Snowboarding Stance 101

You might find yourself “asking what makes them better riders than me?” A lot of factors affect your snowboarding abilities and skill level. One that is commonly overlooked is your stance. Stance can make a world of a difference to your riding, and making sure that you’re properly setup for YOUR style of riding will make your life much easier. For those wondering, stance is the angle at which your bindings are set to.

What To Do
1. Figure out whether you are a regular (left foot forward) or goofy (right foot forward) rider. My favorite method (also the funnest one) is to run across a smooth floor with socks on and try stopping yourself. The foot that creeps its way in front of the other will be the foot you place at the tip of your board.

2. Angle the front binding outwards a bit and set the back one at zero.

3. After you’re no longer falling on your ass every few meters, start testing out different stances. Two things to focus on are stance width and angle.

Stance Width
Stance width affects your ease of turning and board control as you go down a hill. Riding too narrow or to wide will just make you uncomfortable and you’ll feel the pain in the side of your legs (one too many friends have complained about it, so I feel I must point this out). A good starting point is roughly an inch wider than your shoulder width and then feel free to adjust if you need. Theoretically, go wider for more stability.

Stance Angle
There are two main variances in stance direction that are used:

• Forward stance – this is where the front food is angled forward and the back is just slightly angled forward or not at all (this is most popular with free riding where the board is primarily facing one direction).
• Duck-footed – this is where your front food points outwards towards your tip (similar to forward stance) AND your back foot points out towards the tail of the board, thus forming a crude V (this is most popular with freestyle riders).

Tip – Center yourself on the board, put your feet where they feel the most comfortable and squat and stand up like you would if you were turning down the mountain (at this point your bindings should not be mounted on your board). This will give you a good idea of what is a good width and angle for you, but feel free to change it up as your riding gets better.

Should I buy online or from the local store?

I’m a huge, nay, the hugest, proponent and advocate of the internet. I’ve been drinking the internet koolaid since I was 10, back when the internet cost $60/month, Google did not exist, Yahoo was still a rudimentary directory in the making, and text-only websites were the recommended viewing choice). And when it comes to online buying, I feel the same way.

I buy whatever I want online, not because I’m lazy, but because it’s more convenient, and usually cheaper (and I’m lazy). With same-day shipping and next-day delivery, why waste the gas and time going into a store if I know what I want. What’s more is that, if you’re not doing your research online, then you’re not being smart . Websites like this and thousands of others dedicated to providing honest reviews on just about anything (I mean com’on, there are websites out there that review sex toys and birth control products for your sake) are available to help you make a better shopping decision.

So when it comes to buying your snowboarding gear online, I say go for it, BUT given the nature of snowboarding gear, it’s always best to go into your local store first. “But dude, doesn’t that defeat the point?” In a way it does, but here’s why buying your gear online is a smart choice:

Deals - you will always find deals on the gear you want. If it’s not website X, then it’ll be website Y. There’s always a website out there that’ll offer you a good deal on what you’re finding. Tip: If website X has a deal on a snowboard you want, but not on the boots, buy the snowboard from website X, and go to website Y for a deal on the boots.

Fast and Free Delivery – when you’re forking over an arm and a leg (and even a kidney sometimes) for your gear, websites selling you the gear will offer same-day AND free delivery.

Cheaper – Even if there are no deals on the gear you want, you can find the same gear for a better price online than at your local shop.

Last Year’s Model – I love buying last year’s models, because they’re always significantly cheaper. My new 2008 Burton T6 cost me $450 instead of $850 when I bought it. Unless you’re at a board show, you won’t find last year’s models except for online stores. Most local shops, don’t stock previous models.

I contemplated making a list of online stores, but in an effort to remain neutral, I’d have to compare each one fairly and I’ll leave that for another post.

So if you’re looking for new gear: check out snowboard reviews, go to your local store, figure out what you want, compare prices, and buy from the cheaper source.

Snowboard Turning Tips Video

Found this video earlier today and thought it’d make for an interesting ‘tips & tricks’ post. I don’t need to tell you how important your turning techniques are, but very often, riders overlook it and don’t realize that they have bad turning technique. Hopefully this will prove useful.

