AirBender

A general question, but please do be specific.

What age were you?
What got you interested (or who)?
Where was the location at?
Who did you go with (if it mattered)?
What brand was your first board (rental/bought) and how much did your preferences changed since then?
Etc...

Feel free to add whatever you felt was unique to your own experience.
Also, what you think was the most challenging aspect for (and maybe after?) the first experience for you.
And maybe add one main advice you would personally offer a beginer (learnt from personal experience).

Thanks!

@Edit: HERE you can read my huge tl;dr article about how my first experience went. Feel free to just read briefly through the answers only if you are interested, but are the type to get bored easily or lack time

travis.rice.fan

1. It was Christmas day and I was 17
2. I was a skier but always wanted to snowboard
3. Camelback PA
4. Girlfriend
5. I had a beat up Burton with clicker bindings. Now I ride a GNU Carbon Credit

First time, I caught in edge and broke my wrist. My best advice is therefore to wear wrist guards for the first couple times you go, and RIDE WITH CLOSED FISTS. Resist the urge to put your hands out when you fall, and let your body take the brunt.
Also, I watched a lot of the youtube videos before going and I feel like they drastically improved my first day performance. I never took a lesson, but I feel like I did alright without them.

basso4735

I was 12 years old, went to a local ski "hill", rode a World Industries Board with 5150 bindings and boots . Woke up the next morning and had to skip school since I could barely move my muscles and I ached all over.

notter123

1) I was 17
2) I loved wakeboarding and always wanted to try snowboarding just never had the money then i got an early xmas present fromthe girlfriend who bought me my current board, a burton indie and i bought the bindings, boots and everything else an went the day before xmas last year and after that i was at the hill 4 nights a week and usually 1 4 hour day on the weekend and 1 six hour day!
3)it was at a little shit hole of a place in london ontario, 140 vert feet of nothingness, (no thats not the bunny hill)
4)i went with a couple buddies and my girlfriend
5)preferences havent changed since ive only ridden 1 board and been to like 3 differen hills

Advice:stick with it, as much as i fell and slammed my back and but against that hard pack, it was worth it, ater one grueling 8 hour day (btw dont do that your first time either) i could make it all the way down the hill, without falling and one of my buddies even gave me 5 bucks cuz i attempted a little 2 foot kicker!

Toecutter

What age were you? 19

What got you interested (or who)? I can't recall a specific person that far back (it was 1986) but this snowboard doohicky was new and exciting.

Where was the location? Breckenridge, CO

Who did you go with? I went with a coworker

What brand was your first board (rental/bought) and how much did your preferences changed since then? I rented a Kemper (my coworker rented a Sims) and I borrowed a friend's Sorels, three sizes too big for my feet.

We went on a lark, without knowing the first thing about technique. It was an icy, hardpack day and we pretty much fell on our asses the entire way down. The day didn't last very long since we spent as much time falling as we did riding. The next day I couldn't even get out of bed and called in sick for the first time ever. My coworker figured I would be at work, since I never missed a day, and he was painfully surprised I wasn't there. He could barely move, and our other coworkers spent the day poking and prodding at his sore muscles. Ouch!

JeffreyCH

1) I was 37. Wish I would have started sooner
2) I went to cure my wakeboarding jones, now I like snow better
3) Monarch resort near Salida Co.
4) 3 of my brothers, one has been skiing since he was like 12, the other 2 had been riding for a couple years. It's kind of funny that my 2 brothers that ride are still green/blue runners and I'm bombing blacks lol.
5) Burton rental of some sort. Bought my own set up at the start of last year and took the whole thing more seriously. (K2, Ride, Van's)

It was awkward at first because of my wake background, once I figured out to shift my weight forward and not back I got pretty comfortable. I went from bunny hill to normal greens and some blues with only a couple days under my belt.

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JRosco

What age were you? I was 18 and fresh off ski's
What got you interested (or who)? I don't think just seeing people boaring made me wanna do it
Where was the location at? Angel Fire, NM
Who did you go with (if it mattered)? My best friend at the time.

I remember wanting to go take my rental back and trade them back for a pair of ski's, but I stuck it out and haven't looked back. My wrist's hust something terrible by the time the day was over.

AngryHugo

What age were you? 25-ish...? mid 90's
What got you interested (or who) the bike shop I raced for at the time also sold snowboards. figured "what the hell"
Where was the location at? Blue Mountain in PA
Who did you go with (if it mattered)? bunch of people from the shop
What brand was your first board (rental/bought) and how much did your preferences changed since then? bought a Division 23 board and bindings (out of business now, but it was a decent board then)

I just remember going at night, and the entire mountain was a sheet of ice. I had a skateboarding background and couldn't get the idea of getting on edge (keeping the entire base on the snow = keeping all four wheels on the ground). Needless to say, my hands were so feeble, I could barely hold the steering wheel going home.

arsenic0

Winter '03 i believe, I didn't start till late, 23.
A buddy of mine was going up and taking some of his family up to teach as well.
We went to Skibowl and used their newbie area, made me realize later how much rope tows cause me to rage.
He tried teaching us some things, but some of his female relatives are the "prissy" type so he spent most of the time with them to keep them from complaining about this or that.
Later that season(or next?) i bought a new shitty LTD Peak 151 board(which i still own) from Play it Again Sports for like 180 bucks, some Burton Hail's and Burton Mission bindings.

Wish i knew then what i know now buying gear, boards specifically as i got ripped off pretty bad looking back lol.

Although i still really like Burton boots and bindings. Although ill look more at other brands this next time i get new ones, but my 09 Cartel's i got a few years back are still doing great.

My advice for any beginner. Dont have your friends teach you. Pay the 30-50 bucks or whatever and take a class from a proper instructor.

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'09 151 Never Summer SL-R
'10 K2 T1 DB Bots
'09 Burton Cartel Bindings

mikemounlio

1. 22
2. Xgames
3. indiana
4. A POS
5. Rental. Now i ride an Elan Inverse with Bent Metal bindings and cheap burton boots


My 1st time down the hill i blacked out and broke some ribs. It was the best time ever tho.

To all the new guys just start slow. Go step by step.

__________________
my toys
Elan Inverse board
Bent Metal bindings
Burton boots
2007 CBR600RR (custom green and flat black everything)
1991 Ford Festiva 350$ (runs like a champ)
Seebring drop top (wifes car)