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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Snowboard Dolphin Turns

Awe-Inspiring Snowboarding Videos, Blake Tholen Clark Certified Snowboard Instructor, Flowing Freeride Online Snowboard School, Free Snowboarding Lessons, From Your Snowboard Coach, Snowboarding Tips, , , , , ,

This online snowboard lesson will go over Advance Snowboard Lesson: Dolphin Turns. Dolphin Turns can really help you develop fore aft movements on your snowboard. Developing these movements will really help you improve in skill in all parts of your riding. If you’ve got this down you’re moving dynamically with good 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 ‘Snowboarding Backcountry’ 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, Basics For Freestyle Features & 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!

Building up to Dolphin Turns takes some time. It’s a progression that may take you one run or all season to master. You’re using the board efficiently. The snowboard has camber and shape to it. The sidecut is the edge radius shape, usually 8-10 Meters in radius. Camber is the shape of the board from tail to tip. Depending on the type of camber (regular, hybrid, reverse) when you move fore and aft on your snowboard you can pop off the nose and tail creating ollies and nollies. It’s super fun once you’re timing is down. It leads into riding the whole mountain better. In freestyle it opens the door to pop off terrain features or on flat trails you pop more to start spinning. In Freeride you’ll be able to move fore aft to absorb moguls and bumps that get you to Powder Fields and you cruise down the mountain faster. In Alpine riding you’ll be able to pop from edge to edge quicker to really help with the racecourse to improve speed and skill.

Start by making turns putting all your weight on your nose and then your tail. Feel the snowboard with your each leg by flexing one and extending the other so that they’re not doing the same thing. Think of them as independent. The snowboard should start coming off of the snow. Next you’ll start lifting the nose and tail off the snow down the fall line and then across it. You’re not making turns here you’re just balancing on your front foot and then back. You should be feeling the board bending. Now start to lift your front foot off the snow as you makes turns and then your back foot.  Lift your front leg off the snow then your back leg. It’s an active movement that takes strength and good balance. See how high you can get the snowboard off the snow and to really bend it. When you get to the apex pop of your tail by extending your back leg. This will get the board to be straight again. Another way to think about it is the snowboard is a spring and when you pull it back it builds up power and when you let go it will come back with lots of force. This is what I’m trying to get you to feel in your snowboard by attempting these Dolphin Turns.

We’re bending the board like a bow and arrow. When you pull the bow back it bends and when you let go of the string it pops and shoot the arrow at high speeds and long distances. We’re bending our snowboard like a bow, creating that energy when we pop of the nose or tail. We need to finish our movement by popping off the tail and landing on the nose which is a ollie or pop off nose and land on tail nollie. Ollies and nollies is when we are moving fore aft and we are popping off our boards! Now ollie down the fall line and then across it on both toeside and heelside edges. Now put those movements, intensity and timing into your turns. You’re fore at the beginning of your turn and aft at the end. You’re turns should be symmetrical or the same shape on both heelside and toeside. It will happen naturally if you’re using the right efficient movements that you’ll start to pop to your new edge or at the transition of your turn. Soon you’ll be developing good rhythm to pop from edge to edge Ripping Dolphin Turns!

Dolphin turns are fun to do and a good workout. These types of movements are required of snowboarders to be AASI Level 3 Full Certified. Practicing Dolphin Turns helped me develop efficient body movements to get my AASI L3 in Snowboarding. Moving fore and aft on your snowboard opens the door to so many options in your riding style. Get out on the slopes and rip it up doing Dolphin Turns! You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, 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!

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Advanced Snowboard Lesson On Safety Devices

Awe-Inspiring Snowboarding Videos, Blake Tholen Clark Certified Snowboard Instructor, Flowing Freeride Online Snowboard School, Free Snowboarding Lessons, From Your Snowboard Coach, Snowboarding Tips, , , , , ,

 

This online snowboard lesson will go over Snowboard Safety Devices in Backcountry. The most important device is a way to track and find you. Bring a beacon, probe and shovel when going into the backcountry but your phone can be a survival tool as well. 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 ‘Snowboarding Backcountry’ on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Snowboarding Moguls, Off Piste, Slope Faces, Snowboard Weather Patterns, Dropping Cliffs, Steep Chute Snowboarding, 5 Red Flags of Avalanches, Learning Snowboard Avalanche Conditions, & Heli Boarding.  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!

