Snowboarder

SNOWBOARDER VOL. 33

ISSUE NO.1

e r a E r wE u T u f E h t THIS SPECIAL EDITION OF SNOWBOARDER SHEDS LIGHT ON THE FUTURE OF THE SPORT: WOMEN, INCLUSIVENESS AND ACCESSIBILITY.

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SNOWBOARDER EDITORIAL OFFICE 2052 CORTE DEL NOGAL, STE. 100 CARLSBAD, CA 92011

CONTENTS

CONTRIBUTORS: SARAH BROWN TERRY GRACE ETHAN HUBCHIK KATHY PHAM

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CHLOE KIM

BUYER'S GUIDE

Chloe Kim opens up about racist remarks online and speaking out now.

Hit the slopes in style with the latest gear including where to get it and reviews from real people.

P.14 ELEVATING VOICES An introspective op-ed from the first Black female professional snowboarder.

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WE ARE THE FUTURE

BEGINNER’S GUIDE, TIPS & TRICKS

The Pioneering Women of Equality in Snowboarding.

We’ve got you covered with easy to follow tips on how to get you shredding your best.

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C H LO E A NTICHLOE KIM OPENS UP ABOUT RACIST REMARKS ONLINE AND SPEAKING OUT NOW

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arlier this month, Chloe Kim opened up to ESPN and social media about the attacks she deals with online as well as fears and anxieties stemming from past experiences. With the large spike in antiAsian racist incidents over the past year, heartbreaking reports have been in the headlines across the country consistently since last spring. While it is by no means a new topic for Kim, she has broke her silence on the subject with her words below, as told to Alyssa Roenigk.

E T A H E C N “I EXPERIDEAILY BASIS.” ON A

For a long time, though, I stayed silent. I was getting messages from people telling me I’m part of the problem because I was silent. I was like, “Do you realize I’m also Asian American and this affects me?” When I experience trauma or anxiety, I shut down. I stayed off my phone, turned off all my notifications and deleted Instagram for a while. It was traumatizing to be on there. Even if you get thousands of supportive messages, the hateful one will hit you the most.

CHLOE KIM AFTER WINNING GOLD IN SOUTH KOREA, 2018.

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KIM ON -A S I A N H ATE I’ve never spoken about any of this before. Then, last Wednesday, I was getting my hair done and my hairstylist is also Korean American. We were talking about racism and how it’s affected her and me. Those types of conversations bring up anger and frustration. Fifteen minutes later, I looked at my DMs and saw a message: “You dumb Asian b—-. Kiss my ass.”

I remember going to a nice restaurant in Pasadena with my parents and a couple of friends when I was 7. We were sitting near these older white men, and they were laughing.

They asked me how my English was so good. I said, “Oh, I was born and raised here.” At the time, I didn’t understand why they asked me that or why they were laughing.

I went to school with kids who are white, and it felt isolating. My sport is very white. As a U.S. snowboarder, I’m the only minority on the halfpipe team. And that becomes isolating, too. My friends and teammates were supportive, but I just didn’t feel comfortable speaking about it because they couldn’t fully understand my experience. I never felt I could talk to anyone, and then being in the spotlight at a young age put me in another difficult situation. I feel very stuck sometimes.

When I won my first X Games medal at 13, people belittled my accomplishment because I was Asian. After that, I stopped speaking Korean to my parents in public.

I was so ashamed and embarrassed and hated that I was Asian. When I was around my white friends and my dad spoke to me in Korean, I’d respond in English. They’d ask me, “Do you not know how to speak Korean?” I’d say, “Not really. I never learned.” But I was fluent. That was so disrespectful and makes me feel so guilty because my dad came to the States to give us a better life and pursue the American dream, or whatever that means anymore.

CHLOE KIM TAKES GOLD AT X GAMES ASPEN 2019

When I made the 2018 Olympic team, people started asking me about my identity and my story growing up as a Korean American. By that point, racism toward Asians had become so normalized, people would say racist things to me as jokes and I would just laugh because I didn’t want to deal with the confrontation and say, “That really bothered me.” I just said anything to get it over with because I was so uncomfortable all the time.

