 Poster: A snowHead
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Hello Everyone
I am learning the delights of snowboarding and am just managing to link some turns and am really enjoying myself, granted my knees and a$$e are not, however I just find the poma tows really difficult. I have now got myself in such a pickle about them, I am shaking and really nervous when I start out at the beginning of the day. I was in tears the other day at Glenshee 'cos I just kept falling off easy one at Claybokie? After a few hours I got the hang of it and was more relaxed however its really holding me back, as my kids and hubby are away together exploring new areas but I am stuck cos I have this 'thing' with tows. I managed the t bar aslong as my eldest was beside me and I just rammed the board against his ski, chairlift have not ventured there yet. Its not the height or the boarding i am nervous about just the bl$$dy tows!
Does anyone have any tips on how to overcome this?
Also I find that for the first 30-60 mins my feet ache when I'm on the tows but the rest of the time they are fine and I can wear my boots all day every day.
Am thinking of taking a hip flask next time, just to take the edge of the nerves!
Viksxx
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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When you work this one out let me know!
When I'm considering a new resort, I have to check out the piste map and check I can get all over the hill without using any kind of drag. My boarding is actually quite good (ten years at it), but I have, like you, a fear of drags.
It's also one of the reasons that although I live in Scotland we don't go upto Cairngorms.
We're heading to La Thuile in Italy in a fortnight, but I won't be skiing over to France as I'm told it's a 3km drag back into Italy!!
No help, but at least you know you're not the only one.
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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?
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viks10, bad luck - can sympathize! I'm sure others have already told you to try to relax, keep weight on your front foot, stand up, and don't try to steer the board - leave it flat. Easier said than done, though. I am hopeless boarder. OK on easy tows - never tried hard or very long ones. Went up a very difficult one on skis the other day, behind a snowboarder who was on his mobile phone all the way up. Show off!
Well done on the T bar. Never tried one of those.
I know some perfectly OK skiers who are hopeless on difficult drags and I'm sure it's tension and apprehension. They think they are going to fall off, so they quite likely do. So maybe the hip flask would help!
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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Over New Year my wife finally managed to get the hang of them. If you are a regular rider then do the following: -
Scoot up with your back foot out
Get in position as quick as you can and put your back foot either on the stomp pad (if you have one), butted up against your back binding or in your open back binding (I ride them with both feet strapped in if the run up allows).
Grab the tow with both hands and chuck it between your legs (making sure the angled bit is around your leading leg)
Hold the tow with your left hand, put your right arm out straight behind you
Brace yourself for the initial tug
When on there don't try and steer (at all), just let it take you. If you go off course it will bring you back.
Relax and head up the hill 
It was definitely a mental thing with my wife, she had convinced herself she couldn't do it. When she realised how easy it was and that you didn't actually have to do anything it clicked.
HTH
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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| SnowboardVicky wrote: |
When you work this one out let me know!
When I'm considering a new resort, I have to check out the piste map and check I can get all over the hill without using any kind of drag. My boarding is actually quite good (ten years at it), but I have, like you, a fear of drags.
It's also one of the reasons that although I live in Scotland we don't go upto Cairngorms.
We're heading to La Thuile in Italy in a fortnight, but I won't be skiing over to France as I'm told it's a 3km drag back into Italy!!
No help, but at least you know you're not the only one. |
If it's any help you only need to take one of the two drags to get back from France and whilst the only one you need to take is not difficult it's also no where like 3km's visiting the French side is well worthwhile!
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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I would also add, allow both legs to bend slightly - that will help with the initial tug.
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Is there an elegant way of getting off a drag at the end of the run?
stevew, The 3km distance was off a post on here somewhere. Good to know it's not that long really. My brother is a skier and I'm sure he would like to nip across the border, if for no other reason than to say he had done it and I'd really like to go with him.
If you do fall off, are you on a run (so can baord back down and have another go), or are you in the middle of deep snow?
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TallTone, you turning to the 'darkside' 
viks10, hi sunshine, buttons are a bit of a leg killer until you realise that you are the problem. Almost everyone starts out fighting and pulling against the tow, putting their weight into the back foot and making the board want to turn . . . it's horrible and very exhausting. You just need to keep your weight over you lead leg where the button rests and the tow will pull you straight up the hill. Get it right and you can wave your back foot in the air.
As for the drag back from La Rozipoop. Well you can get off at the halfway point and run back down the col . . . which is quite nice. But to be honest La Roz is nothing special for a boarder other than the afternoon sunshine and the family atmosphere. I don't know if any maintenance has been done but the drags there were all capable of ripping your hip out of its socket (it'd be nice to hear otherwise).
So, in essence, weight into your lead leg, relax down a little and ride the flow. The drag is not steep and won't put you in stress.
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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| SnowboardVicky wrote: |
Is there an elegant way of getting off a drag at the end of the run?
stevew, The 3km distance was off a post on here somewhere. Good to know it's not that long really. My brother is a skier and I'm sure he would like to nip across the border, if for no other reason than to say he had done it and I'd really like to go with him.