There are apps for your phone that can find phones within a couple of feet based off of GPS. I’ve thought about developing an app for this very purpose. That is how powerful our phones are becoming. They not only allow you to communicate for help but also find your riding partner. You need to have a shovel and probe. Using your board or hands to shovel could waste precious time and you need the probe to find where to dig. The beacon is used to send out a signal and to receive. You need to practice using this equipment. Go bury your beacon and then have your mates go out and use their tracking beacon to find and dig out the hidden beacon. Most resorts that have backcountry access, have a practice course to use your beacons.

Flowing FreeRide Teamed up with the Utah Avalanche Center to promote Avalanche Safety 5 Red Flags of Avalanches. It really helps if you go out and take an avalanche class to get experience digging snow pits to see the snow layers. You’ll see what type of snow will likely slide or faceted snow with variation in the temperature not bonding well and fails causing slides. You’ll get basic skills on how to survey the terrain in the backcountry, what makes good snow pack and dangers. You’ll study about slope faces or aspects and get your splitboard out to skin up the slopes.

Walkie-Talkies are a good way to communicate on the mountains to beat bad cell phone service. Have the right equipment when heading out of bounds or in the backcountry. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, 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.

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Learn How To Snowboard Getting Big Air Step 1

Awe-Inspiring Snowboarding Videos, Blake Tholen Clark Certified Snowboard Instructor, Flowing Freeride Online Snowboard School, Free Snowboarding Lessons, From Your Snowboard Coach, , , , , ,

This online snowboard lesson will go over Getting Big Air In Snowboarding Step 1. Your biggest key to getting big air is your speed. 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 ‘Big 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, Basics For Freestyle Features & 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 Ride Right!

We want to break up the steps to going off jumps and features into four steps: The Approach, Take-Off, Maneuver & Landing-ATML. The first step is the most important part of hitting kickers and getting Big Air! Speed kills, don’t hesitate be confident with your acceleration. You need to be comfortable going straight and fast for at least 5-10 meters or 10-30 feet. An excellent drill to practice is the flat board drill. This is where you keep your board flat and straight. You’ll pick up a lot of momentum and then you do a quick stop/power stop. You practice two skills here. You’re carrying speed and you’re doing a freestyle movement using a lot of hip rotation to stop. Do your power stops on both toeside, heelside and fakie to improve your skill. Build up on your speed also going flat and straight for longer and longer distances going right down the fall line.

This drill is all about your approach to your feature. When you first start going off jumps you want your snowboard flat and straight, same with your landing. Jumps and kickers have ramps that go up the mountain so you need a lot of momentum just to get back up them. Most people make the mistake of going too slow and don’t even have enough speed to go off the kicker and get stuck. Practice these drills outside of the park first until you’re able to go straight and flat with lots of speed. Flat board drills build your confidence to carry speed and to be able to stop quickly. It’s a freestyle movement that’s used to make spinning tricks. Upper/Lower Body Separation shows you the type of movement you want to practice if you’re not quite getting how to stop quickly.

Step 1 to getting Big Air is to practice being flat and straight with lots of speed. Get out on some groomed wide terrain that doesn’t have a lot of traffic to build your confidence going fast. Go into the park and start on small jumps and progress up. If you’re not fast enough pull out of the park and practice more Flat Snowboard Drills outside and then go back in to get some Big Air! You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, 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.

