I picked up the sport in Feb this year at a local dome, and by March started riding the weekly park features non stop, I'm now looking at my first holidays away around Europe, I was wondering if you guys have any good tips or tricks for a newbie on the mountain that you wish you'd know before your first trip away?
Cheers š¤
Posted Sep 6, 2023, 2:11 PM UTC
Pace yourself if youāre out there for multiple days.
This, especially if alcohol is involved. If you overdue it early on, the later parts of your trip will suck.
Bring water with you and hydrate every lift ride back up.
Good advice, you don't have to be the last one off the hill. If you've had a good day don't feel bad about calling it and saving some legs for the next day. Get the apres ski on
Learn control before speed.
Ride switch from day 1. Alternate regular and goofy every run.
Learn how to fall - try not to stick out your hands to cushion a fall - easiest way to break a wrist.
Get good outer and inner gloves.
Unless you plan to be tossing meat in the park riding switch isn't something you need to focus on. You have a short period of time at an expensive ass place. Maximize your experience by riding as comfortably as you can. You can ride switch at home.
I see this from beginners all the time. They stick to one side for their first few days and then find it hard to ride switch down the track.
The most invaluable time is when you are just starting. Your mind / body control is still learning and practicing it early makes riding switch instinctive.
Iāve been riding for 20 years and never had a problem with switch because my first instructor (who was awesome) made me ride both sides from the start.
And switch isnāt just for the park. When youāre hunting the deep stuff off-piste, sometimes the tight drops / terrain mean that you have to ride in a certain direction.
Every good instructor starts with falling leaf. I learned to ride switch because some rental dude set up my board backward the second season and I rode like that all year cuz i didn't know any better.
My point is this dude isn't asking for general riding advice. They are asking for what to do on their first destination shred trip. Trying to ride switch when you paid 120 for a ticket,800 for the plane ride and 140 for the room doesn't make sense. Riding teh way you feel most comfortable so you can spend your limited time exploring a new environment makes way more sense. The varried terrain and experience with real snow this person will encounter will vastly outweigh any time spent riding switch. Remember this person is used to indoor.
Youāre being disingenuous.
Falling leaf is perhaps the first few hours or first day (give or take depending on your skill progression). You can get instructors for multiple days (as I did) and most folk are linking turns in their first trip.
Itās up to OP what they want to do - they asked for ātips and tricksā. You donāt gatekeep on whether that means āwhat to doā, or literally ātips and tricksā.
If OP wants to ride in one direction - power to them. If they want to set themselves up to be a more flexible rider sooner, then itās up to them.
It'll be just my third season in...maybe 40 days or so if the weather gods like me.
And man, I wish I had been given this advice.
I was dead certain I never wanted anything to do with the park; I'm older, I'm not cool, and I'm pretty clumsy. I don't need to do sweet tricks.
...and then at the end of this season I was getting myself into spots where Just Switching for 2-3 turns would have been the smarter and safer option, or I was having to slow way way down to avoid any risk of accidental air, and I was finding I wanna...play...in ways that require switch and stronger legs.
And on my dinky hill, that means towrope and park laps.
There are foundational skills in there that I currently lack. So I gotta go back and get em.
35y here and realized this past season that if I wanted to keep progressing, I needed to get in the park. Really dialing in switch, air awareness, rotation - no better place to practice and get reps in than a park with a tow rope, and it totally transforms your riding out on the rest of the mountain IMO. It's one thing to sort of send a cat track into a run and charge down it. It's another thing to really have your ollies dialed and pop a floaty 180 off that cat track and then charge down it. Can't wait for that early season park to open up to get back at it this year.
Do I wish I would've learned this all when I was 13? Absolutely. But, I didn't, so, no better time than now I guess.
Once I can visibly see the ski lodge at the bottom of the mountain, I flip to switch. Usually all mountains are mellow when you get to this point, so it makes for easier learning. While there are more people to witness you, you're also in the sea of noobies so you'll blend in. No reason to ride an entire run switch if you're learning. Might as well just have fun until you see the lodge, then it's practice time for a minute or two. Eventually your mind will flip you over to switch on your main runs when it's ready, you'll just feel/know it.
My switch is strong from being a park rat, but I will for sure make a conscious effort to do some first runs in switch, thank you
Have a great time!
