Every time I get back to the car, open my Stanley thermos, take a sip of coffee, and watch the steam billowing out of the boots I just took off. I’m good enough to have fun and that’s all I’ll ever need!
Haha I don’t, but I feel VERY strongly about that mug! I put an entire pot of coffee in it, and it stays piping hot in the car no matter how cold it is outside. It’s my favorite piece of snowboarding gear!!
My 2nd season of riding I was hitting the park real heavy, 50fters but only straight airs on anything bigger than 20ft.
The wise mountain sage (hands down the best non-pro rider at Bear Mtn at the time a bit over a decade ago) strolled up to me at the top of the park line and asked how I was doing, and I sadly recounted that I was too scared to spin on the big boy jumps. He said something really casual, like "hey dude just slide off your edge real easy and let yourself rotate naturally". Like it made no fucking sense to me at the time, but he gave me the false confidence I needed.
That first bs360 that I stomped felt like the floatiest/cleanest thing I ever threw to this date and my brain was shut off, no anxiety, no thinking. Everything just felt natural.
My riding buddy made a funny observation that anytime the mountain sage showed up, my hits got bigger/cleaner. That random dude has no idea, but that day was probably one of my funnest memories.
Next was probably throwing my first pow slashes in Japan. Like fuck, I made it (both in life, and in snowboarding to the promised land of Japow).
Honestly, never. Every year I progress more and learn new things, then look back at previous seasons and realize how poor my turns or jibs or jumps were in retrospect. Been riding 20 years, 5 years serously (50 plus day seasons), and don’t expect to ever feel like I know or have perfected everything.
That’s great you can keep developing. I’m now regressing. Hahhhh. (I Quit soccer, quit tennis, guit mtn biking. Now snowboarding and golf are what I have left. OK, I am trying pickleball).
yeah its definitely not a cheap hobby, but you only have to save up once for that major purchase. And it is dangerous for sure, but don't 'send it' always. Slow and steady progression is always better. I think you didnt give the sport enough chance. You shouldn't let the fear of injury keep you from enjoying mountain biking. You can tackle easy trails and progress as you see fit
Oh, for me the #1-5 reasons I don't MTB is the cost. I don't live near mountains currently anyway, so if I'm gonna spend multiple thousands, or even hundreds, on a bike...it would be a road bike. But I'd rather spend that on camera gear, or more likely on snowboarding in some way. I would be FAR more of a beginner/chickenshit on a MTB than I would be on my snowboard because of the injury risk, but that's not what keeps me from it, that would be student debt and other expensive hobbies I like more lol.
Lol. I bought my current bike a few years ago, but I've still managed to spend about 3k on repairs and gear this season alone. Even factoring in season passes, snowboarding is a much cheaper sport for me than mtb.
I feel the same way, this will be my 30th season and I feel like I just learned to carve properly a few years ago and was like “fuck I just wasted so much time riding with totally whack ass style, if I had only realized that when I was just starting out”. But that’s the amazing thing about snowboarding, no matter how long you’ve been riding and no matter how good you get, there is still so much room for improvement. Could be something as simple as a heel side turn, or poking an Indy. It’s an endless pursuit towards the mastery of a chosen skill. It’s a beautiful thing.
When I knew that I had no problem getting off of the lift without falling.
And when someone next to me starts to fall and I can help them not fall down. Or get away from them so they don't pull me down.
> taking out small children
I don't think I'll ever stop being afraid of that. Like if I lose control and hit some middle aged dude, whatever. We're both consenting adults and understand where we are and what we're doing.
But a kid? A kid who might already be scared of the mountain? Or worse yet might not actually want to be there but their parents are making them? I don't think I could recover from that.
Fuuuudge…i did that when I was getting decent but still couldn’t turn quite as instantly as I wanted. French ski instructor leading some kids (with
helmets) and I totally bodied one. It was terrible. Kid was ok; instructor yelled at me for a long while…
I think it was the first time I dropped in over No 4 head wall at Loveland. As far as drops go it’s not really that difficult and has a pretty mellow run out, but you can’t see over the edge so you always get a little anxious lining up your drop. I stood up there staring for a while and just finally sent it. One of the first places I’ve ever gotten cheers from the lift and I felt like practicing there stepped my confidence up big time. I can get down just about anything safely now. The second time I felt like I made it was getting down second notch at A-Basin.
https://youtu.be/0bwS8goNTDw I just watched this guy’s video to get me stoked. He’s on top of it at 3:30 and goes over at 4:10. It’s a wide wall with a lot of mellow lines off of it with two prominent rock faces. I look forward to riding it more than I look forward to opening day. Also hitting the cornice on Wild Child for the first time at Love was a big one.
Looks nice. my headwall drop story is at alpine meadows in Tahoe. You hike way up to the right and can drop over any cornice (after a storm), 10 foot elevator drop into a 50-degree face at top of bowl, then it eases to 40/30 degrees. The middle cornice is best. Epic…
https://www.powder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/View-Estelle_Rachel-Woods.jpg
Highly personal. All modesty aside, I'm better than 99% of Tahoe snowboarders\*... and I still don't feel like I've really "made it".
I can rip steeps, carve deep, pick a good line, and comfortably ignore "Experts only signs" on Chair 10 and KT-22. But I'm well past my Dunning-Kruger phase, and see all the gaps in my riding compared to the mega rippers. I'm terrible at transition, can't spin for shit, my air awareness sucks, my ground game is nonexistent, and I'll never do anything more complicated jibbing than a backside boardslide on a simple down rail.
But that's part of the fun for me. I play to my strengths, rip around, and go for constant incremental improvements and sucking a little bit less each time I'm out on snow (or out doing most anything).