 

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Prevent Injuries With Workouts For Snowboarding

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I like going to a gym with access to multiple types of workouts and equipment to be at my best for the snowboard season. I get my heart rate up by doing cardio for at least 30-60 minutes, then I do strengthening for 30-60 minutes. Some exercises I recommend are elliptical, stationary bike, swimming and yoga. My go to exercise is the elliptical machine. Elliptical is very minimal impact on your joints, you burn a lot of calories and it works your whole body. It’s great if you’ve had injuries because of the low impact to help heal your joints. It gets blood flowing through your whole body. Your back is straight so if you’ve had issues with your back the elliptical keeps your body in a natural position. The stationary bike is another good option and low impact but it only works your legs and you’re sitting so it’s not as good for your back. Swimming is excellent because while in water you float and no impact. A lot of physical therapist have you exercise in water first after injuries because you’re floating and no weight on your joints. Yoga can count as both cardio and strengthening plus it really helps with flexibility. You really want to be flexible as a snowboarder to Prevent Injury By Being Snowboard Fit. If you’re tight and stiff you just don’t move as well. If you fall while snowboarding you don’t want to fight the fall and spread it out. If you’re tense you’re more likely to fight the fall and absorb the impact on one area of your body.

For strengthening I use free weights if I can rather than machine weights. Don’t do the same workout every time. Alternate your workouts. Do lower body and legs one day. Squatting, deadlifts and calf raisers are exercises I do on leg days with weights. Glute Med Activation and Hip Abductions are exercises that really help snowboarders. This is the muscle that stabilizes your inward rotation of your knee. Upper body days include bench press, incline, decline, shoulder press and a multiple of dumbbell exercises. Core Workout days I use the cable pulley machine to do cable core rotations, cable chest press, cable rows etc., I do a lot balancing on one leg while exercising with the cable pulley machine to increase core strength. There are a variety of plank positions as well.

I recommend to workout 3-4 times a week to stay Snowboard Fit. Any sport that you’re on a board will really help your riding improve in the off season. Wakeboarding is an excellent activity in the off season because you’re on a board looking sideways, you have bindings just like snowboarding and your stance is almost identical to snowboarding. A lot of the body movements are similar so that helps with muscle memory. Skateboarding, Longboarding & Surfing you’re on a board sideways either left foot forward, regular stance or right foot forward, goofy stance just like snowboarding but with no bindings so it’s harder to stay on your board. Mountain biking is great exercise when going uphill and downhill has a lot of similarities and physics to snowboarding. Hiking is perfect because unless you get a lift up the mountain you’re hiking and you hike a lot when you’re in the backcountry snowboarding.

The most common injuries while snowboarding are upper body injuries especially the wrist. You’re balancing on your snowboard. If you lose your balance the first thing to hit the ground is usually your hand or shoulder. A closed fist is stronger than an opened one. Try to punch the snow rather than slapping it and spread your fall out like a baseball player sliding into home. Don’t absorb the fall with one arm or leg. If you’re out of control get low and if you can, fall up the mountain. Toeside edge would be my knees hit first, then stomach then arms. Heelside edge lift your arms up and let your butt hit, then back then arms. If you fall down the mountain gravity pushes and has more force. If you fall against gravity or uphill you’re balancing out that force more. Try to have your head up the mountain as well when you fall. In steeper terrain when you fall you keep going down and might hit obstacles if you don’t stop. If you fall you want to get your board perpendicular to the slope, rollover to your butt and your head uphill. This is called the Self Arrest Stop. You have two edges; heelside and toeside. You want to keep your weight on your uphill edge because if you put your weight on your downhill edge you’ll ‘catch your edge’ causing a forceful whipping action that can cause dangerous injuries. Some falls happen so fast that you just react but if you know these tips and practice these techniques it’s less likely you’ll get injured.

Skiers use poles and one ski on each foot. They face down the mountain and not sideways like a snowboarder. Unless you’ve done a board sport or a sport where you’re sideways like batting in baseball being sideways may feel awkward at first. Muscle memory is already there for skiers because their bodies are positioned just like walking or running. It’s easier for them to keep their balance with 2 skis and 2 poles. That’s why when snowboarders stop they usually go to their knees or butts. Like a bike when you’re stopped it’s difficult to balance without putting your foot down. You need momentum to keep your balance. Since skiers have 2 skis they do get crossed up and the common injury for skiers are their knees and legs.