Avalanche Awareness: Safety in the Backcountry Video

Banff's Delirium Dive

The first time I went backcountry riding was no other than Banff’s Delirium Dive. We were instructed to get transponders & shovels, and having a buddy was mandatory. I kept thinking that they made such a big fuss about the whole thing, but when I looked over the top of the cliff, I quickly realized why. The ride was exhilarating and I recommend it to everyone, but it’s not hard to see why all that safety precautions were needed. You’re in the hands of mother nature’s very unpredictable environment. In fact, by the time I went back up the lifts, Delirium Dive was closed due to 2 injuries.

So in the spirit of practicing safe snowboarding, Roxy has created a great video on backcountry snowboarding safety. To the folks at Roxy, thanks for your concern and effort.

If you have any other tips/stories, feel free to leave them in the comments section.

Snowboarding Tips for Beginners

Snowboarding Tips for Beginners

As a passionate snowboarder I tend to get into the subject of snowboarding with just about anyone. But I also find myself forgetting how frustrating it was when I first got started. With that realization, I decided to create a Snowboarding Tips page which will feature articles like these and one-liners that readers can vote up and down. The goal? Well to create a single reference page for all beginners to benefit from. So let’s kick things off with this general snowboarding tips article.

Choosing to undertake the hobby of snowboarding is often done at an early age — but really, it can be done at any point in someones life. Regardless of when it is decided that one would like to learn how to snowboard, it is still a daunting and oftentimes painful decision. In the interests of helping out anyone out there who is reading this and happens to be somewhat of a beginner in the world of snowboarding that we all know and adore, here’s some tips to ensure that it becomes a fulfilling, lifetime hobby and not just some spur-of-the-moment decision.

1. First and foremost, ensuring that you always have the appropriate layers of clothing on for snowboarding is absolutely essential. Seriously — this sounds like a no-brainer, but always doing so will ensure that you can focus on actually learning to be a good, safe snowboarder and not on whether or not you might have hypothermia  yet. Beginners should also watch out for packing on too many layers. Keep in mind that as you start out, you’ll be spending most, if not all, your time on the green hills which are usually warmer given their lower altitudes.

2. Next, you’re going to want to get used to having your feet fixed to the board before you go down a double black diamond snow mountain. So, as much as possible, even before you go down the not-so-steep slopes, strap your feet in and get used to the feel of the board while strapped in. Feel free to wobble/shuffle around, jump up and down, and bending at your knees.  This might be ridiculously boring, but just remind yourself that it will be a lot less painful to get used to this feeling now then when you’re en flight down the mountain.

3. Although you’ll be getting a new-model snowboard if you ever at all get really serious about snowboarding, start off with just an all-mountain free-ride snowboard instead of any other. These snowboards are specifically made for beginners and will help make for a much less painful learning experience as well. Although you’re going to be on a mountain in the winter and not at the beach in the summer.

4. If you’re learning on a sunny day (and hopefully it is) you’re going to want to make sure that you are always properly sunblocked at all times. Don’t let the season fool you — you can get quite the sunburn while shredding the snow in December (contrary to popular belief). Nevermind wind burns — so make sure you remind yourself about our first tip as well.

5. Lastly, don’t push it! New snowboarders are known for their failure to keep themselves together after they try and prove themselves worthy or brave while on a slope. You’re excited and I get it, but nothing’s worse than a major fall that knocks the wind out of you. Take it easy and don’t do anything stupid like jumps before you’re well and ready — and if you go by when you’re properly ready and not just when you THINK you’re ready then it is going to be quite some time.

6. Be confident. You’re legs are locked to a board and you can’t move. It’s going to feel very awkward and make you think you can’t really do this. You can bet that everyone felt that way when they first started, but the difference between those who gave up the sport and those shredding serious mountain powder is the confidence they had and accepting the fact that it’ll take a few tries before you get the hang of it.

Be safe, enjoy yourself and most importantly — have fun! It’s a great and lifelong hobby that will most likely turn into an obsession very quickly, so be careful with that as well!