slyder

as you progress I'm sure that hubby will spend more time riding with you.

to the point of him teaching you, you are already doing the correct thing by taking lessons from an instructor. I constantly see boyfriends teaching girlfriends and the absolute fear in there eyes along with tears. Or the macho guy teaching his buddy to just crash, get up and crash and repeat. I swear half of them must be drunk off their ass's ahahahaha

It will come and you will enjoy the sport more than you currently are. Keep at it, ask questions of the instructors and forum members. Tons of knowledgeable people here as you already know.

__________________
Thanks
-Slyder

retsam

If you keep at it, I can say for sure that you will be able to make it down a black diamond. It looks worse than it actually is once you know how to link turns and control yourself. I used to fear the black diamonds until my friends forced me down one. I never thought I would make it either but now its nothing to me. Just keep at it, keep your knees bent and ride the board. Dont let the board ride you! . One day it will click and you will wonder what the hell you were doing this whole time! .

ig88

But she will eventually stop taking lessons one day. I am sure there will still be too much of a skill gap between you and her. What then? Ride together or separately?

MarshallV82

I'll ride a couple runs with her when she goes, I always try to get her to bring some friends from her work that she can ride with. Give me a little credit, damn! I mostly ride alone or with a couple buddies, she only goes every other weekend or so.

BigmountainVMD

I usually recommend reverse camber boards for absolute beginners looking to buy, and if you were renting, I would have put you on a board shorter than 150 (145 maybe) but shortly after making progress the 150 would be better.

Based on your description of twirling around, it seems you already have identified your general problem. You need to figure out how your body works and learn how your bodily motions translate to the snowboard and your motion down the hill.

When I am teaching, and I see someone twirling down the hill, it actually shows they have a good center of balance, but they just need to apply it correctly! To be honest, that is usually the point that I grab their hands for balance, have them lift their head and look where they want to go (staring at feet/board leads to falling!), and allow them to transfer weight and pressure to different feet/areas of the feet to see how the board reacts. Soon they begin to get the muscle memory required to slide down the hill heel side and toe side and from there, they can take on turning!

I totally get that once the board starts twirling, its really hard to get it stable again, but you gotta get those eyes off the board, focus on where you want to be (if its straight down the hill then focus 20 or 30 feet in front of you), and keep calm.

The main thing to remember, based on what you describe, is that if the left tip of your board starts pointing downhill, the closet foot (left) has to do something to control it. If the right tip starts a downhill trip, the right foot needs to do something to control that tip and keep it going across the hill. Ex: Sliding down on heels, if left tip starts pointing downhill, then you need to pull up on left toes (pressure on left heel) to get that end of the board pointing back across the hill. Same goes for right tip and right foot.

As long as your weight is centered, 50/50 each foot, then this will work. If you are leaning on one foot, taking weight off the other, then the pressure applied to the unweighted foot will not impact the boards movements since there is no weight to back up the pressure on that toe/heel. Ex. Sliding down on heels, left tip of board starts to point downhill, if you (out of instinct to save yourself) lean away from the downhill foot (left) and start leaning uphill (weight on right foot since left is pointing downhill), then you can't control the board with left foot due to no weight backing up your foot pressure!

All in all, just keep at it! Go out there with one goal, read about how to achieve it, and take baby steps instead of just "generally" trying to turn, or trying to carve. There is a lot going on to get there!

jennifer

Thank you so much for your response.

The only reason we went with a longer board was because of my weight. At my ideal weight I was told a 142-145 would be about right. We went with a board that was rated for my weight...even though according to my height I should be on a shorter board. By next season I should be at goal weight and will end up getting a smaller board. Maybe I will try renting a shorter board though and see how it feels.

I will definatly work on everything you talked about.

cocolulu

Jennifer,
It took me years to learn to snowboard, and I'm still not 100% sure I can say that I snowboard.

I used to go a few times a year, and each day I would come back so sore that it hurt to get out of my car.

I used to go just because I had friends who went, and I really liked being up in the mountains. It was hard on my body, but I wasn't hard on myself, and I had fun.

Then one day, something clicked. I made it down a green run without falling. I felt like, omg, I can do this. I was so hungry to get up to the mountain and practice. I kept on doing greens until I could take them aggressively.

Then I tried a blue run, and I was sloppy and terrified. I fell all the time again. I got really bruised. But I took more lessons, kept trying, and visited this website for tips and encouragement.

Really, it's physically one of the toughest things I've ever done.

But once you make it down a green, you'll feel amazing. Once you shred a blue run, you'll be zipping around all over the mountain, going up to the peaks, looking at the views. Be patient... it's a long, tough road. But it gets much easier later on once you're dialed in, and once you do, your problem will be an addiction to snow.

MccBeth

Ok so, I'm a lurker on this site, and have read through this whole thread... you mentioned that you go to China Peak, that's where I mainly go! I drive about 3.5 hours, and it's been almost 2 weeks (sad face).. but it makes me want to ask... when you say you do the bunny hills, is that all you have done?

Knowing how short those hills are, I would have to agree with people on here suggesting you move off of them. Getting off of the lifts, definitely a bit scary when you're learning. But, if you fall.. you fall. Just move out of the way, and it will click. If you feel comfortable slowing yourself down on your heels or toes.. definitely go to the top. Academy is much better for learning than the bunny hills. The top half. The bottom half is completely flat, and I still get stuck every time.

Getting off the lift at the very top, kind of steep and to the left. Make sure you lean forward, with your board straight. Again, if you fall.. you fall. Chair 6 (to midpoint) is a little easier to get off of. But my favorite learning area of the mountain, is the top of academy, but that's me.

Once you start to get more comfortable on academy... I would highly recommend going to the other side where lift 7 is. It's all blue runs, but they're really short. I can't remember the name of the one in particular that I like... the outermost one? I can look it up if you're ever interested in knowing, but it's the one that linked turns really clicked for me. The best part about that side, it's less crowded. The runs are short, lift is fast and easy to get off of, and you can tell that a lot of the people there are learning/practicing.

This was probably a really long response... but I know China Peak, and just want to actually be able to give pointers! If you have questions about runs, I can answer .

I try to go during the week, especially since now I always work weekends at one of my jobs... But hey, if you ever want to meet up with a beginner/intermediate rider, I love meeting new people

Consonantal

I think all the advice has been dished out but I just want to point out that you lost 120lbs within half a year?

That's inspirational. Good job!

ig88

Yes. You do deserve credits. You did great. Paying your girlfriend's lesson is a very generous endeavor.