After Pyeongchang, after I accomplished something I’d dreamed about since I was a little girl, I was expected to be something more than an Olympic gold medalist.

I was expected to speak up and be an activist. It was a lot of responsibility. I still don’t know how to talk about all of this. It’s difficult to talk about these things. In snowboarding, all my friends are white and no one had these conversations.

I felt this emptiness after the Olympics. That drove me to go to Princeton. I wanted to be around different people and hear their stories and what their lives are like.

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I made some incredible friends in college, had conversations I’d never had and realized for the first time, I have an opinion about this stuff. Going away to school was the best thing I could have done. It helped me to be more openminded and empathetic.

One of my friends is from Alabama, and before I met her, I had all these stereotypes about Alabama.

She told me what it’s like to be born and raised there, from a very conservative family, in an environment where there is racism and white supremacy.

Hearing her story changed my perspective. She was so different from what I expected someone from Alabama to be like.

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I understood how someone who doesn’t know me could believe stereotypes about me. For the same reason, I can’t blame the people who send me those messages on social media. They weren’t born racist or hateful. I believe if they were born and raised in my household and surrounded by the people I was surrounded with, then they wouldn’t think that way. You are a product of your environment.

The States is my home. I was born and raised here. I went to school here.

But I don’t feel accepted here. When I talk to my parents about it, they don’t understand what I go through. My dad doesn’t get mad like I do. He’s

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always like, “They’re racist, whatever. Let them be racist. What are we going to do? Change them?” He’s right that you can’t just change someone.

My dad gets verbally harassed, but my mom gets fetishized. When I’m out with my mom, she gets catcalled. Even as a kid, I got nasty messages from grown men who were fetishizing me. Am I fearful for my parents? All the time. This fear didn’t start because of the recent attacks. This is not new.

It’s old news, but now we see the attacks and hear the stories.

It’s not just in America.

I’ll go on a training trip somewhere and people

will look at me more than my white friends. When COVID started, we went to Saas Fee, in Switzerland, and older people would look at me and walk further away. Knowing people are racist, you automatically think that’s what it is. It’s that anxiety. It’s like, let’s say I have a big pimple on my forehead. If someone looks at you, you assume they’re looking at the pimple and not your cute outfit.

Every time my parents step out the door, I think maybe I won’t see them again or maybe I will get a call from the hospital that they were attacked. They were in Korea for a month and a half, and when I picked them up from the airport,

CHLOE KIM, HALF PIPE FINALS IN THE 2018 WINTER OLYMPICS PYEONGCHANG, SOUTH KOREA.

my mom didn’t text me back for 10 minutes and I was like, “Oh, my god.”

Those moments when I don’t get a text back right away give me anxiety. I don’t think they know how anxious it makes me.

I’m sorry anyone has to feel this way and that I was ever ashamed. Now I am so proud to be Korean American. I was nervous to share my experiences with racism, but we need to hear more of these conversations. I’ve received so many messages from people saying they are inspired by me sharing what I’ve been through and that makes me feel hopeful, and like I can still do so much more.

TO D U O R P O S M .”

A “ N O W I EAN A M E R I C AN BE K O R CHLOE KIM WINS GOLD AT THE OLYMPICS, 2018.

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GIRO RANGE MIPS HELMET Thanks to a magnetic buckle, there’s no need to remove your gloves to put on this helmet. And you can fine-tune the fit with a dial. $250 I love this helmet! I am a Ski Instructor in Aspen, Colorado and wear this helmet daily during the winter. It comfortably hugs my narrow long head and the magnetic clasp can easily be attached and released while wearing mittens.

DRAGON ALLIANCE DX3 These minimalist goggles borrow tech from Dragon’s higher-priced models. They have great color, clarity, and depth perception—and never fog up. $70 I normally don’t like spending a lot of money on goggles but these were well worth it, especially with the sale price!

They didn’t fog once during my trip to the mountain for an entire weekend.

DAKINE GEARHART JACKET Breathable with a cozy, next-to-skin feel, this jacket sheds heat quickly on backcountry runs, with Gore-Tex keeping you dry in storms. $520 I love this jacket! It’s such a simple clean design, it has all the pockets in the right areas. I really like that the two big front zippers are huge vents that you can open up if you’re getting hot. Also, the 2-way front zipper is a huge plus.

