All posts by Blake Clark

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Beginner Snowboarding Stance Tips

This online snowboard lesson will go over Beginner Snowboarding Stance Tips. You’ll want to have a stance that isn’t too wide or too narrow. Put your stance at about your shoulder width. This will help you to be balanced and able to use your maximum range of movement. It will also allow you to use the whole board. You bought a whole board so use it. Other Snowboard Videos on YouTube & Flowing Freeride go over proper backcountry, off piste conditions and efficient snowboard techniques. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for snowboard safety on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Beginner Snowboard Lesson on Steering, Toeside Heelside Stance, Learn How To Ride The Lifts Safely, How To Twist & Flex Your Snowboard, Snowboard Pads, Snowboard Training Hill, What To Wear Snowboarding, & How To Size Your Snowboard.

A good stance is to be balanced nice bent knees. Spread your legs out so you’re you’re width of your stance should be about about the the width of your shoulders. Then if you keep both your feet pointed forward 0º, 0º is a neutral stance and for a beginner we want to be going front foot positive like 6º, back foot -6º or 9º, -9º or 12º, -12º. This is called a duck stance. If you kind of exaggerate the stance you point your feet out like 30º, -30º super duck that’s not what we want. Try bending like that and see if you like it. Some folks might like this but it will lead to sore joints. It’s too far and will stress your knees and hips. You don’t want you angles to be more than 30 degrees of separation. The most would be 15º, -15º or another example would be 18º, -12º. Now bring it back into where you’re at 0º, 0º. If you like those stances then try riding like that.

It will be better for your body to be at the front foot 6º back foot -6º or 9º, -9º. Have knees slightly bent if you’re left foot forward or regular stance turn your neck and not your whole body towards your left shoulder and if you’re goofy turn your neck to your right shoulder. Don’t open up your hips so you keep good alignment. Your knees, hips and shoulders are parallel to the board. If you were to start going down the mountain and the slope gets steeper you would bend your front knee more to have your board, knees, hips and shoulders parallel to the slope. That’s a  good stance.

Everybody’s body structure is different. Most people tend to have their feet bowed out or ducked out a little bit that way you can bend my knees out and squat down so there’s a maximum range of movement. If I put my knees in I can’t bend very much really because my body’s not built to bend like that or to Flex and Extend like that. I put my knees out a wee bit, put my feet out a little bit and this allows you to really get down low. You can get down all the way. You will gain these snowboard talents by training with Flowing Freeride. You can learn more about Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend in this video and get Hooked On Snowboarding with Snowboardclass/Flowing Freeride’s techniques so go back to other snowboard videos that teach you about hiking the backcountry. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, textbooks, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right! My name is Blake Tholen Clark Contact Me if you want to book a lesson or have any questions about Snowboarding.

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Superman Hero Euro Carves At Beaver Creek & Vail, Colorado

This snowboard video will highlight Superman Euro Carves the great Snowboard season that we’ve had in 2018-2019. We have had so much snow and it’s still snowing. I’m in Colorado near Loveland Pass. I’ve been ripping with a bunch of pro snowboarders and skiers. It’s snowing right now. We’re going to get hit with another massive storm today and tomorrow. If you have work you need to do call in with the white flu or a powder bug. This is the endless winter season. Over %50 of the days have been powder days. Can’t beat that!

Just a couple weeks ago we got tons of powder and here is our story. We were up at Beaver Creek and Vail ripping the great powder over the last few days with the snow being so great it’s Superman snow or hero snow where you can actually lay down into the snow to do superman Euro Carves. You want to get really low at the beginning of your toeside turn and then extend through your turn. You want to lean back a little bit to pop you back up. Refer back to some of my earlier videos that get you carving: Building Rhythm, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, Active Passive Absorption, Eruo Surfer Carves, Basics For Freestyle Features, Advance Snowboard Carving: Surfer Turns & Grab Carves, & Funnel Turns For Navigating Obstacles,

It’s fun to do the Superman Euro Carves! Lay down on your regular stance and do a toeside and then switch around switch and do a toeside again. It’s always fun when you do have a crash to just lift your board up and slide down the hill. You should only do this if you’re a very confident rider and on the trails that have no trees. Refer to my self arrest video to learn how to stop in steeps. In this snowboard video I’m Ripping with some of my mates like Todd Hurst, Craig Richwine who is a skier and Erika Higgins also a pro skier. We had a great time lots of fun ripping the back bowls of Vail and all over Beaver Creek. Hope you had a great season!

