It doesn't look like you're going that fast until you're actually on the board then it seems like it has a damn rocket engine attached. Nice instruction, just hope I can apply it next week!
I feel like it largely depends on prior experience with speed (obviously). If you've been skiing a lot before it's not that bad, then it's just the other aspects of snowboarding that gets you.
true. I had my bro recording me sliding down a steep slope. On the footage, the ground look evenly and I was sliding slowly. In reality, it was hella fast for me and the slope was like a cliff.
for me it was all about edge control. being confident moving from edge to edge, or flat to edge, was a big milestone. having people zoom past you at high speed is unnerving as a beginner as well 😅
@@Pharmerbarry lots of practice & watching loads of video tutorials 😁watch a vid before you hit the hill & practice for half an hour or so at the start of the day. practice riding switch if you don't already. how to stand, initiate turns, what you do with your feet, it's a lot just to get the basics down!
On #2 (keep board on edge), the cat track may be sloped (sideways), so you spend a LOT of time on a single edge and not so much rocking between the two. For a bit of relief, look behind you and cut uphill into a crossing run, briefly switch the lesser-used edge to rejoin the cat track, then back to the usual edge. Tip: learn to ride switch early on so you can just ride the "other" edge on these side-sloping tracks at will.
We have a green run like this. You have to carry a bunch of speed into the flat & it looks like you’re going to hit the chair at the bottom. But if you speed check right before the flat, you get stuck out on the middle of the flat.
I so agree with switch! I went to Whistler and it took me forever to get through these narrow trails. I was so tired on my one edge and even though it took me so much longer to ride on switch, It helped keep me from getting even more tired because I was able to switch up the edges.
the second point he mentions about keeping your edge on a board because when simply flat it has a tendency to slip out from under you. This is not experienced on skis since each ski stabilises the other.
I am a beginner, went on my first track yesterday and flat parts killed me... At first I was terrified of steep parts but those were so easy.... Now I am terrified of flat parts because I fell about 50 times riding there 😔
Finally snowboarded for my first time yesterday. Wish I watched this vid before lol but I definitely learned the difference between flat and steeper runs first hand. Honestly found it much easier to maintain control on the steeper trails
Having gone from beginner to intermediate in the past 5 years, I would highlight the importance of predictable turns. I hate-hate-hate coming up behind beginners in these areas who are going to slow and are wildly veering left and right in a way that I cannot safely pass. It's a situation where you commonly need to hold your speed to make it through (on a snowboard), and they're forcing you to lose it or take sort of a risk passing you. Courtesy should dictate that you at least don't take full width coverage of the area as you turn. Take the easy/better half, but keep something clear for those that need to pass you. Key beginner tip here: ALWAYS BE ON AN EDGE! You don't have to dig in, but have one and consciously switch if necessary. When you're on a flat and slow run, it's so so easy to think you need to flatten out your board to keep your speed (and it can help), but it is almost never safe to do so. My worst snowboarding injury (rotator cuff bruise or tear) came from being flat on my board because the run was flat and I didn't want to lose speed. I caught an edge and fell on my shoulder. Catching an edge is always an uncontrolled and unpredictable fall and if it happens on ice or hard packed, it can hurt and do damage. I upped my snowboarding game by chanting this in my head for about a day and a half "I'm on an edge, so I'm not gonna fall." I've had far more falls/tumbles as an intermediate at much higher speeds, but those have been done no damage because I could feel or expect the mistake and controlled my tumble/ground impact.
"If you leave you're board flat it gets slidy your board can turn and you will wipeout" You mean your board catch the toe edge and you scorpion the F out. Story of my life
hey man , just wanted to let you know that your vids really helped when I was snowboarding for the first time in niseko. I was only boarding for 10 days but your vids helped me get my heel to toe turns really quick. I managed to pick up snowboarding in 3 days and the rest of the time was just sick fun. So Thankyou so much for your tips man they really helped !!