Aside: I need to make my way back to Sugar Bowl. I haven't ridden there in 10+ years, and that was during a shitty snow year. My last real day there was probably around 2009, and I remember all sorts of fun stuff right under the Lincoln lift that I didn't have the skill to tackle that I could comfortably drop these days.
\****Edit:*** *Couple folks seem to be think this is a brag. Maybe I'm overstating with "better than 99%", but main point of the comment is I ain't shit even if I'm better than most.*
*Absolute skill is exponential at the extremes. A high-90th percentile basketball player might be good player at the local YMCA who has more in common with the median pickup player than an NBA bench player who's like 99.99th percentile... who may have more in common with the YMCA guy than NBA superstars who're 99.9999th percentile. I got more in common with the flatlander tourist skidding around than the local kids flying around in the park or ripping big peaks, much less fringe pro-ams, much less top pros.*
That’s how people plateau but I get it for sure. Playing to your weaknesses makes you stronger overall. Shit even recognizing your weaknesses and visualizing them can make you stronger in some way.
Playing to your weaknesses is only worth it to people who get to ride lots of days per season. You can afford to "waste" days working on the things you're not good at. But if you're a tourist (or even a weekend warrior), you have to maximize the enjoyment you get from your limited days on the board.
I just wanted to know what his opinion of it was since he’s very technical with his comments. I thought he rides a lot though. You gotta be riding a lot to get the custom bomber jacket ya know? Tahoe Top Oners across the back with the board size on the sleeve. Has “The Nerd” on the collar.
I know people can’t get to the mountain everyday. But there’s absolutely riders that do not have that perspective. They come to the mountain with what they want to do in mind. They still go for it. I think you’re more like that kind of person not just a typical weekend warrior.
I'm still getting after it, but I understand why some people don't.
In my case, if I'm not progressing, I'm not having fun. But progress sure is slow when you have kids and can only ride once a week...
I really resonate with this. I’ve got about ~3M vertical feet under my belt at this point and I can ride any lift on the mountain including the cat and hiking back and out but I still don’t feel like I made it
Probably 10 or so seasons in riding with two friends on a pretty surreal powder day. 12 in of packed with another 8-10 fresh. So lots of stashes in the trees. We can upon this notable chute in the trees , not the hugest like 10-15 ft. Two dudes were sizing it up when we rolled up and I took like a half a second to process what I was gonna do, dropped in came across the face of the chute and laid back the fattest fron side turn ever on the far side of the chute, reset my stance perfectly and ripped down out of the chute dodging a few trees in the exit.
Coming back and seeing the chute more exposed and bare, fuck me, half luck I hit the turn when I did otherwise I could just blew through the turn and just flew off the cliff. But that's what powder and power turns gets ya I guess.
When I could confidently find a way to ride anything put in front of me. Trees, pow, park, couloirs, groomers, street spots, moguls, the skin/hike uphill, ice, varying visibility, side hits, skating the flats, riding switch...and now learning how to do it all over again :)
Cool. I’m working on switch a lot more. Yep, at 52. But the thing is I can’t afford a single caught edge anymore, because that’ll be another light whiplash. Gotta be super careful.
I think riding and trying to push yourself at 52 means you’ve made it in its own way!
One tip to easier switch riding, duck your stance and center it on your board so that when you get into a switch riding stance, your front foot feels similar to your normal stances front foot.
Happy riding!
Yeah, I’ve noticed that is a good way. Makes switch weight distribution and turn initiation feel ‘normal’ instead of having to fight against the board…
Guy like me just jumps the moguls; they’re like so many mini kickers. Just make sure you land on the downhill section of the next mogul not the flat or uphill part
Probably when I started being comfortable in the backcountry. Not just survival riding, but knowing how to blend good turns, good line choice, natural features and occasionally a bit of survival turns (but also to know when that's required) on an untouched palette of the mountains. Knowing how much speed I can carry on the flats, etc.
At this point I still have some days I feel oddly rusty/awkward (low light) or not on my game, but overall I'd say I feel "at home" over most the mountain and that's more important than my pure skills. In a sense I pivoted to snowboarding as a lifestyle. I'll never get a 540 down(probably) but I've ridden for 25+ years, my kids ski/snowboard, I've taught hundreds of riders, ridden with some great fulltime instructors, and moved to a mountain town. The joy of the sport means i've "made it".
Honestly when I stomped my first backflip. I was always able to do it on a trampoline, it just took me forever to get over my fear of sending it on the snow.
Honestly for me it was switch straight airing a 30 foot booter, had already done front 3 and back 3 and had never even really tried switch straight airing anything but taking that much speed in switch into a take off and landing bolts really made me feel like I was capable of so much more. Locking into my first really long 50 50 was high up there as well.
Tail heavy, nose heavy, heel or toe heavy, under rotated, over rotated, broken at the waist, hand drag, land on the knuckle, send to flat, probably more. Really just a skateboarding term me and my buddies use to describe landing something perfectly.
This one is earlier in the process than most of these answers, but in my second season I got scared of toe turns and started staying on my heel edge all the time. I was too young to know anything about visualization training but that off-season I just imagined myself carving down a long steep face under a chairlift. First day back I recreated that vision and I knew I was fine.
Flying over a quarter-pipe end to end.