These movements, skills and experience are what you need. You will gain these snowboard talents by training with Flowing Freeride. You can learn more about Powder In The Backcountry and get Hooked On Snowboarding with Snowboardclass/Flowing Freeride’s techniques so go back to other snowboard videos that teach you about hiking the backcountry. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, textbooks, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right! My name is Blake Tholen Clark Contact Me if you want to book a lesson or have any questions about Snowboarding.

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Explore The Whole Resort By Getting Off Piste & Groomers Building FIS Features In Utah

This online snowboard lesson will go over Off Piste Runs, Groomed Runs & Building Features For FIS. If you want to get to explore the whole resort you’ll need to be able to ride snow that is bumpy and not perfect. Get off the groomed runs so when there is powder you’ll know how to ride it and get to it. Other Snowboard Videos on YouTube & Flowing Freeride go over proper backcountry, off piste conditions and efficient snowboard techniques. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for snowboard safety on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos;Building Rhythm, 5 Red Flags of Avalanches, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, Advance Snowboard Lesson: Dropping Cliffs, Snowboarding Off Piste, Snowboarding Chutes, Snowboard Lesson Navigating Trees & Obstacles, Active Passive Absorption, Eruo Surfer Carves, Basics For Freestyle Features, Advance Snowboard Carving: Surfer Turns & Grab Carves, Funnel Turns For Navigating Obstacles, Snowboard Jibbing & Snowboarding Moguls. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Our Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and Learn To Snowboard Right!  

The groomers and cats are working hard getting ready for the FIS World Champs Events being held in Utah moving a ton of snow around. Utah is going for another Winter Olympic Bid having Events like Boarder X, Big Air, Slopestyle, Snowboard Halfpipe, Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom & Slalom. Events start Feb. 1 through 10. Groomed runs are great for riding park or for making  big carves and surfer turns. If you want to get into the powder you need to be able to handle bumpy terrain. Start riding the sides of the groomers and move fore and aft on your snowboard. You’ll need to carry more speed to power through the extra deep powder.

We’ve had some epic snow conditions this year in Park City, Wasatch Front and Cottonwood Canyons in Utah. It would be a great place to have the Winter Olympics again because we’ve got all the infrastructure already built. We’ve got big mountains and the snow to support another awesome Winter Olympics. The Ceremonies for FIS open Feb. 1st. Come out and support your local mountains from Solitude, Park City, Deer Valley & Canyons PC. Good luck to all the athletes competing over the next two weeks.

Start by Developing Dynamic Rhythm on groomed run, then steeper runs and then carry your confidence into the ungroomed snow on the sides of groomed runs. Watch this video on learning moguls to help you start pressuring your snowboard and How To Ride Moguls Or Bumpy Terrain.

These movements, skills and experience are what you need. You will gain these snowboard talents by training with Flowing Freeride.

You can learn more about Powder In The Backcountry and get Hooked On Snowboarding with Snowboardclass/Flowing Freeride’s techniques so go back to other snowboard videos that teach you about hiking the backcountry. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, textbooks, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right! My name is Blake Tholen Clark Contact Me if you want to book a lesson or have any questions about Snowboarding.

 

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Learn To Snowboard Safe Backcountry Terrain

This online snowboard lesson will go over Backcountry Snowboard Terrain. There’s nothing better than to hit a fresh powder field. Virgin powder will get chewed up as soon as the lifts open. If you have ever had one of those epic days off knee deep powder or hip deep POW then you know how special it is to Rip this type of snow. I have tons of backcountry/Pro snowboarding experience and knowledge that I want to pass on to you. I’m opening FFR Backcountry Snowboard School and Tours soon. Hope to see you there. Other Snowboard Videos on YouTube & Flowing Freeride go over proper backcountry and efficient snowboard techniques. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for snowboard safety on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Building Rhythm, 5 Red Flags of Avalanches, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, Advance Snowboard Lesson: Dropping Cliffs, Snowboarding Off Piste, Snowboarding Chutes, Snowboard Lesson Navigating Trees & Obstacles, Active Passive Absorption, Eruo Surfer Carves, Basics For Freestyle Features, Advance Snowboard Carving: Surfer Turns & Grab Carves, Funnel Turns For Navigating Obstacles, Snowboard Jibbing & Snowboarding Moguls. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Our Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and Learn To Snowboard Right!

