Don’t Pay for Lessons; Teach Yourself How to Snowboard!

You’ll be happy to know that it’s possible to teach yourself to snowboard. Snowboarding is very challenging. It will take you a considerable amount of time to teach yourself, so you’ll have to be patient. In many ways, you will become a much better snowboarder if you teach yourself. There are a variety of things things you can do and use to help teach yourself:

Snowboard Go’s Free Snowboarding Lessons: I’ve put together 12 mini ‘lessons’ on how to snowboard, and it covers everything you need to know. Honestly, you don’t need to pay for lessons, but if you insist, go through these lessons first and then opt for an instructor. This way you spend much less time (and money) with a snowboarding instructor. Click here to see the snowboarding lessons.

Video’s: There are also a variety of how to videos available to teach you how to snowboard. You can check out videos from your local library, rent them from your local video store, or check out the plethora of snowboarding videos on the internet.

Watch other riders: Head to the slope and watch people snowboarding (especially the younger kids). I remember the first time I tried to snowboard. It was really tough to turn from side to side and it felt like my back leg just locks up and doesn’t move. After many failed attempts, my frustration took the best of me. I blamed my board and took it back to the rental shop and complained that it wasn’t the right size. I explained what was happening and that’s when the snowboard technician recommended I simply go to the top of the slope and watch other riders for a while. I have to admit that his recommendation was priceless! Watching others is a key part of learning. You have read your books and watched your videos. Go to the slope and watch other people. Then try and do what they do.

Skateboard: Another thing you can do to help learn to snowboard is to practice on a skateboard. There are similarities between the two sports. Find an oversized board and start practicing. I have even seen skateboards that had bindings fitted on them. This was a unique idea. It allowed the person to strap in and get the same feel of the snowboard. I would only suggest this if you are wearing protective padding in case you fall. Concrete is not as forgiving as soft snow.

Skateboarding can help teach you the balance you will need when trying to snowboard for the first time. I would advise anyone who wants to teach themselves to learn snowboarding should first try skateboarding.

Practice: The last and most important thing you should know about teaching yourself to snowboard is practice. Be prepared to practice until you are proficient. You will fall, you will tumble, but you will get it. It will not be long until you have taught yourself to snowboard.

No Magic ‘Rule’: Over 5 years of riding (and over 3 years of helping friends), the most important thing I learned is that there is no magic rule. Just like walking and riding a bicycle, you need to give your body some time to get comfortable with a board. After that, it’s all about confidence, style and practice.

Snowboarding History

It is very difficult to actually prove who first invented the snowboard. You can find traces of cultures trying to get around in the snow all over the world. It can be a hotly debated subject depending on what part of the world you are in.

In the United States you can trace the snowboard back to the 1920’s and a man named M. J. “Jack” Burchett. The story goes that he made a snowboard out of a piece of plywood back in 1929. He supposedly secured his feet with rope from a clothesline and some leather horse reins. In these early days in Canada and the United States, getting around in the snow was imperative to stay alive and work.

This story is very similar to the creation of the ice skate. Cultures have used anything they could to help them get around in the snow. The first real modern snowboard in America was created by a man name Sherman Poppen. Poppen was a chemical gas engineer and he loved to surf.

Poppen was said to be day dreaming about surfing one day in the winter wonderland of the Rockies. He bolted his daughter’s two skis together and made the first snowboard. His daughter was using the board to frolic in the snow and soon all the kids wanted one. Poppen’s wife named his creation “Snurfing”.

Poppen did not stop there and this is why he is generally believed to be the creator of the snowboard. He took Snurfing to the next level. Poppen, with a bowling ball manufacturer began to make the first Snurfing snowboards in 1965. Back then they were called “snow surfer”. The snow surfer became a hit. You could purchase a snow snurfer for $15. Poppen sold over one million snurfers over a ten year period.

The snow snurfer disappeared almost as fast as it had appeared. This would have meant the end of snowboarding as we know it if not for two men; Dimitrije Milovich, and Jake Burton Carpenter.

Milovich was an East Coast surfer. He was sliding around on cafeteria trays in New York and had the idea of creating a short surf board for the snow. He formed what many consider the first snowboard company, “Winterstick”. The company and the new snowboards were given notice in newsprint and magazines everywhere in the U.S. It was super hot in 1975, mentioned in Playboy magazine. Sadly, in 1980 the company went bankrupt.

The snowboard mantle was then picked up by a young Jake Burton. Jake still had his snow snurf and was constantly tinkering with it to make it better. He applied foot straps to help keep him on the board and fins for stability. In 1977 he formed his snowboard company and charged $38 for them.

In and around the same time frame Tom Sims, Bob Webber, Chuck Barfoot were all developing their own style snowboards. Tom Sims had been addicted to the snow snurf also. He was also a former skateboard champion. This experience game him terrific insight into how to create a good snowboard. Mr. Webber created the now famous “yellow banana” snowboard in 1977. The yellow banana was made of polyethylene. Chuck Barfoot brought in a new age with the first fiberglass board in 1978. These boards did not have foot bindings and usually had a control strap. They were the beginning of what snowboarding would become. Many contribute bindings to Burton. He was the first to use them in competition.

Over these years there was also a snowboard revolution happening in Europe. Many boards were exported to Europe and reverse engineered. The best boards have always been made in the United States; the birthplace of the snowboard. The rest is history.

Snowboarding is one of the most popular winter sports worldwide today.

You can read more about it at Wikipedia over here.