Spring, time to learn snowboarding
Snowboarding is best learned in warm weather on soft snow
Springtime is prime time for learnig snowboarding thanks to warmer days, softer snow, and easier snowboarding conditions.
The ski and snowboarding season's waning.
Longer days, warmer breezes, budding leaves and televised spring training baseball games—they all conspire to expel winter from center stage.
Is it time to stash the winter sports gear? To call it a season?
Not yet.
In fact, it’s time to start anew. Because springtime presents ideal conditions for learning to snowboard. Or for taking that final step to snowboarding mastery.
Why?
Warmth.
Warm weather keeps the body loose and softens the snow—two key advantages to learning. The falls that plagues most of us while learning to ride can be brutal. They’re like being blind-sided by an NFL linebacker while walking down the street minding your own business. They’re harsh; unexpected; punishing; and dispiriting.
But, when the muscles are relaxed, the body bends and better absorbs crashes. Better still, soft snow pillows the impact.
My two best snowboarding days bear witness to springtime’s advantage.
The first took place at SolVista, a small family-oriented ski area in Granby, Colorado. The other happened at Vermont's Stratton.
SolVista presented a picture perfect day—bright sun, cloudless sky, temperatures in the fifties. The board's edges bit into the snow like a happy puppy, and turning actually became easy. With reduced fear of catching an edge and being body-slammed onto concrete-hard snow pack, I learned to link turns and rode my first blue-rated trail.
Boards Rule in Soft Snow
A snowboard by nature handles deep, thick or heavy snow better than skis. The broad base floats more naturally on deep snow, and pushes heavy snow around better than skis’ more narrow, separate bottoms.
Those performance factors are enhanced by being strapped to a single board; a snowboard can’t catch an inside edge and cause you to do the splits.
Stratton welcomed me with a foot of March powder. Falling into it was more like flopping into bed than being dashed onto the pavement, and the board floated easily through the deep fluff. I rode challenging blues for the first time.
Must We Crash-and-Burn?
My friend, snowboard author and instructor, Chickie Rosenberg, says falling needn’t be part of learning. She may be correct.
But, riding's learning curve involves a sudden upswing; one minute you're struggling, the next your linking turns. And, between those moments?
Chances are your tumbling.
Why not tumble into cushioned conditions? Why not enhance your chances for that breakthrough with warmth that limbers your limbs? Why not let prime conditions assist in making that skills leap?
Recently, on a clear and unseasonably warm Sunday, my neighbor and I took his eight year-old son to Mt. Peter in Warwick, N.Y. A few weeks prior, the kid had come "this close" to really riding.
Now, in perfect spring conditions, and with the help of good instruction, he made the transition from being a kid flailing around on a board to being a snowboarder. Sure, on the first few runs that day, he fell numerous times. But, the snow forgave him and persistence prevailed. He was a rider by day’s end.
Spring is an excellent time to learn skiing, as well. But, for snowboarding, it’s superb. If you’re thinking about it, know someone who’s contemplating it, or want to bring someone into snowsliding, now’s the time.