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OROS ENDEAVOUR MITTEN Filled with a foam insulation inspired by NASA’s Mars rover, these barely-there mittens keep you toasty without the bulk that lofty down requires. $90 Love the things very agile with my hands while wearing them to the point that I was a able to use a lighter with the on. I got them for those cold ride on my motorcycle commute and so far at 25 degrees for 30 miles.

686 GLCR STRETCH BIB The Dispatch vents through the crotch and hips, for multiseason use, and beefed-up Codura patches withstand rubbing with the bindings. $420 Excellent set of bibs. Fit is great for riding, materials give room for movement but still not too baggy. Pockets are excellent quality, plenty of storage if you don’t want overload your jacket or not wear one.

BURTON ION BOA BOOT Use a gloved hand to rig the fit with two Boa dials. Underneath, the inside of the foot sits over a softer foam to encourage natural rolling on turns and landings. $550

G U I D E

Love love these. Been riding for 25 years now and trialled out a few brands. These are crazy comfortable, keep my heel snugged down through moguls and steeps. So easy to put on and take off.

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GABBY MAIDEN IN THE STREETS OF BIG BEAR, 2007.

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ELEVATING VOICES:

GABBY MAIDEN AN INTROSPECTIVE OP-ED FROM THE FIRST BLACK FEMALE PROFESSIONAL SNOWBOARDER.

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abby Maiden is the first Black female professional snowboarder. The SoCal native gained acclaim in the mid-2000s for her rail riding talent and was a regular in Peep Show videos, putting together a memorable part in 2011’s Winter Wars. Her unmistakable style, both on and off the board, injected creativity into wherever she was riding—and continues to do so whenever she straps in at Bear Mountain near her home base in Los Angeles. Possessing endless artistry off the slopes, as well, Gabby is a talented actress and musician, and can be seen in shows like Netflix’s Stranger Things 2 and Showtime’s SMILF. As quarantine started and has progressed, I’ve been doing a lot of meditating and inward thinking, checking in with myself and asking hard-hitting questions regarding how I feel about the current climate involving increasing social injustices, politics, and the conversation of harsh realities about systemic racism.

There are many people who have been victimized by it or are unaware that they were even causing it.

I, myself, have been victimized by it, as I reminisce on my own snowboarding career. Snowboarding is a white-male-dominated industry and I’ve repressed a lot of my insecurities and discomfort that accumulated over the years. It hasn’t been easy to share my true feelings about this subject. It’s difficult to unpack. I had such wonderful personal experiences during my snowboarding career, but as they were mixed with larger systemic racial issues, it’s been very hard for me to put things into words.

I broke my thoughts down into two main questions that fueled my anxiety when I entered the industry.

These are subconscious questions I would ask myself throughout the years. I kept these queries hidden deep inside, because I didn’t want people to see me at my most vulnerable.

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QUESTION 1: HOW DID YOU REALLY FEEL WHEN YOU WERE NAMED THE RST AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN PROFESSIONAL SNOWBOARDER?

QUESTION 2: HOW DID YOU FEEL ABOUT BEING OBJECTIFIED AS A MODEL MORE THAN FEATURED AS A SNOWBOARDER DURING YOUR CAREER?

I felt inadequate. I was 19 or 20 and still very shy at the time. I would turtle in my shell once I received any major attention. Sticking out of the crowd as the only Black woman on the hill, while having to make sure to be accepted in this white-male-dominated sport simultaneously, was a lot to process. I wouldn’t have survived being in the snow world if I hadn’t gotten over my shyness. I had to put myself out there and just go for it. It was a bit nerve-racking, but also the most gratifying time of my life. I just wished the snowboard industry had more of a desire to spotlight the fact that I was the first African American woman professional snowboarder. Helped me celebrate and embrace it. If me being the first was mentioned in conversation, the energy was silent. Like it wasn’t a big deal. It made me feel uncomfortable and confused. So, I repressed any feelings of excitement or even acknowledging the fact that I was the first, as much as possible.

