Category Archives: Awe-Inspiring Snowboarding Videos

Nothing motivates practice like watching awe-inspiring riders ripping it up. We’ll accept submissions and search the web to feature top videos of riders that can shred here.

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Learn Snowboard Freestyle Basics For Jumps, Boxes & Rails

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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.

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Snowboarding & Weather Patterns

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This online snowboard lesson will go over Snowboard Weather Patterns. Snowboarding is a sport that relies heavily on Mother Nature. Without snow we don’t have snowboarding. Resorts have opening dates and will blow snow or make ‘man made snow’ when there isn’t enough snow. Man made snow uses the cold temperatures outside to freeze high pressured water. You can think of the snow guns as huge spray bottles spraying a ton of water out and it freezes making ‘man made snow’ which isn’t the same as natural snow. Snow from Mother Nature can be light and fluffy. Man made snow is more dense and turns to ice quickier. With less snow at the beginning of our seasons and warm temperatures it’s making it hard to open on schedule or to have enough snow in early season. Winter Tourism Will Take A Hit If Winter Months Continue To Lose There Chill. I watch the weather and will chase the good snow especially during early and late season when snowboard coaching is slower. Other Snowboard Videos on YouTube & Flowing Freeride go over weather tips and to teach you how to be prepared. 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; 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.Snowboarding Moguls, Slope Faces, 5 Red Flags of Avalanches, Learning Snowboard Avalanche Conditions, & Heli Boarding. 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 I know I’m going to be traveling to an area during the snowboard season I stay aware of the conditions in that area. I look to see how much snow they’re getting and what the temperatures are. They are many times that a mountain gets a ton of snow but then gets a lot of warm temperatures. There was a lot of snow but it melts making conditions sketchy. During bad winters I may just look to go where the temperatures are the coldest and they have the best snowmaking. I watch weather patterns to know where the snow is piling up or staying fresh. I know the wind patterns around my area but they may differ greatly at another mountain. It is rare but some places actually get too much snow making it very difficult to travel there and no lodging. The big thing is when you have some time warning that you’ll be traveling to a different mountain look at their forecasts and pay attention to there weather so you know what types of snow layers are underneath your board and how to prepare for those conditions.

It’s important to watch the weather when I surf, water ski, wakeboard, snowboard, paddle board, fish, kayak etc,. When I surf I want to know when the waves are going to be bigger. There are tides, winds, currants and temps to consider. If you get into to surfing or you already do, then you know that weather patterns play a big role into when the surf is best. You may chase storms for the best waves. I watch the weather and look to see where the winter storms are building up and will travel to the powder! The best water to ride on is glass when surfing, wakeboarding or water skiing. It’s usually going to be good water early  in the morning or later in the evening. The wind usually picks up in the afternoon. Just having some basic knowledge on weather can help you schedule activities in the future. I know that when I go snowboarding it’s probably going to be cold but temperatures can vary. When you snowboard in a blizzard you’ll want to wear different clothes and goggles than on a clear sunny day after a storm. You might be going somewhere that is very windy or somewhere that is very high up with a very different climate that you’re not use to. I’ve been in Colorado when the snow has been so cold making the the snow crystals very sharp that no matter what wax you put on your board you still went slow. In cold conditions I wear more layers to keep me warmer or I break out my puffy jacket made with down feathers keeping me super warm. I look at the weather forecast to help decide on google lens to wear depending on how much light we’ll get. Weather is a huge factor when you’re going out snowboarding.

When I start to go out of bounds and into the backcountry there are weather resources that I rely on like Utah Avalanche Center UAC, Forest Service/National Avalanche Center or NOAA to get reliable reports and forecasts. Look for these types of resources in your area. I want to know if it’s going to be worth heading out of bounds or if conditions are going to be similar by staying inbounds. If we’ve had a recent snowstorm the snow might be fresh and untracked inbounds but it will get chewed up and that’s when I like to start going into the backcountry. I recommend you take some basic backcountry training like Classes Through UAC and FFR has several Backcountry, Avalanche Awareness & Avalanche Safety Snowboard Tutorials that will get you some skills to survey the terrain and teach you about snow layers. Faceted snow is snow that has melted or doesn’t compact together it doesn’t bond to other crystals that causes a weak layer of snow and higher risk for avalanches. I like to tell people that it’s the snow that doesn’t make snowballs. Faceted snow doesn’t bond or make snowballs and that layer is the one that’s weak causing slides. The National Forest Avalanche Center gives this definition: “Snow metamorphism determines if individual snow crystals are rounding (becoming stronger) or faceting (becoming weaker). The relationship between snow crystals ultimately dictates what kind of layer, strong or weak, is formed. The interaction between individual layers determines snowpack stability.” This is why I say to watch the weather. If you know that there has been some melting and variation in temperatures then there could be a higher avalanche danger.