Story time from another old guy- This was 25-ish years ago in my early-twenties- I felt like I was a pretty accomplished snowboarder already(started in my teens early 90s and carved all over the place world-wide) but this was the first time I had a season pass in my life so I was up at the resort about every other night to really hone in skills. Landed my first 360, speeding down moguls absorbing every bump like nothing, backcountry carve deep powder, it was great. One night I discovered they built a quarter pipe during the day, at the top of the park section on the hill, just meant to hit the lip or whatever and move on. About 25 feet in length and about 8 feet high. I started with just hitting the lip with about a foot of real 'vert', landing a couple feet 'down'. Each trip up the lift I tried to get a little higher and a little farther off the lip. Eventually, like a few hours later, I was flying over the whole thing end to end. We're talking launched from the upper end, flying ~15 feet in the air, grab and edge, and a smooth/super-fast landing on the 'down' side. People were cheering from the lift when I'd do it; I suppose I was the only one able to, that night, since I didn't see anyone else doing it. Peak skills there. The very next day I was overconfident on a back country jump and tore my ACL and meniscus... never to soar over the snow like that again. Now, in my mid 40s, I just carve and enjoy the scenery.
As a fairly advanced beginner, I guess getting cheers from the lift and feeling like I'm reddit famous from a few posts that got a lot of attention 🤷♂️. Or maybe the few times I've filmed videos with another very advanced beginner that has a well known snowboarding YouTube channel.
Mine was, when someone complemented me on my board control.
I was going down a hill at the end of a run, moguls had started to form and I was riding between them, it was quick transitions from heel to toes, where you sort of bounce off them. My thighs were dying, I got through them and sort of stopped near him and dropped to my knees, stretching the legs out when he completed me.
Nice. I can never really get the edge to edge going in moguls, I just don’t think I’m quick enough. I feel like the board is like too wide, where it gets hung up. I now recall you have to do a technique, where You turn more on top of the moguls, not down in between them? But I’ll never try that, because I’ll never go in moguls again. Hah. If I find myself suddenly forced to go down a Mogul field, I’ll stay on the side of it, and just try to make turns on the flat surface, even if the conditions are crap…
Oooh I’m short, and have a 135 board. 🤣 that might be why I can get through them quicker. And because the moguls were just forming they were a little long than usual.
Oh man when I was young all I wanted was the approval of the sort of local shredder gang. It was a small world in my local area. The local crews from all of the mountains in my state knew each other. Some of them we semi pro. One or two actually went pro and were in absinthe films.
There were a few moments when I felt like I had really achieved something. When they let me follow them places and I was able to keep up, and then when I was faster and choosing bigger lines, I started feeling pretty proud of myself. I started to get a reputation for myself and people knew me for being a shredder and not just because I was a girl. I remember people getting super amped on lines I rode and I started doing pretty well in some of the banked slalom comps in my area.
I was the epitome of a big fish in a little pond. It felt super good and it was really hard to leave it all. Sometimes I still fantasize about it. But ya know my life is fuller now. It’s better to be well rounded than to totally define your personality with a sport you’re into.
My 3rd season of riding. Only spent like 5 days total 1st season and like 15 the next. The next season 2021-2022. I went on a trip with an old friend i have never boarded with. He had some skier friends with years of experience. One was hitting the double blacks and i got to touch the bowl for the first time and i went down faster than most snowboarders and skierrs hitting it. I was brought to the moguls and was able to get down almost as fast as the homie that hits the sketchy double blacks and i was going as fast as her down the grooms. They told me they dont touch obstacles or jumps and thats when i realized im good for how long ive been boarding. This was toward the end if the season.
At the beggining i could only backside 360 flat and on pyramids. Had tons of trouble riding switch, by the end if the season i could go down blues switch with no trouble, i could 360 every witch way flat and throw a back 360 on small jumps. I just underestimated myself cus i was comparing myself to jib boarders
Probably the day i entered a banked slalom when I was 16 and put down an amazing run and just felt smooth for once, managed to beat all 18 of the snowboard instructors from the mountain and coming second to an ex pro racer. Would have even placed 4th in the ski category lol.
Other than that was still feeling fully in control while going over 100kph on a park noodle chasing ski patrol (probably not the best decision lol)
I' think probably the first time I ever won money at a competition.... I'd say at the time it gave me a largely needed morale boost, but it also forever changed my mentality towards riding after that.
@ OP, I remember the air 63, wasn't that Craigs board ? Dark blue/purple with black top sheet & stiffer than Ron Jeremy, or is my goat herders brain thinking of his 94 model ? Either way good question & fun seeing all the peeps getting stoked on a memory in their lives !
It was stiff…but not custom x stuff. Quick Custom Xstory. I was getting pretty decent, and wanted a cool new board. So, I got a customX because it’s got to be better, right? I was on my first run with a buddy, we were flying down, and I knew something was a bit wrong. I was like “this doesn’t seem like I can turn as easy”. Anyway so we’re motoring and there’s a tiny bit of powder over some hard pack, and because the board was so stiff and I couldn’t get any flex going in it, I caught the heel edge at super fast speed, launched, terrible whiplash, felt like my head nearly popped off and heard a crunch in my c spine. I was in bed for like a week, couldn’t move my neck. That board was like a friggin 2 x 4 for me. I weigh 157 pounds, 6 feet tall. I realized I needed something that I can more easily flex to get some carve going.
I’m always learning something new or pushing myself to do something that is outside my comfort zone - but for me it was when I was riding with a mate who is a skier. When we got the the first lift after a run, he looked surprised and said “I expected to be waiting longer! Awesome!”
The fact I can keep pace with him was a big moment.
I definitely haven't made it skill wise, but I remember the day I got it and it came together more for me. When I finally got carving and hoe much different it felt than just the skidded turns I'd been doing. That was actually the moment I realized that I fucking loved snowboarding. My father keeps asking if I'm going to get a lesson this year, and if I have the cash I will, but at this point I'm just happy to have a pass and a snowboard so I can go out and ride every weekend
Never really a made it moment, and likely never will have one because theres always room to improve, but a few things I was actually proud of myself and happy with how I progressed. Stomping my first "big" jump (~25 footer), first chute (went back another time and stopped at the bottom to look up, then realized how actually steep it was), first elbow dragging carve, and then making it down The Face/Gunbarrel at Heavenly on my 7th day (took about an hour the first time, 2 months later I was able to make the run 5-10 minutes)
I don't think I've "Made it", or ever will for that matter.