Wow what a treat to go out in the backcountry to Rip untouched freshhhhhh powder. It’s the Best Thing Ever!! If you have ever got that chance I’d agree that it’s going to be the memory that you’ve ever had. Imagine a fresh powder field with tons of snow that has no consequence if you eat shit! If you suck then bullocks you eat a mouth full of snow. That’s what I was seeing today and the last few day. Mates this last week has been the best snow showers I’ve been in for years. I’ve been all over the world from Utah, Colorado, Californias, Canada, Austria, Australia, New Zealand, England(Indoor and Carpet), New Mexico, Vermont, Maine, Washington, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Arizona, Oregon, etc., My board puts me on top of the powder and it’s a love that just connects. I love to Rip through that Fresh POWDER!

There is a ton of great inbound terrain now so I don’t recommend you go out in the backcountry by yourself. It is always going to be tempting to hit that Virgin Powder no matter where you are. I have become more of a guide to tour high level riders around the awesome terrain. The best part of riding a new mountain is to find the best terrain. Mountains have little hidden secrets that only a local may know. When there is a huge blizzard the mountain will change a ton. That is the same with the backcountry. You need to have a guide to help you tour through that ruff terrain. I know many mountains have cliff faces that will tear you and your snowboard apart. I’ve been riding Super Steep Terrain these last few days because of all of these powder days. Things are filling in making conditions excellent. I dealt with a crushing commute normally 30 minutes to 2.5 hours but I made it up the Canyon.

Park City, Utah is where I live. Check it out on the Map. We have one of the best locations for Winter Sports. Salt Lake City, Utah had one of the best Olympics on record. We are a Snow Town! We have huge mountains and an international Airport within 35 Minutes of Multiple Snowboard Resorts. Making FFR a huge destination Snowboard School. What are you waiting for? Come visit the Best Snow On Earth and Book A Lesson with a Pro. There are a ton of things to do with your family or got tons of Night Life for whatever age you are. Visit Main Street in Park City to visit an Old West Atmosphere and visit High West Distillery to get a taste of Utah. All the transit or Buses Are Free to travel around Park City. There are many ‘Hidden Gems’ that have excellent terrain but they take so long to drive to or little airports that make things difficult to arrive. One of my favorite resorts Jackson Hole has steep mountains on both sides of the airport and a short runway making it my least favorite airport. I’m a TV Producer and visited JH, WY many times. In deep snow with short runways makes for fishtailing on the runway. Yes Planes Fishtail!

When you head out into the backcountry you need to have some basic skills to survey the terrain. Slopes that are 30º or less won’t slide because they don’t have the potential energy to slide. Slopes that have a sharper slope will slide when there is a layer of faceted snow. You should hire a guide and take avalanche classes to prepare you for the backcountry. You can learn more about backcountry terrain and get Hooked On Snowboarding with Snowboardclass/FlowingFreeride’s techniques so go back to other snowboard videos that teach you about hiking the backcountry. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, textbooks, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right! My name is Blake Tholen Clark Contact Me if you want to book a lesson or have any questions about Snowboarding.

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Riding Jackson Hole Powder January 2019

This snowboard video will give you tips on Riding Deep Pow At Jackson Hole, Wyoming. It was a long drive in a blizzard to get to Jackson Hole, Wyoming but it was worth it. There was 1 ½ feet of fresh powder when we arrived. Our first day was short due to the storm but it made the conditions epic. We almost slid off the road several times. We were on a highway with cars cruising in the other lane. Snow plows created white outs where we couldn’t see for 3 seconds and then seeing a line of cars. The snow drifts were a foot deep. We saw plows go by and a few miles down the road the drifts were back only allowing one lane of traffic through.There was a large group of AASI Level 3 Full Certified snowboard instructors training together. We ripped this steep mountain doing tons of trees, chutes and cliff drops. To get you prepared to ride this steep mountain watch this snowboard tutorial on steeps and alignments.

There is a resort in town called snow king that we could see from our hotel. The town has a great vibe and is fun. We drove up to the village catching some amazing views. When Jackson Hole gets tons of snow conditions are epic.

It’s important to really move fore and aft on your snowboard in these conditions. Build up your fore and aft riding skills before you get into powder and steep mountains. Jackson is one of the steepest mountains around having over 4,000 feet of vertical from the top of the tram to the base. To help you train yourself to move fore and aft on your snowboard watch the snowboard video Dolphin Turns.