Thank you guys so much for this channel. Yesterday I went snowboarding for the first time and thanks to you I was able to ride snowboard by the end of the day. Thank you!
I’ve found that for beginners it’s best to stay on the heal edge as long as possible- so it’s easier to stop or slow down if necessary- and just go to the toe edge for periods of time for balance and to give your quads some relief. Then, as you get better, you can do more even turns. But yea, the biggest tip is to stay on an edge, that’s your only control
This video just saved my life! kept catching edges on those cat tracks and wondering wtf? I just started and had no problems going down runs but just couldn't figure out how to control the board when going straight. The answer.....DONT GO STRAIGHT! always be on an edge. 2nd day and didnt fall once ;) Thanks Kev!
One good tip is to buy a board with “magnatraction”. It’s a jagged/wavy edge on the side of board and stops you catching an edge. Libtech or gnu I think do them.
Just learned to snowboard this spring break. My biggest (and valid concern) was folks cutting right next to me as they passed while I was going downhill. I'm glad they had that much control ( I'm guessing they did) but I was super paranoid about accidentally cutting in front of anyone and causing an accident. I did have maybe two people call out "on your left, on your right" before they zipped by which I yelled out "thank you!" back at them but that was not the norm. So even after I got comfortable with my turning I still would point to where I was going to turn to to let folks know behind me which way I was gonna go (it was pretty busy). It's amazing how fast you can get going in a short amount of time and I did not want to see what hitting someone felt like.
I’m still new at boarding but I try to watch the person in front of me and let them give me a good chance to pass them, if I’m going faster than they are I like to go wide. Slower boarders usually mean new boarders. Having been there I dislike people rudely cutting really close to me and do everything I can to return the favor to everyone else around me.
This year (after 3.5 years of riding), I finally feel comfortable just pointing my board downhill and not getting on edge. But who knows, maybe it's a false sense of security and it really is dangerous. So far, I haven't been spoked. Seems if you just keep your legs and ankles super loose to absorb the chatter, you don't need to get on edge. The practical reason to not get on edge is if you really need as much speed as possible before hitting a long flat at the end of the hill. Getting on edge adds drag. But riding within' your comfort level is the most important.
Great vid! If i can add another tip would be to call out your overtakes! I usually just say/scream "On your left" "On your Right" so the people ahead can know where you're going to overtake from and they can anticipate.
Took up snowboarding in my late 40s and these videos are ace. Bit by bit built up, nearly gave up learning S turns but finally cruising and loving it. Kevins first few learner-videos I probably watched about 30 times each. Many thanks!
Man i started riding regularly this season and I been watching your videos. Maaaaaan ALL these tips come in super clutch. And your lessons are mega approachable for beginners. Good shit. Thank you
I had a really bad fall on a very narrow run where skiers were whizzing by me. I think the best advice to doing better on these is not to slide the board...ever. If you're on a decently wide run, you can slide the board going into a turn and once you have sufficient speed in your new direction, you can lean on your downhill edge to start your new turn. But if you're on a very thin run and try to slide turn you can't go far enough in a direction to change the fall line. So your board is turned to the side, but you're still heading straight down the hill so when you go to plant your downhill edge to make a turn, it catches and you bite it...hard. I've just started working on getting more comfortable at higher speeds so I can just rock back and forth using the edges instead of slowing down by sliding.
This is an excellent tutorial. I have to add one thing to #4, it's good to know how to stop but this can also be used to slow down without stopping. Kick the board out quickly 90* and then straighten back out before stopping to "speed check" yourself. Even the most experienced snowboarders do this on narrow cat tracks.
thanks alot Kevin you have really build up my confedence and skills for my first year snowboarding I really have fell in love with the sport you honestly have helped me out since day one can't wait to Start for next year. since the season has ended here back in Ohio. thanks again bro . your friend Tyler.
