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Snowboarding for Geeks

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Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#121

Post by dgzl »

tribeofone wrote: post #23

My 2 cents for beginners, most of these are covered in the article: 1. Get a flying-v or CamRock - makes turning easier and will hold an edge better until you figure out how to carve. 2. Don't put your feet perpendicular to the board, you want some angle, 30° Front, 15° Back. It will make it easier to square your shoulders down the hill and get your weight on the front of your edge. 3. Start on a Blue slope. Seriousl…

As others have said, your #3 point is controversial, but potentially not as bad as they seem. This really depends on what resort/part of the world you are. My home mountain in Oregon is about 65% black diamond, and there's only one green circle run. The first blue square you can use is actually very steep and quite dangerous for beginners.

At the same time, I was living in the Midwest a few years, and the only black diamond I found honestly wasn't even as steep or interesting as the intro blue square I mentioned before.

So, your advice might be accurate in context of a beginner mountain, but at many resorts blue diamonds are best left to intermediates only.

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#122

Post by dep_b »

grecy wrote: post #46
dep_b wrote: post #8

Riding hardboots since the 90's. Lots of gear tweakers in that scene. People treating their clothing with certain kinds of stuff they treat sails with to not rip them to shreds when doing continuous laid down linked turns, boots modifications for extra flexibility , experimenting with all kinds of shapes and materials and hours and hours of talk about edge pressure. I tried Driver X boots for example. Way to rigid co…

I'm a softbooter who has thought about switching over because I love carving more than any other aspect. This guy [1] is basically my hero, and I'm slowly working towards it. My brother just got a custom board with 290mm waist width, I'm going to get a 320 or 330mm for my size 12 feet. [1] https://youtu.be/cBo9bB1cXOo?t=111

I like Casper Carver and the Swoard guys. Casper uses mid '90's stuff like asyms but it fits his style.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQBXNum6l_M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmfUjxM_NOQ

I can link turns laid down on a good day on a good slope but it's not even half as nice as what they do.

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#123

Post by fokinsean »

H1Supreme wrote: post #119
sudosteph wrote: post #47

Snowboarding absolutely is as fun as it looks, but don't underestimate how much it's going to hurt the day after. I've gone nearly a dozen times and I still end up bruised by the end of the day. Admittedly, I'm a bit clumsier than most, but I've never collided with another human being at least. Also, I was surprised that the article didn't mention the one aspect that I actually found way harder than anything else to…

I skateboarded regularly for approx. 15 years before my first snowboarding trip. I was certain that all my time on a skateboard would prepare me, and I'd pick it up easy. How wrong I was. Fell more times than I could count that day.

> I skateboarded regularly for approx. 15 years before my first snowboarding trip.

Same! I went for the first time earlier this year. I plopped around for about a half day, but by the end of the second day I was doing some easier blues without too much problems.

I think the one thing skateboarding helped most with was being comfortable riding sideways. Also backside powersliding (carving?) is one of the most amazing feelings on a snowboard.

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#124

Post by grecy »

dep_b wrote: post #122
grecy wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a softbooter who has thought about switching over because I love carving more than any other aspect. This guy [1] is basically my hero, and I'm slowly working towards it. My brother just got a custom board with 290mm waist width, I'm going to get a 320 or 330mm for my size 12 feet. [1] https://youtu.be/cBo9bB1cXOo?t=111

I like Casper Carver and the Swoard guys. Casper uses mid '90's stuff like asyms but it fits his style. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQBXNum6l_M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmfUjxM_NOQ I can link turns laid down on a good day on a good slope but it's not even half as nice as what they do.

Yeah, that's nice, but remember that's hard boots, on a carving board, with a forward facing stance.

The trick is doing that with soft boots!

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#126

Post by illegalsmile »

marmshallow wrote: post #80
sakopov wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do a lot of expedition-style backpacking either alone or in a guided group. The groups are always full of tech people, mostly from SV. It's almost like the only people who can afford fun shit are the techies.

Are these all in Northern California?

Not at all. There are high end touring and backpacking, i.e. full service guided hut/cat/heli drops and hut to hut style, all over the world in or near most major ski destinations. Most people I know who can afford to do these trips is within the STEM group or independently wealthy. Or they're younger with no overhead and they dirtbag it for a awhile to save up but this is the minority.

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#128

Post by dep_b »

grecy wrote: post #42
tribeofone wrote: post #23

My 2 cents for beginners, most of these are covered in the article: 1. Get a flying-v or CamRock - makes turning easier and will hold an edge better until you figure out how to carve. 2. Don't put your feet perpendicular to the board, you want some angle, 30° Front, 15° Back. It will make it easier to square your shoulders down the hill and get your weight on the front of your edge. 3. Start on a Blue slope. Seriousl…

I've been snowboarding for 12 years, done many 120+ day seasons, and I'm a certified Level 2 instructor in Canada, have done the course for Level 3, need to take the exam. (There are only 4 levels). I don't love all your advice. 1. Sure, marketing gimmicks are great, and you're right, it will help a little. Learning good technique will help a lot more. Learn how to control the edge and how to turn the board when you…

> 2. 30 front and 15 rear is too much of a difference, which means you'll never learn switch, and things will feel wrong when the board accidentally goes the wrong way (beginners get this all the time).

Not true. Mentally you'll be riding reverse even with full duck stance. People do it on skis and alpine boards. But people put on a very awkward stance for regular riding because they feel they can't ride switch otherwise.

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#129

Post by dgzl »

sudosteph wrote: post #47

Snowboarding absolutely is as fun as it looks, but don't underestimate how much it's going to hurt the day after. I've gone nearly a dozen times and I still end up bruised by the end of the day. Admittedly, I'm a bit clumsier than most, but I've never collided with another human being at least. Also, I was surprised that the article didn't mention the one aspect that I actually found way harder than anything else to…

I didn't see this mentioned, but as advice for getting up and operating on a snowboard in general: practice learning how to rock back on forth, leaning into the nose and tail and bending it. Don't worry, any snowboard worth it's weight will support you.

You can use this technique to help you stand up from sitting on flat. Simply bend your back leg and bring your tail (or nose if you want to start in switch) closer to a riding position, and push your Central weight onto that side of the board. The board should flex, as you'd be doing a sort of manual as you stand up. Balancing like this might be difficult at first, but the technique is better than trying to stand up without using the board's flexible property.

Likewise, butter tricks are very fun and can be useful for beginners.

Another example: if you get get stuck on flat and think you need to unbuckle and walk, try this: stand facing the direction you want to go, and start running while still in the bindings. Use your nose and tail's flexibility to help popup the opposite side, to swing forward and continue the cycle. It looks ridiculous until you realize you can make good distance on flat without much efforts or unbuckling.

Happy shredding.

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#130

Post by dep_b »

tribeofone wrote: post #23

My 2 cents for beginners, most of these are covered in the article: 1. Get a flying-v or CamRock - makes turning easier and will hold an edge better until you figure out how to carve. 2. Don't put your feet perpendicular to the board, you want some angle, 30° Front, 15° Back. It will make it easier to square your shoulders down the hill and get your weight on the front of your edge. 3. Start on a Blue slope. Seriousl…

> 3. Start on a Blue slope. Seriously. I hate seeing beginners exhausting themselves on green slopes straining to get enough speed to get on edge and then catching the opposite edge because there is not enough slope.

You need a _wide_ slope with good snow. Could be an Austrian black, as long as you have enough time to ride to the sides in between turns. Slopes that are too flat are bad for sure.

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