This progression will help you move towards the front of your board at the beginning of your turn then to move towards the tail at the end of your turn using your whole board as it was meant to be used. Your core is moving fore and aft from edge to edge making a circular motion. Start to flow down the mountain with more rhythm getting dynamic on your snowboard. You can submit video clips to get movement analysis back of your riding by clicking here taking you to Flowing Freeride.

I strongly recommend that you ride Jackson Hole, Wyoming at least once to see what we saw. We met some cool people at Franco Custom Snowboards and you should check out their shop. It takes a bit of a drive through steep passes to get there but it’s worth it. Riding with other high skilled riders pushes you to ride more aggressive. This will improve your riding. Seeing how others ride the mountain and the lines they take will train your eye to survey the terrain. I hope that the snow gods are sending snow to your mountain. 2019 is off to a great start! You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, textbooks, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard right online with flowingfreeride.com. My name is Blake Tholen Clark Contact Me if you want to book a lesson or have any questions about Snowboarding.

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Teaching Children To Snowboard Part 3

This snowboard video will give you tips on Teaching Kids To Snowboard. If you love to snowboard sharing that passion with your children will create endless positive memories. Get them to love snowboarding. Other Snowboard Videos on YouTube & Flowing Freeride go over equipment technologies to teach you how to get the best gear. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for snowboard weather and equipment to bring on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Beginner Snowboard Lesson on Steering, Toeside Heelside Stance, Learn How To Ride The Lifts Safely, How to Snowboard: Balance Twist, Beginner Snowboard Stance, Snowboard Pads, Snowboard Training Hill, Demo Boards, Snowboard Camber, Building Rhythm, Snowboard Freestyle Boards, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, & How To Size Your Snowboard. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Our Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and Learn To Snowboard Right!

I’ve been talking to my brother about taking his kids out snowboarding but they live in Phoenix, AZ. We finally got the chance with the great early conditions this Thanksgiving to get up on the slopes. My boys went out with their cousins. I knew this had a good chance of being successful because I brought several adults along. They were willing parents and grandparents that had a stake in outcome. They helped with the difficult times. A big part of teaching kids is the preparation. Some of the cousins had taken a snowboard lesson with a negative result. One was good at skateboarding. Their parents had prepped them to be excited and grateful. That made it easy for me to teach. The kids ranged in age from 3 to 12 so I was dealing with multiple cognitive developments. I studied child development in college and have my Advanced Children Educator  ACE 2 certification. I talk to the kids to see what hobbies/interests they like. If you have knowledge of the shows they watch, sports they play or books they read you can talk about those subjects to get them to relax and not over think snowboarding.

When you have really young kids just be prepared for them to break down. Every child has a unique personality. Get down to there level when teaching them. Some kids are happy and stoked to be out snowboarding while others will throw tantrums and outbreaks. These kids are too young or need extra attention. You might have an idea of difficult kids before you take them on the slopes but you won’t know until you take them up and try. You can use the leash systems or hold their hands but they need to be able to go by themselves. When a child starts crying take a break or call it for the day if it’s a real bad outbreak. Remember this is suppose to build positive fun memories, so that they want to do this with you in the future.

The older kids are more likely to be coachable because their brains and bodies have developed. I will teach things to the group and then let a stronger rider demo things for me. I like to use a reward system or let the children compete amongst themselves. If you can make things a game and fun it will keep them engaged. Some games are to see how long you can ride without a fall. Time them to see how long they can go straight. Who can do the best stop and so on. I know last Easter I brought an egg up with a toy in side. I let my son find it and told him it gave him magic powers to snowboard better. He was so excited and confident. It was his best day snowboarding ever. I might have to teach the skill differently to kids that don’t have much of an attention span or don’t listen. Teach something and then let them discover things on their own. You don’t have to always be teaching, give them time just to practice on their own.

