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.

Intermediate Snowboard Equipment- Boots & Bindings

April 27, 2017Awe-Inspiring Snowboarding Videos, Free Snowboarding Lessons, From Your Snowboard Coach, Snowboarding TipsBlake Clark

You’re flowing to your snowboard freestyle rhythm, carving, spinning, Flowingfreeride.com, Snowboardclass.com and you’re an Level 2 RIDER. Flowingfreeride is here to take you further than an intermediate snowboarder. It’s time to buy your equipment. Look at our previous article on the intermediate snowboard:
http://flowingfreeride.com/intermediate-snowboarder-equipment-the-snowboard/

Boots

Snowboard boots need to be comfortable and as an intermediate snowboarder you’ve tried some different makes and models of boots. They need to be the right size. Your heel should not move much when you stand on your toes. I like the laceless system. You don’t have to deal with tying and you get a better fit but check out snowboard reviews and go with what you like. There are many snowboard companies out there so it’s nice to go to the shop and try them on. Go with what feels best to you. If you like a medium flex you might want a soft boot. Stiff boots usually last longer but take a longer time to break in and don’t allow for as much forgiveness. The snowboard boot is the first piece of equipment you should get. Snowboard boots like most shoes start molding to your foot and are custom. Renting a board and bindings is simple. Boots are more unique to every person. A lot of people like foot beds. The shape of your foot varies from snowboarder to rider. Some feet are arched and others flat or a mixture. Boots are easy to transport as well. As an intermediate snowboarder you should have your own boots.

Bindings

Stepping it up as an intermediate snowboarder you purchase your bindings. Most bindings will be fine to put on any board. There is a base plate that will need to be used. Burton makes their boards with two or three holes instead of four with other boards. This makes different pattern base plates to fit the the bindings onto the board. I prefer the standard four holes base plate. I feel that my binding is more secure to the board and I don’t have to tighten the screws. I like the ratchet system with a toe strap and ankle strap. There are binding systems that click you in or something similar but I highly caution these systems due to safety flaws or you have to wear only a certain boot. These systems can get jammed up with snow and powder so they can release on accident and cause just that a crash. Try different setups out by visiting a demo center where you can rent high end equipment and there’s the option to put the rent towards buying the deck. The highback is on the heelside and should be able to adjust the angle of lean. Make sure you get the right size of snowboard binding that matches your boot size.

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.

Intermediate Snowboarder Equipment – The Snowboard

April 3, 2017Awe-Inspiring Snowboarding Videos, Free Snowboarding Lessons, Snowboard Gear Reviews, Snowboarding TipsBlake Clark

By the time you have got off the bunny hill and are able to keep some rhythm you’ll want to get a snowboard that is specific to you and your riding style. I recommend a snowboard with some shape or camber. You may want a board with a deep side cut. Possibly you might want beveled edges or a hard stiff snowboard or soft flexible snowboard. You may not know what you want. You can go into a shop and tell them your style. They can size the board to your body while you are there. Usually the more you weigh/taller the bigger the snowboard. The snowboard plays such a big part of how you ride especially as an intermediate snowboarder.

This is where you get to experiment and explore. Spend more time out on the mountain riding. I usually will buy a set up after researching what technology is offered by the boots, snowboard, bindings and price. Demo shops are convenient if you don’t know what you want to ride for sure. By the time you spend as much time riding as me you know exactly how to set up everything. Your stance, angles, beveled edges, forward lean will change from the type of riding you’re doing or conditions on the mountain. There are reference alignments or standards that can be used to refer to for the most efficient movements and performances. You are unique so log some more days in the mountains riding different conditions and terrain.

Most mountains/resorts will have a snowboard demo day where several companies come out and let you ride the snowboards for free. This saves money no matter what level you are; Beginner Snowboarder, Intermediate Snowboarder or Advanced Snowboarder. Demo snowboards, ride your friends snowboard or borrow one. My mates and I will sometimes switch our snowboard setups for a run if our boots fit the bindings. This is great if you’re a new rider getting into snowboarding because you get to test the different snowboard technologies out there.

Park/Freestyle Rider

March 11, 2017Awe-Inspiring Snowboarding Videos, Blake Tholen Clark Certified Snowboard Instructor, Snowboard Gear ReviewsBlake Clark

A park is an area step-up on the mountain that has features used to practice tricks and freestyle snowboarding. Most parks will have some of the following: boxes, rails, jumps, handrails, vehicles, stairs, bumps, rollers, half-pipes, berms, and/or other features. Some parks will be set up for the Boarder X, which is a race course with features, or more freestyle like pipe, jumps and rails. Most mountains that have good parks have a lot of mild slopes with no double fall lines. Parks are set up on terrain similar to beginner slopes like green or mild blue trails. Of course, more extreme parks use very steep slopes. Park riders may not care about the rest of the mountain trails and many areas specialize just in parks and pipe. They ride freestyle snowboards which are designed for freestyle riding (soft flex, twin tip, detuned edges). You want to be an intermediate snowboarder before going into the park.

Where To Find Parks?

If you’re a park snowboarder, do your research, since a lot of resort areas either specialize in great parks or great trails and steep slopes. When you can find a resort that has both you’re in a prime spot. But, in general, it is unusual for a mountain to have great parks and pipe along with great free ride trails. If they have a great park, they may not have as many black trails or steeps. For instance, Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado has great parks/pipe along with steep terrain and lots of off piste, trees, steeps, and black diamond trails. The parks are setup so you can hit the small park at top, the medium park midway, the big park near the bottom and the pipe at the bottom. It’s where I got my freestyle certification. However, Park City Resort base in Utah has great park/pipe but not many long steep off piste trails, it is still a nice beautiful mountain great for families, but if you’re looking to go off piste or in the backcountry there isn’t as many options. Park City merged with Canyons to become a super resort. If you’re looking for parks/pipe ride the Park City base side and hit Canyons base side for the off piste freeriding. Since they’re one now it’s a great resort for freeriding and freestyle riding.

Case in point: if you’re vacationing or new to an area and looking for a great freestyle park, don’t randomly pick a resort, ask around or you may be disappointed. Take a look at the resort map and you’ll see the areas that are parks. This will help you to Ride Right.

Boots

Bindings

Where To Find Parks?

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