I felt underutilized. I entered the snowboarding world wanting to be a snowboarder like everybody else. I was being seen in countless ads in snowboarding and fashion magazines all over the world throughout the years, representing my sponsors as a model/ personality and not much as a rider. I truly appreciate all of the amazing places I got to travel, and the opportunity to represent those companies, but I didn’t sign up to be just a face. Over time, I became hurt and frustrated. I didn’t understand why I never had an opportunity to shoot a legit action shot for my sponsors to advertise in magazines. Being seen mostly as a model progressively hurt my spirit.

That’s why my Winter Wars video part was so important to me. Up until that point in 2011, I didn’t feel like the snowboard industry had taken me seriously as a snowboarder.

Sometimes I still don’t.

Since I was finally getting the opportunity to have my own video part (not just shared), I was ecstatic.

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For years, this would slowly dim a part of my light inside. It made me feel bad for being named something so profound.

Thankfully, my mother reminded me every day of the importance of me being the first, even though I would get uncomfortable when she would talk about it so positively. I wasn’t able to believe in myself within those surroundings yet.

My mom, no matter what, reminded me of my power and tried to keep my spirit lifted. If she hadn’t done that going forward, I think that positive light inside of me would have dimmed out completely.

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I was asked to make an original song for the video.

I wrote, sang, and played ukulele, and called it, “Long Way to Go”. It also featured my awesomely talented dad on fun, random instruments. It wound up being my official video part song.

A dream within itself, for me.

When everyone was giving me props and praises for my part, it was an emotional realization because at that moment, I finally felt seen by my snowboarding peers. It took years for it to happen, but better late than never. It was a beautiful feeling that I will never forget. I held that empowering moment in my heart, but felt that it was time to transition out of the snow world and stretch myself more creatively. Since then, I have graciously been applying my incredible adventures and life lessons that I learned throughout my snowboarding career onto my very first love of acting, again.

REFLECTIONS

Nature captured my heart.

The mountains are my home. It’s a place where I feel my biggest strength, where I can breathe without any judgment. It’s a place where I can let my ‘fro out and embrace my creativity to the fullest. When I first strapped in on a snowboard, I felt truly in my power. I knew I found my instrument, just like I did when I found my love of acting as a child and my ukulele a few years after that. Sometimes you just know. It becomes electric.

My energy has always been grounded to the earth and my spirit flowing like the wind. I can’t help but smile on the mountain, all day, every day. Snowboarding is my therapy. It’s my love. It’s my heart. Every mountain view takes my breath away.

I instantly feel at peace and no one can ever take that away from me, even if I’m feeling at my lowest. Taking a few park laps, traversing to an untracked run on a beautiful powder day, or fiercely hiking a rail wanting to land that one trick just right, would always warm my soul.

Snowboarding is an independent sport, though we get the added bonus of frolicking around with some of the most interesting, adventurous, and most bonded friends that you’ll ever have the pleasure to know.

Snowboarding is my special getaway. I’m a spirit of love and positive energy and the culture within snowboarding is built on exactly that. The mountains are my canvas and my board is my brush. I can create what-ever I want, anywhere I want.

I’ve traveled the world, where I made friends that I will cherish forever. I’ve had travel experiences and random encounters that I think about fondly and constantly. A lot of these things have shaped me to be who I am today. No amount of negativity can ever take my love of snowboarding away, because snowboarding is freedom to me. Free to self-express and free to

live however you want to live. My hope is that the next generation of Black women entering the snow world is treated more like comrades as opposed to being exoticized. I hope the snow industry will help elevate them, truly support them and make them feel like they’re part of that world wholeheartedly. I will continue to ride and shine the light of positivity through endless creative possibilities, whether it’s on the mountains, musically, or through film and television. We as humans must embrace our creativity while we thrive on this looney and gorgeous planet.

Keep living in the now. This is a time for massive change and openness to personal and collective growth. I’m very thankful to be part of it. I hope we can keep the momentum going.

