boarderaholic

Learning to hit jumps
1) Progression is the key....start small and work up as you master the features. I start my students out on the small stuff that can be found alongside the groomers. When you want to start doing 180`s and 360`s go back to the small stuff to dial them in. The bigger stuff you are doing straight airs off of might be too big for trying to throw spins on until you get them down.

2) Alignment and balance....Biggest problem I had and many students have is when in the air, there is a natural tendency to rotate your upper body to face the direction you are going. This will screw you every time because this rotation will cause you lower body to rotate too and your board will land cross ways and you with either face plant or land on the heel edge and fall on your ass. It is very important to keep your shoulders parallel with your board and you body centered over the top of the board. The easiest grab to do when snowboarding is the Indy. The rear hand grabs the toe edge of the board between the bindings. This grab will force you to keep your upper body aligned properly. Even if you don`t quite make the grab, going through the motions of it will stabilize you in the air. To avoid unwanted back rotation leaving the lip, shift your body weigh just a bit toward the nose of the board. In the air, you will need to slightly shift your weight back toward the aft of center so you`re slightly tail low to land on the rear section of your board. One way to think of this is imagine an airplane landing. You want to land on the main gear not on the nose gear, so just like that airplane, you have a slight nose high flare for landing.

3) Takeoff and landing....On most man made features in a terrain park you will be riding straight down the fall line, so you will want to takeoff and land with a fairly flat board. Perhaps just a smidgen of edge to prevent an edge catch like you do when riding in the flats, but no radical carves here! Now, if you are hitting natural features like moguls where you are traversing across the fall line you will want to ride on the uphill edge so that you travel in a straight line. As you land, you will want to have that same amount of edge angle to prevent an unwanted, radical turn or edge catch. So, how much edge angle do you use in this scenario? The correct answer "whatever takes to keep going in a straight line" A word about speed management; do any speed checking long before the takeoff ramp. Do this to prevent carving up the flat lip and also, you want a stabilized approach for a good takeoff. Speed checking on the ramp with throw your balance off and increase you mental workload. Again, think of that airplane on approach for landing; no messing with power and flaps and gear on final! After you land, don`t immediately do speed check either. Doing this makes the landing zone icy and carved up. Grit your teeth and cope with the speed for just a bit longer before you speed check. If the landing zone is icy and you speed check right there, chances are high that your board will slide out from under you and you will ass plant.

4) Safety.... Know the terrain before you hit it. Take a ride through the park and look at everything to get a feel for the layout and condition of the features. Look at how the ramp is constructed; is it very steep so that you will gain a lot of height and backward rotation, or is it a fairly flat, low angle ramp that will give you more distance than height? These are very important considerations when determining speed for desired results. How big is the tabletop and what distance will you need to travel to make it past the knuckle to reach the landing zone? Look at the length and pitch of the landing zone to make sure you don`t overshoot it or end up way higher than you are comfortable with if it is a very steep pitch. Also look at what condition the landing zone is in. Look for weird things that will throw you off and determine the snow condition; is it icy or soft? Also pick your battles. When it is super hard pack and icy, hit things more conservatively than a pow or spring slush day.

Falling
Falling is a part of snowboarding, especially in the learning period. Often, people suffer a fall on their first day or two on a board and some never get back on one. A lot of injuries could be avoided if more people learned how to fall. As instructors, we teach beginners to skate, sideslip, traverse and link their turns, but how often do we teach the student how to take a fall. Do we ever demonstrate it? Falling is probably the number one concern a new rider has. As an accomplished faller myself, I can pass along some ideas to make taking a fall a little less scary (not to mention less painful) for the new rider.

In general:
Don`t fight it....go with the fall and try to control direction and speed gradually by working with your momentum not against it. Think of it like a river, swim with the current.Try to stay relaxed; if you are tensed up, you are much more likely to suffer an injury. Wrist injuries are the single most common snowboarding injury because people instinctively try to cushion a fall by putting their hands out in front of them or in the case of the dreaded "butt-slam" behind them. When riding, try to keep your hands closed into a loose fist. That way if you fall and put your hands out, you are less likely to catch your fingers and snap your wrist back. In a fall, stay tucked; don't flail your arms around. Doing that can cause a lot of problems from breaks, dislocations and even catching on objects. Additionally, I have seen more than one flailing arm get run over by a ski or snowboard. So keep those arms tucked in. Additionally, tuck your whole body a little so you roll rather than slam.

Falling forward:
Slightly turn your upper body to land in a rolling position to reduce the slam and keep your chin tucked toward your chest a little to avoid snapping your head backwards and to keep it up out of the snow when you are down and sliding. If your sliding down hill head first, use your board as a brake. If you are sliding feet first, keep that board up so it does`nt catch and injure your knees or worse, flip you! Use your arms to create drag to slow your slide, or get yourself spun around head first to drag the board. On the steeps, a flip can get you seriously hurt or worse.

Falling backward:
Tail bone injuries are a common result in the "butt slam" If you start to loose it or catch an edge, twist your body to land on one butt cheek...it will still hurt like hell, but, you will protect your tail bone to some degree. Be careful not to overdo it though and slam on the side of your hip which has very little padding over the bone. Another common thing in the dreaded "butt slam" is the back of your head impacting the snow. Again, tucking your chin in toward your chest helps to prevent this some.

A word about the steeps:
As you gain skill and confidence, you will find yourself riding steeper, longer runs that may exceed 45 degrees and have cliffs, boulders, trees and other hazards. Use sound judgment when riding this terrain. A long chute with a 45 degree or more angle becomes a death trap if it is icy and you fall. You simply will not be able to stop until you hit either an obstacle or the bottom. In either case you will be out of control and moving very fast. Know your terrain and snow conditions before dropping! If you are into backcountry travel, having an ice ax and knowing how to use it to self arrest can save you life. Generally you will use it for the climb up, but if an icy descent is required, you can ride with the axe in position for self arrest.

There is always the safety gear option. Several companies manufacture and distribute crash pads. Most snowboard magazines carry advertisements and you can find them on the web. Helmets of course are always a good idea if you want to protect your head. Some good padding for the backside, a helmet and some wrist guards makes learning to ride rails, learning jumps and riding on ice a little easier on your body.