Wind lets you know where the snow will be piling up or if the storm will be a warm, wet, cold etc,. They actually know by wind speeds and directions how much snow to predict and that helps you as a snowboard to prepare. Snow weighs a lot and when there is 3 or 4 meters of snow out there a slide could be deadly. Depending on the snowpack and where you go there could over 10 meters or 30 feet of snow and an avalanche like that could easily bury anything in its path. Before you go out in the backcountry take some training or a class. You can practice efficiently and get Hooked On Snowboarding with Snowboardclass/FlowingFreeride’s techniques so go back to earlier snowboard videos that teach you about weather and hitting 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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Advance Snowboard Lesson On Jumps, Freestyle and Pond Skimming

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This online snowboard lesson will go over Freestyle, Jumps, Air Tricks and Pond Skimming. Let’s start to focus on your freestyle. A great way to practice tricks while you’re in the air is to get on a trampoline. I’ve read that NASA would train their astronauts by having them jump on a trampoline after being in space or to prepare for space. These studies showed that jumping was %68 more efficient than running and less impact on your joints. I’ve done experiments on myself as well and I’ve seen the improvements when I jump on the trampoline over other exercise. It’s a natural movement and most people can get on a trampoline and start jumping without much coaching. Bend your legs more and more to get higher and higher. You will start to feel that unweighted feeling at your apex. Once you’ve started jumping and testing how high you can jump start to get into a rhythm of jumping the same height. Once you’ve got your balance and feeling comfortable you can start doing some tricks. Other Snowboard Videos on YouTube & Flowing Freeride go over movements to teach you how to perform spins and rotations that will improve your freestyle. 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 Advance Snowboarding Getting Air on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; ; Building Rhythm, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, 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!

Once you’re comfortable in the air start to pull your legs up at the apex and extended them back down. Get that rhythm and start to reach down and grab your ankle or foot. Switch legs and arms so that you’re doing different grabs. In snowboarding depending on what arm you grab your snowboard with and the location on your board is called a different grab like a mute, indy, nose, tale. melon or stalefish. Here is a Snowboard Grab Chart that shows different grabs. Once you’ve got some grabs down step it up. Start to reach down and grab your foot with both hands. Start to pull your knees up to your chest and grab your knees to start to tuck. Once you’re doing this you’re ready to start spinning and flipping. Start to spin by creating power from your hips. Build your spins up by doing a 90º rotation. Start your rotation by winding your body up when you’re low and about to jump. Jump and spin at the same time so while you’re in the air you rotate. If you get that easily start to spin 180º and then 270º and then to a full circle or 360º. In snowboarding we refer to a ‘3’ as a 360º rotation, 540º rotation as a ‘5’, a ‘7’ is a 720º rotation, a ‘9’ as a 900º rotation and so on. The big thing to remember is build up to this level. Follow the progressions that I’ve taught in previous snowboard lessons. Some of your spinning can be created by scissor kicking you legs. I can counter rotate my upper body and shoulders and throw my arms around to create rotation. I can use my core and hips to create pivot movements. My hip is a ball socket joint that can truly pivot and creates a ton of power. I use a combination of these movements when spinning. Depending on the type of trick will depend on the type of movement I’ll use. If I’m doing a 50/50 on a box and want to do a quick board slide I’ll scissor kick but if I want spin while box sliding I’ll use upper body and core to come on to the box and spin on. If you have trouble spinning use your upper body and keep turning your head to look at your back but remember to have your core and legs follow you.

Flipping is the next step. Flipping is more dangerous since you can land upside down. If you’re able to pull your legs up and grab your knees you’re ready. Jump high and straight up. Some people jump forwards when doing front flips and backwards when doing backflips. A front flip is easier so once you get to your apex you want to be tuck and drive your head to your knee and flip around. The stronger your move the quicker you’ll flip. If you’re really scared about flipping on a trampoline go to pool that has a diving board. You can build up by starting to dive and back dive. That’s similar to a 180º because you spinning half way and diving is doing a half flip. Once you get diving down start to rotate more. This takes time and not everyone can do it but if you can if brings a huge adrenaline rush. After you feel comfortable jumping, spinning and flipping we’re ready to put our board on.

