What are your riding goals? Is anything holding you back?
Hey guys,
I wanted to start this thread as we are half-way through the SoHe snow season. Now is the perfect time to look at your current skills and set some goals for the remainder of the season.
In this thread, I invite you to tell us what you’re working on, what difficulties you’re having, or ask any questions related to progression/technique. I’m certain we can help you progress further. If you’ve progressed or learnt something new, let us know. Share the stoke and maybe ask for suggestions on what to learn next.
I hope you’re all having a great season thus far! ?
Frontside board slides!! These things have eluded me for years, But i think i finally have the solution and courage to get this trick down!
I’ve been petrified of catching my heel edge and doing some serious damage, however, i think i’ve built up enough confidence in myself and my riding to nail it. Also the wake boarding i’ve been doing also plays in with my confidence
Im headed down to the snow for my first and only trip of the season on the 20th of Aug,
Ill be sure to get some shots!
Not much of an addition but Dyldo convinced me the other day to try a boardslide on a dancefloor box, surprisingly I managed it, basically just did a shifty and then straightened back out as I rode off. I’ve also been doing these cab 5 butter things off small rollers for a while, on Sunday I whipped one off the side of a rail ramp in leichardt and spun the whole 5 in the air. First real 5 I’ve ever done, landing was a little ugly resisting revert and the added fun of my jacket hood flipping onto my head mid spin didn’t help either ha ha!
Hey @saltyseadog,
That’s the common fear which also leads to the most common mistake with boardslides. It’s the fear of catching the leading edge that causes us to put weight on the trailing edge (toe edge in your case) and slip out. As soon as you get your weight on trailing edge you’re going to slip out! Trust me, you do not want to do this during a frontside boardslide!
The most important concept when learning boardslides is getting your mass in the direction you’re travelling. The board needs to be FLAT and you need to have your mass centred over the board, even exaggerated at the start to have a bit of extra mass in the direction of travel. This is what’s going to keep your board flat and locked in on that rail. Momentum is always moving towards the end of the rail/box; don’t fight this… make sure your body is working with momentum. You are WAY more likely to slip out on your trailing edge than catching your leading edge. Keep that in mind!
For a frontside boardslide, look over your shoulder and towards the end of the rail. Feel a bit of weight in your heels. Bend your knees and ride it out! 
Great stuff, @NBG! 
When you say “cab 5 butter things” off rollers, are you getting airborne at all? If not, try popping off the (switch) nose and letting it put you in the air. Try doing 180s first, then 360s… Eventually, you can even pop cab 5s off rollers… so much fun!
Worst description ever on my part. Basically ride into a roller or hump switch doing a heelside turn, load up the nose and nollie as the nose hits the top of the hump , board travels around 90 degrees while nose still connected to snow, then airborne travels through about 360 and land softly onto heels and slide the last 90 around to complete the “540”.
The one I did on the weekend was more of your standard 540 but still loading up the nose rather than popping with weight even off both feet.
Oh, nice work then!
It sounds like all you need to do is get the last 90° around and stomp it clean! Go a bit faster, pop a bit harder! 
Hey @saltyseadog,
That’s the common fear which also leads to the most common mistake with boardslides. It’s the fear of catching the leading edge that causes us to put weight on the trailing edge (toe edge in your case) and slip out. As soon as you get your weight on trailing edge you’re going to slip out! Trust me, you do not want to do this during a frontside boardslide!
The most important concept when learning boardslides is getting your mass in the direction you’re travelling. The board needs to be FLAT and you need to have your mass centred over the board, even exaggerated at the start to have a bit of extra mass in the direction of travel. This is what’s going to keep your board flat and locked in on that rail. Momentum is always moving towards the end of the rail/box; don’t fight this… make sure your body is working with momentum. You are WAY more likely to slip out on your trailing edge than catching your leading edge. Keep that in mind!
For a frontside boardslide, look over your shoulder and towards the end of the rail. Feel a bit of weight in your heels. Bend your knees and ride it out!
Thanks for the sick hints and tips @rider26, ill be sure to give this a good crack on a big ol disco box when i head down next week and then step it up from there.
Frothing!!
Just had the best day on snow at Perisher in a long time. I’ll start by saying i am not a great snowboarder, only done about 120 days on snow but the people i ride with really push me. I’ve been trying to get reverse carves and then reverse cab 180 out at speed for the whole season and today i really dialled them, was a great feeling straight lining and then being confident at high speed to do them. I also had my first time in a halfpipe in two years, last time it wasn’t olympic sized and i hardly rode up the wall. Today I got out of the pipe and got a nice grab on my first run. It was just one of those days where everything felt good.
My goal this season was reverse carves and frontside 3’s. I’m getting frontside 3’s off side hits and also popping off rollers but not off booters yet, so that next weekends goal. I haven’t committed to one off a booter so am planning just off the 15-20 footer, i’m actually a little nervous to commit if i’m honest. When we build say 10foot kickers in the side country purpose built for them i am fine, it’s just getting my head around doing it straight off a jump, any tips?
From a backcountry sense, I have a chute lined up at Watsons Crags and want to ride it well, see how i go, needs to be good conditions. Two weeks ago was great for steep lines and getting my confidence to ride them fast back. Can’t wait to get back out there in the spring knowing i can trust the new board to really hold the edge at speed.
Hey @Jake,
I’m stoked to hear how you’ve progressed. That’s what snowboarding is all about!
This is my advice regarding the FS 360 off the booter (and tricks in general)...
Break everything down into their simplest parts, and get each and every piece dialled and comfortable.
