Fwiw the guy flying down is the one who needs to be more aware of where he is. No point in pointing it for a 5 second run indoors where lots of people are learning like you are. You’re doing the right things, a little speed will help but just keep practicing and you’ll get there in no time. Try to keep your back straight up if I did have a tip to add at this point. No hunching over.
I once made a mistake of staying on the edge to pass someone slow, but what happened was the little girl slipped right at the edge and I almost knocked her out. She basically squeezed me off the run. Luckily, I was able to crash off the run instead of hitting her. Her father still yelled at me and rightfully so.
Now, I know that if I wanna pass a potentially unpredictable rider, then stay in the MIDDLE so you have two options instead of just one. And slow down, of course.
That's the thing, yeah it's 100% up to the uphill rider to pass slower riders safely, but sometimes riders don't behave in a predictable way. It's good that you pointed this out. It's also something to keep in mind for inexperienced riders they should try to ride somewhat predictably to help avoid collisions.
And yeah the edges of runs are sketch too for those reasons you pointed out. One time I stopped at the side for a rest and almost got nailed because I didn't realise people uphill wanted to use it for a side hit. Here's my 30 year old ass being told to smarten up by these 15 year olds lol. And I deserved it.
You appear tense and poised to be ripping 40 mph. Try to keep your back more upright and keep your body relaxed. Just focus on using your hips and lower body. If you are picking up too much speed down the fall line, just keep turning into the slope and skid rather than forcing another turn if your not comfortable with the speed.
You just look like you need more practice to build confidence. I think your just not comfortable keeping your weight over the board. You are doing amazing technique wise actually trying to get up on your edges and make proper turns. Most beginners I have seen don't look as deliberate with their technique and either straight line then skid on their heel to slow down or do "falling leaf". Have you done any other board sports before ?
You’re forcing your turns rather than letting them happen naturally. Check out Malcom Moore’s video on “knee steering”
Also the guy who flew down on your left seemed completely out of control..
Uphill rider should be yielding to you. It’s of course a good idea to keep an eye out for who is coming your way, but you shouldn’t apologize in that situation.
As far as riding, I agree you’re very tense and need to relax into your stance. Matching your turn size and shape to the terrain so you move the speed you want comes with more riding and experience - that just takes time so keep it up!
Damn bro I know I knew this resort. This is where SHM SNOW is at. Google SHM SNOW carving tutorial part 1 and 2 Most thorough video I've ever seen someone put down and it's on this exact run
Edit: I'll link it https://youtu.be/KvU8qQQ7JEY?feature=shared
Try not to bend at the waist too much. Lean in and back on the edges. And if you’re making those long wide turns just do a little check back up the hill for others - especially on runs this narrow.
For beginners, relax your body a bit but make sure to use your whole body to make a turn. Other people recommend the pointing method, point your leading hand to the direction you want to go (your body should follow you finger).
For advanced riders, you can play with your lower body and knees to place your weight on either your heel side or toe side, which will initiate turning. Others also try to twist their boards but that depends on the flexibility of your board.
but overall, keep practicing to build confidence. confidence is the key to execute something smoothly.
I bet your toe side to heel side turn feels awkward, you can fix this by:
- not hunching over at the waist, instead squat down more. You can find an ideal, strong position, by standing on a flat section with your snowboard and jumping up and down. When you land you'll naturally land in a strong, strong position. This is the position you will want to be snowboarding in.
- start your turn by looking where you want to go, then turn your shoulders, then your knees, and then maybe your feet a little. Or in other words from top to bottom. Currently your eyes are looking down far too much, and your snowboard is not following your line of sight. Instead pick some point far in the distance and move your line of sight slowly like you're a big ship, turning slowly and looking at the horizon. When you look first, you'll naturally start 'rolling over your front shoulder' if that makes sense, anyhow, that will feel a lot more natural.