When jumping on a trampoline we want to get a foam board for safety. Your snowboard is hard with metal edges. Your board can damage the trampoline and yourself so get a padded board is recommended but I’ve jumped on trampolines with my snowboard on and was fine. Start looking over your front shoulder because when snowboarding we’re sideways. Practice like you’re snowboarding to build your muscle memory. Try spinning the same ways I just talked about but now with your snowboard on. Try to land with both feet at once or your back first to develop good technique for landing jumps. If you’re able to spin 180º start to reach down and get a grab that we talked about. If you’re good with that start doing 360’s and more. If you still feel a bit unsafe check out a trampoline park with foam pits. These have sprung up all over the world over the last few decades and there should be one in your area. The foam pits have trampolines next to them and you can flip into them. This will help to to perform difficult tricks that eliminate hard falls. Getting out of the foam pit can be difficult but it’s worth it. After getting your tricks down on the trampoline you’re ready to blend those movements into your snowboard style.

I love powder and snowboarding in it. Powder can act as a foam pad also and that’s why real good snow is called ‘Hero Snow’, you do almost anything without consequences and you feel like a superhero. Know your snow conditions and your abilities. Don’t try to do a flip or chuck a 3 off a jump if you’ve never attempted one before. Build up to it by trying a 180 first or something easy and when the snow is soft your falls don’t hurt as much. When the snow starts to melt puddles start to form. If you carry enough speed you can glide or skim across it. Some places have ponds or lakes that thaw and you can pond skim across them. Some tips for that are to keep your speed, if you jump land with your board flat and nose up, lean back slightly, keep your core over your snowboard, keep the nose up and keep a solid stance. It’s a lot like surfing when you pond skim. When you build a jump by the pond you can get away with chucking almost any trick. I like finding awesome powder fields but when it’s late season it’s wet sloppy snow anyway so jumping into water and pond skimming are advanced fun ways to snowboard.

Learn how to snowboard better by pushing yourself to higher levels of efficient movements. Trampolines provide great core strength, improves jumping muscle memory, gives you snowboard practice off snow and is a more efficient exercise. You’ll start flowing into some good freestyle with some off season/off snow practice on your trampoline. You can practice efficiently with Snowboardclass/FlowingFreeride’s techniques so go back to earlier snowboard videos that teach you about kids and beginner movements. 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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Snowboarding Euro Surfer Carves

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This online snowboard lesson will go over Snowboarding Euro Surfer Carves. Welcome to the 2018 AASI Rider Rally. We ripped at A-Basin, CO for a week. The snow was great considering in was May. There was a huge turn out with certified riders from all over the world! I was one of the many L3 Full Certified Riders including the AASI Team Riders. The Team Riders gave a good show sharing knowledge that we’ll bring back to our divisions and local resorts. If you’re an AASI certified snowboard instructor you should attend training events like this that combines all the divisions together in one event. Being a L3 Cert I train in events like DCL/Beyond L3 pushing our snowboarding to higher levels and I’ve been a snowboard trainer at resorts helping instructors pass their exams and certifications. Other Snowboard Videos on YouTube & Flowing Freeride go over carving tips and 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 Advance Carving 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!

Snowboarding has many styles and you can adapt to the snow conditions. Our rhythm started flowing towards Surfer Turns and Euro Carves. Here we we’re doing some Euro Carves laying our bodies in the snow and getting our back arm to drag. We really talked a lot about practicing and focusing on one thing that you’re about 75% efficient on that movement, trick or skill. For this style of carving you want to get low at the very beginning of your turn and start dragging your back arm in the snow. Get your board to change edges across the fall line. Refer back to my Dynamic Flex & Extension Video to get you flowing in rhythm. Put a lot of your weight on your back leg, then extend through your turn and lay your body in the snow. Put pressure towards the nose of your snowboard to pop you back up. If you put a grab in you’re making Surfer Turns.

