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Thread: Snowboarding

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    Guest Asht_200's Avatar
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    Snowboarding

    I know a few people here snowboard so putting this question out.

    I have never been skiing / snowboarding so a complete novice. My new found lady again goes skiing and snowboarding, so I should learn.....

    I used to surf so have no problems standing up on a board and am going Wake Boarding next week for the first time.

    My question is. I'm lookimg at having Snow Boarding lessons at Xscape in Milton Keynes. Indoor Snow slope. Michelle has thought about going in January. Can I learn that quickly?

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    Depends how much work you will put into it. I started snowboarding last December in MK through their lessons and after I've done lvl 4 I started on my own on the big slope. I was hammering at least 2 hours every weekend for the next 2 months and now I'm so confident that decided to go to Canada for snowboarding hence the reason why I was there so often


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    Member WTFIA's Avatar
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    I learned in south Germany quite some years ago, went in with no experience on any board, spent the first morning on a baby slope constantly falling on my arse or face, come the afternoon was on red slopes thrown straight in the deep end. It sucked for the first 2 days then come day 3 mid morning it just clicked and I was effortlessly riding all slopes and way off piste too. The group I was with were all experienced so I had to learn quick to stop them getting bored, but as soon as it clicks it's like riding a bike. Go away for at least 2 weeks every year now nailing parks and renting helicopters to go off piste, my advice is to go in blind and wear a helmet it's going to hurt for a few hours, indoor slopes are boring after 5 mins as they are so small. If you can get there every evening for a week do it by the end of the week you'll be more than competent to hit any real snow resorts, seriously as soon as it clicks you will be comfortable at 50+mph just don't catch an edge at that speed or you may wake up in a crankhouse with a broken helmet, just be aware you will not get it in a day and you will get mega frustrated, but mainly just enjoy it.

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    In a word, yes! I went on holiday to the Alps having never been on a snowboard or on snow on skis previously in my life. I had a great instructor and on the second day I was quite happily doing red runs.

    Before I went I could surf and skateboard though. Best suggestion is just to get out there and try it - you'll soon find out whether you enjoy it or not...

    As a slight aside, that was 13 years ago my instructor and I now have a mortgage and two kids!

    Edit: as above, WEAR A HELMET!!!! You might want to invest in some impact shorts too. A broken coccyx hurts and means you can't sit properly for a while...
    Last edited by Teggers; 12-08-2017 at 17:00.

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    Yes. You'll easily pick it up before January.

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    I did 2 lessons at MK then went to the Alps, you learn more in an hour on an actual mountain than a day at MK. Lessons are good at picking up the basics though, just try and learn to fall without getting too hurt

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    I learnt the hard way with no offical lessons and a mate giving me a few pointers instead. After a week I could ride just about ok but was really bruised up from many crashes, catching an edge is a bitch!

    They say skiing is easier to learn but if you have riden other boards I reckon snowboarding is for you. A few sessions at MK will help massively but still not prepare you for getting off a chair lift which for noob snowboarders is always a challenge

    Last edited by sx rider; 15-08-2017 at 09:57.

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    I still recommend lessons in MK. Two reasons-for one they will explain to you in most easy way how to catch the edge which is something that you can't ride and secondly slope in MK is quite step. People say very often that when they went to real mountains the ride was easier


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    ****ing chairlifts, they are the hardest thing about being on a board! As me how I know...

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    Quote Originally Posted by Slamz View Post
    ****ing chairlifts, they are the hardest thing about being on a board! As me how I know...
    Classic


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    Ahahaha classic snowboarder fail pic!
    Chairlifts tho... really? It's the button lifts or T bars that are shit when you're a beginner. On a chairlift you're literally sitting on a chair for 99% of the journey up the mountain. lol
    I've been a skier since I was 5. Snowboarded on and off over the years (I'm now 32). I've helped loads of my mates to ski and snowboard. As others have said get a helmet and maybe some wrist guards and butt pad (genuinely). Catch an edge at mac10 and you'll be K.O!
    One thing I would say is that the easiest place to learn is in the mountains with real snow. Indoor places are good but they're actually harder to ski/board on. The snow is far more icey and buttery than the real deal so should be a nice feeling when you finely get to the mountains and test your jib skills. Oh, and don't be a gaper.