Snowboarding and skiing aggressively burns about 1,000 calories/hour and is very healthy. It’s so much fun that it doesn’t seem like work. Snowboarders leg muscles increase especially quads and butt muscles. As a beginner you use a ton of upper body because you’re getting up a lot and may not know how to strap in your back foot while standing up. Once you get better you’ll be using more efficient movements and will be able to go on more difficult trails. When there hasn’t been much snow Snowboarding Moguls will give you more of a workout than just riding flat groomers. Bumpy terrain causes you to use much more movement in your legs. You’re Active Versus Passive Absorption. You’re legs are absorbing independently. Your front leg may be bent/flexed while your back leg is extended. You’re more active moving fore and aft on your snowboard. Racing gates is another great way to snowboard more aggressive and burn more calories. Not every resort has a race course setup and it usually is an extra fee but you’ll feel the burn when racing. When you snowboard powder there are less bumps but you’re moving a lot more snow which is a lot more work. You may hike to get to the good Pow or splitboard up the mountain which is an excellent workout. My legs burn after a day of powder snowboarding or hiking. You don’t always get powder conditions so if you’re looking to get more of a workout while snowboarding hit the bumps, race course or hike.

We collaborated with Winter Olympians, Winter Athletes & Pros in this  article on how to get in shape for the snowboard season by MakeItBetter. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, 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.

 

 

 

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Learn How To Develop Dynamic Snowboard Movements & Rhythm

Awe-Inspiring Snowboarding Videos, Blake Tholen Clark Certified Snowboard Instructor, Flowing Freeride Online Snowboard School, Free Snowboarding Lessons, From Your Snowboard Coach, , ,

A great way to Develop Dynamic Snowboard Movements & Rhythm is to listen to music while you’re riding. When listening to music you’re Flowing down the mountain. I like to use music to move to the beat and as you get better you can turn to the beat. Go out with and try different headphones to see what you like to snowboard with. I like to use earbuds but I only put one in so my other ear hears what’s going on around me. You can have noise canceling headphones and let them just be around your neck because you need to be able to hear other snowboarders/skiers for safety. I recommend watching and mastering these snowboard videos to help develop the right movements to be more dynamic; Beginner Snowboard Lesson on Steering, Toeside Heelside Stance, How to Snowboard: Balance Twist,  Beginner Snowboard Stance, Active Passive Absorption, How To Snowboard Moguls & Off Piste.

We’re focusing on rhythm while we snowboard. It’s really going to help us develop our
cross under movements & dynamic turns. I like to do is have people stand on their boards statically in a place where the boards aren’t moving in a  flat area. Then I have them start thinking about a piece of music that they know or even better listen to some music that way you can start getting a beat. Then I have them move up and down flex and extend to a beat that way they can start
getting into a better rhythm because they’re listening to something. Then I build on that bouncing to the beat as we’re riding. Riding around up and down to the rhythm. After I feel like the students or student has developed a bit of rhythm, I start building up onto it to progress.

After I’ve been riding a little bit and I’m going up and down, I’ll try to have them turn to every three or four beats, then two or three beats, then every other beat and finally to turn at every beat. I want the students to develop rhythm where they’re actually turning to the beat. So I build up. At
first start statically start getting some rhythm and moving up and down and then I start riding, still thinking about that beat and developing rhythm. When I feel like they’ve got that rhythm down I have them start turning to the beat.
When you’re out riding if you have some type of music you can be listening to it but you don’t want to be putting music in both ears so you can still hear or maybe have speakers around your neck that way you can still hear everything that’s going on around you. You can be having fun using this
drill to develop some rhythm and also being safe by not having both of your ears covered with music.

You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, 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.

