There are many folks out there who either cannot afford to take a first time beginning snowboard lesson or their local resort has no ski & snowboard school. I am in the process of filming segments of a typical first time lesson and posting it to my Youtube account. I have had to keep each segment under 10 minutes and therefore, only touch upon the high points and give an example. This is no substitute for an actual lesson, but for those who do not have the opportunity, it is my hope that seeing the actual lesson will help make the written word a little clearer. I am not film producer, so please excuse the roughness of the video production. Also, during the filming the weather began to degrade and there is a lot of wind noise on some of the segments. At some point in the future, I hope to replace those segments.

This is the first installment of hopefully a growing list of lessons on tape. As I get each segment of the first time beginner lesson completed, I will add it to the list. When finished, this video lesson will cover everything typically covered in a person`s first time lesson up to making linked turns.

 

 

 

YouTube - Beginner Snowboard Lesson Part One
Skating, gliding and stopping

YouTube - Beginner Snowboard Lesson Part Two
Loading / unloading the chairlift and getting up after strapping in

YouTube - Beginner Snowboard Lesson Part Three
Sideslipping and Linked Traverses heel and toe side

YouTube - Beginner Snowboard Lesson Part Four
Garlands and linked turns

 

 

There are many ways to tackle the bumps. The general rule of thumb is that learning to pick your line is the key ingredient to navigating these things. I have discovered that my prefered method is to traverse each bump about midway and ride around them. When I have picked a spot to make a turn, I generally fully flex as I approach the spot, then while banking off the mogul in front of me, I rapidly extend, unweighting my board and then spinning downhill to plant the board in the trough headed the opposite direction. As you are riding across the bumps, it is crucial to remain loose and allow independent flexion and extension of the legs in order to maintain a quiet upper body while allowing the board to ride up and over the bumps. Going slow is the key to learning to ride these things and it is more than acceptable to come to stop at the point you are going to do a pivot turn or "Leaper" to ride back the other direction. As you become better, you will be able to maintain a realatively constant speed and turn shape as you ride through a mogul field.

Riding through these is a great workout for the core muscles and abs. If you are ever freezing your butt off on the hill, go find a good mogul run to hit and you will no longer be cold. In this video, I demonstrate my technique of doing this.

Snowboard Intermediate Lesson: riding Moguls