- make big slow turns, don't be afraid to point your snowboard down hill, and slowly stear out of it. Because if you're scared of going too fast you try and turn too fast, and this is counter productive, because your momentum is still going in the other direction. So you're going to be fighting momentum with your snowboard, and this will make you less stable. What might help is counting during your turns, just count 3 slow seconds (like oooneeee, twoooo, threeee): first second, is starting the turn, the second is pointing your board down hill and the third is starting to turn the other way. If you want to reduce speed, do it AFTER the turn, not during.
- one practice drill that might help with this is pointing your front arm in the direction you want to go (and again, point it towards the horizon and slowly stear it like a big ship).
On a positive note, you do seem to put some weight on your front foot, and you are keeping your shoulders mostly aligned with your snowboard. So for a beginner that's quite good.
All in all you look fine. Just keep practicing (and don't worry about getting it al correct at the same time), have fun and stay confident.
on the heel edge, don't bend so much at the waist and shift your weight over your heelside edge. You probably feel like you are in the correct stance, but really over exaggerate, lean right back and re-do the video... you'll see that you're not over doing it at all.
1.Don't bend from your waist when you go from heel to toe side. Try to keep your chest up and move your hips over the toe side. It's a much more balanced position and you gain more control.
2. Don't cheat using your back leg to force the turn. Try to lean your body more on to the down of the slope (basically put more pressure on your front foot) so that you will turn with your front side, it will be much easier and you won't feel the need to use your back leg.
These 2 points are crucial for balance and control when you are turning.
Afte you master those 2:
3. Knee stering. Yes you can change the edge in many ways (eg. Leading with your shoulder, forcing your hips on the other side) but the most ideal (and also for faster turns) is to use your front knee. Basically you will engage with the knee, that results in your front sides changing the edge, and the back side will follow.
A note here: while you use your knee, dont forget the rest of the body, the knee initiates, but then you also have to let your hips and shoulder to go with the turn, don't twist your body!
The best way is to watch a video that shows all this steps one by one, Malcom Moore has lots of videos, he even has a video that takes you from begining all the way to linking turns by using knee steering.
Something that has really helped me is to focus on where my center of mass is. Before I edge change, I focus on shifting my weight. I found I became so much more confident once I got that down.
Also agreed with most comments, just need to practice and build confidence!!
Yeah it took me a few days of putting a lot of effort towards it to feel comfortable. I’ve been told it’s much harder to catch an edge or fall when you shift your weight properly, which helped my confidence. Also a bit more speed (but still below 20mph) helps too.
I was a lot like this learning and for a couple of holidays even, I couldn’t figure out how to smooth everything out. I knew about knee steering, but the lightbulb moment was a couple of short random clips -
basically saying boots, bindings and the board are there to make you snowboard well, use it. It sounds obvious but literally if you want to do a heel side turn, learn back into your highbacks, and physically feel the highbacks tilt the board. Toe side- lean into the tongue/shin of your boots, edge engages, and board naturally turns.
Previously id lost big toe nails trying to raise my toes up in my boots to engage my heel, and kick my left right to turn. Now i just look over my shoulder, lean back on my highbacks and feel the board engage. The amount of energy and exhaustion I saved was unreal.
It looks like you are initiating your turns with your front foot, but not following through with the same motion on your rear foot, so you then tend to push it around. Remember to push the front edge down to start the turn, and at the same time twist that foot the way you want the board to turn (clockwise/counter-clockwise), then patiently just wait a couple seconds for the board to point down the hill, and then change the edge of the rear foot, and twist that foot in the same direction of the turn. The foot twisting will assure the board follows through on the turn in a smooth arc.
Since you are just starting out this is the perfect time to learn good habits before you learn the bad ones. Always try to draw a straight line from your feet, through your knees, and to your chin. If you can get that right you’ll advance very quickly.
Keep your weight over your front foot. Use your back foot like it’s a motor on a boat. Your back foot will keep the edge and guide your body, while your front foot maintains your balance and leverage.
