Snowboarding
The most fun you can have in England with your clothes on. No offence to the Eureka Naturist Health Spa Resort & Massage Therapy Centre.Before Christmas I went to Sno!Zone in Castleford, about an hour south of Darlington, and took an 8 hour snowboarding lesson. Sno!zone is a chain of indoor snow slopes across Great Britain, which make their own snow. At first I didn't think I would ever get the hang of it, but the instructor gave me a few pointers of what I was doing wrong and it became a lot easier and really enjoyed it, despite not being able to move for the next few days.
The slope is part of a mall, which mostly sells skiing and snowboarding stuff, but does have a movie theatre and all that attached as well. I did some price shopping on equipment, and they were charging about £150 for a set of bindings, £150 for boots, £300 for a board, etc. So, when I was back in NM I picked up all of that and a helmet for less than the cost of a set of bindings in the UK, along with a bag to get it all back in.
Yesterday, I went back and hit the same slope again. I remembered the basics but had a hard time linking turns at first. There is was a big since of accomplishment when I managed to do it correctly. My goal is to get confident enough at it that I can head over to the Alps for a decent spring vacation. Wisconsin's spring break is March27-April 4, so I am hoping to squeeze something in then.
To anyone that snowboards, what angle do you have your bindings set at?
posted by Justin Short at 9:41 AM
3 Comments:
Hot. You should head out to the wild world of mountains at some point in the wintertime. It's loads of awesome out here.
I've got my boards dialed in at +20, +12, but it's a little too aggressive for me--and bear in mind that I really like freeride. In general, more forward angle will make you feel like you're falling over the front of your board, and will require you to be more forceful in turning.
I would probably start at +15, +5 for your first year. For you, the biggest deal will probably be keeping your toes and heels from dragging in the snow. More angle will help that, but will make turning harder.
How long of a board did you buy? I'm rocking a 157 right now.
1/05/2010 01:15:00 AM
I plan on hitting the mountains soon, but the indoor park is nice for getting confidence up first. I tend to panic if someone falls in front of me, and rather turning to avoid them, just fall myself so that I can stop and let them do their thing. Normally its not an issue but sometimes there are a load of people on the slope at the same time.
I think I started at +15 +3. I might move the front foot in and the back foot out a bit, just so I can turn a little easier. I got a 60" board to support my 180lb frame (working on that too) but even still I am trying to make sure my toes dont hang off too much.
Right now I don't have any setback either. Thoughts on that?
1/05/2010 07:47:00 AM
I imagine the indoor hill is pretty well groomed, so ride without any setback--neutral or even a bit forward is probably good.
Being forward on the board helps you turn a lot better. You'll want to be as forward as reasonable, and only move back if you're trying to get more spring in the tail of the board, of if you're riding really heavy powder.
I ride neutral and just move my weight to my back binding when goin through the deep stuff.
1/05/2010 11:54:00 PM
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