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Snowboard Boot Systems

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Learn how to snowboard with a comfortable boot. Soft boots are what most snowboarders use. There are hard boots that alpine snowboarders wear. They’re very similar to ski boots. The 3 Snowboard Types lets you know what type of rider you are. Depending on what type of rider you are will help you select your boot. I recommend a medium to stiff on your flex of your boot. Think of new tennis/basketball shoes, the newer shoes are stiff and need to be broken in a little for better movement. I ride a lot and know I’ll break in my boots and wear them out so I get stiff boots plus I like that support for my aggressive style of riding. If I were to get soft flex boots I’d wear them out and not have the support I like. When I ride a lot of park and like softer boots. I ride a lot, wear out my boots and have to buy another pair. Most snowboard boot companies give you a 1 year warranty, so if you ride tons you’ll wear your boots out and can get a new pair. That’s nice since most boots run between $100-$500 so ask about the warranty of the boot. This online snowboard lesson will go over Soft Boot 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 prepare for equipment on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; Snowboard Freestyle Boards, What To Wear Snowboarding, Demo Boards, Snowboard Camber, and Freeride Boards. 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!

You’ll have options on how soft or stiff your boot is but also the lace system. You can go the ol’ skool way traditional laces just like on your shoes or a laceless system. I’ve used all the systems and like the laceless system where I pull lace and click to teeth on boot. There is the metal wire rachet system as well. The regular lace system takes a lot of time and strength to tie and can come undone if they’re not tied right. If you have younger kids you’ll be doing this so get something easier. A big pro to laces is you can crank them as tight as you want and if they break you can easily go buy shoelaces almost anywhere. The laceless systems will have to be sent to company to repair. With the metal lace rachet system I’ve had problems with it not locking and then the boot is loose all the time. The thin thread material is quick and secures very well. I’ve found them to be more reliable but if the thread breaks it’s hard to replace.

I have a large foot and like to keep my footprint as small as possible on the snowboard. I get a boot that curves up a little at my toe and heel to give me a few more centimeters or a smaller foot so I can get higher edge angles when I carve. I don’t like to ‘boot out’ or my foot goes into the snow and lifts my board off the snow resulting in a crash. If you’re moving from a L1 RAW beginner to L2 RIDER intermediate you’ll want to have your own boots. Your boots are the first piece of snowboard equipment you’ll want to buy. They’re custom and provide such comfort. I’ve had students say they’ve tried to snowboard but felt awkward. I’ve recommended getting their own boots and that has made all the difference. You’re boots need to fit and be secure. If you heels come out while doing a toeside your boots are too loose or too big.
Go try on some boots and the different lace systems to see what you like. 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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Teaching Kids To Snowboard Part 1

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This online snowboard lesson will go over Teaching Kids To Snowboard Part 1. Keep it fun, know their body and keep it simple. 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 equipment on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching these snowboard videos; How To Snowboard: Navigating The Resort, Beginner Snowboard Lesson on Steering, Toeside Heelside Stance, Learn How To Ride The Lifts Safely, How to Snowboard: Balance Twist & Beginner Snowboard Stance. 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!

Little kids are top heavy, their heads weigh a lot. Spread their stances out a little bit more. Once they’re 6 or 7 their bodies start to catch up with their head size. They tend to like going on their heelside edge much more so make sure their stance is centered in the middle of the board so they can go switch/fakie or left and right foot forward. Take into consideration that toddlers and young kids are different biologically than adults. They have big top heavy heads creating their center of mass to be higher so spread their stance out and center it so they can go goofy and regular.

When riding the chairlift make sure to keep the child on your toeside edge so you can be facing them and help them on and off. With little kids under six years old I like to keep both feet strapped in. Riding with one foot out puts a lot of stress on their knee, the boot could slip out while on the lift and it’s much harder to get off the lift. Keep them all the way back in the chair to be safe and if they don’t let you ride with both feet in then it’s more difficult. I recommend keeping your young kids on conveyor belts or gondolas where loading and unloading is very safe and easy. The chairlift is a 500 lb object moving at fast speeds with lots of moving parts and you unload with one foot unstrapped. Unless you’re a strong confident rider keep your kids on safe lifts like a gondola or conveyor belt.

Each kid is different. Your child may like skating around one foot in and one out or perhaps your toddler likes being pushed around and going down the hill with both feet strapped in. Keep it fun by teaching a skill like going and stopping, then just play and make games out of that new skill. Getting them to unstrap their binding is huge and that might be all they do. It’s better when they learn how to strap in their own bindings but any accomplishment is rewarded with lots of positive reinforcement.

Get your kids out on the snow and start them snowboarding. Share your passion of snowboarding and get kids to love snowboarding. 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

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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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Beginner Snowboard Lesson: Navigating The Resort & Transportation

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Learn how to snowboard and know how to navigate the resort. As a beginner snowboarder you may want to start on a ground lift or a conveyer belt. Riding the chairlift can be intimidating. You need to Learn How To Ride The Lifts Safely. Riding the lift is part of the Rider Responsibility Code: #7 Prior to using any lift, you must have the knowledge and ability to load, ride and unload safely. This online snowboard lesson will go over How To Snowboard: Navigating The Resort. 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 terrain on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching and mastering these L1 RAW snowboard videos before riding the lifts; Beginner Snowboard Lesson on Steering, Toeside Heelside Stance, Learn How To Ride The Lifts Safely, How to Snowboard: Balance Twist & Beginner Snowboard Stance. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at Our Blog for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

As a beginner you can find Lifts You Can Ride For Free. Normally it will cost you a fee to ride lifts. It’s called your ticket or pass. They will have peeps out checking everyone’s pass or have sensors that let you through. It can be costly but there are a few gold nuggets out there where you don’t pay! As a beginner snowboarder there are lifts that are used to transport folks, tourists, locals or employees and they’re free! Most the terrain these lifts access is beginner level or mellow slope angles. This is perfect for L1 RAW snowboarders. Check out this snowboard video for more info on Lifts You Can Ride For Free. As a beginner snowboarder you’ll want to start on a conveyor belt or gondola because riding on chairlifts or tow-ropes are more difficult and challenging. 