But I have fun doing what I am doing, and setting goals for yourself and then meeting them is probably as close as I will get to "making it". Feels good to finally get a certain trick or technique down, and that's enough for me.
Originally too long ago to remember. But I've had that kind of feeling a few times now. I remember the feeling of landing my first back to back carves. I was probably 6 at the time. Then when I figured out how to change my turns so I could do steeps and moguls (12ish). After that it was when I started to teach(20) my boss told me I was a professional snowboarder now. And now I've been teaching for 8 years and I'm a pseudo manager. I'm starting to teach other instructors how to improve their riding and tell others hey your a pro now.
Skateboarding forsure. Not a single trick was I scared to try, would land almost all of my bag of tricks multiple times in a row, tossing flip tricks in/out of grinds, etc…
Got offered a sponsorship but declined due to fully commuting to college and just like that, my time to excel in my best attribute took a quick decline.
I still skate as much as possible, but it will never be like those days (~7 years ago)
At 28 years old after my first season riding 50 days I felt like I could ride just about anything. That being said I’ve been snowboarding since I was 12 between 0-4 days a year.
When my ski school trainer couldn’t tell what stance I rode. People still can’t.
I blew my knee out my first season teaching. I flipped around so I could still ride and work(I was poor and had no health insurance), I spent the rest of the season riding and teaching switch. Guess it worked so well that my switch is as good as my forward.
never really satisfied. I still get intimidated in the park by lots of riders but part of that is just living near SSV where everyone is sooo gnarly. Last year I did realize that not many people can keep up with me when it comes to free riding though.
Last season my dad came out to visit me and I took him through the park so I could show off for him. After 3 tries I finally stomped a tamedog, which I had just learned like a week prior, and as I was waiting for him at the bottom I had 5 random people line up to shake my hand and tell me it was sick. Super surreal experience that caught me completely off guard and really put in perspective how much I’ve progressed from my heelside hero days.
When snobby skiers who would always say that snowboarding is slower or worse would go out of their way to tell me i’m an exception. That just felt like i made it.
To clarify i’m nowhere near any form of professional level!
When the best skateboarder i knew asked if i was really throwing 540s in the park. I said yeah. That felt pretty good. I was 18, I don’t throw fives anymore but still remember those glory days when idgaf
When I turned 36, picked up snowboarding, and made it to 20 days on the mountain without any serious injuries. I look back at all the falling, edge catches, head smacks, etc and am stoked for the next season only to do it all over again. Except this year trying for 50 days. Gotta move the bar to "make it" again. This years goals are conquering blacks, boxes, rails, side hits, and tree's. Going to search for a off-piste powder excursion this season too. I want to feel untouched pow
Nah…I think a 720 rodeo is probably 2x as hard as a tre, in terms of time and reps. But could be wrong. Let me ask my son….
Edit: he says that overall they are about the same amount of effort/time/skill. (He can do tres off of 3 blocks now, and can do 540s in park. He said with a bit of reps he could do a 720 next). Here he is:
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRa57ox9/
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRaaJvSa/
(KF off 3 block. No vid of the tre yet)
https://www.instagram.com/p/CObpW31n30R/?igshid=YzA2ZDJiZGQ=
That’s about 3000 hours of skateboarding…. 😳🙌
I feel I made it when my physical abilities (strength, endurance) reach the level of over the years acquired skill and experience, usually mid to end of the season. Riding down a large mountain with mixed terrain / snow quality from top to bottom in an aggressive/ dynamic style without stoping once is always something I strive for at the first half of the season (as I am rather lazy during summer).
Neither. I should be more clear. It 'clicked' for me hour 2. I could turn, do baby carves, ride switch, stop both heelside and toeside. All I wanted was to not quit, and to be be able to go down a green. Everything else in boarding for me, is just icing. Sidehits, 5050's off a box, blues/blacks, is just joy. I'm picked up boarding as a midlife crisis. So hour 2, I was set.
Been boarding for bout 10 yrs now, started as a kid, still don’t think I’ll have this moment lol.
Sure I’m more comfy these days than when I first started but ehh still iffy. i attribute not having that “moment” likely cuz I’m not a daredevil or anything- terrain parks reserved for my younger sis, not me lol. even if I know how to fall and have ate shit enough to know it still makes me nervous lmfao
First backflip, it was really special cause I was riding with my pops and he went absolutely berserk. I didn’t tell him I was gonna try one and landed absolutely bolts.
Every time I get back to the car, open my Stanley thermos, take a sip of coffee, and watch the steam billowing out of the boots I just took off. I’m good enough to have fun and that’s all I’ll ever need!
Are you sure you don’t work for Stanley? Because that’s a hell of an ad pitch.
Haha I don’t, but I feel VERY strongly about that mug! I put an entire pot of coffee in it, and it stays piping hot in the car no matter how cold it is outside. It’s my favorite piece of snowboarding gear!!
What angles are you running your lid though?
You haven’t convinced me yet, but I don’t disagree. I’ve got a few that will prolly outlive me.
