 Poster: A snowHead
|
|
I'm 40 and started snowboarding last seasons (have been skiing for long time). It was my 2nd attempt after a test day 20yrs ago. What i did this time differently was watching a lot of YTs to understand how snowboard and turning works. I remember 20 years ago I was fighting with the board and trying to under what to do in order to turn from one side to another. After watching youtubers I knew what I needed to do so it was all about practicing. So, on the first day I took a snowboard kit for 1 day (initially) and started on a long blue run. I won't say it wasn't painful but I could link turns on the first run and do it confidently by end of the day. I think the adventage of being older is that there is more patiency for learning "offline" which really helped me a lot. I remember my first days skiing years ago, it wasn't difficult to do things but to figure out how that works took days.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
|
|
@Dyrlac, love your turn of phrase. Chapeau!
|
|
|
|
|
|
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
|
| snowyc wrote: |
| What i did this time differently was watching a lot of YTs to understand how snowboard and turning works. |
I'm really of two minds on YouTube for beginners. I watched a lot of YT on how to dismount chairlifts and other noob-friendly quality-of-life hints (e.g., getting into the habit of doing up your bindings standing up from the very outset), which worked, but deliberately avoided watching anything on technical turn mechanics as I didn't want potentially contradictory or inapplicable "turn thoughts" rattling through my head. As mentioned upthread, I've also recently taken up golf with an instructor I see twice a month, and golf YouTube videos can send you down the wrong path very easily: for example, attempting to solve self-diagnosed intermediate-level form deficiencies when you don't have the beginner-level skills to execute them. Since I got back, I've been bingeing on Malcolm Moore's and Tony Bennett's channels, and they're (unsurprisingly) compatible with what @stevomcd and Col were teaching me, so maybe this was a bit paranoid, but I wanted to be as much of a blank slate as possible.
Of course, I was also treating this as a no-messing-about boot camp to achieve technically-sound proficiency* rather than as a holiday--for example the midweek wobble which sent me back to the baby's first sledging slope was frustrating, but had no bearing on my enjoyment of the trip because enjoyment was not a success condition--so I won't cast aspersions on approaches taken by non-certifiable nutcases who are just trying to have a good time. 
Many thanks to @Orange200 and @BigSouthernJesse for sharing their perspectives from the other end of this journey.
* lolz, I still have a ways to go
| Owlette wrote: |
| I'm 41 and seriously considering giving boarding a go. This is the dose of reality I needed. I'm still keen, but I'm forewarned. |
I think the real lesson I've learned is that if I could only go to the mountains one week a year, there is no way I'd attempt this. Unless you are much more athletically inclined than me (admittedly, not a high bar) or are still a teenager, a week isn't long enough to do this properly.
| The Flying Snowplough wrote: |
| @Dyrlac, love your turn of phrase. Chapeau! |
Aw shucks.  Thanks (and to other  s saying similar)!
|
|
|
|
|
|
You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
|
|
@Dyrlac, the line about your golf coach drying his tears with high denomination notes did serious damage to my keyboard via sprayed coffee from my laughter!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
FAQ