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How To Snowboard Moguls & Bumps

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Learn how to snowboard better by developing your skills to snowboard moguls. Moguls are formed by people turning in the same place and pushing the snow into mounds or bumps. The terrain is steeper intermediate to expert (Intermediate:Blue trails in America/Red trails in Europe & Expert: Black Trails for America & Europe) and that means you need to turn more to regulate your speed. The good thing is that there’s a pattern and if you can develop Flow & Rhythm you’ll improve your riding and rip through the bumps. This online snowboard lesson will go over How To Snowboard Moguls. 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 steeper bumpy terrain on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching and mastering these L1 RAW snowboard videos before riding Steeper Off Piste Terrain; Beginner Snowboard Lesson on Steering, Toeside Heelside Stance, How to Snowboard: Balance Twist & Beginner Snowboard Stance & these L2 L3 snowboard videos Active Passive Absorption, Better Rhythm & Off Piste. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at Our Blog for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

Find a flat area so that you will stand still. Strap both feet into your bindings and start lifting your front leg off the snow. It’s like you’re making a wheelie on a bike. Now lift your back leg off the snow. Your moving fore and aft on your board. Notice your core or center of mass is moving fore and aft. When I lift up my front foot my core shifts back and I’m putting a lot of my weight on my back leg and the opposite occurs when I lift up my back leg. It’s not just lifting my leg up I’m shifting my center of mass fore and aft along my snowboard. When students tell me they want to ride steeper terrain and to get off piste, before seeing them ride I know that they probably DON’T move fore and aft on their snowboard. I have a lot of drills to get people to move fore/aft in our Full Course but try these movements stationary. Once you feel comfortable doing that standing still start snowboarding and try lifting your nose and tail off the snow. When you master that find a trail that has moguls on one side and groomed on the other that way you can practice the bumps and go on the groomer if you’re not getting it.

We’ll progress through the moguls. We don’t start making tight zipper line turns at first. We traverse across the bumps going over 4 or 5 lifting our legs up and down one leg at a time. As I come up to the mogul I lean back unweighting my front foot and lift up then as I’m going over it I lean forward unweighting my back foot and lift up my back foot. You’re moving fore and aft on your snowboard. Do this on both heelside and toeside edges. I want to turn on the top third or bottom third of the bump. Don’t turn in the trench because it’s harder icy snow and our snowboards are much wider than skies. As you progress go over 2 or 3 bumps and then 1 or 2 until you’re able to go right down the fall line.

If you’re not riding bumps well practice these movements and drills a lot until you get the muscle memory down. Terrain is a big part of practicing because moguls can vary in size and now steep the slope is are factors to difficulty. Having personal coaching really helps. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, 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.

 

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How To Snowboard: Active Passive Absorption

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At Level 3 Ripper you’re an advanced snowboarder and are using advanced movements that help you absorb the many obstacles that exist out on the mountain. This online snowboard lesson will go over Active Passive Absorption. Get to know what type of absorption is best in certain situations. We have some videos to prepare for advanced snowboard movements on our YouTube Page. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step. I recommend watching and mastering these free Youtube L3 Ripper snowboard videos before riding advanced absorption movements; Building Rhythm, Advanced Snowboarding Getting Air, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, & Snowboarding Moguls. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

We want to explore different movements once we become advanced Level 3 Rippers. Take two ways of doing something and get more minds thinking how to make yourself a better snowboarder. I take a lot of my snowboard training into other sports like mountain biking. When you’re on terrain with lots of rollers you can shoot off or jump off a roller and skip some and that would be more like Passive Absorption or keep your wheels on the ground and go over each roller Active Absorption. On a Snowboard X course or Motor X course you find rollers and jumps one after another. The riders can actively absorb each bump or use them to shoot off or passive absorb. Knowing when to use each movement can be beneficial and improve your riding.