FIRST E H T M A I “ I C AN R E M A N AFRICA ROFESSIONAL WOMAN P RDER, THOUGH SNOWBOA E THE LAST. “ I WON’T B PHOTO CREDIT: CHRIS WELLHAUSEN

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MADDIE MASTRO, PHOTO CREDIT: CHAD CHOMLACK

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UNNING R , S L I A ING R TO BOWLS, D I R E R “ W E A D RO P P I N G I N N G . ” P I P E S , R I S I N G S T RO AN D

WE ARE THE FUTURE THE PIONEERING WOMEN OF EQUALITY IN SNOWBOARDING

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he future of women in snowboarding is incredibly bright, with a younger generation now claiming their place in competition, the backcountry and slopes all over the world. Exciting, limit-crushing boarders like Chloe Kim, Hailey Langland, Maddie Mastro, Julia Marino, Reira Iwabuchi, and so many more awesome riders keep raising and then exceeding the bar of what’s possible.

Their tricks are getting more and more advanced, not only attracting the sport’s brands and media, but also inspiring a new generation of girls to rise up and ride. Phenom, Chloe Kim, landed back to back 1080s in the halfpipe at the Olympics, Julia Marino became the first women to execute a cab double underflip, and Kokomo Murase, who at only 13, stomped a Backside Double Cork 1260 Mute.

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More opportunities to showcase female talent are popping up throughout the world, including girls ride days and female snowboarding competitions like Lindsey Jacobellis’ Supergirl Snow event. As Jacobellis offered, Supergirl Snow is an “all female event in Big Bear this past March…

It was a PRO /AM comp and was an amazing venue for young girls and families to be a part of.”

Another opportunity is Kimmy Fasani’s Amusement MTN. To describe what it is, Kimmy says: “It’s a thought to bring women into the backcountry and help them progress and allow them to learn everything that I’ve learned over the last eight years, but in an expedited form. I really want to be able to pass down my knowledge because the more I can share, the less hurdles they’re going to have to jump. It’s such a small field that films in the backcountry. So I wanted to just give these women a free for all and help them get educated and hopefully help inspire them to get in the backcountry because we need more women out there… I like giving back to women’s snowboarding and it’s really fun for me to be out in the mountains. It’s a good excuse for all of us to get together and to have mentors… I’m also looking at expanding it to salute the women that have done it for the past three years.”

Kimmy’s Amusement MTN is an incredible way to learn about the backcountry from an experienced, gifted rider and to further women’s progression in the backcountry.

One of her success stories is Maddie Mastro, Olympic halfpipe snowboarder. “… she [Mastro] showed up without having an avalanche education and backcountry awareness course under her belt. And I just agreed to have her be part of it. I would mentor and she would take the course after,” Kimmy says, “I loved watching her show up because she was young, she was 15 or 16, and she was just such an amazing snowboarder, not just in the half pipe but in the backcountry and had such a stable mind and watching somebody so young, she’s so energetic and inspired to really further their skills.”

Women’s Ride Days are such great opportunities to take a day and board with awesome, talented snowboarders and make new friends. Pro snowboarder Kimmy Fasani talks about the importance of women’s ride days: “[they] help encourage more women to get out there because so many women I speak to say I went out with my boyfriend once, it was a horrible experience and I never want to go again. If instead they got a welcoming experience, it would change their mind and just branching out and not focusing so 20 SNOWBOARDER MAY 2021

much on the core of speaking to women who are already in the sport, but talking to moms and talking to young girls. Let’s raise our girls in the mountains and show them that they are capable of being out there, so more little girls see that it’s possible to be tough, brave, and strong… But if we really show them that they can be out there, that will help breed a whole new generation and provide a lot more possibility.”

Beyond raising the profile of women in competition and on the slopes, one of the biggest issues on the pro-side is equal pay and equal representation in film and tv. On the importance of equal representation, competitor turned backcountry legend, Marie-France Roy, says “I think it is very important to keep giving women opportunities in all sports because it provides a very healthy source of happiness, self esteem, health and inspiration for younger girls to be active and be passionate about something they love.”

Fellow competitor turned backcountry rider, Kimmy Fasani, adds “I think it’s so important. I really want equality, you know, like I want to have the same opportunities as the men on my team and I never want to feel like I’m second best and it’s happened to me and it’s happened to so many of my other female pros, you know, it’s like we have photo shoots dedicated to us but it’s kind of like an afterthought and we just have to keep being vocal that we want that place because I think a lot of that comes from the people who are running the company.” On the representation question, Danyale Patterson brings it home,

MADDIE MASTRO, PHOTO CREDIT: CHAD CHOMLACK

sharing “… if it’s only men that ever get the spotlight, how will girls get inspired or get the confidence to snowboard. I guarantee if we got equal representation there would be an equal amount of women snowboarders.”