Carving is riding and balancing on the snowboard edge and sidecut. Your back foot follows your front foots direct path and you’re not skidding. Keep your core over the width of your snowboard and pressure down on the edge. If you’ve done snowboard training you can see there are many different styles, alignments and movements in these carves. Some carving styles here were to separate your upper body from your lower locking you into your carves but it causes alignment issues and can tweak muscles or joints. Carving like this is for higher level riders so build up to carving by trying Circle Turns. I’ve seen the sport of snowboarding go back to carving because it when you’re carving you’re flowing and using the snowboard the way it’s meant to be used. You use the side cut and move fore and aft of your board also using the camber to create pop. That pop can be used to start jumping and spinning. Carving can set you up for good flow in your freestyle. Putting your hand in the snow and grabbing your snowboard while ripping boosts your style and efficiency. If you’re training for your snowboard exams and certifications manipulating your snowboard to perform efficiently is what will get you to pass your L3, Freestyle Cert or High Level Exams. You need to have a good understanding of the biomechanics of the human body. It will help you to perform better in other sports also.

Snowboarding is a very active sport. Stay fit to be able to bend, absorb, flex and extend with little effort. When riding with a huge group of high level snowboarders you see cool style and tricks that you might want to be able to do. Build up to that skill by perfect practice. Do the same trick over and over again until you’ve got muscle memory and as you’re flowing down the mountain you can bust that trick out anytime no problem. You can practice efficiently with Snowboardclass/FlowingFreeride’s techniques so go back to earlier snowboard videos that teach you about kids and beginner movements. 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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Snowboard Lesson On Binding Types

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This online snowboard lesson will go over Free Snowboard Tips On Binding Types. When you’re ready to take your riding to the next level get your own custom bindings.  There are many types of bindings but the most common binding is two straps that ratchet tighter. There are some systems where you step-in or Burton’s New System You Step On to your bindindings. The rear entry system has been made popular by Flow. There are different advantages and cons to the bindings so let’s take a look at some snowboard binding systems. 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 educate you on  Snowboard Equipment on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Snowboard Freestyle Boards, What To Wear Snowboarding, Demo Boards, Snowboard Camber, Freeride Boards, Building Rhythm, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, & How To Size Your Snowboard Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and learn to snowboard right!

The big benefits to step-ins or step-ons is the quickness of getting in and out of your bindings. If you’ve ever been out riding with skiers they get off the lift and go. Snowboarders have to take time and strap in. Quickly step your foot in and pull the lever or it clicks in. It saves time and you don’t have to bend over as much. If you range of movement doesn’t allow you to bend over very well these step-in bindings save time and energy. A guy I work with teaches and only has one arm, he uses the Flow system to get him in and out with just one arm. I’ve demoed all types of bindings and really liked the Flow system. When I worked in Ski Patrol I was required to have a step-in system so I could get in and out of my bindings fast so I could work setting up poles, signs and ropes. The Flow Rear Entry Snowboard Binding System is what I used. The binding is compatible with any snowboard boot. The first step-ins required you have the boot and binding. The boots wore out quickly and the system would jam a lot. It was a good idea but had flaws and inefficiencies. Flow made adjustments to it’s rear entry system and has remained one of the best step-in bindings. It has a lot of positive uses. Flow is a great name and having good flow and rhythm is why I chose the name Flowing Freeride for my Online Snowboard School, it’s a big part of good snowboarding. Gatorade Flow has come out as well because basketball is all about flow, rhythm, running downhill, momentum & pace and that’s where the saying comes from “he’s on fire!”

There are many pros to step-in systems so why don’t more snowboarders ride on step-in bindings? The two strap ratchet system is more reliable and is very unlikely to fail. Even if the system brakes you’re still able to get down the mountain and it’s easy to fix. After riding my Flow bindings for a few years the high back broke when I was out on the mountain. I’m pretty sure it was the low clearance when getting on the lift or maybe something else. Always fold your high backs down when getting on the lift because they can break. When my high back broke it was still held together enough to get me down the mountain. Most times when things break on step-in bindings you’re walking down the mountain. You usually can get down the mountain if one of straps breaks with the two strap system. A broken binding can really put a damper on your day. My personal experience was a scary one. I had just bought some new Flow bindings and I was going very fast around a trail with some bumps on it. The binding failed and the rear entry opened while I was going 40 mph. My back foot came out of the binding and I flipped out of control down into a valley out of bounds. Luckily it was full of powder and I was unharmed. I took them back and like the two strap system.