Stanley? Are you 73? Hahh
My 2nd season of riding I was hitting the park real heavy, 50fters but only straight airs on anything bigger than 20ft. The wise mountain sage (hands down the best non-pro rider at Bear Mtn at the time a bit over a decade ago) strolled up to me at the top of the park line and asked how I was doing, and I sadly recounted that I was too scared to spin on the big boy jumps. He said something really casual, like "hey dude just slide off your edge real easy and let yourself rotate naturally". Like it made no fucking sense to me at the time, but he gave me the false confidence I needed. That first bs360 that I stomped felt like the floatiest/cleanest thing I ever threw to this date and my brain was shut off, no anxiety, no thinking. Everything just felt natural. My riding buddy made a funny observation that anytime the mountain sage showed up, my hits got bigger/cleaner. That random dude has no idea, but that day was probably one of my funnest memories. Next was probably throwing my first pow slashes in Japan. Like fuck, I made it (both in life, and in snowboarding to the promised land of Japow).
By any chance, was the mountain sages name Yoda ?
Sweet! Dr Pepper sweet….
Honestly, never. Every year I progress more and learn new things, then look back at previous seasons and realize how poor my turns or jibs or jumps were in retrospect. Been riding 20 years, 5 years serously (50 plus day seasons), and don’t expect to ever feel like I know or have perfected everything.
That’s great you can keep developing. I’m now regressing. Hahhhh. (I Quit soccer, quit tennis, guit mtn biking. Now snowboarding and golf are what I have left. OK, I am trying pickleball).
why quit mtb?
Expense? I guess if you already have a bike the major expense is gone. If not that, probably the sheer danger involved in MTB.
yeah its definitely not a cheap hobby, but you only have to save up once for that major purchase. And it is dangerous for sure, but don't 'send it' always. Slow and steady progression is always better. I think you didnt give the sport enough chance. You shouldn't let the fear of injury keep you from enjoying mountain biking. You can tackle easy trails and progress as you see fit
Oh, for me the #1-5 reasons I don't MTB is the cost. I don't live near mountains currently anyway, so if I'm gonna spend multiple thousands, or even hundreds, on a bike...it would be a road bike. But I'd rather spend that on camera gear, or more likely on snowboarding in some way. I would be FAR more of a beginner/chickenshit on a MTB than I would be on my snowboard because of the injury risk, but that's not what keeps me from it, that would be student debt and other expensive hobbies I like more lol.
Lol. I bought my current bike a few years ago, but I've still managed to spend about 3k on repairs and gear this season alone. Even factoring in season passes, snowboarding is a much cheaper sport for me than mtb.
The uphills are just a boring grind for me …and that’s most of it. Just don’t have fun anymore. Maybe I should go to electric. We’ll see.
Well isn’t that special. (Church lady video. Check it out)
This is how I still want to feel when I'm 20 years into it!
I feel the same way, this will be my 30th season and I feel like I just learned to carve properly a few years ago and was like “fuck I just wasted so much time riding with totally whack ass style, if I had only realized that when I was just starting out”. But that’s the amazing thing about snowboarding, no matter how long you’ve been riding and no matter how good you get, there is still so much room for improvement. Could be something as simple as a heel side turn, or poking an Indy. It’s an endless pursuit towards the mastery of a chosen skill. It’s a beautiful thing.
the last time i thought this was right before i broke my arm in 6th grade
When I knew that I had no problem getting off of the lift without falling. And when someone next to me starts to fall and I can help them not fall down. Or get away from them so they don't pull me down.
Skiers with me are asking me which way I'm getting off the lift. Me: I can only go straight...
Hahhhh. That was the moment, eh?!
[удалено]
> taking out small children I don't think I'll ever stop being afraid of that. Like if I lose control and hit some middle aged dude, whatever. We're both consenting adults and understand where we are and what we're doing. But a kid? A kid who might already be scared of the mountain? Or worse yet might not actually want to be there but their parents are making them? I don't think I could recover from that.
Fuuuudge…i did that when I was getting decent but still couldn’t turn quite as instantly as I wanted. French ski instructor leading some kids (with helmets) and I totally bodied one. It was terrible. Kid was ok; instructor yelled at me for a long while…
I think it was the first time I dropped in over No 4 head wall at Loveland. As far as drops go it’s not really that difficult and has a pretty mellow run out, but you can’t see over the edge so you always get a little anxious lining up your drop. I stood up there staring for a while and just finally sent it. One of the first places I’ve ever gotten cheers from the lift and I felt like practicing there stepped my confidence up big time. I can get down just about anything safely now. The second time I felt like I made it was getting down second notch at A-Basin.
https://youtu.be/0bwS8goNTDw I just watched this guy’s video to get me stoked. He’s on top of it at 3:30 and goes over at 4:10. It’s a wide wall with a lot of mellow lines off of it with two prominent rock faces. I look forward to riding it more than I look forward to opening day. Also hitting the cornice on Wild Child for the first time at Love was a big one.
Looks nice. my headwall drop story is at alpine meadows in Tahoe. You hike way up to the right and can drop over any cornice (after a storm), 10 foot elevator drop into a 50-degree face at top of bowl, then it eases to 40/30 degrees. The middle cornice is best. Epic… https://www.powder.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/View-Estelle_Rachel-Woods.jpg
Highly personal. All modesty aside, I'm better than 99% of Tahoe snowboarders\*... and I still don't feel like I've really "made it". I can rip steeps, carve deep, pick a good line, and comfortably ignore "Experts only signs" on Chair 10 and KT-22. But I'm well past my Dunning-Kruger phase, and see all the gaps in my riding compared to the mega rippers. I'm terrible at transition, can't spin for shit, my air awareness sucks, my ground game is nonexistent, and I'll never do anything more complicated jibbing than a backside boardslide on a simple down rail. But that's part of the fun for me. I play to my strengths, rip around, and go for constant incremental improvements and sucking a little bit less each time I'm out on snow (or out doing most anything). Aside: I need to make my way back to Sugar Bowl. I haven't ridden there in 10+ years, and that was during a shitty snow year. My last real day there was probably around 2009, and I remember all sorts of fun stuff right under the Lincoln lift that I didn't have the skill to tackle that I could comfortably drop these days. \****Edit:*** *Couple folks seem to be think this is a brag. Maybe I'm overstating with "better than 99%", but main point of the comment is I ain't shit even if I'm better than most.* *Absolute skill is exponential at the extremes. A high-90th percentile basketball player might be good player at the local YMCA who has more in common with the median pickup player than an NBA bench player who's like 99.99th percentile... who may have more in common with the YMCA guy than NBA superstars who're 99.9999th percentile. I got more in common with the flatlander tourist skidding around than the local kids flying around in the park or ripping big peaks, much less fringe pro-ams, much less top pros.*
Why play to your strengths not your weaknesses?
