A community for all things snowboard!
Late to the party but my hot take is you can have fun while spending under $100 on equipment (if you live in the right place). I found my board and cheap ass 5150 bindings for $40 on Facebook, boots in the dumpster but work great, helmet for 50 bucks on sale (no mips which is an issue but I'll get one later), jacket and pants I already had from handme downs.
I'm not doing back country, but I'll be damned if I'm not having fun.
I was going to object but I am new so.. yay BOA.
Any advice for us with black bunny hills out here in the Midwest?
I've taught snowboarding for like 12 years? The best advice it to get an understanding your fear. At some point along the line, my fear response has turned into an adrenaline response. So when I learned how to mountain bike this year, after a couple of falls I really started to make progress. The more fear becomes excitement, the faster you're going to learn. That being said, you want your fear to meet up with the actual danger of the situation, not exceed it, that's how you die in an avalanche. Confidence also fits in there too.
When I was training instructors last year, the clinic that seemed to help them out the most was when I filmed them riding. Get a friend to take videos of you, you'll try your hardest, and you'll be able to see where you need improvement (if you're following along with YouTube tutorials.)
Ah, sorry I should have been more clear. I mean our “mountains” are all bunny hills - even on the blacks and double blacks
That being said, I am terrified of going fast. My wife on the other hand is a speed demon
Yeah, I get you on the tiny mountains, been snowboarding in buffalo region. Pro tip to annoy your friends from buffalo, tell them it's the Midwest.
I still believe fear is a major blocker for people to improve. Snowboarding is a sport that benefits from being relaxed and in control, being tense instead of loose makes progress much slower. Finding out how you can build your confidence is where to start. How scary are falls? Wear knee pads so you have a safe thing to fall on, and to save your knees(I'm a big fan of knee pads, I recommend g-form.) Learn how to slide and roll out of falls, I hurt myself less on the super steep trails because when I fall I slide instead of bounce off the ground.
Lots of beginners are afraid of their toe edge, this is because usually they try to balance on their toes. We shouldn't be relying on our calf muscles for that, since they are fast and twitchy. Instead, if we let our shins rest against the tongue of the boot, our slow strong thigh muscles are much easier to balance with.
Get a lesson. Youtube videos are amazing, I learn things from them all the time. But having someone good watch you ride can solve so many issues because they can see stuff your eyes can't.
Lastly, workout. Get in shape. You will be less likely to hurt yourself falling or getting up. You will also be able to preform snowboarding skills much easier with a well-developed body and will have a better understanding of how to feel your body position and move your body.
Sorry for that wall of text
I mean, fear seems legit when on one side you have a cliff face and on the other it’s a sheer 20ft drop lol
I mean, I guess, it depends, that being said I did work as a roofer for a while. Do you feel confident that you can stop yourself before you get to the cliff? Matching your fear to the actual danger of the situation means there may actually be very little danger in the situation if you're good enough not to get near the edges. Like Alex honnold (free climber) is retired now and only does easy safe free climbs. But it's relative to him, they would all be suicidal for me.
Am I making sense?
If you replace both sides with trees I can change edges. I guess it’s the thought that the drop may or may not cause permanent damage. This season will be my third so I think my brain is telling me I’m new and to be careful. /me shrugs. I mainly pick an edge and just stay on it.
That being said it’s scarier if it’s green. I’ve hit someone’s board before because well, physics. I couldn’t stop before I hit their board. Does that give more data on my skill level?
So the question is how do I build confidence?
I think you build confidence the same way that you build skills. You build skills by trying something new and then working on it until it's easy. You build confidence by doing something scary and succeeding.
So maybe riding by the cliffside isn't where you need to build confidence right now. We need to build up somewhere analogous. Can you make turns on a narrow trail? Can you use the whole trail width? Try skidding so that you splash snow on the trees. Try making small turns so that you only take up a little bit of the trail.
Maybe you can then try something more difficult to build confidence. Can you go off a little jump or side hit? Learn how to manual or nose roll?
Since you have a goal you can break it down into smaller pieces. Every little piece is a success, it's evidence that you're good.
Hm, your post is encouraging. I’m currently working on manuals.
Thank you
Boa, haha :) My take on them is just get a pair of rather stiff boots (I ride Insanos) and you will be fine; I rather need to loosen them a bit when my feet get cold. Stll not fully over the fear though of them breaking in the backcountry, but so far they kept up (and with some spare laces in the backpack for peace of mind)
I've got a pair ride fuse for the front country and k2 aspect for the back country. They both use boa for tightening the liner, which I don't hate. Can the insano take crampons? I'm not a huge fan of the aspect
I never went anywhere where I would have needed some, so i can't really tell but reading in some other threads it should not be problematic to put them on snowboard boots as well.
The aspects have a little nub at the back for them to lever over. I looked them up, it doesn't look like they have that.
Wow I had no idea any snowboard boots were designed for crampons. I have some universal Camp crampons that work for my 32 boots.
I need this kind of I ever have to climb or down climb a slide. Some boots have a little knuckle on the back for them. Feeling like I should have gotten ice climbing ones now though.
Yeah I have these. Maybe not the best tool but fine for the rare cases I want them.
Interesting. Largely by accident I landed on some very stiff 32 boots, dual zone boa, like the insanos, just before I got into touring. They have served me very well. I guess I would use a ski strap around my boot if the boa failed.
Finding full zip pants that fit over snowboard boots was a problem I only recently solved.
I have 32 boa boots with two boas per boot. Had them for at least 5 seasons now, 20-30 days a season. I use them for touring and resort. I'm generally really impressed with the boa system. I don't have boots designed for touring so I like that the boa allows me to loosen the boots quickly for uphill and tighten them quickly for downhill.
All that to say, today when I pulled on the boa to loosen it, the fabric tore and the boa is now just held on by the cables. It still works but I need two hands to operate it. I may try some shoe goo because otherwise the boots seem to be going strong.
That's incredible that they lasted that long! I think teaching does something to boots that just destroys them. I wish I got 32 pro deals, they're expensive but I like them more than Burton boots
This last pair was a craigslist find. Yeah I'm sure the moment you do anything professionally you ask a lot more from your gear.