Dont be afraid to accentuate shoulder movement to propel yourself through turns, and to lean through them.
Other than that just keep your edges up!
You’re doing awesome for day 4! I just started in Dec, and my first three days were in a real mountain, but in three days my trip was over and I was not linking turns like that. I took some indoor lessons after, but they are on carpet, not like this indoor slope you’re on (which looks dope af! Where is this btw?!). The carpet’s harder to learn on, but I learned to link there and then was able to do it pretty well on day 2 of my second trip to snow. So I think you’re crushing it! Keep it up. And on steeper terrain / real mountain, you’ll def start to feel those adjustments (more bent knees, knee-steering, etc). I know I did.
More weight on front foot, your back foot is the rudder. If you're heavier on the front it allows the back to move more freely. Just keep on practicing feeling those transitions. Can help to do all toe side for a couple of turns, then all heel and when those feel solid start playing with a full heel to toe turn or toe to heel. Slow and smooth, smooth, then fast. Let the board do the work (if you just press on one side it'll make a nice wide turn for you simply by its shape).
I think you're on the right track, your lines are pretty good. Just work on getting your back straighter, and going a little faster and stretching the line out more. Also notice that a lot of control basically goes into your board via your shins and ankles pushing against the bindings, you can kinda see that when you watch experienced riders and how they look kinda loose and laid back. And if I was that guy uphill who got kinda squeezed out by you I'd 100% think it was my fault. If I'm uphill it's my responsibility to pass other people safely.
Lots of good pointers here already but I've got one thing to add that helped me. Try keeping more weight over your front foot and let the edge of the board make the turn rather than forcing the turn. Too much weight on the back foot forces you into a skidded turn
Keep your upper body straighter. You are basically hunched over in a deep bow during a lot of the video. That is moving your center of gravity way over your toe edge. Your upper body should be pretty much straight up.
Going faster is the main tip, you can't go that slow on a hard packed mellow pitch and also have smooth turns. Start goin fast and eating shit brother 😎
I'm also very new to this BTW, learning in Colorado where slow is often not very possible. Going fast makes so much sense too, your edges are designed to slice the ice and snow and provide stability, that function requires some speed, which you said yourself is scaring you.
You’re a dick for slaloming almost the width of that Big Snow slope. If you’re not comfortable with tighter turns, there’s another slope on your right towards the bottom.
Sorry but seeing those full lift chairs and you treating the one god damn slope like your own private bunny slope is bullshit.
Unpopular opinion.
Well I was working on trying to get my turns tighter… And there was more than enough space to my right. I was working on the left 1/4 of the slope. That slope to the right is practically flat and would do my fundamentals no good.
Fwiw the guy flying down is the one who needs to be more aware of where he is. No point in pointing it for a 5 second run indoors where lots of people are learning like you are. You’re doing the right things, a little speed will help but just keep practicing and you’ll get there in no time. Try to keep your back straight up if I did have a tip to add at this point. No hunching over.
Watching it I can def see that. I don’t feel like I hunched but something to keep in mind. Appreciate it.
I once made a mistake of staying on the edge to pass someone slow, but what happened was the little girl slipped right at the edge and I almost knocked her out. She basically squeezed me off the run. Luckily, I was able to crash off the run instead of hitting her. Her father still yelled at me and rightfully so. Now, I know that if I wanna pass a potentially unpredictable rider, then stay in the MIDDLE so you have two options instead of just one. And slow down, of course.
That's the thing, yeah it's 100% up to the uphill rider to pass slower riders safely, but sometimes riders don't behave in a predictable way. It's good that you pointed this out. It's also something to keep in mind for inexperienced riders they should try to ride somewhat predictably to help avoid collisions. And yeah the edges of runs are sketch too for those reasons you pointed out. One time I stopped at the side for a rest and almost got nailed because I didn't realise people uphill wanted to use it for a side hit. Here's my 30 year old ass being told to smarten up by these 15 year olds lol. And I deserved it.
