Saturday, January 20, 2007

Snow Board Tips

Everyone that loves snow boarding knows that accidents can easily happen, and accidents do happen on a daily basis. That is why you have to follow basic tips to prepare before you actually hit the slopes, and if you do not follow the basic rules then you are simply asking for accidents to happen. That is why I recommend that anyone who is planning a snow board tip should do the following before they even consider leaving the house:
1. Ensure that you clean your board and your boots. When you allow your boots and board to get dirty, then they not click into place as well, and you also risk slipping etc. More than anything else you should never deliberately go to the slope with boots and a board that are dirty. 2. You should always ensure that a member of your family or friends knows where you are, and when you are expected to be back. If you are out on a long run, and something wrong happens, then you are left to rely on someone to find you if the worst happens and you get lost with an injury.3. Always wear waterproof clothes. If you do not wear waterproof clothing then you are surely asking for problems. This means water proof trousers, water proof jacket, and water proof gloves are a must.4. Make sure that you do not eat something that is too filling or you may end up with cramps and the kind of thing that you have to try and avoid. The best food that you can eat before you hit the slopes is high calorie, low fat foods, such as pasta for example.5. Do not consider trying runs that are well in advance of your ability levels, the trick is to take things slowly and try and build up gradually, time by time, every time you visit. Jumping ahead of yourself can actually mean that you place too much pressure on yourself and you end up not wanting to come back. 6. Consider your friends and prepare how you are going to act based on those that you are going snow boarding with. If the snow boarder is an amateur, then you have to think how you would feel if you were to go snow boarding with someone and they were to always try more challenging runs. You would surely try and compete and that can cause accidents and embarrassment. 7. Bring a change of clothing and a snack for when you are out. It is good to come prepared and you do not want your day to end early because your clothes are uncomfortable or because you are hungry or thirsty. Remember that when you are out on the slopes that if you fail to drink enough then problems can happen. You may feel cold, so you do not feel thirsty, but that is why you have to try and ensure that have enough to drink.
Making sure that you are prepared for going on a snow boarding trip is one of the best ways to ensure that you have a great day, and so does everyone around you. Taking that extra time, to ensure that everything is going to go smoothly will surely pay off when you are on the slopes.

An Excellent Guide Can Be Found At: CLICK HERE

Snowboarding Trick Fundamentals

I like the floating feeling you get on quarterpipes, it feels like you’re hanging in the air and you can with no trouble grab anywhere on the board. One of the most fun tricks on a QP is the air to fakie.

Airs to fakies are also one of the easiest tricks. All you have to do is ride straight at the QP on your shred stick. I like this trick because of its simplicity. An air to fakie is basically the same thing as straight airing a jump, except the QP shoots you straight up in the air … so you land in the same spot you took off. All you have to do is ride straight at the QP.

When approaching a QP, pick a straight line up the wall and stay totally flat-based while riding up the transition. If you get on edge, you may go flinging left or right—you won’t go as big. Always keep your knees bent.

When you reach the top of the lip, you don’t need to pop much, keep your body solid and let the QP do all the work for you. Remember: Like hips and wallrides, start out small to feel out the transition, then you can “send it.” So, now you’ve left the lip, try to stay composed. Fly up in the air and grab the board. I like to grab frontside.

You’re floating and tweaked-out frontside now, look down at the coping to make sure you’ll land back in the transition. As long as the QP has vert on it, you should be fine. If so, then you’re good to go—if not, well, good luck, ’cause landing on the deck of a QP is sketchy. Anyway, as you come back down to land, you should land in about the same place you left the lip—nice and high on the transition.

Ride back down the tranny switch and pump back up the hill as far as possible. You’ll have less of a hike to hit the quarterpipe next time. Once you learn this trick, then you can move on to frontside and backside airs.

Boxes are a great feature to learn boardslides, front boards, and 270-outs on because they're super easy to shred. Boxes are nice and wide compared to a handrail, so you don't need to worry if you're not perfectly centered on the box. For a boardslide, hop on the box at a 90-degree angle and stay centered over the board, flat-based, until you reach the end of the box—it's too easy. So instead, I'm going to walk you through the boardslide to 270 out.

Approaching a box is pretty mellow; you don't need to hit it from a crazy angle or anything. Just stay calm and loose, and roll up on it. It is good to pop off your toes on the takeoff and land in more of a tailslide, instead of landing totally square in the middle of the box—it makes snapping the 270 out easier. Now that you're sliding, stay over the board so it doesn't spit out in front of you. Hold the position with your knees bent.

As you near the end of the box, begin to rotate your head and shoulders in the frontside direction. Spring an ollie off your back foot and initiate the frontside spin—use your shoulders to direct the rotation. The front 270 feels just like a frontside three, but it's easier to land. If you keep your eyes on the ground and bend your knees with the board pointed straight down the hill, you shouldn't have a problem with the landing.

Now that you have learned several common tricks, feel free to go out and try them. If you fail, remember, practice makes perfect and even more practise makes you even more perfect, or at least that is what I have been told. Go out their and try your best, and you are sure to get the results that you are after. Good Luck!

An excellent guide can be found at: CLICK HERE