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Are you sure ANYONE can learn?

26K views 118 replies 61 participants last post by  Consonantal 
#1 ·
I went up the resort for the 4th time today. I did 3 lessons, then today got my season pass...because it was a special deal and I only had to pay $65.

I have had high hopes. I keep reading about people who took one lesson or no lessons and were carving down the mountain by day 2. This is not me.

I seem to be an uncoordinated clutz. I cant even make it down the kiddie bunny hill. I get up there, I get going down.....and then nothing wants to work. I catch an edge, or I lose my balance, or I start spinning around as I am heading down the hill like a freakish helicopter.

Today I had my first really scary fall. I tweaked my ankle, slammed my head into the ground, and just generally messed up my back. After 4 weeks I am covered in bruises. There is a 12 inch section of each leg that is just black and blue (centered around the knee). I have bruises on my behind, on my arms. I am a mess.

So the questions are.....did you ever think of giving up? Did any of you have this hard of a time learning and then end up actually progressing beyond the point of a mentally disabled circus animal? Are you sure anyone can learn...or should some of us just realize we are hopeless and then cry over the obscene amount of money they have already spent on this?

Ok...so maybe I am just cranky and want to bitch. But I am actually sort of serious with the questions.
 
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#98 ·
Thanks so much for the continued replies and suggestions.

When we went up last weekend a few things did click for me. I did not helicopter spin once. Everytime I started to feel the board slip like it was going to happen I took a second to force myself to take the weight off my back foot and on to the front, stopped the problem immediatly. I also didn't catch any edges. I did still fall....a lot.

I was very thankfull that I was wise enough to get a helmet. It was the first day I used it. One fall was pretty nasty. Helmet took a beating. Even with the helmet on I was dizzy for a moment and had a headache most of the day. Seriously.....if any new people are reading this, invest in a helmet.

At the end of the day I was tired and my body really hurt. I was not really feeling it. But I stupidly decided that I was going to make one more attempt. Fell and almost busted my arm. I realized half way down that it was a stupid idea. Now I know that if I am just not feeling it or my body is telling me to stop that it is ok to just call it a day...better that then hurting myself.

I am working on speed control. That is where my concern is at the moment. I still feel like I dont have my speed under control, and that I can not stop when I want to.

Not sure if we will be heading up to the resort this weekend or not. We are headed to Tahoe next weekend, will be spending at some time at Sierra (our season passes here get us 10 free days at Sierra) My husband and doctor both think taking a break this weekend would be a good idea. But I am eager to get back up there and keep working on it. We will see.
 
#100 ·
... I stupidly decided that I was going to make one more attempt. Fell and almost busted my arm. I realized half way down that it was a stupid idea.
Ahhh yes,.. The Infamous "One Last Run!!!". In the future, You'll want to quit as soon as that thought enters your head. You haven't been around here long enough probably to have read this, but that is big time Hoo Doo superstition!! ;)

Both of my first two rides ended with that phrase and a painful injury immediately followed!!!! :D I avoid thinking or saying that like the plague now!!! I even bitched out a liftie for hexing me with that for last chair once! :laugh::RantExplode:

Glad you got rid of the spins, hang in there, the rest should come soon! :)
 
#101 ·
One thing that really helped me starting out was not panicking...often you have more time than you think to make little adjustments. Sounds like you started to feel that when you were able to consciously shift your weight to your front foot to stop the spinning.
You will get there. You are so determined to get it that as long as you hold on to that determination, you most certainly will get it.
 
#102 ·
I was getting frustrated until I realized that what I was doing to learn was wrong...I kept trying to go down a bunny hill, turn and stop. This is what was recommended by the instructor I took a lesson with. I am a total newbie but I am a seasoned educator and I know how to tell when someone (including myself) is not learning and just wasting time.

This is my recommendation...go to a beginner slope (one step above bunny hill). Strap your front foot in. Leave your back binding open so you can put your foot in and quickly take it out when needed. Position your board parallel to the slope. Step into the back binding and keep going down the hill sideway, making sure your weight is balanced between both legs. This I think is called a hillside slide. Put more pressure on the edge to slow down, less to speed up but stay parallel to the hill. If you get nervous or tired and want to rest, take your foot out of the back binding (quickly!) and put it on the ground as an anchor. Since you don't have your foot strapped, you will be able to stop the process without falling. You don't want to practice falling but rather controlling the board. Once you are comfortable going sideways experiment with gently steering the board to each side. You do this by twisting either end of the board downhill. (I've hear talk about shifting weight from foot to foot but this is too abstract you use as a guideline)

This could be totally wrong but it worked for me last night when I finally had a eureka moment: it is the motion of pressing on the gas pedal on the side you want to go down while doing the opposite movement with the other foot. These movements are very subtle but will allow you to get the feel for the mechanics of what makes the board go and where. At this point the objective will be to keep going between letting the board go down a little and bring it right back to the parallel slide, traveling from side to side. I think that the key to be successful is to keep doing this exercise over an over again until one no longer needs to stop. The next step would be to strap in and work on the toe side slide doing the same mechanics...this is where I am now after 6 sessions full of frustration, falling on my behind and not getting any better. I think it is crazy to just keep going down the hill crossing fingers and hoping to learn without learning the basic mechanics and practicing how to control the board, which is what I was doing up until the last night.