I rode the Burton Step On Bindings this year at the 2018 Rider Rally. A bunch of AASI Instructors get together to share new ideas, concepts, movements, skills, drills and progressions to further improve your snowboard style. I like how Burton is using new technology. The binding had a lot of pros similar to the Flow system. The fall back was I had to have that snowboard boot and I was riding boots a bit too small, so I couldn’t wear my boot. Once I was in I was locked in. I found it a little bit difficult to get locked in everytime and sometimes had to do a good heelside turn to click and lock in. While riding the bindings felt real secure and safe. They were responsive to my movements. It was great that the guys at Burton came out and let us demo their bindings, boots and boards. They’re making tweaks every year to this system to make it better. I snowboarded all day on my Custom Wide 158 Regular Camber Twin Tip Burton Snowboard and really liked the speed and flex of the board. The bindings have a slot to slide your snowboard pants to prevent jamming but on my very last run I couldn’t get out of binding. My pants had jammed into the locking mechanism of the bindings. Luckily I was down at the bottom where the Burton Tent was. I was rescued by the tech taking the binding off with a screwdriver. I applaud these Snowboard Companies for pushing snowboard technologies and hope to see more new ideas next season.

If you get an old setup somewhere like at a pawn shop or yard sale try to get bindings that are two straps since the older technologies aren’t as safe. Snowboarding is expensive but there are ways to get hooked up. I talk about demo days. Do a little research, I talk about this in the snowboard tutorial Learn Demo Snowboards, and find free demo days at snowboard resorts near you. It’s a good idea to take a lesson and watch FFR’s videos to prepare you. You can practice efficiently with Snowboardclass/FlowingFreeride’s techniques so go back to earlier snowboard videos that teach you about equipment and movements. 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 through my local resort or have any questions about Snowboarding.

 

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Backcountry Advance Snowboard Lesson

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This online snowboard lesson will go over Free Snowboard Tips On Backcountry. Other Snowboard Videos on YouTube & Flowing Freeride go over backcountry tips and preparation. Conditions vary depending on the area you’re going out into the backcountry. There will mostly be lots of powder in the backcountry and you can practice backcountry conditions by going off the groomers and riding crud, bumps and powder inbounds at the snowboard resort. Riding deep fresh powder is very similar to surfing the mountain. Our snowboards are wide and have a lot of surface area that allows us to float on the snow. Skiers have adapted snowboard technology and have made powder skis that are much wider than normal skis. The thrill and adrenaline rush from ripping a fresh powder field is something that is astounding and a feeling that can’t be matched! 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 Advance Powder and Heli Boarding 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 Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and learn to snowboard right!

Some tips for powder riding are to keep your nose up and your weight back. I set my bindings back so I have a longer nose when I’m riding deep powder. I still steer with my front foot but my back leg is doing a lot of work. Speed is a big part of riding powder, you need to keep enough speed and stay on steeper slopes when you’re in deep powder so you don’t sink, crash or get stuck. I like to keep my snowboard a little bit more flat in powder. When you lift your edge up too high the edge digs in causing you to lose balance and throw your rhythm off. That’s all it takes to make things go wrong in powder conditions. Stay stacked over your snowboard and what I mean by that is keep your center of mass over the snowboard. If you’re using body movements that aren’t efficient it will be hard to ride powder because there’s more snow to push. It’s usually making the toeside turn. People try to turn the snowboard by counter rotating, chucking their meat, and steering with their upper body. I progress my students through proper body movements and it’s easy to see when snowboarders aren’t using the best movements. You can send footage of your snowboarding to Virtual Pro and I can go over the timing, intensity, duration, edit and add voice over of your movements to improve your riding. Virtual Pro Example. Once you get comfortable keeping you balance start going to steeper terrain and do whatever you want.

I like to call powder conditions “Hero Snow” because you have tons of confidence with soft snow. You can do almost anything with smaller consequences. It’s like jumping into a foam pit. I like to got out in the the backcountry and build huge kickers and jumps. You can shoot out and do big grabs, flips, spins and get huge air and land in soft powder pillows. I lived on Donner Summit near Truckee, CA at Donner Ski Ranch and there’s some awesome places to build jumps in the backcountry. The old stagecoach trail is still there and we’d hike out along that and build kickers on it because it was perfect terrain. It’s steep, flat and then steep making building jumps easy. If you know a place that has a road cut into a mountain that can be a great place to build your kickers. A lot of roads are closed during the winter and aren’t plowed so find some terrain like that if you’re wanting to get your Big Air on. Take caution and scope out the landing. There needs to be plenty of snow. There are obstacles under the snow. Landing on snow is soft so make sure it’s snow and not rocks. In all my freestyle snowboard videos I always say to look before you leap so you can enjoy snowboarding for the rest of your life.