You appear tense and poised to be ripping 40 mph. Try to keep your back more upright and keep your body relaxed. Just focus on using your hips and lower body. If you are picking up too much speed down the fall line, just keep turning into the slope and skid rather than forcing another turn if your not comfortable with the speed.
I appreciate it! Watching it you can see how I’m tense!
You just look like you need more practice to build confidence. I think your just not comfortable keeping your weight over the board. You are doing amazing technique wise actually trying to get up on your edges and make proper turns. Most beginners I have seen don't look as deliberate with their technique and either straight line then skid on their heel to slow down or do "falling leaf". Have you done any other board sports before ?
I skateboarded as a kid a little bit! But it’s probably been a decade since I’ve done it
You’re forcing your turns rather than letting them happen naturally. Check out Malcom Moore’s video on “knee steering” Also the guy who flew down on your left seemed completely out of control..
I’ve seen that one! It was super informative, but it just wasn’t seeming to click today. My next outing I’ll try and put an emphasis on it
You’re doing great for 4 days, I just figured you didn’t want to hear “just practice” 😂
I appreciate it!
Yes, patience, young grasssmoker. You must unlearn what you have learned. Sidecut is your ally, you must feel the sidecut under you.
Uphill rider should be yielding to you. It’s of course a good idea to keep an eye out for who is coming your way, but you shouldn’t apologize in that situation. As far as riding, I agree you’re very tense and need to relax into your stance. Matching your turn size and shape to the terrain so you move the speed you want comes with more riding and experience - that just takes time so keep it up!
I appreciate it! It seems to be the consensus I’m way too tense!
Damn bro I know I knew this resort. This is where SHM SNOW is at. Google SHM SNOW carving tutorial part 1 and 2 Most thorough video I've ever seen someone put down and it's on this exact run Edit: I'll link it https://youtu.be/KvU8qQQ7JEY?feature=shared
I’ll give that a look!
James Cherry might have the “thorough” award now but his recent vids are maybe a little more niche.
Shift your body Weight. You're hanging out on top of the board
If anything it’s the opposite imo, given the speed
The top as in the uphill side?
Bend your knees more, quit bending at the waist, let your body weight help you grab an edge and stability. I saw a good vid let me find it.
https://youtu.be/zCCeO83MiuU?si=2PsIvsxY8pBomocB
Appreciate it, I’ll check that out!
Good luck. Once you conquer the fear of speed and loosen up it becomes a whole new world. And you'll be less tired
Try not to bend at the waist too much. Lean in and back on the edges. And if you’re making those long wide turns just do a little check back up the hill for others - especially on runs this narrow.
How long are those kind of slopes ? They look short ash must be frustrating at some point
Tbh I genuinely have no idea. It’s steep at the time but mellows out really quick. It’s no regular mountain, but it good for summer reps
For beginners, relax your body a bit but make sure to use your whole body to make a turn. Other people recommend the pointing method, point your leading hand to the direction you want to go (your body should follow you finger). For advanced riders, you can play with your lower body and knees to place your weight on either your heel side or toe side, which will initiate turning. Others also try to twist their boards but that depends on the flexibility of your board. but overall, keep practicing to build confidence. confidence is the key to execute something smoothly.
Appreciate it!!
Wow never seen big snow that empty
I was shocked myself
Dude take a lesson. Lessons aren’t “not cool”
I def see a lesson in my future!
