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Snowboarding for Geeks

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Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#151

Post by viraptor »

jondiggsit wrote: post #98
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…

The secret to learning snowboarding is to wear HOCKEY PANTS. You might look ridiculous, but you look ridiculous anyway because you don't know how to snowboard. So add the hockey pants and save you bum. The confidence of protection will eliminate the fear of constantly falling.

Or get some Azzpadz https://azzpadz.com/ They're pretty comfortable. Used them for the first two years.

Also the wrist guards - save yourself an visit to the emergency.

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#152

Post by ken »

bendixso wrote: post #132
GuB-42 wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Senior iOS developer, medical doctor,... The common ground is not just geekiness, it is money. Skiing is expensive, and in order to get good, you need to practice a lot. I am curious to know how nerdy skateboarders are. Skateboarding and snowboarding share some similarities, but the former is much more affordable.

I dunno. I actually don't think it's all that expensive of a sport if you can invest in your equipment and keep it long term. Sure, you'll spend a few grand one season for a setup that will last you three or four seasons. The season pass will set you back another $600 per year roughly. I've had my current setup for five seasons. Same board. Same boots. Same jacket, helmet, pants, etc. If I do a back of the envelope c…

Plus snow tires/chains, a roof rack to carry the gear, and gas and maintenance to drive 1-2 hours (each way) to the pass. Plus non-bulk-homecooked food/snacks to eat while you're out. Plus losing a huge chunk of hours every week, which matters when you're an hourly employee.

I bet a good number of people on HN are software engineers who have never had a job where they made less than $100K with "unlimited" vacation. For an hourly employee, the opportunity cost alone of skiing for a month can easily be $1000 -- I could be racking up overtime instead (and then go shoot hoops in the park, for free).

The average software engineer salary is roughly double the average salary, which in turn is about double the full time minimum wage salary. For a lot of people, "a few grand" is an insurmountable barrier. When you're living paycheck to paycheck, you're not even thinking about "accumulation of wealth and advancement" yet.

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#153

Post by JshWright »

I don't know the first thing about snowboarding (despite living in one of the snowiest cities in the US), but this seems like a fantastic guide. Hits just the right level of detail to get you started without being totally overwhelming. Does anyone know of similar guides for other hobbies?

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#154

Post by jpwgarrison »

iAm25626 wrote: post #41
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…

Fellow hardbooter here. Talk about when world collides. I know the guy in the Photo(hardboot). Yes there are tons of tinker-bell: it's not my lack of skill it's the equipment not "optimized" for the condition.

Me three! I can't imagine going back to soft boots. The initial cost is more but boots and bindings last far longer.

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#155

Post by afpx »

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.

Did you skateboard in hilly or flatter areas? We grew up skating on hills, so we often had to carve downhill slides, often at considerable speed. Transitioning to snowboarding seemed easy for us. I remember us snowboarding the first time and being able to do blue slopes within a couple hours. I’m guessing it was because we had already spent lots of time sliding down hills.

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#156

Post by samesamesame »

PascLeRasc wrote: post #15
jasode wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>but was told that Snowboarding is easier than Skiing for absolute beginners. I think the "easier" depends on the target skill level. Skiiing is easier to achieve a beginner skill level. Absolute beginners can point their toes inward and ski "pizza wedges" down easy hills rated as "green" within a few hours. Indeed, many skiiers including adults never leave this stage. But upgrading the skills to intermediate level r…

Would you say knowing how to skateboard makes snowboarding easier? I'm planning on trying one of these this winter for the first time and I'm hoping some biking/skateboarding balance transfers over.

If you can get a hold of a caster board (rip stick), I found the motion to translate perfectly [1]. My very first time snowboarding, within 10 feet down the slope I had flipped over myself hard probably 3 times. And when I managed to stand up for more than a few seconds, it felt like the board was just sliding and I had no control.

But then for some reason I thought to ride it like a rip stick. And it completely clicked. I made it all the way down that very first run from there. Some of my group members had snowboarded multiples times before that day, but I was pretty much instantly better than most of them. As a side note, I also used to skateboard and didn't feel like it helped at all.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caster_board

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#157

Post by afpx »

GuB-42 wrote: post #110
bendixso wrote: post #26

Some of the geekiest people I know have become the best skiers/snowboarders on the mountain. I know a guy who used to regularly show up to the terrain park and do double frontflips over 60 foot jumps. He's got a PHD in physics now. I know another guy who used to compete in big air competitions. Senior iOS developer. My friend Brian does double cork 10s. Medical doctor. This sport is for nerds. If you're nerdy, you ha…

Senior iOS developer, medical doctor,... The common ground is not just geekiness, it is money. Skiing is expensive, and in order to get good, you need to practice a lot. I am curious to know how nerdy skateboarders are. Skateboarding and snowboarding share some similarities, but the former is much more affordable.

So expensive! Only the richest of my friends could go skiing / snowboarding as kids. I wasn’t able to afford it until I was 26. But, then again, in the 80s and 90s, computers were also expensive. I wasn’t able to afford my first computer until I was a junior in college. So, it makes sense that my friends who had computers also went snowboarding.

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#158

Post by phillc73 »

jonkiddy wrote: post #20
dominotw wrote: post #4

Is there an equivalent for skiing?

If you fine one, I'm very interested. Please share. This article has great content! But at best I'm amateur skier not a snowboarder.

There is so much to geek out on with skiing, probably much like anything new.

A few years ago I moved to Austria. Last year my young son wanted to start skiing, so in my mid-40s I'm also learning.

The amount of time I researched which skis and boots to buy would easily be above 40 hours. Then searching the Internet for the best bargains again added more time.

Pretty much after just one season, I'm now into waxing my own skis. Another total geek activity. So many different waxes for different conditions.

Then watching the weather and trying to figure out where the best snow will be for next weekend, that has to qualify as geek.

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#159

Post by todd8 »

You will fall on your butt more times than you would like the first time you try it. Knowing this plan accordingly. Schedule your first lessons for a day with good, firm but not hard snow, snow that is a bit like solid styrofoam. Falling on snow like that doesn’t hurt, but beware of a fresh dusting of flakes over hard packed icy base beneath.

I found that once you’ve learned snowboarding that it works really well on many conditions from icy to powder, groomed and ungroomed. The trails do make a difference though. Skiers can manage narrow trails or catwalks easily no matter the slope. Snowboarding these tails can be difficult because boarders need to maintain enough speed to make it though the flat spots (no poles!) while not having much room to burn off excess speed by traversing the fall line, especially when there are lots of skiers traveling at a modest pace with their poles. Also moguls aren’t much fun for me on a board. Skiers have a tighter turning radius and the resulting mogul fields end up difficult for me on a board (I’m sure good boarders handle them just fine, but I can’t).

Re: Snowboarding for Geeks

#160

Post by NickNameNick »

chickenbane wrote: post #145

Surprised such a comprehensive guide for geeks didn't get into bluetooth headphones! As a rider for a few years now, I've had good luck with the headphone inserts which fit into most helmets. Riding with your favorite music truly feels like playing the best of games and sports combined.

How many seasons do those things last? I thought about buying some, but the i felt like the batteries would die over summer, and I'd be lucky to get more than one season out of them.
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