Jumping into deep powder is awe-inspiring and shredding the pow is awesome! I build up my students confidence in powder by taking them down trails that are groomed and have powder on the sides. I tell them to keep their speed and carry that speed into the powder and make just one turn so they can get back on the groomer. If they don’t do well they’re close to the groomed trail and can get out of the powder. Powder get chewed up as people rip through it and that makes it bumpy. If you surf, water ski or wakeboard you know how great it is when the water is glass. It’s easy to turn, the water is soft and the conditions are perfect. When the wind picks up or other boats create waves the water is bumpy similar to when the snow gets chewed. You need to be able to absorb these bumps and when you can you’re a Ripper! The powder will spray and you’ll get face shots. I was in  Ripping Kitzbühel, Austria last year and was getting face shots every turn. It was amazing powder conditions and the people there were great! I stayed inbounds and got tons of powder.

When I go out in the backcountry I take safety seriously. You need to have a beacon, probe, shovel and you should have a buddy. There is a lot to know about going into the backcountry. You need to have some basic skills on how to survey the terrain. Slopes that are over 30º can slide and create avalanches. I go over avalanche safety and teamed up with the Utah Avalanche Center to create a video on Snowboard Avalanche Safety 5 Red Flags. It’s a good idea to take a class and watch FFR’s videos to prepare you. You can practice efficiently with Snowboardclass/FlowingFreeride’s techniques so go back to earlier snowboard videos that teach Steering, Balance, Stance and Body Alignments. 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 through my local resort or have any questions about Snowboarding.

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Advance Online Snowboard Lesson: Heli Boarding

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This online snowboard lesson will go over Snowboard Tutorial On Heli Boarding. You don’t need to be the best snowboarder to go out Heli Boarding. You do however want to be able to snowboard in powder pretty well. Practice riding in powder by hiking or getting up to the resort early on a powder day. Riding powder is a lot like riding on water. You can dig your tail in to slow you down. You still use the same movements like steering with you front foot but fresh light powder is Superman snow where you can do almost anything. I know there have been many times that I’ve chased the storms for the epic powder conditions. 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 Advance Powder and Heli Boarding on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Building Rhythm, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, 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 Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and learn to snowboard right!

The skills you’ll want to have when thinking about Heli Boarding is to be able to ride steep and deep terrain. Steep slopes with deep powder. Resorts will usually have areas to hike. I like to hike inbounds meaning they avalanche patrol but you have to hike to get to that terrain. If you start hiking out of bounds take an avalanche course or look back at some of FFR’s Avalanche & Resort Safety to know what to take with you and what to know in the backcountry. There are skills and body movements you’ll want to be proficient and solid with but also knowledge of slope aspects, snow conditions, slope angles, safety and survival.

The price to go Heli Boarding provides a guide. They’ll take the group out, find the best snow for your ability and keep you safe. Taking a snowboard lesson is like hiring a guide. Folks get to the intermediate level and don’t excel because they don’t have someone there to guide them to the next level. I’ve talked about deep practice or efficient practice and that’s what these snowboard videos are here to do if you can’t hire a coach. If you’re able to afford Heli Boarding then you should take a higher level snowboard lesson every so often to improve your technique and skill efficiency. Some snowboard tips to ride powder is keep your nose up so you don’t dig in, keep your board flatter to make turns so your edge doesn’t dig in, and pump through the powder to keep speed in flatter terrain. You’ll need to be comfortable with speed and have good balance.

Be aware of wild animals because they can charge and be aggressive. When you’re out in numbers usually that extra noise will frighten them off. You don’t want to stop in a avalanche zone or where there are steep slopes around you. Snowmobiles can make the snow icy under the powder. Try to avoid snowmobile tracks or riding lightly over them by unweighting your board. Heli Boarding was one of the best days that I have ever had and if you love snowboarding it’s an experience you should have! You can practice efficiently with  Snowboardclass/FlowingFreeride’s techniques so go back to earlier snowboard videos that teach Backcountry, Steep & Deep Terrain, Moguls & Off Piste Terrain. 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 through my local resort or have any questions about Snowboarding.