I just want to second your "learn how to fall" tip. When I was an instructor we used to actually teach that in a Level 1 lesson before the insurance people maliciously got involved and told us we could no longer do it.
But here's a great exercise for noob riders who want to avoid broken collarbones and wrists:
Donāt get hammered the first night at altitude unless you enjoy feeling truly awful
wouldnāt recommend drinking at all on the slopes unless you value motor skills and situational awareness. But itās their choice
This one. Never understood people drinking in the slopes. After ski is of course different thing but wouldn't want to ride in hangover either so be careful with alcohol.
I'll have a beer or a cocktail or two, but yeah I wouldn't recommend even that for someone who is learning. Never understood the people who get hammered though. Just seems dangerous even if you are very good.
liquid courage. A single cocktail at 1pm is enough to supercharge your riding without turning you into a liability.
I went pretty hard at the drinking when I was in france.
The trick was to drink a ton of water right before bed, hitting the slopes at 9-10am instead of 7, and having a really solid breakfast in the morning. š
Otherwise yeah I wouldāve puked on the mountain.
What a god awful, torturous experience. Transient absolute sickness for 24 hours of horrible headaches, vomiting and fever. Only took 3 drinks and a couple shots.
Next day good as new. What the fuck.
Lmao yup that sounds about right. I was only at like 9-10k but we went out drinking like we were at sea level night 1. Ohhhh the puking haha
I only had like 3 drinks and a couple shots iirc.
Drinking like a college student that day would most certainly have driven me to permanent madness.
damn, I got a slight headache just trying to recall that day, no joke.
It literally made me shit my pants when I got altitude sickness in Utah.
0/10
lmao now thats a proper one-up.
How important it is to keep a waxed board. Took a few pow days of agony to realize that one.
If I'm heading out for a week will a good wax before I go suffice, or should I take my kit out with me to do one mid trip as well? Cheers
Usual recommendations are wax every 2-5 days so Iād bring it with and wax mid weekā¦ especially if youāre riding open to close every day
If you can fit it and you wax your mate's skis/boards, that should pay for your beers for the trip..
I don't think it's worth taking a kit with if you're travelling. Resorts will have wax services in the $20 to 30 range. Take it in every 4 days or so on the slopes and you'll stay slick.
If Iām going out for a multi-day trip, Iāll bring my wax stuff with me. Itās all fairly small stuff that I can pack easy.
What why would wax make a difference? Pow is the kind of snow with the lowest friction, highest share of oxygen and lowest share of sticky water/wetness.
gently weeps in the PNW while stuck in knee high cascade cement on a flat spot
How I should have done daily squats way before because my legs (well, my whole body but mostly the legs) were tired way before the closing hour so I wish I had build a bit of strength to spend more time on the slopes.
This led to more falls and more tiredness after each day.
Core and back are huge too
-Find the best mountain for your kind of riding, check out the maps and see what you would do from the top of certain lifts. I love geeking out over trail maps and things like that.
-If you're getting the goods at a certain altitude (like you got a foot of snow in BC interior or something), STAY AT THAT ALTITUDE. I've made huge mistakes before where you've got the goods and on certain mountains they are so big that there are multiple zones of conditions as you descend. For example, Revelstoke can have insane cold/wind up top, 1000' down you have an amazing patch of snow, and then it turns to super heavy sludge as you go further down.
-Ski in/out is amazing but expensive.
-Pace yourself. If you try to do 4 or 5 days in a row on mountain you will probably get blasted if you are not in great shape. Try a 2 on, 1 off, 2 on approach or something similar. Same goes for each day, don't expect to go right from opening to last chair every day or you'll probably die.
-Packing lunch or eating in? Sometimes I find it better to go for lunch at 11:15 or like 1:30 to avoid a bunch of people in the shack and also it's quieter on mountain when they are eating.
-Powder day lineups can be double what a normal day is, be prepared. We're always first chair kind of people as it's normally the best conditions, limited people and beautiful grooming/powder. It gets tracked out later on and can definitely worsen depending on snow/weather conditions.
-Snow can be vastly different on the different faces of the mountain. Sun Peaks for example in BC is a great example. There is always a place to find shaded runs (Morrisey) or sunny runs depending on what you want. If it's icy in the shaded runs then hop over to the sun and hit the softened snow.