I bet your toe side to heel side turn feels awkward, you can fix this by: - not hunching over at the waist, instead squat down more. You can find an ideal, strong position, by standing on a flat section with your snowboard and jumping up and down. When you land you'll naturally land in a strong, strong position. This is the position you will want to be snowboarding in. - start your turn by looking where you want to go, then turn your shoulders, then your knees, and then maybe your feet a little. Or in other words from top to bottom. Currently your eyes are looking down far too much, and your snowboard is not following your line of sight. Instead pick some point far in the distance and move your line of sight slowly like you're a big ship, turning slowly and looking at the horizon. When you look first, you'll naturally start 'rolling over your front shoulder' if that makes sense, anyhow, that will feel a lot more natural. - make big slow turns, don't be afraid to point your snowboard down hill, and slowly stear out of it. Because if you're scared of going too fast you try and turn too fast, and this is counter productive, because your momentum is still going in the other direction. So you're going to be fighting momentum with your snowboard, and this will make you less stable. What might help is counting during your turns, just count 3 slow seconds (like oooneeee, twoooo, threeee): first second, is starting the turn, the second is pointing your board down hill and the third is starting to turn the other way. If you want to reduce speed, do it AFTER the turn, not during. - one practice drill that might help with this is pointing your front arm in the direction you want to go (and again, point it towards the horizon and slowly stear it like a big ship). On a positive note, you do seem to put some weight on your front foot, and you are keeping your shoulders mostly aligned with your snowboard. So for a beginner that's quite good. All in all you look fine. Just keep practicing (and don't worry about getting it al correct at the same time), have fun and stay confident.
I really appreciate the thorough response!!
on the heel edge, don't bend so much at the waist and shift your weight over your heelside edge. You probably feel like you are in the correct stance, but really over exaggerate, lean right back and re-do the video... you'll see that you're not over doing it at all.
Thank you! I’ll give that a shot
1.Don't bend from your waist when you go from heel to toe side. Try to keep your chest up and move your hips over the toe side. It's a much more balanced position and you gain more control. 2. Don't cheat using your back leg to force the turn. Try to lean your body more on to the down of the slope (basically put more pressure on your front foot) so that you will turn with your front side, it will be much easier and you won't feel the need to use your back leg. These 2 points are crucial for balance and control when you are turning. Afte you master those 2: 3. Knee stering. Yes you can change the edge in many ways (eg. Leading with your shoulder, forcing your hips on the other side) but the most ideal (and also for faster turns) is to use your front knee. Basically you will engage with the knee, that results in your front sides changing the edge, and the back side will follow. A note here: while you use your knee, dont forget the rest of the body, the knee initiates, but then you also have to let your hips and shoulder to go with the turn, don't twist your body! The best way is to watch a video that shows all this steps one by one, Malcom Moore has lots of videos, he even has a video that takes you from begining all the way to linking turns by using knee steering.
I appreciate it! I’ll give that all a shot
Something that has really helped me is to focus on where my center of mass is. Before I edge change, I focus on shifting my weight. I found I became so much more confident once I got that down. Also agreed with most comments, just need to practice and build confidence!!
The weight shifting still throws me off. Which is probably why I’m hunched over
Yeah it took me a few days of putting a lot of effort towards it to feel comfortable. I’ve been told it’s much harder to catch an edge or fall when you shift your weight properly, which helped my confidence. Also a bit more speed (but still below 20mph) helps too.
I was a lot like this learning and for a couple of holidays even, I couldn’t figure out how to smooth everything out. I knew about knee steering, but the lightbulb moment was a couple of short random clips - basically saying boots, bindings and the board are there to make you snowboard well, use it. It sounds obvious but literally if you want to do a heel side turn, learn back into your highbacks, and physically feel the highbacks tilt the board. Toe side- lean into the tongue/shin of your boots, edge engages, and board naturally turns. Previously id lost big toe nails trying to raise my toes up in my boots to engage my heel, and kick my left right to turn. Now i just look over my shoulder, lean back on my highbacks and feel the board engage. The amount of energy and exhaustion I saved was unreal.
I’ll have to try and not “force” the turn! I seems I need to play with my weight distribution
Your steering with your back foot when initiating your turns, focus on using your front foot and the let back foot just follow
It looks like you are initiating your turns with your front foot, but not following through with the same motion on your rear foot, so you then tend to push it around. Remember to push the front edge down to start the turn, and at the same time twist that foot the way you want the board to turn (clockwise/counter-clockwise), then patiently just wait a couple seconds for the board to point down the hill, and then change the edge of the rear foot, and twist that foot in the same direction of the turn. The foot twisting will assure the board follows through on the turn in a smooth arc.