 

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Advanced Snowboard Lesson: Dropping Cliffs

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This online snowboard lesson will go over Advance Snowboard Lesson: Dropping Cliffs. When you’re confident enough in your riding to start jumping and hitting cliffs you’ll want to be able to enjoy the adrenaline rush for your whole life. It’s key to scout out your landing and takeoff. There needs to be enough snow to cover the rocks, scouting is the most important thing when hitting cliffs. 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 Advance Cliff Drops on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Building Rhythm, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, 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 Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and learn to snowboard right!

 

Getting air is an awesome feeling. Review other snowboard videos and articles on how to get air and you’ll know that Speed is key and hesitation kills. To prep for cliff drops start pointing your snowboard straight and get a ton of speed. Getting comfortable with speed will launch you off your jumps. Progress up towards bigger and bigger terrain features. There has been many times that I’ve seen riders hesitate or not carry enough speed into the jump or cliff drops and the outcome has been grinding on the rocks and hard crashes. Have good efficient practice by not trying to do too much. If you’re just starting to get speed and little jumps you wouldn’t want to go huck yourself off a ten foot cliff drop. You build up to it. If you’re practicing getting speed going straight for 30 meters you should be getting that goal 80-90% of the time. When you get tired of doing that specific skill go have fun snowboarding your own style. Develop deep efficient practice by choosing skills that are within your ability but you haven’t mastered. This is how you’re going to develop into a better Ripper. Go out and practice getting comfort with speed and carry that speed off jumps.

You’ll get better with speed and to keep speed you’ll want to keep you body alignment straight. When you board leaves the snow if your upper body turn so will your lower body and you want the snowboard to land parallel with the fall line. Keep your upper and lower body aligned with the fall line. Let the tail touch first and then the nose with a flat board and not on it’s edge. It’s good practice to start grabbing your snowboard when you get a few feet of air. Keep the nose up and grab the nose or the toeside edge for your first few grabs. Grabbing the tail points the nose down and it’s not wise to land nose first so keep your tip up. Practice getting lots of speed then ollie moving for and aft on the board creating pop and also jumping. When you start dropping cliffs you’ll need that speed, pop and air to get over the rocks. Pull your legs up while in you’re up in the air and extend them down on your landing to absorb. It’s best to hit cliffs with tons of fresh powder for softer landings.

Develop your snowboard skills up so your fast and comfortable getting air. When we get some super stoked powder it can make you become a superhero! The adrenaline you get from hitting cliffs is an amazing rush and you’ll have bragging rights. “Practice doesn’t make perfect perfect practice makes perfect” so build your skills up with perfect practice. You can practice efficiently with  Snowboardclass/FlowingFreeride’s techniques so go back to earlier snowboard videos that teach Speed, Jumps and Big Air so you drop cliffs safely. 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 through my local resort or have any questions about Snowboarding.

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Learn To Snowboard Trees & Steep Obstacles

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This online snowboard lesson will go over Snowboarding Trees, Gates & Steep Obstacles. Navigating through trees and obstacles can be a great reward to get into premo terrain. You should practice turning through trees on an open trail and putting down little like pieces of candy or a bunch of pennies or even your clothes like gloves. Setup a little course or go into the Nastar course if your resort has one. Running a course with gates will really help you get into a rhythm of when to turn. 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 Advance Snowboard Carving on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Building Rhythm, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, 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, & Snowboarding Moguls Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and learn to snowboard right!

Be able to ride well through obstacles will get you into terrain that not a lot of people go into so the snow stays fresh and better longer. If you get real good you can start competing in races like slalom and giant slalom where there are gates setup. The big key is to start your turn several feet above the obstacle. If I start my turn near the obstacle I will pass it and might have to avoid another tree or gate. You want to make your turn early and to be perpendicular with the fall line as you pass the tree so you’re ready to dodge the next set of obstacles. In steeper terrain you don’t want to make the mistake of turning late and then it’s too late to make any adjustments. Turning early and going across the fall line allows you also to turn up the mountain so you can find a better powder lines!

