Snowboarding 101

Snowboarding was a lot of fun. The weather was pretty crappy and I knew I was gonna have a hard time convincing Tasha to go. Luckily my counting on her not wanting to disappoint me went a lot farther than I thought it would. I feel bad about it now....but only kinda so I'm going to have to find a way to pay her back for that.

The weather actually wasn't that bad up there and it was really only cold on the lift when we weren't moving. We started on the bunny hill to get the basics but it was terribly groomed so the boards wouldn't go very well and we just went up the lift.

I had been expecting to pick things up pretty quick because of the carry-over from skiing. Shifting the weight on a particular foot is pretty much the same for both so that part was fairly easy. I think I only fell down a few times doing that.

What really threw me for a loop was learning how to snowboard backwards, which by the way is vital because it gives your muscles a much needed rest. I don't think I could even make it down a single run without going backwards or resting at least a couple of times.

I'll tell you what. Catching back lip sucks but catching the front of the board is like a million times worse. I didn't quite break my wrists but just about. I know I'm not supposed to catch myself with my hands when I fall but it's a natural reaction. Of all the times I fell I only remembered not to use my hands 2 times.

The only pretty bad fall was when I tried to go really fast. I was going pretty good for a little run but I hit some light powder which moved my board a little and it scared me so I totally lost control of it and flipped over. I hit my head pretty good on that one (I think I'm going to rent a helmet next time).

All in all I did slightly better than I expected to. I can carve no problem and am pretty good at intermediate speeds. I can turn backwards on my left really well but on the right I fall about 40% of the time.

The biggest dislikes I have about snowboarding now having done it are the following: Your body is facing sideways instead of straight, on skiis you can stand still without it pulling your muscles but with snowboarding you have to sit down to rest, and it is a flipping pain to have to bind in and out and in and out every time you get on or off the lift.

I would definitely do it again though and would recommend it :)