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    Can confirm... button lifts are a full on **** as a new starter.

    Impact shorts a must. First time I went I didn't have any, I was walking like J Wayne by the end of the week from landing on my ass that many times.

    I found as soon as I nailed my first transition onto my toe edge at speed down a proper slope everything clicked and it was dead easy after that. The first however many times getting it right hurt a lot.

    So long as you come to terms with the fact that you will fall over a fair amount as a snowboarder then it's all good. The consequences of binning it on a snowboard at pace are somewhat more pleasant than with skis as well.
    Last edited by zeppelin101; 14-08-2017 at 05:58.

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    i did a 1 day crash course at swadlingcote dry ski slope and could ride the main slope with relative confidence by the end of the day. my legs killed for about a week afterwards. padded shorts sounds like a great idea. the button lift is also pretty intimidating.

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    In my defence, that old chairlift was a bastard, and the exit slope was just ice as it was lower down the mountain, so was slippery as ****

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    Guest immy21's Avatar
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    ^^ At least your living up to your name


    Get used to the basics which is essentially turning at Milton Keynes.
    That way you can spend more time having fun on the mountain as opposed busting yourself up.

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    I'm a snowboarder too, have been for many years. If I can make a single suggestion: learn at Hemel if your going to learn in a dome and are near to MK. 2 simple reasons... snow is much better quality and its a hell of a lot cheaper to learn at hemel. I live 10 mins from MK but will happily drive to hemel for the better snow on the occasion I go for a freestyle event

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    Quote Originally Posted by ireloaded View Post
    I'm a snowboarder too, have been for many years. If I can make a single suggestion: learn at Hemel if your going to learn in a dome and are near to MK. 2 simple reasons... snow is much better quality and its a hell of a lot cheaper to learn at hemel. I live 10 mins from MK but will happily drive to hemel for the better snow on the occasion I go for a freestyle event
    Totally opposite over here. I prefer drive to MK which I far far away from central London, but being on two slopes many times I have notice that snow is shit after Friday night in both places. Go Sunday morning to MK and it's just fantastic but all depends on preference-one way or another get some lessons of the basics wherever it would be, MK or HH


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    Quote Originally Posted by dominicus View Post
    Totally opposite over here. I prefer drive to MK which I far far away from central London, but being on two slopes many times I have notice that snow is shit after Friday night in both places. Go Sunday morning to MK and it's just fantastic but all depends on preference-one way or another get some lessons of the basics wherever it would be, MK or HH


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    MK redo the snow over a saturday night, hence better sunday. They keep having issues with the chillers though so the s ow becomes sticky, hence i go to hemel

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    Quote Originally Posted by shikari chaos View Post
    Chairlifts tho... really? It's the button lifts or T bars that are shit when you're a beginner. On a chairlift you're literally sitting on a chair for 99% of the journey up the mountain.
    Ok of course getting on them and sitting there is fine but getting off and riding away clean can be hard, as per the video above

  20. #20
    Member WTFIA's Avatar
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    The art to chair lifts is just practicing full slopes with only one foot in the bindings, just get a stomp pad and go for it doesn't take long until again it just clicks, button lifts are nice as you can go up with both feet in the bindings if you want and just keep an adge or rotate yourself around mid lift and be a nice guy smoothing out all the ruts for those behind you. T bars on the other hand can bring serious pain, went to a place called Balderschwang a few years back where they have a T bar that is 1600m long and fooking steep nearly didn't make it to the top due to lack of blood in my front leg made worse by some people falling off and the operators stopping you mid lift and then restarting you, thankfully once you're up there you can avoid that initial lift and use all the other ones not needing to go all the way back down slope until the end of the day.
    As most have said Helmet, padded shorts and knowing that no matter how hard the first day is it just gets easier and easier the more you do it. Not sure why but before I go away I always tend to spend a couple of hours in either MK Hemel or Manchester a week before I go just to wake up certain muscles that just aren't used for anything else, last thing you want is to be cramping up mid run, I still tell myself these places are a waste of money spend more time on the lifts than the slope as they are so small yet still go there a few days before a big trip. Go later in the nights as they tend to open up the ticket gate so if your pass has expired you can still fit another hour or two in for free

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