I took them to our shop where I sized their boots, boards and I set up there snowboard angles to 9º, -9º. I’ve talked about how to setup a beginner binding angles in an earlier video. Binding Angles. To get the kids going we strapped in one foot and skated around doing circles, figure 8’s and straight glides. I taught them that it was important to lift the board up and not keep it flat. Using big strong power moves would make them crash. It took a bit but they started to edge their boards. Get the kids to lift the snowboards up. Practice with them by spotting them so the can get the right balance. I talk about this in some early videos but the twist drill is something you should know by watching this video, to help teach your kids edging and to twist the board. Once they’re doing that they are ready to practice gliding and stopping. If they aren’t stopping have them practice lifting their edge up. They can drag their toes or heels in the snow to act as an anchor but I’ve found it better to just go right into edging the board to stop. They want to step uphill or towards their uphill edge. Kids want get the board around quick using upper body strength but they keep the board flat and unless they lift the edge up they usually will fall. (crashes)

This first part is where they hike and skate in flat terrain. This are is where you can help kids get their balance because it’s flat and they’re not moving a lot. They will build muscle memory by repeating the drill of skating and stopping. Bring water and take breaks because the kids will get tired. If you have other adults during a break you might get to go take a quick run to get your shred on. After they can stop on toeside and heelside let them start going down the beginner slope. This slope should be fairly flat but steep enough to keep speed. Have them make laps on this area stopping one foot in. Surface lifts are the best for beginners so find an area that has a conveyor belt or a gondola to make laps. Refer to this video to help with lift knowledge. Getting on and of the chair lift comes later. You may need to help the kids but use caution because this is where they move and more likely to fall. I will have them practice the ankle, knee, hips and spine flex and extension movements for toe and heel stationary and then while they go down the mountain.

You might have to stay on this practice slope for a while doing one foot in stops. When they’re doing toeside and heelside stops strap in the back foot. I will sometimes help spot the kids to transition from toeside and heelside or making C-turns. Get the kids to do that and make sure they can stop with two feet in. If one kid is advancing faster then teach them S-Turns. The focus is steering the board with their front foot, getting the board to across the fall line then parallel to it. Let the board flow down with gravity and focus energy to their ankles/lower body to steer not their shoulders and arms. When they balance on the edges and stop they’re ready for the lift. Check out loading the lift video.

The next Teaching Children Snowboarding video I’ll give tips on how to load and unload the lift safely with kids. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, textbooks, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard right online with flowingfreeride.com. My name is Blake Tholen Clark Contact Me if you want to book a lesson or have any questions about Snowboarding.

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Learn Snowboarding Upper/Lower Body Separation

This online snowboard lesson will go over Snowboarding Upper/Lower Body Separation. There are certain times and places that we want to separate our upper body from our lower. It helps in tight situations like in trees, freestyle, glades, chutes and steeps. Freestyle moves on features like boxes and rails look super stylie. You can use slash turns and power stops to spray snow or to stop quickly. In chutes you can make fast turns to avoid obstacles and escape danger. Have this movement in your ‘snowboard tool belt’ to help you avoid injuries. Other Snowboard Videos on YouTube & Flowing Freeride go over proper snowboard alignments, movements & techniques to get you flowing with freeride carving rhythm. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for snowboard safety on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Building Rhythm, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, Advance Snowboard Lesson: Dropping Cliffs, Snowboarding Off Piste, Snowboarding Chutes, Snowboard Lesson Navigating Trees & Obstacles, Active Passive Absorption, Eruo Surfer Carves, Basics For Freestyle Features, Advance Snowboard Carving: Surfer Turns & Grab Carves, Funnel Turns For Navigating Obstacles, Snowboard Jibbing & Snowboarding Moguls. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Our Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and Learn To Snowboard Right!

I ride most of the time with my body in alignment. I can absorb better and prevent myself from tweaking my legs or back. When I hit bumps my natural body movement is to absorb in alignment. If I’m riding with my upper and lower body separated all the time I’m going to wear my body out. After a long day of riding your muscles and joints get tired. If you’re riding out of alignment and using a lot of strong movements instead of finesse you’ll feel it the next day. There are techniques and movement patterns that will keep you snowboard fit. There are many times that I need to separate my upper/lower body when snowboarding. I have a set stance that I go back to or refer to. It’s my natural body stance except I angle my feet out. I keep my ankles, knees, hips and spine slightly flexed so I’m able to move smoothly and I my upper body is naturally aligned with my lower. We’re going to move in and out of alignment so we’re ready to handle whatever is thrown at us on the mountain.