"I NEVER WANT TO FEEL LI’SKE I’M SECOND BEST AND IT ’S HAPPENED TO ME AND ITOF MY HAPPENED TO SO MANY OTHER FEMALE PROS."

The thing is that this change can only happen if more people, both women and men, are advocating for more representation and equality for women in snowboarding.

Sure, there are growing opportunities for awesome life changing projects, women are slowly taking more power in the industry through the business side. Burton is a great example. Under the leadership of Jake Burton’s wife, CEO Donna Carpenter, Burton has introduced initiatives for equal-pay for women. They have become strong supporters of women in competition, sponsoring many athletes. Burton has also invested seriously in developing snowboards, accessories and apparel for the women’s market, and rolled out Burton Girls, a female focused brand and community. Carpenter doesn’t just run the company these days, she is also a regular fixture on the slopes, cheering on and riding with the women Burton supports. On the impact of having a female CEO, Burton sponsored rider Kimmy Fasani comments:

“Donna is so passionate about standing behind her team and she’s been a huge voice for us as women athletes. As soon as we feel we are getting pushed to the back burner, she stands up and waves a flag for us. We’ve been able to be vocal with her and it’s really incredible what a woman CEO does for whole energy of a brand and for the athletes.

And especially for me as a new mom now, if that was a man at the head of a company that I had to approach and say I want to continue my job, I don’t know if I would have still had a career, but she understands. She has a family and she has an amazing women’s leadership program at Burton that really helps to keep women employees there through a family.”

And, in addition to Donna Carpenter, although at a different company, Barrett Christy is ruling the corporate world.

Making sure the next generation of female snowboarders have the best boards and bindings available to them, Christy is Mervin Manufacturing’s women’s brand and product manager, a position otherwise known as “Director of Awesome.”

It’s not just about having more women on the slopes, competition and backcountry, it’s also about having them in the industry, making decisions. “I feel like times have changed,” says Marie-France Roy, “and there are a lot more girls snowboarding and the industry has evolved a lot to get them more included and to provide more equality and

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opportunity. There are still lots of improvements to be made but I think that having women working for snowboard companies has been the main source of change.”

It’s also great to see that, as many of the early pioneers who began in their early teens head into their thirties, take on other responsibilities and often have families, the culture of snowboarding continues to grow and support their changing priorities, needs and desires.

Kimmy Fasani recently had her first child and before telling her sponsors, she wasn’t sure how that would impact their decisions.

Of course she would want to continue following her passion, but the support of her sponsors would be a determining factor in her future. Thankfully, they were extremely supportive of her, and her experience as a pregnant female athlete is one that should be replicated. On the topic of her pregnancy and how it affects others she said: “It’s going to make it more appealing for a professional snowboarder to start a family after seeing that it’s possible and can be supported. I think that that was a huge movement from Burton to support me because not many women have been able to continue their careers after having children in athletics. It seems like a really daunting task. And the one thing that my sponsor has asked me, is we want to support you, but we don’t know how. And that’s totally understandable, it’s going to be a couple of year investment in me as I figure out how to be a mom and travel and be in the mountains with him. As for the industry, I think it’s hopefully changing the spectrum. It’s not like Maddie and Anna Gasser and Hailey Langland are going to think about having kids now. I’ve just graduated to a different platform now and I’m going to speak to a different audience. I’m hoping that I can speak to an audience that’s full of moms who maybe haven’t got back on their snowboard since having their kid five years ago. And hopefully I can invite them back in and say we really appreciate you and want you to be back because we want your kids in it as well.”

Further commenting on the future of women’s snowboarding, Kelly Clark shares with Bustle, “Anyone who’s in leadership, whether they’re in athletics or the business world, I think wants to build a culture that essentially they can step back from, and there won’t be a giant hole. I think I’m finally getting to that point where I can look at women’s snowboarding, I can step back, and I can proudly say that there’s not going to be a giant hole.”