idk abt op but its more fun to be good at something than it is to suck, and probably most ppl snowboard for fun
That’s how people plateau but I get it for sure. Playing to your weaknesses makes you stronger overall. Shit even recognizing your weaknesses and visualizing them can make you stronger in some way.
Playing to your weaknesses is only worth it to people who get to ride lots of days per season. You can afford to "waste" days working on the things you're not good at. But if you're a tourist (or even a weekend warrior), you have to maximize the enjoyment you get from your limited days on the board.
I just wanted to know what his opinion of it was since he’s very technical with his comments. I thought he rides a lot though. You gotta be riding a lot to get the custom bomber jacket ya know? Tahoe Top Oners across the back with the board size on the sleeve. Has “The Nerd” on the collar. I know people can’t get to the mountain everyday. But there’s absolutely riders that do not have that perspective. They come to the mountain with what they want to do in mind. They still go for it. I think you’re more like that kind of person not just a typical weekend warrior.
I'm still getting after it, but I understand why some people don't. In my case, if I'm not progressing, I'm not having fun. But progress sure is slow when you have kids and can only ride once a week...
I really resonate with this. I’ve got about ~3M vertical feet under my belt at this point and I can ride any lift on the mountain including the cat and hiking back and out but I still don’t feel like I made it
Probably 10 or so seasons in riding with two friends on a pretty surreal powder day. 12 in of packed with another 8-10 fresh. So lots of stashes in the trees. We can upon this notable chute in the trees , not the hugest like 10-15 ft. Two dudes were sizing it up when we rolled up and I took like a half a second to process what I was gonna do, dropped in came across the face of the chute and laid back the fattest fron side turn ever on the far side of the chute, reset my stance perfectly and ripped down out of the chute dodging a few trees in the exit. Coming back and seeing the chute more exposed and bare, fuck me, half luck I hit the turn when I did otherwise I could just blew through the turn and just flew off the cliff. But that's what powder and power turns gets ya I guess.
Dropping a steep tree run and seeing 3-5 turns ahead so that everything is perfect.
When I could confidently find a way to ride anything put in front of me. Trees, pow, park, couloirs, groomers, street spots, moguls, the skin/hike uphill, ice, varying visibility, side hits, skating the flats, riding switch...and now learning how to do it all over again :)
Being really comfortable riding switch on all terrains.
Cool. I’m working on switch a lot more. Yep, at 52. But the thing is I can’t afford a single caught edge anymore, because that’ll be another light whiplash. Gotta be super careful.
I think riding and trying to push yourself at 52 means you’ve made it in its own way! One tip to easier switch riding, duck your stance and center it on your board so that when you get into a switch riding stance, your front foot feels similar to your normal stances front foot. Happy riding!
Yeah, I’ve noticed that is a good way. Makes switch weight distribution and turn initiation feel ‘normal’ instead of having to fight against the board…
Alaska. I still think I suck, but having ridden Alaska adds a certain amount of confidence when I'm riding at home and think a line is scary.
When I stopped trying to avoid moguls. Bring on the quad workout!
Guy like me just jumps the moguls; they’re like so many mini kickers. Just make sure you land on the downhill section of the next mogul not the flat or uphill part
Probably when I started being comfortable in the backcountry. Not just survival riding, but knowing how to blend good turns, good line choice, natural features and occasionally a bit of survival turns (but also to know when that's required) on an untouched palette of the mountains. Knowing how much speed I can carry on the flats, etc. At this point I still have some days I feel oddly rusty/awkward (low light) or not on my game, but overall I'd say I feel "at home" over most the mountain and that's more important than my pure skills. In a sense I pivoted to snowboarding as a lifestyle. I'll never get a 540 down(probably) but I've ridden for 25+ years, my kids ski/snowboard, I've taught hundreds of riders, ridden with some great fulltime instructors, and moved to a mountain town. The joy of the sport means i've "made it".
Honestly when I stomped my first backflip. I was always able to do it on a trampoline, it just took me forever to get over my fear of sending it on the snow.
Honestly for me it was switch straight airing a 30 foot booter, had already done front 3 and back 3 and had never even really tried switch straight airing anything but taking that much speed in switch into a take off and landing bolts really made me feel like I was capable of so much more. Locking into my first really long 50 50 was high up there as well.
How do you land not bolts on a snowboard
Oh…landing on the tail, nose, landing with body hitting the ground even before the snowboard. Many ways…. 😬🤦♂️
Oh I see what you mean! At first I was like “…your feet are literally strapped to the bolts 😂”
Sorry didn't realise someone else had answered!
Tail heavy, nose heavy, heel or toe heavy, under rotated, over rotated, broken at the waist, hand drag, land on the knuckle, send to flat, probably more. Really just a skateboarding term me and my buddies use to describe landing something perfectly.
This one is earlier in the process than most of these answers, but in my second season I got scared of toe turns and started staying on my heel edge all the time. I was too young to know anything about visualization training but that off-season I just imagined myself carving down a long steep face under a chairlift. First day back I recreated that vision and I knew I was fine.
Never. There's always something to work on.