I like to say turn 8-10 feet before the objects that are in the way of your line. Find out what resorts host a Nastar course or any type of race course. The thing is though with most course they are setup for skiers with tall poles. Snowboarder race courses are setup with a short pole and then a long one. This is so we don’t get smacked in the face on our toeside turns. When I’m on skier gates I punch the gate when I’m doing my toeside turns. Be safe and where a helmet when entering gates, trees or terrain with lots of obstacles. We turn faster by using Snowboardclass/FlowingFreeride’s techniques so go back to earlier snowboard videos that teach turning, steering and rhythm if you’re having problems getting through trees. 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 through my local resort or have any questions about Snowboarding.

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Advance Snowboard Carving Surfer Turns & Grab Carves

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This online snowboard lesson will go over Advance Snowboard Carving: Surfer Turns & Grab Carves. Surfer Turns can really lock you into your carves. When you watch Advance Surfers ride waves they grab their board with one hand and touch the wave wall with the other. I came up with Surfer Turns after I started grabbing my snowboard while riding. This is Advance Carving and you should go back and watch Basic Carving: Circle Drills and have that down before attempting Surfer Turns. 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 Advance Snowboard Carving on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Building Rhythm, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, Active Passive Absorption, Upper/Lower Body Separation, Basic Carving: Circle Drills, Basics For Freestyle Features & Snowboarding Moguls Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com, Take FFR Placement Quiz, take a look at Our Blog for more free content, and learn to snowboard right!

Carving terrain should be nice and groomed with wide open trails. Be sure to Look Uphill to see if there’s traffic from other snowboarders and skiers coming down. Carving is when you’re using your sidecut and eliminate the pivot/rotation movement in your snowboard and body. You’re balanced on your edge with no skid. Carving can make you such a better and efficient rider. Grabbing your board makes you more solid. When watching freestyle you’ll notice that riders grab their snowboards for style points but also it keeps them solid and in balance. Surfer Turns and Grab Carves start to get you bending and flexing to have better flow and rhythm. It’s safer to grab while your on the ground and then you can progress up to grabs while in the air. This drill helps with your carving and speed but also with your freestyle. It looks pretty cool and helps your personal snowboard style.

When we start carving we’re following the same path, our front foot follows the same path as our back foot, the tail follows the nose. I’ve given some drills like the Circle Turns to help you start carving but now we’re moving past L2 Rider and accelerating up two L3 ripper. We want to do carve turns while we’re grabbing our board! Really the only couple grabs that you can do the whole time on toe and heel switching edges without smashing your fingers is either a nose or a tail grab. We can start out by just doing some turns that don’t have to be carves yet but trying to make some turns while you’re trying to grab your board. Reach down try to grab your tail, try to grab your nose, try to grab your toeside edge or your heelside edge. You’ll know that if you’re making S-turns you can only grab your nose or your tail. I know that’s yoga really helps out if you’re not being able to flex down and grab your board maybe get out and do some stretching and do some yoga before you’re attempting to do these grabs. After you’re getting a little bit more flexible there attempt grabs. The big key is being flexible you need to be able to reach down and grab the board. Take a run and do some do some turns where you’re grabbing your board, that’s the first thing you want to do. Take a run and try to try to make turns while you’re grabbing your board.

After grab turns get back into flowing carves. You’ll want to go warm up by taking a run where you’re carving on every turn. Get into that flow of ripping carves down the mountain. After you’re feeling good start to reach down and grab your snowboard while you’re carving. Do the heelside and toeside first and then nose and tail. Progress into multiple grabs and start adding some style by putting your hand in the air or in the snow while grabbing your snowboard. Lock in your carve at the end of your turn by pulling up your edge with your hand. Once you’ve got that start to grab your snowboard right as you transition edges or at the beginning of your turn and see how long you can Rip Surfer Turns and Grab Carves. when I’m doing a toeside turn I have to really reach around and grab that heelside edge it’s a little bit more difficult then grabbing your heelside but it really looks like you’re surfing!

Practicing Surfer Turns helps to develop flexible body movements for Alpine Riders but also Freestyle Riders. Being able to reach down and grab your board is a big part of moving from L2 Rider to L3 Ripper. It may take a while to get this down. Remember it’s all about flexibility so if you’re have difficulties grabbing your board do some yoga and workout at the gym. Hope to see you out on the slopes ripping Surfer Turns & Grab Carves! 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 have any questions about Snowboarding.