Learning... Slowly

A snowHead

I've recently completed a beginners course at Chill Factor and have had two, two hour sessions on the main slope.

Each session I have started from the half way point and practised stopping on my heel & toe, C turns, linked turns etc, which I enjoy but after a while gets boring as the beginners slope isn't long enough.

Then I go from the top, and it all goes out of the window. It seems a lot faster then I'm used to. On a few of the runs I take a tumble which doesn't knock my confidence, but I feel a little disheartened that I'm not progressing enough. I can get down from the top easily enough by the floating leaf method. It's when I try to get down by doing garlands I seem to hit problems. My turns don't seem sharp enough but I find it difficult to keep them sharp due to the steepness and speed.

I didn't fancy more lessons before my holiday as I think when I'm at a resort I will get more from the longer beginner slopes.

Would you recommend more lessons? or just keep practising what I already know until I hit the real snow?

Also the slope seems to have fluffy stuff on the outside, then in the middle its like ice. Something I haven't experienced until going from the top. I don't seem to have the same control on it, any pointers would be great! I'm planning on getting away in Feb and I'm wondering if slopes are icy like that in resorts?

Thanks!

A snowHead

Sounds like you're stiffening up, keep your knees bent equally and nice and soft, and your weight low and centered over the board. You're probably leaning back towards the tail of the board, try to keep yourself at 90 degrees to the slope, if you're having a problem with this, try making a concious effort to 'drop' your forward shoulder a bit, it'll reposition your weight back towards the centre of the board. *Technically* it's a bad habit, but its helped me and others before...

The centre of the slope gets the most traffic so the snow gets compressed into a harder icy structure. Keeping the knees soft will help as you'll get more bite from your edge into the snowpack and help absorb any lumps and bumps which'll throw you off balance. Your legs are your shock absorbers, without the up-and-down travel in them you'll get a bumpy ride.

Keep practicing to keep your eye-in and don't get too disheartened if you have an off day - i've been riding for over 10 years and still get my ar$e handed to me to wear as a hat some days - normally when i'm being lazy and not following my own advice.

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

It might be best not to create extra bad habits from now as you'll probably be adding your own too. Have faith in the instruction, keep practicing and remember, bend ze knees keeping your back straight. It might help to point to where you want to go. Face over your leading shoulder with arm semi extended, pointing the direction you want to go. Another good technique is f***ing monkey style - named by instructors in France. Back straight again arms out either side like a monkey for balance. When you go to the mountains, everything you thought you knew about snowboarding will go out the metaphorical window!

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

chuckmorris, another thing you can try to help you use your time in the domes productively is practicing your Garland turns. If you're unfamiliar with them, its turning the board on either toe or heel edge through 360 degrees, or 2 180's if you prefer to think of it that way, 180 toe into 180 heel and repeat, that'll get you used to moving from front foot lead to back foot lead and back again, and and initiating turns with your back foot forward. Get used to doing them clockwise and counter-clockwise too. Idea is to end up with a series of equal sized loops like a garland of flowers (ahh innit sweet)

It's a good drill (urgh, sounded a bit skierish there) for practicing initiating turns quickly and for getting used to riding switch, plus to get the turns initiating quickly you'll have to keep your weight centred...

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chuckmorris, Get youself a copy of Go Snowboard by Neil McNab. It's a book plus DVD. The best £6.99 (from Amazon) you will spend on snowsports kit.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

OK thanks for the tips.

After all it is free

chuckmorris, One big difference is that many pistes have a camber to them. i.e. the fall line does not go straight down the piste as it does in a snowdome. Can get a bit confusing especially when the vis is bad.

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The thing I remember from my first time on a proper piste was the sheer size of it, being on 'Sesame Street' at Mammoth felt like I was on a - made the lessons i'd done at Tamworth feel like riding in a cupboard...

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It all depends what you want to do. Short of riding powder there's not much you can't learn on an artificial slope. Treat it like a gym. It's not much different from "the real thing". To put that another way, you'll find a wider variety of snow conditions between a summer glacier and Finland at minus 30 than between a dome and any resort.

It depends what you want to do. Many snowboarders stop learning once they can sideslip-turn top-to-bottom. Others have more ambition. If you intend to progress, then some learn best with tuition, others learn best on their own. If it's not fun, you'll not do it, so I'd just think about what your goals are and do what feels right.

On your questions... it sounds like you are probably sideslipping your turns; unless you're really good you'll likely need tuition to learn how to edge the board. It will probably take a few hours to work out how to do that (some people never do). On an artificial slope you aren't actually going that fast, although it may feel like it at first. Turns (especially side-slipped ones) do take a little while to work, and you're probably feeling the acceleration of the fall line. Much more riding time will help.

Personally I prefer practice to lessons, but it depends how you learn. Getting feedback from someone who can ride well can help a lot, as can video. Personally I don't learn well in groups, but there are lots of ways to be coached.

You're unlikely to find actual ice in a dome, but some parts will be artificial snow scraped (which you will find at some resorts although it's not hugely nice), and other parts will be where the scrapings are. Personally I use my eyes a lot and turn on the easiest parts of the slope (the fluffy bits, not the icy bits), and then I have sharp edges which will hold on that "ice". Variable snow conditions aren't uncommon, but resorts will usually be more consistent and better quality in most weather.

In February... it depends what the weather's like where you are. Artificial snow at a resort has that same "dome" feel to it, and you can hear when you're riding it (other clues are the great big snow machines throwing out clouds of artificial snow). It's entirely ridable, just a little different from real snow. Real snow may have icier patches on it - you have to look at the slope and be aware of the conditions. Usually you can hear when you're having edge-hold issues and ride accordingly (look for the better snow, or ride the bad stuff carefully). A sharp edge helps, as does balance.

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chuckmorris, while it's impossible to give you any accurate advice without seeing you ride, the most likely thing is that you're getting stuck on the back foot and not committing properly. I say this simply because it's the case for about 99% of people learning to snowboard!

You get away with this on the nursery slope because it's very gentle and short, but when you move to the bigger, steeper slope then your board comes around too slowly and you pick up too much speed. Because it's bigger and steeper and you're going a bit too fast, you lean back even more and it becomes a viscious circle.

Focus on feeling the weight in the little toe / outside of the heel of your front foot and keeping your front knee (indeed, both knees!) out over your little toe. This is scarier at first because you feel like your leaning right down the slope, but will give you much more control. Exaggerate the pedalling movements you've been taught and it should all come together!

Otherwise, go for more lessons and/or Neil McNab's book as listed above is good.

Stevo - BASI2 instructor!

Thanks for the advice Stevo!

You know it makes sense.

HaHAha,i was looking forward to going to Austria on the 15th till i read this,i actually thought i was getting the hang of it but it seens im going to be spending the week back on my ar*e,is it really that different from snozone?(i learnt at MK). Puzzled

Help!!

Learning... Slowly

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