snowboardng

[Thunda]

Originally Posted by noodle

Yeah I remember first time I went snowboarding... That Heel side thing didn't take me that long to get used to... But my problem is that I can only seem to go in a straite line and I'm unable to switch to heel side to slow myself down etc... i end up having to throw myself to the ground to stop.

hahaha poor thing. Hope you will do better later!

[jasonbvr]

What up, riding in Japan is really good. Compared to the States, most places are a lot cheaper. Places in Hokkaido like Niseko and Hirafu are supposedly great for powder riding (I've yet to go), but the mountains in Hokkaido have a lower elevation than say Niigata, Nagano and some in Gunma. The same is true for the northern most parts of Honshu (the main island), lower elevation and also lower maximum slope angles. Of course you can still find some steeps off piste but the best steep groomers can be found in the Hakuba area.

Asking which is better, States or Japan, I would say the States as long as you are in CO, UT, OR, WA, etcetera. If we are talking about the ice coast, Japan wins big time. The best thing about riding in Japan is the cost of lift tickets. For 70 bucks you could do two days of riding at Naeba and Kagura whereas that would only get you one day at a comparable resort State-side.

If you are just doing a trip only for riding, I would go straight to Hokkaido. If you are wanting to see more than the white stuff, go to Niigata or Nagano since you can hit more places on the mainland for cheaper. If you are going to live in Japan, that is a tough decision. I've opted to stay in the Kanto area and ride Niigata.

[xxkyorejectxx]

untill i got my first board i couldnt do heel side but now i can it takes a little practice to change from heel to toe

[jasonbvr]

Originally Posted by noodle

Yeah I remember first time I went snowboarding... That Heel side thing didn't take me that long to get used to... But my problem is that I can only seem to go in a straite line and I'm unable to switch to heel side to slow myself down etc... i end up having to throw myself to the ground to stop.

The problem most beginners have is that no one bothers to explain that body weight makes up most of your control over the board. When you are turning, you need to turn your lead shoulder first before the board turns. Say you are making a heel turn, first you are going to come out of the turn by taking pressure off you heel edge. Then you initiate a toe side turn by first turning your shoulder in the direction of the turn. This will begin turning your board. Then you press your toe edge into the snow and the board's natural curve (sidecut) should do the rest for you.

The problem people usually have going from one side to the other is they press their edge before intiating the turn. This results in your edge digging into the snow (catching an edge) and you face (tail) planting.

Other common mistakes of beginners are things like leaning back too much on their tail. Say you start going down the hill and picking up speed. Your natural instinct is to lean back because you want to stop going forward. This un-centers your body weight. You want to keep your weight centered over your board as a beginner. Once you start riding the pow pow, it's a different story.

[xxkyorejectxx]

i cant wait till this weekend im going snowboarding again yay

[noodle]

jasonbvr, thanks for the advice... I'll have to write that down for next time I go snowboarding and ask for a teacher to teach me properly...

You see, I've only been snowboarding two times. First time I had lessons, but after one day, my wrist (which I thought healed) started hurting after landing on it so much and pushing from it. So I stopped and went off to visit the rest of Italy.

As for the second time, It was just half a day of snowboarding near my friends house. It was a passing through journey so I didn't stop for long.

But the little that I snowboarded, it was fun. even if I was on my ass a lot. lol...

[SavageJapan]

Well, I am spoiled, because I live high in the mountains of Colorado with a half dozen world class resorts minutes from my door.

However, there are definitely good resorts for snowboarding in Japan.
My advice is to avoid weekends and holidays at all costs, especially on the main island of Honshu.
I would expect and have heard that Hokkaido has less of a problem with crowds, but like anywhere in the world, weekdays are still likely to be better than weekends.

There are a lot of people in Japan if you haven't heard, and a whole lot of them like to ski and snowboard. Sliding down as one small speck in a giant moving human carpet is only amusing for about 30 seconds. Then it becomes a rather unpleasant ordeal.

The luxury of America is the sheer size and relatively small amounts of people packed into that size. Even on a weekend here in Colorado, with 20,000+ acres of lift serviced terrain at the resorts in my neighborhood, the tourists can't carpet the terrain.

In Japan, they can and do carpet the terrain often, especially at resorts that are close enough to Tokyo for weekend getaways.

Still, there is fun to be had snowboarding there. I plan to snowboard again in Japan, but I am looking forward to Hokkaido more than Honshu, and I will be planning on weekday excursions.

Dan Savage
Savage Snow Website