is to start practicing. Snowboard lessons are your friend. Trying to be cool and ignoring slope rules will only get you and other boarders hurt. You’re moving to the big leagues now and there are more factors at play than at home or in your backyard. 

Snowboard lessons will be the greatest tool in your arsenal giving you the opportunity to constantly be perfecting your craft. While some lessons are designed to accomplish individual skills there are snowboard basics that cover important details like stance and weight distribution. 

Even the most experienced snowboarders use lessons on an annual basis to get them back in shape and to keep them fresh. Techniques and styles change often so there’s no point staying in the stone ages, you’ll only be playing catch up.

 

Learning the Snowboard Basics

snowboard jump

Snowboard lessons are an opportunity to put EdShred’s’ online courses into action. Learn simple misconceptions and tips to turn into habits. 

Check out these 5 commonly learned skills offered in a snowboard lesson:

 

  1. Proper steering: For new snowboarders, it is easy to get into the habit using the upper and lower body to steer. Keep your torso and shoulders still and engage the knees. Test it out by riding with your hands behind your back. 
  2. Weight distribution: Stay aware of how much weight you are putting on each leg. 60% for the front and 40% for the back. This improves carving control.
  3. Ease your turns: Keep your center of gravity low when nearing a turn. Stand up more during and out of the turn. 
  4. Carving: Using the edges of the toe and heel edges of the board. Manipulating these edges will become second nature.
  5. Timing: Actively keeping track of the timing between turns. Counting to yourself will keep you focused and bring you closer to riding like a pro.

Lessons provide a structure and an instructor. This will keep you in check as an instructor will point out what you’re doing wrong and show you how to fix it. They are offered at practically every hill around. The location determines the quality of the snow, crowds, and runs. Some mountains offer terrain parks designated for borders and lessons focusing on trick training. If you have never taken a lesson, join a beginner class. 

why take snowboard lessons

Where to Start

Hitting the slopes is made easier by visiting EdShreds. It gives you total access to a concrete online training program designed to get you out in the snow. Once you have watched the videos and done your home practice, you will confidently make it down the mountain and get a chance to see yourself in action.

A variety of tutorials are made available in our complete program. In addition we offer video footage that is easy to follow along with. Once EdShreds boosts your knowledge and confidence, a time will come for you to start shredding. Snowboard lessons are a necessity for beginner snowboarders and used by professionals to stay sharp. Bring your friends along and start cruisin’ the gnar.

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
50% OFF
Snowboard set up

How to Set Up Your Snowboard

Watch The Video How to Set Up Your Snowboard Introduction 50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school  Hey Shredders, So, you are wanting to start snowboarding,

Read More »
how to push on a snowboard

How To Push (Ride With One Foot) On A Snowboard

Watch The Video

How To Push (Ride With One Foot) On A Snowboard

Pushing on a Snowboard

50% Off Online Snowboard School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

Do you want to learn how to confidently push on your snowboard, how to ride with one foot, and how to actually get good at getting off the lift? Even if it’s your first day riding.

If you’re looking to stop getting stuck in the flats and start pushing like a pro on your snowboard, this video is for you.

Pre-requisites listed for this trick:

  • – Decide if you’re regular or goofy
  • – Get your hands on a snowboard
  • – Find some snow

If you want to learn ALL the pre-requisites, this week we’ve got 50% Off Shred School: https://www.edshreds.com/school

 Peace out shredder!

 

 

Transcript

What up shredder. Just by watching someone push on a skateboard or snowboard, I can tell in about three seconds, how long have you been snowboarding and whether they can really shred or not. Do you want to know the telltale sign of a newbie and learn how to push like a pro? We’re going to break it down in today’s video on how to ride with one foot.

There are a couple of fundamental skills you need to learn when you’re just starting out on a snowboard. Even if you take the time to learn these skills properly, they’re going to make snowboarding a lot more fun and most people just don’t take the time to practice these. If you take a couple of minutes to practice this skill at the bottom of the lift on flat ground before getting on the chair, it’s gonna make you so much more confident.

The chairlift doesn’t have to be your enemy. Plus you won’t be the slowest person pushing across a cat track. And this method of pushing I’m about to teach you actually takes a whole lot less energy than the way that most beginners push. In fact, some people even describe this as feeling like they’re flying. When I was growing up, I learned to snowboard on a bunny Hill at Tussy mountain in central Pennsylvania in the only way to get up this Hill was a pommel lift or as the Canadians like to call it a button lift.