PHOTO CREDIT: CHAD CHOMLACK

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Women deserve to be presented with the best opportunities they can, and be represented the best they can. Not just because it’s fair, but also because, in no small way, we are the future of the sport.

We are riding rails, running pipes, dropping into bowls, and rising strong.

N I S I RL S HOW L E G O U RS AN D CA PAB E AI S NTAI N A RE E .”

R ’S Y U ER “ L E T H E M O AT T H E UT T H T TH IN G O M T H E O F BE

PHOTO CREDIT: TRAVIS COLBERT

HAILEY LANGLAND, X-GAMES 2019

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HOW TO SNOWBOARD

BEGINNERS GUIDE, TIPS & TRICKS !

PERHAPS YOU’VE HEARD THE SAYING ABOUT LEARNING TO SNOWBOARD: IT’S HARDER TO LEARN THAN SKIING, BUT EASIER TO MASTER. HOW MUCH TRUTH THERE IS TO THAT DEPENDS ON YOU. WHATEVER REASON YOU DECIDE TO PICK UP THE SPORT, IT’S AN AWESOME WAY TO EXPERIENCE THE SENSATION OF FLOATING ON SNOW WHILE EXPLORING THE BEAUTY OF THE MOUNTAINS IN WINTER.

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STEP 1 STRAPPING IN

Strap bindings are the most common type of snowboard bindings; rear-entry and step-in bindings are two others.

Strap bindings have straps that ratchet down to secure your feet. To get into this traditional setup: » Step into the front binding. Which foot (left or right) leads downhill depends on the way your binding was set up (regular or goofy).

» Once you step into your binding, make sure your heel is snug against the highback, which supports your calf.

» Ratchet down the ankle strap first to set your heel into the binding and then fasten the toe strap. Your foot should feel snug and secure without pinching.

Gliding lets you move around gentle hills on the mountain with one foot strapped in and the free foot resting on the board. Gliding is an essential skill for getting off a chairlift.

TOE-SIDE J-TURN

STEP 2 GET MOVING

» Point your snowboard straight down a gentle slope and

glide forward.

» Shift your weight to the front foot and over your toes.

» Move your hips over the toe-side edge as you flex your ankles and knees. Getting your weight over that toe-side edge should start to turn the board across the hill.

HEEL-SIDE J-TURN » Point your snowboard straight down a gentle slope and

glide forward.

» Shift your weight toward the front foot and over

your heels.

» Move your hips over your heel-side edge as you flex your

ankles and knees.

» Getting your weight over that heel-side edge should start to turn the board uphill.

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STEP 3

FIND YOUR BALANCE » Keep your board across the slope and on the uphill edge when you stand up so you don’t slide down the hill.

» Flex your knees and keep your weight evenly distributed over the toe-side edge while you find the balance point.

» Shift your weight toward your front foot and then let that front foot flatten a bit. You’ll start to move in the direction of the nose of your board.

» To slow down, center your weight between both feet and lean more over the edge you are standing on. Increasing the edge angle will slow you down and eventually bring you to a stop.

STEP 4

HOW TO TRAVERSE

» Now that you’ve practiced riding across the slope, you’ll learn to make your first full turn. First try this on a gentle slope with a flat runout so if you run into trouble, the terrain will naturally stop you.

» Just as you did while traversing, start shifting your weight over the front foot. But this time let the board flatten so you head straight downhill (into the fall line, the most direct route downhill).

» As you flatten the board, get into a centered, athletic stance while still keeping more weight on your front foot.

» Once you’re on a flat board and in the fall line, start moving onto your new edge in a J-turn (either heel-

side or toe-side).

» Aim for good body position with your arms relaxed at your sides and knees tracked over your toes. Your legs and ankles are doing the work while your upper body

is calm.

» Come to a stop and practice on the other side.

28 SNOWBOARDER MAY 2021

EXTRA TIPS!

Y! L R A EE R E H !

T T T I E L G .

1 AL C O T N E H W W O N K . !

2 D E T RA D Y H Y A T S .

3

SNOWBOARDER MAY 2021 29

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30 SNOWBOARDER MAY 2021