To practice the Active Passive Absorption Drill find a trail with a lot of bumps, moguls or rollers on them. Go through practicing just Active Absorption first. Keep you board on the snow. Use your legs to really absorb everything. You’ll really need to be bending your ankles, knees, hips and spine to stay low. The animation in the video shows this. You move fore and aft on your board. As your front leg comes to the bump actively lift up your foot and then really press down as you go over it and repeat with your back leg. This is more movement and can give you a work out. We move our legs independently pushing them up and down. Flexing and extending very aggressively using our legs as shock absorbers.

Now go through the same run with a lot of bumps, moguls or rollers on them. Practice Passive Absorption now on every bump that is safe. When getting air we want to consider a down hill landing and not an uphill landing slope. We start getting air and shoot off the jumps. There may be three rollers in a row and you shoot off the first shoot over the second and land on the third. Then go through the same run and blend your Active and Passive Absorption and see how that drill helps you become a more versatile rider. It will help you to improve your quickness and speed in bumpy terrain and if you’re really good you’ll be able to compete in Boarder X competitions. Our Full Course goes step by step through drills to build your skills if competing is the level of snowboarder you want to become.

When you’re out riding and you want to practice some movement and skills to improve your riding think about the Active Passive Absorption Drill. You can watch our other snowboard tutorials to improve your riding. The snow has already started falling so get snowboard fit and start practicing today. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Start snowboarding right at the beginning and you’ll excel quickly. Avoid injuries by using flowingfreerdie.com & snowboardclass.com snowboard video tutorials.

 

 

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Learn to Snowboard Chutes and Couloirs

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Once you get to be an advanced snowboarder L3 Ripper you’ll be riding the whole mountain with every type of terrain. Riding steep terrain can be super stoke especially when you’re using efficient movements and alignments. This online snowboard lesson will go over Steep Chute Snowboarding. A chute or couloir is a narrow corridor created by obstacles such as rocks or trees. We have some videos to prepare for steeps on our YouTube Page. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step. I recommend watching and mastering these L3 Ripper snowboard videos before riding Chutes; Building Rhythm, Upper/Lower Body Separation, Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend, Snowboarding Steeps & Alignments & Self Arrest Stops. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

You need to be very comfortable making very quick turns while keeping your board on the ground. It you have to jump turn you loose your friction or your brakes which is your edge. In steep terrain you gain speed fast so keep your board on the snow using more rotation movements and really twist your snowboard so much that your front foot is on the opposite edge of your back foot when transitioning edges. It’s also recommended being comfortable going straight and fast because some chutes are so narrow you might not be able to turn. We build up to these movements step by step. If your body isn’t perpendicular to the slope you’re leaning back. Your board, knees, hips & shoulders should be parallel to the slope. If you’re not comfortable riding steep terrain go back and practice these body movements and skills.

Go out and find steep terrain with a natural line such as trees or use the rope on the side. Draw a line in the snow that is about 5-10 feet wide. This creates a perfect chute simulation. I like to create a really narrow portion by drawing the line to be only 2-3 feet wide for a small portion of where I’m doing my chute drill. Steep Chute Snowboarding has examples and animations showing this drill. The goal is to be making all your turns within this corridor and keeping your board on the ground while turning, no jump turns. After you feel comfortable doing this go out and find real chutes/couloirs on the mountain. Remember a chute can be created by many things like rocks or trees but sometimes are formed by snow just being pushed around. This drill can help you get out of tight situations. I’ve been snowboarding before where the only way down is a chute so having this skill in your tool belt can save your snowboard from damage or prevent injury to yourself.

Experiment with your riding style and technique and you’ll be riding chutes like a pro. This video focused on riding steep narrow terrain and making quick turns. Remember the basics steer with your front foot and the back foot follows. You’ll want to be very dynamic in your riding and if you’re not watch Snowboard Dynamic Flex & Extend and get this movement dialed in. You can signup to get access to all of our snowboard lessons, study guides, text books, glossary, tests and direct feedback from your coach. Start snowboarding right at the beginning and you’ll excel quickly. Avoid injuries by using flowingfreerdie.com & snowboardclass.com snowboard video tutorials.

