I used to avoid any kind of sliders like the plague. I've always had the desires to jib, but of course love powder, carving and all the other good things snowboarding has to offer as well. I pretty stoked the other day when I made it all the way from the beginning to end on the actual slider in the pic below (I have no idea who person in this pic is). I'm only doing 50-50's down it, got owned on a couple tries, but stoked that I did it! I confronted the fear and found enjoyment in this new challenge.



I turn 31 next month. I don't know of many other 30-something year old females learning to play on sliders, but oh well. I'm having an awesome time. The next challenge will either be riding it switch 50-50 and/or trying to do frontside boardslides.  I'm still having the adrenaline rush from having ridden one of Schweitzer's longest rails all the way through!

nice one :) never to old to learn 

I might try park someday. I always have more fun just riding, though. Cruisin and carvin.

Nice job... quick trick to landing rails: line up, and commit. Don't back out or second guess yourself, or you'll fall. You just gotta go for it. And keep your head centered on slides. In order to do that, keep your head moving in the direction your sliding. That way, you don't fall back on your keister!!

I occasionaly make runs through the terrain park, but I  prefer to be either riding snow or air. I don't really even bother trying to learn to spin. I can do 1's all four ways, that's enough for me.

 

Hey I'm trying to teach myself fs 360's and big jumps just now

I quit doing spins since my shoulder kept dislocating. In fact, I quit parks for the most part. But I got my shoulder fixed over summer, and have rehabbed myself a bit, so I'm hittin' parks again. Kind of relearning a lot of stuff, but it's all flowing back. My biggest problem is I keep thinkin' I'll dislocate my shoulder again. But I guess I do have two shoulders, so fuck it!!

Nice SSK, I'm 31 and love pushing the amplitude!  Here's old man whithers himself getting jiberific! (50-50 to boardslide, photo credit: Jordo)

[Edited by thebutress on 2/27/2008 at 3:53 PM]

tylenol can do the liver in.  at 49 I regularly predose with ibuprofen.  I'll do an ocassional straight air jump but no boxes or rails; would try some spins on a no consequence day but forget on those days due to being preoccuppied with hitting the steeps.

all those slider/rails do nothing for me - only go through the park to launch airs off the hips. 

Kicker/tabletops, I just skash the sides of them like they're a big wave, but would rather do that on something more natural or ideally in pow.

Got the ollie 180 down - I would like to learn how to do a 360 air, but I'm not sure if doing it in the park is a the best place to learn them.

actually, I saw a dude the other day on a small rainbow rail and he launched a little air off the last part landing on his back and slammed his head REAL good - he just sat there holding his head a rocking back and forth.  I can do without that, thanks.

[Edited by snurfer on 3/6/2008 at 1:05 AM]

haaa... i just turned 36 last month!  only park riding i did this yr was a trip down to chillax & ride w/ family in big bear.  my 1st few seasons (97-00), my park "diet" consisted only of straight airs w/ various grabs & tweeks.  then i got a helmet & moved onto 180s & basic slides on rails & boxes.  the past few seasons it's been all about freeriding!

but seeing these pix & the fun i had @bear mtn/snow summit last month has got me jonesin' to take a few laps thru the park.  i know i'm in serious need of a good x-course.  sadly, i heard only kirkwood & boreal have one going in the tahoe/central sierras this season.  i used to love smashing the one @sierra (i heard they planned to move it to the green run on the backside but didn't for some reason... they have a reg. int. park in its old spot ).  and bear valley has not or have plans to build theirs fr what i was told last wknd. (more )

anyway, awesome to read that the 30+ group is holding it down in the park!!!  keep it up, ladeez & gents!

Posted by thebutress

don't forget your ibuprofen,  my nurse wife says tylenol is bad for the kidneys, or liver..  i forget.  one of those.  need the keep those kidneys working to sell off to finance the next board trip... ;)

 

we're both 31 an just learnin', might try the park one day.. if my skill progresses faster than my aging body.

[Edited by thebutress on 2/27/2008 at 3:53 PM]

...shoulda said I got the backside 180 air down.  Was always afraid of the frontside because it just seemed awkward to initiate the spin and a botched landing would mean landing on my ass/back.  Well...I finally got it wired yesterday - just takes more speed/attention to the angle and launching off the heel edge.

[Edited by snurfer on 1/15/2009 at 4:07 PM]

That's so great that ur riding at 49.  I thought I was a kook for loving this at 41.  You go!

new year...new goals.  Just because I'm in my 40s doesn't mean I'm not progressing. 

This year, I bought one of the new tech boards hoping that it might give me some confidence to get to my next level...it worked.  Not sure if it was just a mental barrier, but I finally managed to do several backside 360s this year and even mistakenly made a frontside 360.  These were off smaller natural bumps since park jumps still intimidate me (I usually do at least one straight air off all of them just for my ego, but that's it)

this year, I've also added (small) frontside airs to grab off hips and backside airs to switch.  Of course, the method grab is the logical next progression, but, after that, I really don't have many more goals in snowboarding.  If I'm able to consistently incoorporate all these tricks on some fun, surfy trails, I'll probably be satisfied with my short, but wonderful snowboard experience.

...bad thing is, I landed on my ass on some ice in Tahoe about a week ago (just cruising some moguls) and the muscles in that area are not real happy now.  Hate to be that guy on the lift smelling like tiger balm or whatever, but it appears I am for the rest of the season...at least 

You still better off smelling of tiger balm and being on the lift as apose to not smelling of tiger balm and being in hospital, so in all fairness, you need no excuses dude

I started at 40 and at 45 I've worked up the courage to hit the beginner boxes and rails, small table jumps, etc.  Not quite ready for the "medium" jumps yet.  My bruises take longer to go away now, but it also seems to be getting easier to ignore pain...or maybe that's just alzheimers setting in and I'm forgetting I'm in pain!

Dude, im just coming up to my 32nd birthday and already im telling myself that aches and painfull joints are good signs haha