sedition

Check any sport where people fall down a lot. Football. Hockey. Skateboarding. LaCross. What are they all wearing? Lots of pads. Get some. It will save some hurt, and take your fear down a few notches.

I've been riding for 20 years. The worst advice, IMHO, you can give a new rider is to "not take a lesson." Sure, people can learn how to ride without lessons. But it often takes a lot longer, and then they retain bad riding habits for a long time thereafter, if they ever to even get ride of them.

__________________
"Up front there ought to be a man in black." -Johnny Cash
Drink sin. Ride with the devil.

GEAR
Rome | Graft | 151
Johnnie Walker | Low-ball | Lodge

Snowblower

Had my third lesson today (got a package deal from Cypress, included five 2-hour lessons with all day passes incl., plus rental boots, boards, bindings, as well lift passes for 1 afternoon/evening session per week for the rest of the season), and it was simultaneously the most frustrating AND the most rewarding thus far. Right away we started by going up the big green run (with a few "blue portions") and basically just had to work on linking turns without actually stopping the whole way down, as well as learn to ride switch.

I fell so many f***ing times but I kept a smile the whole time, (although a lot of falls did hurt the wrists. It helped that the instructor was a way cool dude who was totally encouraging. By the end of the two hours, I had definitely become more confident with the turns, and I spent the whole afternoon going back up that run practicing, falling SLIGHTLY less (but no less painful, since now it was with more speed), and enjoying it.

The "fun" curve is definitely starting to catch up to the "pain and frustrating" curve.

Snowolf

I tell all my students that the first week of snowboarding will be at times, very frustrating, but to hang in there and give it a week. Too many people give up right at the point where they almost have gotten the basics down. In your case, you will find that your riding ability will increase exponentially now and so will the fun level!

__________________

megladan

exactly, i've been riding for 3 or 4 years now.. the first year was horrid.. and its been getting EXPONENTIALLY better, but with that progression i've taken some nasty spills.. nastier than any falls i took on the bmx.

No Pain No Gain..
The only easy day was yesterday

Eric @ WA

Don't worry about having that fear factor. Everyone of us went through it when we all started boarding too. Just stick with it as everyone says. If you commit yourself to learning and improving everytime you go out, you will undoubtedly get better. Even if you're above beginner and almost intermediate (or intermediate even), I would recommend getting a 1 hr lesson from a qualified instructor to help further fine tune your riding. He/She will be able to analyze your style, body mechanics, and habits and help you correct or fine tune them.

Heck...I'm in So*Cal and that fear factor still resides when we have those crappy winters with hardly any snow. You know the type of terrain...it's like boarding on a huge block of ice with only ice shavings (from board slides) on top of it. This equates to major pain in the a$$ (yes pun intended haha) when you fall. Just last week, I went up with a friend who is learning and decided to go to the green runs with him just to hang out. Off the lift he wiped out and took me with him (he exhibited the ever so graceful "Oh sh*t I'm falling...I need to grab the person next to me so he/she can wipe out too"). It felt like I landed on cement and that was just off the lift. Oh how I wish we got regular pow!

At any rate, keep boarding, keep having fun, and you'll get better. You'll know your limitation and what is needed for each type of terrain. At that point you'll know when to speed check and when to go all out.

__________________
Eric @ Wicked Adrenaline, Inc
Wicked Adrenaline, Inc
http://www.wickedadrenaline.com

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/wickedstreetteam

...DEFINING THE ADRENALINE LIFESTYLE

xevi89

East coast all of the time.

Eric @ WA

Haha..OK yep you win with that one

__________________
Eric @ Wicked Adrenaline, Inc
Wicked Adrenaline, Inc
http://www.wickedadrenaline.com

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/wickedstreetteam

...DEFINING THE ADRENALINE LIFESTYLE

Carbine

I never boarded in my life until about 2 months ago. After two days I had it down. My friend tried pushing me into riding fast but I just took it easy until I could turn and stop. After 4 times I can go down anything. One thing that I would have wished I had was some tail bone protection.

__________________
"When In Doubt, Throttle It out."

snwbunnie85

man... you all need to come to tahoe.. fresh pow all the time! it just snowed at least 8 feet in the past 5 days.. 4 feet just last night and that was at lake level> imagine what it was like on the mountains.. the hills here are great to learn on.. deff kirkwood.. great pow.. barely any body goes there cuz its 45 mins away from tahoe so you can learn all you want without worry if someone is gonna crash into you ... thats were im headed this friday.. cant wait!.. it will be my second time in 5 yrs and im already gettin the hang of things and gettin back to my old ways.

Eric @ WA

Yeah I heard about the latest Pow you all got. A few of us will be going there (Tahoe) in a few weeks to board with some of our sponsored riders. We're looking forward to it!

__________________
Eric @ Wicked Adrenaline, Inc
Wicked Adrenaline, Inc
http://www.wickedadrenaline.com

MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/wickedstreetteam

...DEFINING THE ADRENALINE LIFESTYLE