I used to have problems with flat runs as well. I kept catching my edge, especially in the parts of the run, when it turns totally flat, but you have to maintain speed to reach the next part of the run. This resulted mostly in very painful wipes. What helped me the most was to bend my knees and lower my whole body position. This way I could regain my balance quickly in case my board caught an edge. You might want to try this out, it helped my a lot.
Great advice about staying on edge. I kept wiping out this season probably b/c my board was flat on the run and I'd pick up crazy speed and crash. Season is pretty much over here on the east coast but I'll try out these tips next year. Thanks for all the great videos Kevin! Keep 'em coming 🙃
yeah you definitely want to keep an edge while riding. For one if you are riding on your edge you not going to catch an edge. When you are riding flat straight down not making turns your board can turn just a little, you'll catch an edge and eat it. Once you get good you could ride flat straight down and have enough feel not to catch an edge. But yeah def try getting used to riding edges. Pick up the heel a little and just focus on staying toe edge only, then can pick toes up a little and ride heel edge. You can still go straight down but you'll stay in much better control. Then start doing turns on edges only little by little and you'll be carving in no time.
I needed this video so bad! I've been stuck on stupid flat runs too many times!! I caught my heel edge and ate it so hard last weekend on a cat track 😡😡 Thanks Kevin!!
Holy molly. Can't stop watching. Need moar! I'm sooooooo hyped. Gonna go boarding this weekend after 8 years of... simply not doing it. If those first days go totally awesome it's mostly due to your videos! Thank you a lot!
I've always loved those kinds of sections because they tend to be so long. So long as they aren't crowded you can pick up some sweet speed and carve short turns through them
cheers for this. I really struggled on the cat tracks and narrow runs, especially when you're new and also having your back to the cliff side can be quite daunting... A massive thing for me was not trusting my bindings as had issues with them loosening and therefore didn't want to build up much speed for risk of them undoing while going fast. Only time i fell was on the flat parts...
Having a really stiff Solomon ERA for a couple of years, gripping the wrong edge was big risk. Whenever I could not edge (due to low speed) I would lean towards the front foot, letting the rest of the board "follow". Never failed me.
This past Sunday, I went to ripping down a steep section of a cat track and then went down to the Flats traversing from one run to the other, and I picked up a bunch of speed down the steep section of the cat track, and when I got to the flat cut, a front side edge fell, and broke my scaphoid bone in my hand/wrist. Second time out on the mountain in one of the best seasons we’ve had in years for a snow waiting to see the surgeon on the 13th to see if I’m gonna need a screw or not in my hand/wrist. Mega bummer. First year back out on a board in about 10 years just got all my gear set up and tuned perfectly. Just taking it day by day now hoping for the best news.
Thanks for this video, I've watched a few of them now but I just turned up in Morzine, France (the fact I'm in the chalet now and this video comes up in my feed makes me think of google analytics) - With my parents both novice skiers. I am a novice snowboarder but follow your advice to the letter having broken my wrist having been crashed into by a skier whilst boarding. Thanks for your help and i can imagine many others owe you thanks as well. Cheers to a good day on the mountain.
Love your vids soooooo much dude keep it up I'm 14 from UK and I wanna live in the snow first went snowboarding this February and love it you've helped me and my dad so much dude thanks a lottt
hey Kevin i have got a tip for your second pair of glasses that you have with you. put them in your beanie, behind that little lip. it work pretty good and you can't lose them.
Great content on your videos brother!! I’m on my fourth day of snowboarding... I’ve really benefited from applying your tips. I made a little cheat sheet of things to review on the lift up, really taking the time to visualize myself going through the motions and just commiting when it’s go time. Keep up the great work, live the videos.Thanks Brandt
I was riding for the first time today. I was riding like in the video at first. And felt it was wrong because I was not going straight. When I tried to ride straight I eventually catched the edge and fell on my face... I was riding red slope after 30 minutes with few mistakes. Guess I'm a natural for snowboard. Love it so far!!