This thing was a destroyer of worlds. It would chew up and spit out newbies, but it was also a fast teacher. The only way to get back up the Hill was to learn how to ride one footed up the mountain. And I learned very quickly how and how not to ride with one foot in. This lift has since been replaced with an actual chair lift. And I actually feel kind of bad for the kids now because they’re not forced to learn.

One of the trickiest things in snowboarding, how to ride with one foot, but lucky for you, you’re going to learn Palm a level one foot riding today. Now we usually cover prerequisites for tricks on this channel, but the only pre-recs for this trick are, you know, if you’re regular or goofy. So that means you know, if you ride with your left foot forward or your right foot forward, you know how to strap into your snowboard and you have a snowboard or you have some snow.

Now you could do this in your yard. Okay, we’re starting at the beginning for this one, we don’t even need to be on the mountain. Now our goal with riding one foot in pushing is just to be able to cover distances on the snow when it’s flat. Kind of like rowing a canoe on a still Lake. Now the mountain might be like classified Rapids, but once we hit the comb, we have to be able to move somehow. And this is where pushing or skating comes in.

 

First things first, I want saw someone at my home, mountain in Pennsylvania take their foot out of their boot and push with their sock while their boot remains strapped in. It’s one of the craziest things I’ve seen in my life and we do not want to do this. In fact, we’re going to make sure that we’re unstrapping your back foot every single time, not our front foot and certainly not taking off our boot.

Now we have our front foot strapped in in her back foot is free. There are basically two ways to push with your foot in front of your board and your foot behind your board. Now if you’re a beginner and especially if you don’t skateboard and you’re like most people, you’re going to find it easier to push with your foot behind your snowboard. Now remember this is just like rowing a canoe.

We want to row then coast row, then coast. The mistake that most people make here is putting their weight on their back foot, on their pushing foot and this causes them not to coast. They’re really just bouncing off their back foot and they’re not even really riding the snowbird. They’re just using it to assist with that balance. This is very tiresome and it’s not very effective. Now if we just learned to put our weight forward on our front foot, we can coast for much longer.

This is the defining factor to know how long someone has been snowboarding, how long did they coast? Is their weight on the front foot? Go out there and watch beginners and you’ll see what I mean. Now, the extreme version of learning to do this properly would just be to learn to ride entirely with one foot with just your front foot and just lift up that back foot.

If you can do that, you’re going to have an awesome time pushing. Now you don’t have to go that far with it, okay? You can just do a little exaggerated version like Natasha does here, and if you start to lean forward and think of your back foot more like that, or net a support beam, you’re going to have a much better time. You’ll also be able to get off the lift easier, get across flats easier and out.

Push your friends. Now, some other things that go wrong when people are riding with one foot is they spin out to combat this, especially when we’re getting off the lift, we just want to focus hard on going in a straight line with no turns. So when you’re getting us to lift or you’re riding with one foot in, don’t try to turn or slow down unless you absolutely need to.

If you’re getting off the lift, try to just coast to a stop in a straight line until you get the hang of it. Okay? Once you get a little bit better, you can start turning, but we just want to ride in a straight line off that lift. That’s getting us the best chance of success. No. Another mistake people make here is they don’t pick their back foot entirely up onto the board. So you want to push your back foot up against your back binding in.


Make sure that it’s the whole way up on the board. Now, once you go as far as you need to, you can always push your board out in front of you as you’ve come to a stop for stability. Okay, so coast in a straight line, then come to a stop. You can also get a stomp pad to help with this. But I think most people find that a stomp pad helps a lot less than they think it will.

And really proper technique is your friend here. Now it can also help if you remove the snow from your snowboard. That’s gonna make it a lot slipperier. So to repeat myself, I am a big believer in putting all of your weight on the front foot and only using that back foot like a rudder on a boat. You’ll need to push it in to the board if you want to turn.


But if you’re just going in a straight line, you can stay pretty light on your toes on that back foot. So go out there, practice this on the flats at the bottom of the lift. Spend the time, 20 minutes just practicing this before you get on the lift in. Pretty soon you’ll be riding smooths off the lift and even riding button lifts and the dreaded bar.

Now, one more thing you can do here is you can just skate up a tiny little Hill at the bottom and then turn the board straight and ride down that Hill to practice going down steep off France from the lift. You practice that a couple times and you’re going to be a pro getting off that lift. So that’s it for how to skate or push on your snowboard. Go practice at the bottom of the mountain. Give it a shot and let us know what you think in the comments.

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
50% OFF
how to backside handplant
how to indy grab
how to ride switch on a snowboard

🏂 Get 3 of Our Best Video Lessons Free

Enter Your Best Email Below and Get The Lessons Straight To Your Inbox