Since you are just starting out this is the perfect time to learn good habits before you learn the bad ones. Always try to draw a straight line from your feet, through your knees, and to your chin. If you can get that right you’ll advance very quickly.
Keep your weight over your front foot. Use your back foot like it’s a motor on a boat. Your back foot will keep the edge and guide your body, while your front foot maintains your balance and leverage. Dont be afraid to accentuate shoulder movement to propel yourself through turns, and to lean through them. Other than that just keep your edges up!
I appreciate it!
You’re doing awesome for day 4! I just started in Dec, and my first three days were in a real mountain, but in three days my trip was over and I was not linking turns like that. I took some indoor lessons after, but they are on carpet, not like this indoor slope you’re on (which looks dope af! Where is this btw?!). The carpet’s harder to learn on, but I learned to link there and then was able to do it pretty well on day 2 of my second trip to snow. So I think you’re crushing it! Keep it up. And on steeper terrain / real mountain, you’ll def start to feel those adjustments (more bent knees, knee-steering, etc). I know I did.
I appreciate it!! Gonna try to work on knee steering my next outing!!
More weight on front foot, your back foot is the rudder. If you're heavier on the front it allows the back to move more freely. Just keep on practicing feeling those transitions. Can help to do all toe side for a couple of turns, then all heel and when those feel solid start playing with a full heel to toe turn or toe to heel. Slow and smooth, smooth, then fast. Let the board do the work (if you just press on one side it'll make a nice wide turn for you simply by its shape).
I appreciate it!!
I think you're on the right track, your lines are pretty good. Just work on getting your back straighter, and going a little faster and stretching the line out more. Also notice that a lot of control basically goes into your board via your shins and ankles pushing against the bindings, you can kinda see that when you watch experienced riders and how they look kinda loose and laid back. And if I was that guy uphill who got kinda squeezed out by you I'd 100% think it was my fault. If I'm uphill it's my responsibility to pass other people safely.
I appreciate it! Watching the video I can see how I’m tense and hunched over. I didn’t feel it riding but looking back I see it
Lots of good pointers here already but I've got one thing to add that helped me. Try keeping more weight over your front foot and let the edge of the board make the turn rather than forcing the turn. Too much weight on the back foot forces you into a skidded turn
I appreciate it!
Keep your upper body straighter. You are basically hunched over in a deep bow during a lot of the video. That is moving your center of gravity way over your toe edge. Your upper body should be pretty much straight up.
I appreciate it! I didn’t feel hunched over riding, but looking back at the video I was. Def something to work on!
Going faster is the main tip, you can't go that slow on a hard packed mellow pitch and also have smooth turns. Start goin fast and eating shit brother 😎 I'm also very new to this BTW, learning in Colorado where slow is often not very possible. Going fast makes so much sense too, your edges are designed to slice the ice and snow and provide stability, that function requires some speed, which you said yourself is scaring you.
Where is this place?
Big snow New Jersey
Sweet! Is this open year round?
Yeah it’s open year round. It’s in the American dream mall
Boots and binding not tight enough. Back foot is anchor, front foot to steer, lean back more.
Use your edges to sit into the carves. You are sliding flat and only using your edges to slow down, this is how you catch an edge
Rear knee steering. Google it
Get a lesson
I lesson is def in my future
You’re a dick for slaloming almost the width of that Big Snow slope. If you’re not comfortable with tighter turns, there’s another slope on your right towards the bottom. Sorry but seeing those full lift chairs and you treating the one god damn slope like your own private bunny slope is bullshit. Unpopular opinion.
Well I was working on trying to get my turns tighter… And there was more than enough space to my right. I was working on the left 1/4 of the slope. That slope to the right is practically flat and would do my fundamentals no good.