Awesome tips! I hate those places because this is where I fall the most, thank you Kevin for being helpful! Is there a trick to rock the board on both edges so fast? Could you make a video on how we can gain speed when we transition from beginner to intermediate level? I usually take my time to make nice S turns but I noticed than everybody is going so fast and I don't what's wrong with me (my board is waxed)...
Hey Kevin, thanks for all the awesome videos! My question has to do with which foot to lead with. I have heard two examples or scenarios: 1. Which ever foot you kick with that foot should be in back to steer the board & to kick or swing the board. Analogy: Board is a boat & back or tail of board is a rutter and your back foot steers the Rutter & boat. 2. I have heard also that your lead foot should be in front of board. Analogy: Sliding on slippery floor which ever foot you lead with should be in front. IDK... I am rookie at all this, but I can carve & get down a hill & get on /off of lifts. I can do basic turns, BUT I cannot snowboard in a straight line. Please help!
I have so much trouble on those cattracks at whistler where the cliff side is on my heels side.. For some reason when I go to turn into my heel I have to cut all the way across the run.. It's never a nice even little turn. And cutting across the run towards the cliff side.. And potentially Infront of someone coming down... Its just shitty.
You need to learn how to carve heelside by shifting your weight from from the front of the board to the back during the turn. Takes practice but you will be able to do smaller more controlled heelside turns. GL
Same! Omg those cliffs terrify me! I just ride switch on those so I can use my heel edge but takes me so much longer because I'm not good on switch How have you progressed with this over the past 2 years?
Remember that those in helmets, helmet liners and caps don’t know you’re overtaking so call out “on your right” “on your left”. Court case going on right now about a ski collision in 2016. It’s a courtesy that will keep everyone safe
You know how telling kids not to touch anything in a store works out? Well, I still remember my first time riding powder. The green (for easy AND flat) slope was ungroomed after two days of snow dumping hard. I remember my buddy yelling "don't stop. Whatever you do don't stop..." :D
I think RU-vid read my mind. Been off a board for over 10 years and today was my first day back. Yay for muscle memory! The hill was fine, until I'm cruising to the bottom at probably 20mph to the flats at the bottom and the board just starts sliding around. Suddenly I'm at 0mph with my face first impact into the hard pack and felt my helmet bounce off the ground. This would have been good to know. XD
The steering of the board from side-to-side seems to come from the back as opposed to the front foot--a point not made in the tutorial, but seemingly important, especially to avoid catching the leading edge.
Hello there. I’m a beginner. Your videos are very helpful. My question is, when you are going straight down the slope, do you put equal weight on both feet? Thank you.
on a groomed run yes , you should aim to have equal weight ( the only time you need to shift weight is in turns when u need to put more weight on the front, at a beginner level that is)
buuutzz i can tell you how to do one . go on some traks that are not marked and make sure it snowed only for a few day so that the rocks are not leveled by the snow and they are sticking out , snowboard there and I garanty you will front flip when you catch a rock :))))) worked with me
One of the worst cat-tracks are the ones that lean away from your natural stance but are way too narrow to do any kind of turn at all. Rapid alternating from toe edge to heel edge can't be done either because, for me, a goofy rider, the left to right slope means I can't put a heel edge in because there's nothing there to put my heel edge into. I could ride it switch and glide on the heels but eventually you'll be met with turn or a bump that causes you to loose grip and you're a goner. You've just gotta glide through on your toe edge and hope you make it out without wearing a tree. Even after a decade of snowboarding these conditions still make my butt twitch.
riding on an edge instead of going flat was something that was not told to me when I was learning. When you're riding flat, any twist or turn of your upper body will turn your board and you'll catch an edge. By riding one of your edges slightly, you're locking in the direction of travel and you can twist and turn all you want and you won't cause the board to turn. not something that a beginner would know
Once I was on a beginner trail and it was packed with super experienced people and it was my first time skiing, then I was slammed by a dude going super fast and I flew and slid off the trail and part of my legs went into a mini frozen lake, it sucked so bad
Good tips but they're compensating for misaligned side to side binding. It's like driving a car with alignment off. While going straight on flat area, if your front turns to one side, it means your feet is too much off centered on that side; fish tailing means the back binding; worst is spinning: both front and back feet are exactly wrong in the opposite sides.