I would straight air that booter at least several times, so you know exactly how much speed you need to carry, how much airtime you will have, and how much (upward) force is being exerted. You want to be able to float it effortlessly and stomp it on auto-pilot. Make sure you can do the same with a grab.
Next, I would also suggest that you have the broken down parts of the actual trick on and have them on lock. For a frontside 360, we’re looking at a frontside 180 and a switch backside 180 put together. Honestly speaking, how comfortable are you with each of these tricks? Practice them everywhere… rollers, side hits, even just out of regular carves. Get both of these pieces of the trick comfortable. Only then should you try piece them together. The frontside 180 is your takeoff, and the switch backside 180 is your landing. Get the feel for both of these parts!
Only then, when you’re super comfortable with the actual booter, and you’ve got all the parts of the trick broken down, will you be able to step of to the booter and put all the pieces together with confidence. It’s only then that it all makes sense and you can truly visualise how you will perform the trick. I am guessing you’re a bit nervous to commit because you can’t fully visually how it’s all going to come together? Always break it down and become confident with each and every part, then put it back together.
Yo @rider26! These break downs are great! I’ve always thought of just going all in for learning new tricks (i guess this is where injuries occur)
Breaking down the trick(s) as you;ve suggested is a great idea! Ill keep these components in mind when trying new stuff!
Ok so i think i may have to do the right back to basics thing. F3 off heels i always tend to wash out the landing and revert or take a seat. Look like I’ll be doing a lot of switch back 1’s and front 1’s this weekend.
Will convince the missus i need to spend the entire day in the park till i get this right.
Hey Jez would u say its a good idea to do ur ones first as u step up to larger jumps as well? By that i mean i go and get the switch back 1 perfect on 10-15 ft table top then start spinning the 3 and perfecting that on the same jump, if i then move to a 30ft would i be best served getting the switch back 1 dialled before moving to the 3 or just go the 3?
Hey @NBG,
With the FS 360 landing, and actually, any landing where you’re landing “blind” (i.e. the last 180 is backside), the absolute key to stomping the landing and not reverting is finding the landing on your TOESIDE edge. You don’t need to be super heavy on your edge, but your toes should land first and you should definitely have pressure on your toes. This will allow you to ride out cleanly, fast, and without revert. This is especially important as you’re getting comfortable with the trick. Also, it is better to slightly under-rotate a few degrees than to over-rotate. Still, make sure you land on that toeside edge! I think you’ll be surprised what a huge difference this makes.
The second part of your post is interesting and I was thinking about it when I replied previously. I purposely didn’t mention doing it this way. The reason being is you may very well find that a FS 360 is easier off a jump of that size (say 30ft or bigger) compared to a Switch BS 180—which I personally consider quite a difficult/technical trick on a jump of this size. Also, a FS 180 off a large booter is no easy task; you’re landing switch for one thing. So in this case, it really depends on the individual and where your switch skills are. For both “parts” of the FS 360, you are either taking off or landing switch. Personally, I find a FS 360 easier in this situation; you’re taking off and landing in your dominant stance. If you can build up to the point where you can do FS 180s and Switch BS 180s off all booters, then that’s ideal, and doing the FS 360 would be a breeze! At the end of the day, it comes down to having enough skills (“parts” of the trick), and enough experience on the jumps you’re hitting, to be able to fully visualise the completion of the trick on said jump; this is where the confidence and commitment will come from. Can you skip a step (i.e. Switch BS 180 on a 30ft jump)? Sure, if you can visualise past it. The key is building enough of the components to allow you to step up with the skillset and confidence (through visualisation). Does that make sense? Let me know your thoughts on this.
I think more than anything its going to be a case of practice the switch back 1 and land on the toes and evenly. I think i also have a tendency to land a little tail heavy and over rotate a little off the heels. A normal back one isn’t an issue as i land on the toes and its fine but switch i dont seem to be have the same technique which is annoying.
A F3 off the toes ends up being the go to when i want to spin front 3 as i seem to have more control with the ability to land on the toe edge. Something about taking off heel edge doesnt click and i think the only way is to hit everything switch back one until i really get the toe side edge landing down.
Eveey now and again spinning heel works great but i havent quite worked out the exact mechanics of what i did when i do it right.
Sometimes i overthink things, I’ll be spinning back 3 for a few laps and then feel like im over rotating and then next hit I’ll spin 270 and just literally stop spinning with inevitable results and wonder wtf just happened.
I think i will take a step back and see how i go with the f1 and sb1. I’ll have a good crack at this weekend conditions permitting and aee where i end up. I hear whatbur saying about visualizing, its something i always do but sometimes doesnt translate to well!
I think more than anything its going to be a case of practice the switch back 1 and land on the toes and evenly. I think i will take a step back and see how i go with the f1 and sb1.
@NBG, this is key for you. It sounds like everything else is there, but you want to make that final 180 automatic. Keep practising it until you really get a feel for it.
Also, with the takeoff, consciously try to take off in more of a carve rather than a slide. You may need to alter your approach slightly; you ideally want to leave on a clean edge and as straight (in direction) as possible, so consider where you make your setup turns. Have a go on the weekend and let us know if you make any progress.
After I posted about frontside boardslides and got an indepth reply from @rider26 I took the liberty to try this trick today for the 1st time…..
I’ve been wanting to land this thing for a long time! I approached the box, fully committed and putting that bit of extra weight on my heels while keeping a flat base and much to my surprise, BAM! Got it first go!! Sooooooooo stoked!!! No style yet, but the sliding backwards bit, locked. I’m gonna practise it and get some steeze thrown in there! Massive props to Jeremy! Those words were a massive help!
YEEEWWW!!!!!