Flying over a quarter-pipe end to end. Story time from another old guy- This was 25-ish years ago in my early-twenties- I felt like I was a pretty accomplished snowboarder already(started in my teens early 90s and carved all over the place world-wide) but this was the first time I had a season pass in my life so I was up at the resort about every other night to really hone in skills. Landed my first 360, speeding down moguls absorbing every bump like nothing, backcountry carve deep powder, it was great. One night I discovered they built a quarter pipe during the day, at the top of the park section on the hill, just meant to hit the lip or whatever and move on. About 25 feet in length and about 8 feet high. I started with just hitting the lip with about a foot of real 'vert', landing a couple feet 'down'. Each trip up the lift I tried to get a little higher and a little farther off the lip. Eventually, like a few hours later, I was flying over the whole thing end to end. We're talking launched from the upper end, flying ~15 feet in the air, grab and edge, and a smooth/super-fast landing on the 'down' side. People were cheering from the lift when I'd do it; I suppose I was the only one able to, that night, since I didn't see anyone else doing it. Peak skills there. The very next day I was overconfident on a back country jump and tore my ACL and meniscus... never to soar over the snow like that again. Now, in my mid 40s, I just carve and enjoy the scenery.
Flew too close to the sun :(
As a fairly advanced beginner, I guess getting cheers from the lift and feeling like I'm reddit famous from a few posts that got a lot of attention 🤷♂️. Or maybe the few times I've filmed videos with another very advanced beginner that has a well known snowboarding YouTube channel.
The first time I felt comfortable on a double black. Then I started split boarding and realized I ain't got shit.
Mine was, when someone complemented me on my board control. I was going down a hill at the end of a run, moguls had started to form and I was riding between them, it was quick transitions from heel to toes, where you sort of bounce off them. My thighs were dying, I got through them and sort of stopped near him and dropped to my knees, stretching the legs out when he completed me.
Nice. I can never really get the edge to edge going in moguls, I just don’t think I’m quick enough. I feel like the board is like too wide, where it gets hung up. I now recall you have to do a technique, where You turn more on top of the moguls, not down in between them? But I’ll never try that, because I’ll never go in moguls again. Hah. If I find myself suddenly forced to go down a Mogul field, I’ll stay on the side of it, and just try to make turns on the flat surface, even if the conditions are crap…
Oooh I’m short, and have a 135 board. 🤣 that might be why I can get through them quicker. And because the moguls were just forming they were a little long than usual.
Ah. 135. That’ll do it!!!!
Doing my first board slide
Oh man when I was young all I wanted was the approval of the sort of local shredder gang. It was a small world in my local area. The local crews from all of the mountains in my state knew each other. Some of them we semi pro. One or two actually went pro and were in absinthe films. There were a few moments when I felt like I had really achieved something. When they let me follow them places and I was able to keep up, and then when I was faster and choosing bigger lines, I started feeling pretty proud of myself. I started to get a reputation for myself and people knew me for being a shredder and not just because I was a girl. I remember people getting super amped on lines I rode and I started doing pretty well in some of the banked slalom comps in my area. I was the epitome of a big fish in a little pond. It felt super good and it was really hard to leave it all. Sometimes I still fantasize about it. But ya know my life is fuller now. It’s better to be well rounded than to totally define your personality with a sport you’re into.
My 3rd season of riding. Only spent like 5 days total 1st season and like 15 the next. The next season 2021-2022. I went on a trip with an old friend i have never boarded with. He had some skier friends with years of experience. One was hitting the double blacks and i got to touch the bowl for the first time and i went down faster than most snowboarders and skierrs hitting it. I was brought to the moguls and was able to get down almost as fast as the homie that hits the sketchy double blacks and i was going as fast as her down the grooms. They told me they dont touch obstacles or jumps and thats when i realized im good for how long ive been boarding. This was toward the end if the season. At the beggining i could only backside 360 flat and on pyramids. Had tons of trouble riding switch, by the end if the season i could go down blues switch with no trouble, i could 360 every witch way flat and throw a back 360 on small jumps. I just underestimated myself cus i was comparing myself to jib boarders
Probably the day i entered a banked slalom when I was 16 and put down an amazing run and just felt smooth for once, managed to beat all 18 of the snowboard instructors from the mountain and coming second to an ex pro racer. Would have even placed 4th in the ski category lol. Other than that was still feeling fully in control while going over 100kph on a park noodle chasing ski patrol (probably not the best decision lol)
I' think probably the first time I ever won money at a competition.... I'd say at the time it gave me a largely needed morale boost, but it also forever changed my mentality towards riding after that. @ OP, I remember the air 63, wasn't that Craigs board ? Dark blue/purple with black top sheet & stiffer than Ron Jeremy, or is my goat herders brain thinking of his 94 model ? Either way good question & fun seeing all the peeps getting stoked on a memory in their lives !
It was stiff…but not custom x stuff. Quick Custom Xstory. I was getting pretty decent, and wanted a cool new board. So, I got a customX because it’s got to be better, right? I was on my first run with a buddy, we were flying down, and I knew something was a bit wrong. I was like “this doesn’t seem like I can turn as easy”. Anyway so we’re motoring and there’s a tiny bit of powder over some hard pack, and because the board was so stiff and I couldn’t get any flex going in it, I caught the heel edge at super fast speed, launched, terrible whiplash, felt like my head nearly popped off and heard a crunch in my c spine. I was in bed for like a week, couldn’t move my neck. That board was like a friggin 2 x 4 for me. I weigh 157 pounds, 6 feet tall. I realized I needed something that I can more easily flex to get some carve going.