At a resort there’s all types of ways to get around. Let’s talk about resort transportation. There are three types of aerial lifts there’s chair lifts gondolas and trams/gondolas and trams you actually take your equipment off and then enter into the car. A chair lift you keep your equipment on. You go into the line you sit down and then at the top you stand up and snowboard off. A ground lift such as a Pommel, T-bar or conveyor belt are usually going to be around the mountain where it’s just a very small little distance where you need to get say like 50 meters/yards being polled or it’s flat for a hundred yards/meters when you come down to a section where you’ve run out of a vertical and you need to go up to continue to get to the bottom. A tow-rope is just what it sounds like a rope that tows you. You keep your equipment on and you grab onto it and it pulls you up the mountain. A T-bar is similar to that it’s except it’s running on a wire. You’ll grab onto it & hold on to it. Pommel is very similar to that as well those are all lifts where you hold on to them. There are conveyor belts that you see out on the Beginner Hill where you’re  just like a conveyor like at the airport or something your equipment rides right onto it and it pulls you along.

As a beginner you’ll probably like the slow conveyor belt and as you improve you’ll want lifts that are fast accessing steeper deeper terrain.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: Funnel Turns

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You’ve got off the easy trails (easy is marked by Green in America and Blue in Europe) and are exploring the mountain as a L2 Rider. You’ll be riding more of the mountain getting into intermediate terrain (Blue trails in America and Red trails in Europe). Riding steeper terrain can be super stoke especially when you’re using efficient movements and alignments. This online snowboard lesson will go over Funnel Turns Drill. 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 and mastering these L1 RAW snowboard videos before riding Steeper Terrain; Beginner Snowboard Lesson on Steering, Toeside Heelside Stance, How to Snowboard: Balance Twist & Beginner Snowboard Stance.  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!

Think of the shape of a funnel making large turns, then medium and last small/fast turns. You’ll have access to all our snowboard tutorials when you signup that cover every step. We also have some free snowboard videos to prepare for steeper terrain on our YouTube Page. I recommend watching and mastering these L1 RAW snowboard videos before riding Steeper Terrain; Beginner Snowboard Lesson on Steering, Toeside Heelside Stance, How to Snowboard: Balance Twist & Beginner Snowboard Stance . Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at Our Blog for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

The focus on this drill is to be able to turn and different speeds and multiple size radius of our turns. Let’s face it snowboarding is about turning. I love to just point it and not turn when conditions and safety allow. Before we get into pure speed and adrenaline we need to be able to turn as quickly as possible. There are dangers and obstacles all over the mountain. Once we get off the easy trails the slopes become more steep and narrow. For your safety and those on the mountain you’ll want to practice changing the size of your turns. The Funnel Drill is perfect to help you practice the size of your turns. It will help you develop ‘Rhythm & Flow’ key to everything we do.

Start making 4-5 turns that are very large, then make 4-5 turns that are medium in radius shape. Make 4-5 turns that are small and quick and then see how quick and fast you can make your turns. You’ll want to be using a lot of lower body movements and really focus initiating your turns with your ankle. There you’ve done it Funnel Turns. Drills really help you explore you snowboarding body movement and develop muscle memory. Get out there and Ride Right!

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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Learn How To Snowboard & Get Up!

Flowing Freeride Online Snowboard School, Free Snowboarding Lessons

Learn how to snowboard with this beginner drill to get up after a fall. This online snowboard lesson will go over proper technique for Getting Up after a fall. It really helps beginner snowboarders develop skills before going up the lift. Learn to snowboard online with flowingfreeride.com and take a look at our YouTube Page for more free content and learn to snowboard right.

Let’s face it when you snowboard you will fall and need to get up. If you fall on flatter terrain it’s hard to get up on your heelside edge. You’ll want to get your snowboard perpendicular to the fall line. Roll over to your stomach by lifting one leg up and rotate your hips. Put your hands in the snow and slowly walk them closer to your board. Push up in one motion and stand up. Be careful to not over correct and put weight on your heels. People get scared in this position called your toeside edge. A lot of times they keep their hands in the snow and don’t stand up. This keeps your center of mass over your heels. You’ll need to stand up and extend your hips over your toes. We have other tutorials to practice this movement: Toeside & Heelside or Beginner Stance if you have problems getting up.

Heelside is more difficult to get up but isn’t to bad in steeper terrain. If you’re flexible you can get up off your heels by pushing behind you with one of your hands. If this isn’t working try grabbing your board in between your feet or the center of your board. Push with one hand behind you and the other grabbing your board. You’ll need to let go of your snowboard before smashing your fingers as your edge angle decreases. It takes a lot of energy to get up so be sure to practice proper technique in previous snowboard tutorials. If you don’t like getting up on your heels roll over to your toeside.

You can practice getting up before even getting on the snow so you maximize your time on snow.  Strap on your snowboard and try getting up on surfaces like carpet or grass. Hard floors don’t have much friction and can cause injury. A lot of the times you’ll have to unlearn inefficient body movements and that can take a lot of time. Start snowboarding right at the beginning and you’ll excel quickly. Avoid injuries by using flowingfreerdie.com & snowboardclass.com snowboard video tutorials.