Went snowboarding.. now addicted.
 

Last weekend I went snowboarding for the first time. Wow that shit is fun. I can't believe I've been missing out on this for 23 years.

Decided to buy some snowboarding gear since this will definitely be a 2-3 times a week thing.

Who else on here snowboards a lot? I know thesnowboarder obviously does since he posted that video. Anyone else? Where do you guys go to board, where have you gone? What gear do you use?

I'm in NY so there are a few pretty nice hills, nothing special. I just picked up last years model of the K2 Darkstar and Burton bindings/boots. My friend said it should be a good beginner setup, hope he is right.

Most important part of your snowboarding setup is your BOOTS. Trust me, if your boots dont fit you right or are uncomfortable, your going to be hatin' life. I rarely go now, most of my snowboarding buddies from high school moved out of state and i have since moved to scuba diving. It is fun once you start hitting the booters, or the first one on the pow in the morning. Buy a helmet, there's been a few times where if i didn't have one on i would have been in a life threatening situation. 100 dollars or so is a cheap insurance.

I used to snow board in Idaho couple years back a place called bogus basin! man that was soo fun, I miss it way too much. since then I moved on to surfing, wake boarding and long boarding (florida life lol)

I am definitely getting a helmet. That has saved my life too many times to count back in my skating days.

backcountry freeride > *

Actin like you ride, sheesh.


I ride, alot. Lake Tahoe, Ca mostly. I took a trip to Boulder this year and plan on going back. Have ridden in Calgary Canada, Utah and would like to get to Whistler as well.

If you want to get better, ride with people who are better than you, i find myself only trying new things and progressing when i am riding with people better than me.

Have fun.

I picked it up a few years ago and definitely wish I did earlier. The fall is not so bad when you're shorter.

+1000000000000000000000000000000000000 on the helmet. On a snowboard you are much more likely to have a "rotational" fall from catching the edge and if you hit ice or hard snow you're in a lot of trouble without a brain bucket.

Play around with stances. I finally switched to a duck 12/-6 stance and shifted the bindings about 1-2" towards the rear of the board and wow what a difference. 1000x better.

Otherwise have fun its addicting.

Helmets are for pussys. I've been snowboarding for 6 years now and it's awesome. We just took a trip to killington, VT with 13 friends for 3 days on new years. Snowboarding gets expensive, I don't know how your going to afford 3 times a week unless your still at your rents house. Go to VT alot of big mountains, killington has that new natural park that it's fucking awesome, you can gring a shed, trees, logs, pretty sick.

I'm a pussy then :D I'll be wearing helmet.

2-3 times a week would be at what I would imagine is a pretty crappy hill, I don't really know since I've only been to one place. So the price is pretty low.

Better stick to the crappy hill then cause VT lift tickets are running at $85

I doubt at this point I'd even get much more out of a better hill. So for now, shitty hills.

I don't snowboard, I ski. Been doing it for like 21 years now. (27 years old now). I freaking love it. We always go at least 3 times a year. This year has been pretty sucky thought and we havent had time to go yet. Usually end up going to Camelback or Big Boulder since it's not too bad of a drive there (under 2 hours). I have been to Gore Mountain twice though and that was awesome. Now I can't wait to go again.

Where are these located Artie?

How good is the snow?

What is the altitude?

I had plans to go to Taos this year but... it won't happen :mad:

I just got back from 12 days at vail/beaver/creek breckenridge and plan to go back for 12 more days in February. Epic pass FTW. If I can find my camera I'll take a pic of my board. I put my car part stickers on it :p

The most important piece of equipment is a helmet. I hit my head really fucking hard too many times before I got a helmet. Now, I can lie down carefree. Next is boots, bindings, then board. In that order.

Go to sierrasnowboard.com They have great sales and you can get very good gear for much cheaper than at physical shops.

FWIW my stance is 30f/27 rear on a burton custom. I don't do tricks except for little jumps and my favorite thing is bombing moguls, choppy powder, and powder.

Camelback and Big Boulder are in the Poconos in PA.

Gore Mountain is somewhere in NY. lol I was on a bus trip both times so I really dont know. It did take us like 5 hours to get to that area though. We stayed at a Polish ranch hotel near there.

Link for Camelback - Camelback - Camelback - Pocono Mountains Ski Area

Link for Jack Frost/Big Boulder (2 mountains, 1 Ticket) - Jack Frost Big Boulder | jack frost big boulder + where snow comes first

Link for Gore Mountain - Gore Mountain Ski Resort

The Pocono ones are OK. The Gore Mountain one is by far a lot better than the other 2. Much longer trails. The only downside for me for that one is the time involved in driving there so we stick to the more local ones.

Thanks Artie,

Did you see this special for this coming weekend at Gore: Special Deals - Packages & Lodging | Gore Mountain Ski Resort

I used to snowboard all the time, but now that I live in the South, it's nowhere near as much as I'd like. I used to go to VT all the time when I was in CT - Mt. Snow mostly, Killington, and Stratton. I was snowboarding at Powder Ridge in CT when I worked there. It's small, but they had a decent park and it was lit. I've also been to Colorado - Vail, Keystone, and Breckenridge. I'm hoping to go to UT next.

All I would say is when you are learning, find a place that has really wide trails so you can easily avoid stupid other people. While you're learing, also develop your switch riding so you don't get stuck only feeling comfortable in one direction. Once you get better, find bigger mountains with tighter and steeper trails or good terrain parks if that's your thing. Fewer idiots exit the green areas.

As far as equipment goes, Definitely get something very snug but comfortable (bring the socks you'll use when trying them on). Get the smallest boot that doesn't hurt, you'll have better control and use less effort. For boards, it depends on your style, but if you like going fast and carving hard, get a board that doesn't flex much torsionally. Torsional flex causes the board to wash out under high strain. Ass Mann said, try stances, too. I would start out with something like 5/-5 and perfect center or slightly back (depends on if the board is directional, most are slightly). Then the next day, try something a little different and see how it feels. Some binding will allow you to adjust your position toward an edge, which can also help if you don't get an edge very well (usually toe). I recommend bindings that at least have a wedge under the toe and adjustment for the calf.

For clothing, get yourself a jacket with a nice powder skirt that you can tie, too. Nothing sucks more than snow up your back. Removable liners are also quite nice. Pants are all pretty basic, just get something with decent water protection and good gloves.

+1 on helmet. I don't wear one, but I should.

Thanks TrickerZ, lots of good information. I am so excited to go this Friday.

Spend your time learning on blues, not greens. It's difficult to learn to carve on greens and while blues may look steep, you'll be forced to bend your knees and get a good edge. Your transitions will also work better.

Keep your weight on your lead foot at all times. You will crash or suck when you put your weight on your back foot. The more weight you have on the front, the more control you will have.

Turn your head, not your shoulders to see down the slope. If you turn your shoulders too much, you will get screwed up.

If possible, try to learn on a good board, bindings, boots. A good snowboarder can do well with any package but it's a lot easier for a noob snowboarder to learn when they don't have to be crippled by shite equipment.

Music always improves the snowbaording experience 100%. I use a metal ipod shuffle clipped on my helmet.

I didn't even think about music while boarding, definitely doing that.

I had issues when I first started with putting too much weight on my back foot. Once I shifted my weight forward I did much better. Obviously I had a lot of issues turning. But now it's pretty easy.