Gravity pulls us down the mountain and the most direct path gravity takes is called the fall line. In steep terrain we follow that line much more. When we point our front hand down the slope we are setting ourselves up to be aligned with the fall line. This will make it easier to start your turn but it’s more difficult at the end of the turn. In tight situations you need to turn immediately to avoid trees, rocks or other obstacles. We want to be able to slow down and stay in control especially in steeps and trees. The upper/lower body separation drill will help you be able to ride through advance level terrain better.  

Start on mellow terrain that has some slope like a Blue or intermediate (in Europe Red). If it’s a Green or Easy (in Europe Blue) slope that is too flat this drill won’t work well. Point your front hand and upper body down the slope. Your lower body will be very dynamic rotating your snowboard around from toeside to heelside. Think about focusing more energy into your hips to help pivot. Bend your hips, knees and ankles to make the board flow around easily. Be sure to keep the front hand pointed down the slope. It is easier to achieve on the heelside. Really focus on the toeside to keep you arm pointed down the mountain. Your turn shape should be small and done quickly. If you’re still having trouble getting this movement review Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend to give you another example.

After you’ve got the drill on Blue terrain move into steeper Black Advance trails. As you get better flow down tree runs and steep chutes using this technique to Rip the whole mountain. You can practice efficiently and get Hooked On Snowboarding with Snowboardclass/FlowingFreeride’s techniques so go back to other snowboard videos that teach you about other snowboard equipment. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, textbooks, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right! My name is Blake Tholen Clark Contact Me if you want to book a lesson or have any questions about Snowboarding.

 

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Learn Snowboard Carving

This online snowboard lesson will go over Snowboard Basic Carving. Carving is something you want to be able to do so you can turn without skidding and slowing you down. You want to be able to carry that speed to get you through flat terrain. Carving is when the back foot follows the exact same path as the front and there is no skid. You are balancing on your edge using the sidecut of the snowboard. The sidecut is a circle diameter of 8M or 10M that is cut into the board. Your edge has that diameter circle shape that makes your edge arched and not straight. This helps to make Circle Turns. That’s what we’ll be working on in this snowboard drill. Other Snowboard Videos on YouTube & Flowing Freeride go over proper snowboard alignments, movements & techniques to get you flowing with freeride carving rhythm. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for snowboard safety on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Building Rhythm, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, Advance Snowboard Lesson: Dropping Cliffs, Snowboarding Off Piste, Snowboarding Chutes, Snowboard Lesson Navigating Trees & Obstacles, Active Passive Absorption, Upper/Lower Body Separation, Eruo Surfer Carves, Basics For Freestyle Features, Advance Snowboard Carving: Surfer Turns & Grab Carves, Funnel Turns For Navigating Obstacles, Snowboard Jibbing & Snowboarding Moguls. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Our Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and Learn To Snowboard Right! Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Our Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and Learn To Snowboard Right!

When you start carving find mellow terrain. You don’t want it to be too steep because it’s hard to hold your edge on steeper terrain and it should be very wide to make big turns. It should have no obstacles on it and very low traffic because carving takes a lot of space and you turn back up the mountain. The snowboard terrain should be groomed and flat without bumps so that you’re able to keep your balance better. Fresh groomed snow creates a firm top layer that allows you to really hold an edge and conditions are usually best for carving in the morning. The terrain choice is huge groomed, mellow slope, very wide, no obstacles and low traffic. Go out and scout your carving terrain to find these kind of conditions. Once you find this type of terrain we can start trying to practice Circle Turns.

You need to have enough speed to balance on your edge. I have my students point their boards parallel to the fall line to gain speed. Keep your snowboard flat to increase momentum. I have them start lifting their edge up bending their ankles and knees, focusing energy to these joints and balancing on their edge. Start to turn up the mountain and see how far up the mountain you can get. Your turn shape will start as a J-Turn and progress into a full Circle Turn. Try to drive your pressure directly down on your edge. That’s what you want to do. Don’t try to complicate it with extra movements. Focus in your feet and Steering From The Bottom Up and once you’re getting that you can get Dynamic Flex & Extend. Get enough speed to be able to turn up the mountain and lift your edge up keeping your ankles nice and soft. S-turns are two half circles and when you just keep turning you make Circle Turns.

It’s very important to find the correct carving terrain. I love finding fresh groomed corduroy in the morning getting the best conditions. Carving eliminates the pivot movement and the board doesn’t rotate to eliminate skidding. Balance on the edge of your snowboard using minimal movements to use your sidecut to make arching turns. You can practice efficiently and get Hooked On Snowboarding with Snowboardclass/FlowingFreeride’s techniques so go back to other snowboard videos that teach you about other snowboard equipment. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, textbooks, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right! My name is Blake Tholen Clark Contact Me if you want to book a lesson or have any questions about Snowboarding.