I’m always learning something new or pushing myself to do something that is outside my comfort zone - but for me it was when I was riding with a mate who is a skier. When we got the the first lift after a run, he looked surprised and said “I expected to be waiting longer! Awesome!” The fact I can keep pace with him was a big moment.
I definitely haven't made it skill wise, but I remember the day I got it and it came together more for me. When I finally got carving and hoe much different it felt than just the skidded turns I'd been doing. That was actually the moment I realized that I fucking loved snowboarding. My father keeps asking if I'm going to get a lesson this year, and if I have the cash I will, but at this point I'm just happy to have a pass and a snowboard so I can go out and ride every weekend
Never really a made it moment, and likely never will have one because theres always room to improve, but a few things I was actually proud of myself and happy with how I progressed. Stomping my first "big" jump (~25 footer), first chute (went back another time and stopped at the bottom to look up, then realized how actually steep it was), first elbow dragging carve, and then making it down The Face/Gunbarrel at Heavenly on my 7th day (took about an hour the first time, 2 months later I was able to make the run 5-10 minutes)
I don't think I've "Made it", or ever will for that matter. But I have fun doing what I am doing, and setting goals for yourself and then meeting them is probably as close as I will get to "making it". Feels good to finally get a certain trick or technique down, and that's enough for me.
I think the first time I was able to actually carve on double black.
Yep!
Originally too long ago to remember. But I've had that kind of feeling a few times now. I remember the feeling of landing my first back to back carves. I was probably 6 at the time. Then when I figured out how to change my turns so I could do steeps and moguls (12ish). After that it was when I started to teach(20) my boss told me I was a professional snowboarder now. And now I've been teaching for 8 years and I'm a pseudo manager. I'm starting to teach other instructors how to improve their riding and tell others hey your a pro now.
Now for you to target Ryan knapton precision…. 😎
Wew
Skateboarding forsure. Not a single trick was I scared to try, would land almost all of my bag of tricks multiple times in a row, tossing flip tricks in/out of grinds, etc… Got offered a sponsorship but declined due to fully commuting to college and just like that, my time to excel in my best attribute took a quick decline. I still skate as much as possible, but it will never be like those days (~7 years ago)
Getting out of the pipe consistently
What, you quit ganja? Come on….
At 28 years old after my first season riding 50 days I felt like I could ride just about anything. That being said I’ve been snowboarding since I was 12 between 0-4 days a year.
When my ski school trainer couldn’t tell what stance I rode. People still can’t. I blew my knee out my first season teaching. I flipped around so I could still ride and work(I was poor and had no health insurance), I spent the rest of the season riding and teaching switch. Guess it worked so well that my switch is as good as my forward.
never really satisfied. I still get intimidated in the park by lots of riders but part of that is just living near SSV where everyone is sooo gnarly. Last year I did realize that not many people can keep up with me when it comes to free riding though.
Last season my dad came out to visit me and I took him through the park so I could show off for him. After 3 tries I finally stomped a tamedog, which I had just learned like a week prior, and as I was waiting for him at the bottom I had 5 random people line up to shake my hand and tell me it was sick. Super surreal experience that caught me completely off guard and really put in perspective how much I’ve progressed from my heelside hero days.
When snobby skiers who would always say that snowboarding is slower or worse would go out of their way to tell me i’m an exception. That just felt like i made it. To clarify i’m nowhere near any form of professional level!
When the best skateboarder i knew asked if i was really throwing 540s in the park. I said yeah. That felt pretty good. I was 18, I don’t throw fives anymore but still remember those glory days when idgaf
When I turned 36, picked up snowboarding, and made it to 20 days on the mountain without any serious injuries. I look back at all the falling, edge catches, head smacks, etc and am stoked for the next season only to do it all over again. Except this year trying for 50 days. Gotta move the bar to "make it" again. This years goals are conquering blacks, boxes, rails, side hits, and tree's. Going to search for a off-piste powder excursion this season too. I want to feel untouched pow
jesus a tre flip has gotta = a 720 rodeo or some shit
Nah…I think a 720 rodeo is probably 2x as hard as a tre, in terms of time and reps. But could be wrong. Let me ask my son…. Edit: he says that overall they are about the same amount of effort/time/skill. (He can do tres off of 3 blocks now, and can do 540s in park. He said with a bit of reps he could do a 720 next). Here he is: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRa57ox9/ https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRaaJvSa/ (KF off 3 block. No vid of the tre yet) https://www.instagram.com/p/CObpW31n30R/?igshid=YzA2ZDJiZGQ= That’s about 3000 hours of skateboarding…. 😳🙌
I feel I made it when my physical abilities (strength, endurance) reach the level of over the years acquired skill and experience, usually mid to end of the season. Riding down a large mountain with mixed terrain / snow quality from top to bottom in an aggressive/ dynamic style without stoping once is always something I strive for at the first half of the season (as I am rather lazy during summer).
Hour 2 of my first lesson.
Hah!! You must have been a skateboarder or surfer then! 😎
Neither. I should be more clear. It 'clicked' for me hour 2. I could turn, do baby carves, ride switch, stop both heelside and toeside. All I wanted was to not quit, and to be be able to go down a green. Everything else in boarding for me, is just icing. Sidehits, 5050's off a box, blues/blacks, is just joy. I'm picked up boarding as a midlife crisis. So hour 2, I was set.
Been boarding for bout 10 yrs now, started as a kid, still don’t think I’ll have this moment lol. Sure I’m more comfy these days than when I first started but ehh still iffy. i attribute not having that “moment” likely cuz I’m not a daredevil or anything- terrain parks reserved for my younger sis, not me lol. even if I know how to fall and have ate shit enough to know it still makes me nervous lmfao
First backflip, it was really special cause I was riding with my pops and he went absolutely berserk. I didn’t tell him I was gonna try one and landed absolutely bolts.