What the **** am I doing on this Plank
I don't know much about skiing, I tried it and hated it.
Snowboarding has 5 rules
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Tilt: putting the board on edge, be it the toeside or heelside edge, to engage the edge in the snow
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Twist: twisting the board to engage one front of an edge in the snow while keeping the back of that edge unengaged
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Pivot: pivoting the board under your body. You can make a bowtie-shape by pivoting over the centre of the board, or use the next “rule” to change the pivot point
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Pressure Distribution or Flex: changing where your center of mass is over the board, or using your legs to actually distort the shape of the board
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Movement Patterns: EVERYTHING you want to do on or with your snowboard is done by combining the previous 4 rules (or Board Performances) in what is known as a “movement pattern.” Think of it as a sequence of events.
Sounds hard? It is.
Go and take a lesson, don't try and figure it out yourself.
You will need to practice and decide what works for you, there is no correct way to do things, only a wrong way.
What about Equipment?
Boots
DO NOT BUY CHEAP BOOTS. Seriously they are the most important part of your kit, do not skimp on them. You will be wearing them for a long time and they will hurt, try and get the most comfortable ones you can.
Try and buy Boots and bindings from the same manufacturer they will fit together better.
Some people advocate cramming your foot into a smaller boot so you can control your board better. Its up to you, comfort vs control is your choice.
Bindings
There are a lot of bindings. Make sure they fit together with your boots. Burton for example builds stuff into their toe straps and backs which matches up to their boots.
Either buy Strap bindings...they take longer to get in and out of and you have to sit in the cold snow whilst doing it, but you get more control.
Or buy Flows, easy to get in and out of, but aren't supposed to be as good for control.
(I own Flows because I like to board not sit on my arse getting cold)
Do not buy step-ins. They look like a good idea but aren't you will regret the purchase.
Boards
Forget all the stuff about height determining your board. The only thing that matters is where you will ride.
Types
Do you ride on Piste, do you like corduroy, are you a beginner. If so you want a freeride board. They are a stiffer and bigger (chuckle) than most other boards, and are designed to be ridden in one direction, the tail is shorter and narrower
This is the default do everything, good at nothing board which 50% of all boarders own.
Do you want to pop jumps and ride the board park?, then you need a freestyle board. It's wider, more stable, shorter and more forgiving to ride and is also a good choice for a beginner. These boards are bi-directional, meaning you stand in the middle and can go either way.
They will be the slowest boards on the piste and have a limited edge grip, you won't be able to turn as sharply or cruise as fast as others.
Are you the kind of guy who wants to explore the terrain off-piste and wallow around upto your armpits in fresh powder. You probably want an alpine board. They almost look like a big ski, and are thin long and narrow. They are designed to give a lot of grip and for going downhill fast. You will not be pulling any wicked knuckle dragger type tricks on one of these.
Do not buy one if you are a beginner, they are murder to control.
In short, if you are a beginner probably get a freeride board, it makes turning easier, if you are a more advanced switch to a twin board (bi-directional) and take it to the next level. If you want to spend your time riding off the back of a mountain get an alpine.
Camber
Most boards have a positive camber, that means the middle of the board won't touch the snow unless your fat arse is standing on it. The idea being that during turning you put weight on the centre and it touches the snow.
Negative or reverse camber boards are the exact opposite. They are designed to make control of your board in the parks a lot easier and less tiring.
I've never ridden one, but they get a lot of press and people love them.
Bevel
The angle between your edge and the base of the board. Most people ride a 0° bevel, i.e. 90°.
You can get boards with 1°, 2° and 3° bevels, these are mainly for board park freaks who want to jump on rails without getting hung up.
Once you know what type of board you want, just pick one that looks nice, you will have to look at it all day so pick one you like.
(Try not to pick a retarded design it just encourages board manufactures to keep putting skulls, ghosts and all other kinds of crazy s*** 3 year old designs on their boards.)
Burton make stiffer boards than most and are a good choice, Solomon are also good standard boards.
Some manufactures make Eco-friendly boards if you want to go that way, in the end it doesn't really matter, pick one you like.
How do I know what to buy
Demo the equipment before you buy. Most shops will let you do this and it is really the only way to tell.
If you are a women buy stuff made for women, most manufactures have stuff specific for the flowery sex. It will ride better for you and you will have more fun.
Weight and height
Go here and put in your details
http://www.snowboardlengthcalculator.com/
It will give you an idea of what length board you need.
Vocabulary
(Taken from another website.)
You will hear this stuff out on the mountain, probably on the first lesson.
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Tips/Kicks: The upturned ends at either end of the board. They can be in a variety of shapes depending on who made your board & what model it is. The one at the front is called the
Nose and the one at the back is called the
Tail.
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Leash: The retention strap that connects your board to one of your boots (usually). The leash typically is affixed to the bindings, and clips onto your shoelace or a keyring threaded onto the shoe lace.
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Edge(s): The metal piece that runs all the way around the outside of your snowboard. This is the guy who makes all the magic happen.
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Toeside: Conveniently enough, this is the portion of the snowboard closest to your toes. It's used to refer to the toeside edge, toeside turns, and is found in descriptions of movement patterns for freestyle manuvers.
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Heelside: Likewise, this is the portion of the snowboard closest to your heels, and is also used to refer to the heelside edge, heelside turns, and is also found in descriptions of movement patterns.
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Frontside (FS) Rotation: For a regular rider, this is a counter-clockwise rotation. For a goofy rider, this is a clockwise rotation.
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Backside (BS) Rotation: For a regular rider, this is a clockwise rotation. For a goofy rider, this is a counter-clockwise rotation
Diagram showing almost every grab
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FS rail trick: Any rail trick where the feature is in front of the rider as they approach it.
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BS rail trick: Any rail trick where the feature is behind the rider as they approach it.
Frontside & Backside
DO NOT in any way refer to the orientation of the rider's upper body to the feature, nor the direction they are "facing". The videos linked vary wildly in quality & length, but should give you a basic idea of what the trick looks like.
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50-50: Both tips are parallel to the rail/box.
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Nose Press: Same idea as the 50-50, but only the front half of the board is on the feature. The rider "presses" the nose into the feature such that the back half of the board isn't touching the feature.
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Tail Press: Same idea as the 50-50, but only the back half of the board is on the feature. The rider "presses" the tail into the feature such that the front half of the board isn't touching the feature.
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Boardslide: Front foot goes over the rail/box.
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Lipslide: Rear foot goes over the rail/box.
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Noseslide: Like a board/lip slide, except only the nose of the board is on the feature. The general rule is binding-to-tip contact only; if the feature is in between your bindings you're boardsliding it.
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Tailslide: Like a board/lip slide, except only the tail of the board is on the feature. The general rule is binding-to-tip contact only; if the feature is in between your bindings you're lipsliding it.