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Learn About Snowboard Camber Technology

This online snowboard lesson will go over Snowboard Camber Technology. The shape of you snowboard is the camber and the shape of your edge is your side cut. There are different types of camber shapes. There are regular shaped, reverse, hybrid and flat camber shapes. Flat and reverse shape camber are better for beginners or park riders because that shape makes it harder for you to catch edges. Regular and hybrid shaped camber are more responsive and better for holding edges for riding the whole mountain. Snowboard technologies like camber will help you ride your snowboard better with efficient movements. Other Snowboard Videos on YouTube & Flowing Freeride go over proper snowboard alignements, movements & techniques to get you flowing with freestyle rhythm. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for snowboard safety on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Building Rhythm, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, Advance Snowboard Lesson: Dropping Cliffs, Snowboarding Off Piste, Snowboarding Chutes, Snowboard Lesson Navigating Trees & Obstacles, Active Passive Absorption, Upper/Lower Body Separation, Basic Carving: Circle Drills, Basics For Freestyle Features, Advance Snowboard Carving: Surfer Turns & Grab Carves, Funnel Turns For Navigating Obstacles, Snowboard Jibbing & Snowboarding Moguls. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Our Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and Learn To Snowboard Right!

I love what snowboarding has brought to our winter mountains. One technology is the shape of your snowboard. Snowboarders shaped the board like a bow. When you pull back the bow it flexes and then when you release it creates a pop generating a lot of energy that is forced shooting the arrow out. What is so cool about snowboarding is that we can move fore and aft on the board and create pop. Skiers can’t do that. They are fixed on one ski with one foot. We can move fore and aft along our board to create the magic of pop. Camber technology is really intensified in our sport. Skiers can’t butter and spin like us because we can change our pivot points much easier than skiers. They have to spin from the center of their skis and god bless them, but they can’t do what snowboarders do because they don’t have two feet on one board. Camber is a fun technology that makes snowboarding skiing tons of fun and if you know how to use it if can be like unlocking a cheat code to a video game.

There are different types of camber shapes that if used correctly the snowboard snaps and reacts to providing maximum energy. Regular camber or traditional camber has a convex rise in the center. Reverse camber, banana or rocker camber is just the opposite of the that. Flat camber is just that flat and no shape. Then there are different kinds of hybrid cambers usually having regular camber under your feet and reverse between and tip/tail to foot. That’s great to know so how will that help you? If you like to ride park or a beginner then a flat or reverse camber snowboard will help you out because they’re more forgiving. The shape makes them harder to catch edges but out on the steep mountain it’s hard to hold the edge and they spin out more often. Riding the pipe and steep runs you’ll want to have a regular camber or hybrid camber shaped board. The reverse combo helps you float on the snow but I really love riding regular camber boards to rip through my turns keeping my speed.

I suggest you go out and demo boards to give you different options. While you ride other boards with different camber shape really push your riding skills to the limits. That’s how you’ll know what is different about the boards. While at the Rider Rally 2018 at Abasin we had Never Summer and Burton come out and did demos. I tired the new step on system. I got stuck to it and we had to pull out the screw driver to get be out. The boards were great and it was supper stoke to ride so many different boards. Find what shape of camber you like and start ripping! You can practice efficiently and get Hooked On Snowboarding with Snowboardclass/FlowingFreeride’s techniques so go back to other snowboard videos that teach you about other snowboard equipment. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, textbooks, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right! My name is Blake Tholen Clark Contact Me if you want to book a lesson or have any questions about Snowboarding.