Went to Val'Thorens to snowboard for the first time this year. Great resort. But those flats can indeed be tricky. I like your tips, special to take smaller / longer turns. You also mentioned that it is earsier to pass flats if you hang into your edge, instead of standing flat. My friends also kept telling me this, but i never got the hang of that. Any tips on how i can improve there? For now i tried to lean forward en backwords to hang into my edges, but that always made me turn somehow.
The weirdest thing when learning to snowboard you think these would be the easiest areas/things to look forward to. Turns out to be the hardest area to master, plus you feel like such a dick when you wipe out and everyone else is casually skiing past you. I love how the pros make it look so easy.
Awesome, nice job Kevin! I have trouble with this, hopefully not after watching this. When you are rocking from edge to edge, are you leaning with both feet at the wan time or do you lift your front foot first? Same with the small turns, leaning with both feet at the same time or front foot, back foot? Are the small turns proper turns or just engaging edges by leaning? Thanks in advance! Love from the UK!
I’ve been snowboarding on and off for about 8 years and I still find it difficult on flat and narrow paths. Just feel like I have little control when coming completely forward on the board.
i am pretty good riding blue trails and very confident carving and hitting small features, but i find cat trails so overwhelming not having room to carve
Great Video, and useful tips. Although this really does not look like a flat run you can encounter when transition between different runs (difficulties). Any tips for those flat runs that go around the mountain where you either end up on one edge or the other? As a beginner who doesn't board that often, I usually get massive calf burn due to finding it difficult to get the turns in because the run is so narrow.
Love your videos they really help! Quick question, how to recommend progression from big wide turns to short narrow turns like you did? Appreciate any tips!!
It makes flat sections a lot easier to get across and keep the speed up, as it reduces the frictional resistance of your base. Most snowboarders hate cat tracks and long flat sections unless you have a desire to butter. The slower you go, the harder they are. I keep my board waxed, and very rarely get overtaken on flat sections, or have to unclip and start skating across them. This is my other pet hate about a lot of the shit rental boards. They usually have extruded bases and are not well waxed, which can make life even more difficult for people who are learning on flat sections
dboy4ever when you’re still learning it might seem daunting or counter-intuitive to do something that makes you go faster, but it’s about control. Having keeping your snowboard base waxed and edges sharp mean it’s in optimal condition to perform at it’s best. You can then use your technique to control your you speed from getting too fast. As others have pointed out, if your speed is too slow, particularly on flatter ground, it’s much harder to maintain balance and edge control. If keeping up enough speed seems scary then you need to take some steps back and focus on developing your edge control and turning so you have more confidence to progress.
This is counterintuitive but true. I liken it to sharpening a knife in cooking: A sharper knife is safer because it is more predictable. A well tuned board will perform the way it should, making it more predictable. GL.
As an intermediate, I personally love the flats. My nemesis is the steep and narrow.. (Where I live in Switzerland, what is considered a black in the US, is a red here (some blacks here have a 70% incline for example.)) Personally, I don't really care for the kamikaze style riding, so steep and narrow is really difficult for me, as there is, within my experience level, not enough room for braking turns.. Any tips for that?
damn, that last tip is useful basically for everyone on a busy slope, having to stop suddenly because someone suddenly decided not to make a turn and ride to the other side of the slope without watching out is really annoying... happened to me too many times
The most important tip for me is to go as fast as possible leading into the flat section. Just bomb it, you'll slow down soon enough anyway. That solves all of the issues mentioned here plus you're the one going around people and can plan it all out. If you've been boarding for a few years and still don't like to go fast it's probably because your board is too flexible. My park board was holding me back for years, then when I got a freeride board I became the fastest guy on the mountain overnight it seems. My 2c