-If it's low visibility/foggy, head to the trees, oftentimes it can be better in there.
-Safety wise, don't go crazy in the glades without a buddy, people die every year in there. You can and should leapfrog your partner as you go down, alternating. This is especially important after big dumps of snow in the trees.
I've never been to Europe so probably a lot of my tips won't work there but maybe might help others in the thread so I'll leave it.
There's lots of wisdom in here, thanks for taking the time to share it brother!
Really great advice!
I'm also kind of n00b and when I go I usually do for 4 days. I try to get long sleep and go from 11 or 12 till closing at 17h. Due to being spanish I like to stop for lunch at 14h (yes, we have lunch late xD) and rest for about an hour as well. I know it's not a lot of time but if I try to do more I get completely dead by the second day already. I'm also not a morning person so I rather sleep in until late. But when I went with friends I was starting at 10 and stopping earlier after lunch
Just to expand on your point about hitting glades (especially on powder days), you want to avoid falling into tree wells as you can get completely covered by snow and suffocate. This is only really an issue on mountains with forests comprised of evergreen trees (ex: Whistler). If you're doing glades in a deciduous forest, it will be free of tree wells and much safer to explore alone (ex: Japan)
Doing some glade riding in Japan is definitely on the bucket list!
If you're getting the goods at a certain altitude (like you got a foot of snow in BC interior or something), STAY AT THAT ALTITUDE
Elevation
If you're getting the goods at a certain altitude (like you got a foot of snow in BC interior or something), STAY AT THAT ALTITUDE.
Plus, navigating to a new zone on a big mountain adds a lot of time overhead. Whenever we're lapping a good stash there's always someone in the crew who convinces everyone to check out another zone on a different elevation, aspect, and of course a long traverse to get there. And of course when we get there it's either windblown crud, or it's great but rutted out from everyone else that had the same idea.
If you go into the trees, look between them at the spaces, not at the trees themselves. You go where you look.
So if you look at the trees, you hit the trees.
Bring your own food+drink
Gatorade powder in my checked bag along with finding a water fountain has never been an issue
The OP will probably be snowboarding in the Alps, there are mountain huts and restaurants everywhere.
Start doing leg work out right now and build strength and endurance. Going from 30 second runs to something much longer takes it out of you fast. Also, make sure you stay in control. You can get going so much faster and you need to be able to control yourself.
If youāre going to be there multiple days, plan some rest time in there. We got tired so fast from the altitude changes and the workout, it was nice to have a day off.
There's definitely a recurring theme of building leg strength, guess it's time to get those squats on the go, cheers bud š
Good luck! Have fun!
This. Iāve heard āI go to the gym, Iām in good shape. Iāll Be fine ā so many times. Only to be destroyed within 5 minutes and āIām doneā. Lolol
Any leg workout suggestions?
I usually do just regular squats, wall sit, ride my bike up until it starts to snow, and I usually like to do some at home core stuff like crunches or planks. Just stuff that gets your body used to flexing your muscles in your legs and bending your knees.
Iām absolutely not an expert, so if anyone has better suggestions, please let me know!
Deadlifts, lower back rows, lunges and hip flexibility should all be focused on too
Awesome! Thanks for the advice!
I usually do just regular squats, wall sit, ride my bike up until it starts to snow, and I usually like to do some at home core stuff like crunches or planks. Just stuff that gets your body used to flexing your muscles in your legs and bending your knees.
Iām absolutely not an expert, so if anyone has better suggestions, please let me know!
Donāt go crazy on the devils lettuce and alcohol. I live in a ski town and the amount of people that go wild partying to the point where they canāt even ski the next day is too much to count. Everything hits much harder and dehydrates you much faster at altitude. That coupled with snowboarding being an exhausting sport is a recipe for a bad time. A beer or two with dinner is no problem. Getting shitfaced is a recipe for a bad time
Solid advice, luckily I'm not out there for the party, a drink with meals will do me just fine. As for the grass I wouldn't say no to an evening muscle soother but I probably won't run into the opportunity to get any anyway. Thanks!