I am slowly falling in love with snowboarding and looking forward to carving down the mountain but I really enjoy the sensation of going down the mountain even if I doing it very slowly right now. I am having a time of my life during the time of the year when I usually just keep waiting for the snow to melt so I can go windsurfing and Stan Up Paddling.
 
#103 ·
I'm Baaaaaaack. lol

Thank you all so much for the advice. A few things have happened since I updated you, so I figured I would check in on this thread.

I went to Sierra at Tahoe for my anniversary in Feb. Attempted the bunny hill there, and things were no better. I just sucked it up. Then I punched a guy in the mouth in the parking lot. He bled a lot, and he deserved it. Of course I then had to listen to my husband lecture me the whole way back to the condo about how I should not punch drunk assholes in parking lots and how I could be banned from the resort. Honestly.....punching the guy was the most fun I had all day.

Then today my husband convinced me to head up to the hill with him. It has been snowing this week and there was a foot of fresh powder he was wanting to go play in. So I went. There was a school trip and they had taken over the bunny hill. So we decided to just head up to my first ever actual run. I fell....a lot at first. Then suddenly something just clicked! I actually felt in control, I stopped myself at one point without falling down, I was linking turns. I don't know if it was just easier in fresh snow, or if I just needed to get the hell off the bunny hill...but whatever it was I am thankful. I finally felt like I might actually be able to do this.

Of course during the course of this wonderful day I had a nasty fall. My upper body stopped tumbling and the lower body and board did not. So my lower back feels like crap. But....we are going back on saturday. Hopefully today was the begining of great things and not just a fluke.
 
#105 ·
Things clicked for me too and I think switching from bunny hill to a longer green run was critical. I kept struggling and eventually I got into a situation when it was to either run into some trees or attempt to turn on the spot. I went for it and all of sudden experienced being in control of the board and not the opposite. I can't get enough of it now and feels great:yahoo:
 
#113 ·
How were you at any risk of being banned from the mountain then? :huh:
Down with modern culture, imho.
He grabbed my shoulders and shoved me, my husband felt that I did not need to punch him the way I did. He also felt that I let the arguement get out of hand and I could have just ignored the guy. He might have been right....but it was still fun to watch the dudes friends laugh and point at him as I walked away.
 
#114 ·
He grabbed my shoulders and shoved me, my husband felt that I did not need to punch him the way I did. He also felt that I let the arguement get out of hand and I could have just ignored the guy. He might have been right....but it was still fun to watch the dudes friends laugh and point at him as I walked away.
It's obvious that you had a lot of suppressed aggression because of the frustration that was building up from the failed attempts at riding with steeze. You then unleashed them on some unsuspecting victim who was just trying to point out that you had some toilet paper stuck to your boot.....or he was a dick that deserved that and more. Keep riding...
 
#106 ·
I'm a newbie and I think I'm at a similar point in my progress. I've gotten off the bunny slope and been down the green run at my local mountain a few times, but I'm still getting the hang of it with linking turns. I feel like I want to be in control all the time and have to go really slow in order to feel safe enough to even *try* to link the turns. I often bail and do a falling leaf which is getting lame.

I think it just takes some balls to allow oneself to step more on the front foot and lean forward... and especially that little delay when you're waiting for the board to point down (after a turn) so that you can then start turning the other way... during that time it seems to want to go fast as hell! Makes me not want to step on that front foot much anymore lol...
 
#107 ·
Congrats to all who have conqured the bunny hill. I spent waaaay tooooo much time on the bunny hill wanting control. The phase ur in now is just getting the body used to basic movements...but challenge your self ocassionally with doing a steeper black run...it will make you exaggerate your moves and will give you a different mental perspective...like after negotiating a black run, you will discover a green/blue run will suddendly look much easier. Then after you get your legs doing green and blue runs...start mobbing around with a crew that is better/faster and try to keep up with them...And try to keep from falling no matter what when mobbing around....you will suprise yourself at what you can do.
 
#108 ·
I ended up spending first 5 days on the bunny hill until I felt comfortable: I could link turns and traverse with easy. That was my first day of actually having a real fun time snowboarding. A feeling of control is awesome.

That said an easy green is so much better than the darn bunny hill. Grabbing and holding an edge on the slope is much easier and feels much safer.

I only wish I had bought a shorter board mine is too long for me. Le sigh.
 
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