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Learn Snowboard Freestyle Basics For Jumps, Boxes & Rails

This online snowboard lesson will go over Freestyle Basics For Snowboard Features. If you’re like me you love flowing with rhythm through your line in the park. You do not want to hesitate when hitting freestyle features because speed is what’s going to give you the momentum to get air and flow with style when doing tricks. I like to go out and practice getting tons of speed outside of the park doing flat board drills. This is where you keep your snowboard straight and flat. The snowboard follows gravity or the fall line gaining lots of speed. You want to Stay In Control but build up your confidence to get more speed. Other Snowboard Videos on YouTube & Flowing Freeride go over proper snowboard alignements, movements & techniques to get you flowing with freestyle rhythm. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step and feedback from your coach. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for snowboard safety on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Building Rhythm, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, Advance Snowboard Lesson: Dropping Cliffs, Snowboarding Off Piste, Snowboarding Chutes, Snowboard Lesson Navigating Trees & Obstacles, Active Passive Absorption, Upper/Lower Body Separation, Basic Carving: Circle Drills, Basics For Freestyle Features, Advance Snowboard Carving: Surfer Turns & Grab Carves, Funnel Turns For Navigating Obstacles, Snowboard Jibbing & Snowboarding Moguls. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Our Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and Learn To Snowboard Right!

In the American system or AASI in freestyle we talk about ATML which is Approach, Takeoff, Maneuver, and Landing. Remember the acronym by thinking that having good freestyle is money and you get ‘money’ from an ‘ATM” and know your Landing or ‘L’ is always at the end. You don’t need to remember that unless you’re training to be a coach in the US. I’ve taught and trained in other countries and they have similar verbiage but once you become a full certified instructor you’re riding and teaching techniques are very similar. I like to blend all systems and use my own techniques to make my style unique. Think of your start as being a race going straight and to win you need to be the fastest. In freestyle to carry speed you don’t need to do nice carvie turns but rather we go fast and make short quick power turns or hockey stops using a lot of pivot motion because we want our upper and lower bodies to be able to seperate. Upper and Lower Body Separation allows your upper body to stay aligned to the hill and not move much while your lower body is being very dynamic. Do not hesitate and if mess up this part maybe just hit your feature next run so you don’t get hurt. The first thing to remember is a good Fast straight line coming into your feature and don’t hesitate. Go Fast.

The next part is the Ramp. You want a nice gradual ramp that shoots out and up to get nice air. You can find natural ramps on the mountain or man made ones in the backcountry or parks. When you’re on the ramp get lower bending your hips, knees and ankles more. Keep your back straight and have your upper and lower body aligned so you stay balanced as you get air. This will help you to create more lift off of the ramp and jump higher to perform the Feat. I’ve been snowboarding up at Alta, Utah and there have been a lot of people who have come out and built some ramps for jumps. They started blowing snow up there and created some snow whales that had some nice shaped ramps. I was getting some good air and spins. There are resorts open in my area out East and in Colorado. Lots of resorts are opening in the next few days.

The Feat is your Flow and Boldness. It’s the skill or trick you pull. It’s whatever you do off the ramp. It might be a box, rail, gong, mailbox, jump, grab or kicker. While I’m in the air I like to pull up my landing gear, my legs and reach down to grab my board. Folks that go off the jump out of control or off balance will a lot of the time roll down the windows throwing their arms in circles trying to get back on balance. If I’m on a box or rail I stay low and keep my snowboard flat. Start with straight airs pulling your legs up. Then start to reach down and grab your snowboard. Grabs that are on your toeside edge are easiest to begin with. Once you feel good with those start to spin frontside 180’s to begin then backside 180’s. After those you can start spinning full 360’s.

The last part is to Stomp It. We want to Stomp our landing extending into it and as we’re landing were can flex to absorb. You can land with you tail first and then nose stomping it down just how a beaver smacks its tail down on the water. We’ve all seen airplanes land when they come out of the air. We want to do that or all at once extend into the landing with both legs. Keep your snowboard flat and use to absorb the impact. The board will bend and flex which will spread out the impact of landing huge jumps. Just like at the beginning you want to keep your body aligned when you land so you don’t crash or get hurt. Landing on your edge does not allow you to spread the pressure out. You can also catch and edge if you’re not landing flat and straight. Have good technique and start on small jumps and features first and progress up to ones that are more difficult. Check out this freestyle snowboard video Getting Air for more technique.

So remember FRFS Fast, Ramp, Feat and StompIt! Those techniques will help you build up your snowboard freestyle. I like to go fast and it really helps me in the park to go fast. If you don’t already you should Wax Your Snowboard to give you that extra viscosity. You’ll be Flowing Your Freestyle soon just follow the tips. You can practice efficiently and get Hooked On Snowboarding with Snowboardclass/FlowingFreeride’s techniques so go back to other snowboard videos that teach you about other snowboard equipment. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, textbooks, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right! My name is Blake Tholen Clark Contact Me if you want to book a lesson or have any questions about Snowboarding.