If you do fall off, are you on a run (so can baord back down and have another go), or are you in the middle of deep snow? |
I'm afraid it's quite a way from the piste but the track is nice and wide and I'm sure you could board down it!
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Masque, have learnt enough over the last few months to get an appreciation of the art 
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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viks10, good to hear you're enjoying your time on your board! all i can suggest for surviving your first forays onto poma/tow/drag lifts is to relax. and keep your legs bent slightly. remember to turn only your head in the direction of travel - keep your shoulders in line with your board i.e. stand sideways. most of the time, this is why newbies fall off drag lifts.
SnowboardVicky, the best way is to start bending your legs slowly as you approach the exit. when you're ~5 to 10 metres away from the exit, pull down on the dragging part and hold it in your hand. when you hit the exit, release the drag part and slide away, using the momentum of the lift rather than trying to skate along. when you've slid clear of the immediate exit area, start skating along to get out of the way of the people following you on the lift.
oh, and the snow under a drag lift should have been flattened so people can ride up the lift. you may end up surrounded by deep snow on either side, but under the lift itself should be flattened.
for both of you, the best way to practice is to go to your local dry slope (or even the indoor slope at glasgow), as they will probably have poma lifts that you can practice on. hth 
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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To reiterate a key part of the excellent advice on this thread: most if not all beginners think that they have to "do something" on the drags. (I think this stems from seeing skiers looking as if they're sitting down on the drag, giving the impression that the idea is to put your weight against it or something.) However, that's exactly what you should be trying to avoid! Ideally, you should be pretending that you're on the flat and that the drag is just some external force keeping you moving along. (If you were scooting along the flat, you'd have your weight forward, knees slightly bent, your back foot on the stomp or pressed up against the back binding....) You're not supposed to be sitting on the button/j-bar/t-bar; rather, the support should be tucked behind your leading thigh merely providing the impetus that keeps you moving.
Just as it's difficult to do much in the way of steering when you're on the flat at slow speed, it's difficult to steer on drags. It's also completely unnecessary so don't try! As someone already mentioned, don't worry if you start to slip off of the central track that the skiers create, even if the camber falls away from you; the drag will bring you back again. Don't try to fight it.
Believe it or not, drags do stop being scary once you've got the hang of it! They're still a bit tiring compared to chairs though, since you are in effect riding flats which requires the usual concentration, balance etc.
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Just relax, try not to take any weight on your arms once you have got going, and relax a bit more. Then relax again.
Just use your arms to stabilise you.
Get your back foot against your back binding, and let the button bit pull you by the legs.
Don't look down at the board
Keep your legs a bit bent and nice and loose
And stay relaxed
Just let everything find its natural balance, and don't fight the lift.
T-Bars aren't really any different, just get yourself as close to the middle of the bar as possible.
HTH, I spend most of the season riding drag lifts, and they're fine once you get some practice on them.
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You know it makes sense.
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viks10, agree with the above advice. for what it's worth i reckon you just need to keep plugging away at it. On the bright side you won't find any that are worse than glenshee because as far as i can tell all the springs which are supposed to start you off gently are worn out so you get a shock pull to start off. Last week one pulled me so hard that i was fully off my feet for the first few yards of the run. As for T Bars, whilst they are maybe a bit easier than button tows, they are really painful on a long lift because the bar really digs into your leading thigh. I hate them.
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Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:
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| SnowboardVicky wrote: |
When I'm considering a new resort, I have to check out the piste map and check I can get all over the hill without using any kind of drag. My boarding is actually quite good (ten years at it), but I have, like you, a fear of drags.
It's also one of the reasons that although I live in Scotland we don't go upto Cairngorms.
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You should. Seriously. If you've been boarding for 10 years, you'll be good enough that after a couple of attempts you'll get up them no problem.
I used to avoid them until I took a trip to Glencoe. Fell off the first button. Had another go and was successful. Fell off the first T-bar. Had another go and was successful. They've never really been a problem since.
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Poster: A snowHead
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I struggled with pomas to begin with, I could happily get down a black linking turns before I could get up one! Just stuck with it one day (giving my mate who was learning to ski some moral support) on the baby slopes (riding down switch to get the hang of that) and it eventually clicked and can do them no problem. T-bars I never had issues with, managed them first time.
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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I think on my week in La Thile I'm just going to have to find an easy one and have a go. I need to find one that has a piste right next to it, so I can board my way back down if I fall off and give it another go!
I'll let you know how I get on!
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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?
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SnowboardVicky, There're booger all tows in La Thuile so don't even worry about it and La Rubbish is not worth the effort for an early boarder . . . lots of criss-crossing goat tracks with half a dozen pistes running through the middle of them.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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make sure you have a very grippy stomp pad right up against back foot plus let your 'back arm' point down hill..front arm holding the pole i.e. -0- arms being - and body 0 so your are not being pulled into a twist of body..front leg bent most..relax..easy
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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Didn't bother going across to La Ros as there was more than enough to keep us busy for a wek in La Thuile without going near a drag lift.
Excellent place and we would love to go back sometime.
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FAQ