Sounds like you got a recipe for a good time then. Just make sure you drink double the amount of water you normally would and you will be golden
Ya I'll second this. Not a new rider, and not new to either of the above mentioned substances. Decided to, just before hitting a drop into trees, take a Fireball shot and a hit off the vape. By the time we got to the trees, I was way too high for it š. Made it to the end of the run and stopped for lunch before heading back out cause it was too sketchy. Lesson learned.
basically you get gassed because the runs are so much longer. I don't really think doing squats really helps you prepare all that much. unless you do some weird workout where you're holding partial squats for 5 minutes in a row.
then the next thing is you'll probably just pass out in the lodge at like 8pm. like total drool on face knock out
Stretch, hydrate, try and walk away with a new skill
Invest in a good board bag and boot bag that can hold everything you need for your trip. This saves on baggage fees, makes hauling your stuff around a breeze, and the clothes will help protect your gear from overzealous airport baggage āhandlers.ā
How do you feel about the Dakine Tour?
Get one with wheels!
I'm honestly in awe that you did a few sessions at chillfactore and then went straight to the park! It took me years to build up that confidence, great work!
It definitely helps coming from a skating background, as soon as I could ride comfortably I wanted to get some grinds and air! The regulars at Chill are a great bunch and are happy to help out with speed and technique which definitely helped me get on with it. 6 months in now and there's nothing they put out that I won't hit!
Ah that definitely makes sense! I'd never ridden any kind of board before when I first tried snowboarding (plus I'm naturally pretty shit at sports!) so it was a very slow process for me!!
Well if you're ever down at chill for a park day and see some goof dancing on the lift with a Santa Cruz board, come say hi!
I'm honestly in awe that you did a few sessions at chillfactore and then went straight to the park! It took me years to build up that confidence, great work!
Don't go off piste if you aren't with someone that knows where they're going.
And if you are off piste and suddenly find yourself in completely untracked powder, it's probably because whatever is ahead is not something you want to ride in - either a cliff, a stream, or terrain too flat to ride out of.
This is great advice. A lot of mountains will have guides you can hire fairly inexpensively to show you what's safe and what isn't (especially for your ability). Worth investing in if you want to ride off piste and are on one mountain for an extended period.
Don't get smashed at a bar half way up the hill and then board back down again š still no recollection of my run from the folle back down into meribel village from a few years ago.
Invest in good clothing, especially base layers as it will be worth it to not have a wet arse or be cold on the chair lifts, makes it a crap day being cold or wet š
Learn some of the local language, please and thank you in the local language goes a long way I've found.
Don't get smashed at a bar half way up the hill
Especially in the Europe resorts. They love having booze and snack stations all over the mountain. Just get down to the village and bar hop there.
Don't care what others think
Always move forward, and learn to let go
I would have told my beginner self to start on a flat or rocker profile. I started on a camber board and was catching edge so much. I bought a Warpig and was so surprised on how forgiving it is and made the rides waaaay more enjoyable. Iāve graduated to camber with ease.
How fucking fast real snow is
We've got a good dome in Manchester that's pretty fast, especially compared to others I've been to that were like riding on flour, so keen to get on the real stuff!
I learned there - it is SO DIFFERENT to a mountain. My best tip would be looking at cat tracks on YouTube, the easy out we went on (day 1) was lots of this and I was absolutely not prepared for flat basing
Compare that to learning on real snow in 1996 and then riding in 2023 on a new sintered base snowboard on real snow and hard pack ice. Quite the speed difference from equipment changes.
Other thing is I didnāt want to go in 1996, now itās all I want to do and is ridiculously unaffordable which makes me want to KMS.
Yeah so I went to Tignes, ended up on La Grande Motte, first time on a mountain, on a newly waxed Karua, which I had never really had a good go on.
Let's say that was an experience.
I hadnāt ridden in 20 or so years. I rode a rental Burton at Mt Hood 20 some years back, but I had owned my own K2 Dart and ridden a Burton in 96 at Brek before that. I bought a 23 Nitro Santoku, and not even at a mountainā¦.A little ski resort in the MW, hard pack groomersā¦yeah it was freaking fast by comparison. Broke both my wrists and arms on my last day of my trip in February. Looking forward to this season and maybe Iāll get lucky and break my neck or worse.
It seems it is my cake day and good luck with your next trip!
Faster than east coast ice?
Where I'm from yes
Dang ok