 

 

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Self Arrest Emergency Snowboard Stops in Steeps

Awe-Inspiring Snowboarding Videos

When you’re snowboarding in steep terrain you need to be able to stop in case you fall because if we don’t stop ourselves something else will like a tree or rock. This online snowboard lesson will go over the Self Arrest Drill for emergency stopping in steeps. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

We need to get the board in front of you perpendicular to the fall line and facing down the mountain. If I’m turned around backwards and I try to stop on my toeside that can lead into compressing and doing a backflip which can be even worse. You’ll be on your heels sitting down and have your head up the slope. If you fall any other way you’ll want to get back to this position as quickly as possible.

If you fall and you’re on your back but you’re going down head first use one arm/elbow as a pivot to get the board in front and your head back up the mountain. If you want visual demonstration take a look at our snowboard video. If you fall on your stomach head first you’ll need to roll over and then pivot yourself back around so you’re on your heels with your head up the mountain. Similar to if you were to fall out of a boat in a river, you want your feet and legs in front so they can absorb/push rocks. You don’t want your head to hit obstacles first you want your legs to.

Practice this on steep terrain that flattens at the end. While you practice this emergency snowboard stop in steeps if you’re unable to get around and stop the terrain will safely stop you. Choosing a safe area for this is key. You don’t want to be out of control. The terrain should be very steep but flatten so you’d naturally stop if you couldn’t by using the Self Arrest Drill. Knowing how to do this skill could save your life and keep others safe. Snowboard safety is huge so learn to snowboard online with our full online snowboard lessons at flowingfreeride.com. We take you step by step to progress your snowboard skill and knowledge at your pace and level. We build your snowboard skills up. Snowboarding for beginners, for an intermediate snowboarder or for advanced rippers. This is one of our Drills sections for L3 Ripper. 

 

 

Dynamic Snowboarding Flex & Extension

Awe-Inspiring Snowboarding Videos

We need to be able to flex & extend when we snowboard. This online snowboard lesson will go over Dynamic Flex & Extension. We want to develop some rhythm while we ride. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right. If we’re just flexing the whole time we ride we’ll wear ourselves out. Just flex your fist and the longer you stay flexed the more all of your muscles start flexing. Your whole body will start flexing and shaking so you need to relax or extend and then flex. This gives your body some rest. It we stay extended or relaxed the whole time we wouldn’t stop so we need to use these movements together.

Now a basic movement is to switch edges when your board is parallel to the fall line. We start our turn up/extended and compress/flex at the end of the turn. Try doing some of these basic turns so that you’re comfortable and get into rhythm. Look at our online snowboard lesson video. After you’ve got the basic movement down let’s get try to mix it up with more dynamic movements. This is a more advanced movement so unless you’re an advanced snowboarder stick to the basic movements/turns. Dynamic turns are where you change edge perpendicular to the fall line and we start our turns flexed and then extend through them. Again take a look at our online snowboard lesson video on Dynamic Flex & Extension.

This snowboard lesson can be practiced on groomed blue terrain at first and then progress to harder terrain. It will take some time to get into the proper timing and rhythm. If you can get the basic snowboard turns down then you’re halfway there. This rhythm will transfer into other areas of the mountain like in bumps or moguls because those are created by folks turning in the same place. They have rhythm so the snow gets pushed into the same spot. I recommend staying on groomers until you have developed dynamic turns and basic turns. I use a lot of dynamic flex & extension in the moguls but I like to blend my movements because I like use which movements are the most efficient for the terrain I’m in.

Once you’ve got these turns and movements down you’ll look better. Snowboarding is big on style. A lot of the competitions that I competed in had a component of the points or judging that included style points. My mates & I that are Level 3 Rippers can tell very quickly what level someone is just by seeing them make a few turns and these movements will add more tools to your tool belt of snowboard skills. We have a full online snowboard school that goes through every step to progress along without skipping important skills at flowingfreeride.com This is one of our Drills sections for L3 Ripper.