Snowboarding tips for beginners at Chill Factore
Chill Factore is home to the UK’s longest real snow slope, so it’s the perfect place to develop your snowboarding skills. From beginner and intermediate to more advanced techniques, you can learn them all at Chill Factore!
Read on to see our snowboarding tips for beginners to learn how to start snowboarding.
Snowboarding Lessons at Chill Factore
If you’re learning to snowboard for the very first time, a beginner package at Chill Factore is ideal. Your sessions will be one-to-one, so there will be plenty of opportunity to ask questions and practice in areas you feel you need the most practice. Our experts know exactly how it feels to learn to snowboard as a beginner and they are able to apply their knowledge to suit your learning style. Learning to snowboard on real snow means you’ll have a natural, authentic experience and you’ll be able to prepare yourself for the rocky and unpredictable terrain of the mountains!
Snowboarding Tip Number 1: Are you Goofy or Regular?
The first thing to understand as a beginner snowboarder is whether you’re ‘Goofy’ or ‘Regular’. Don’t worry, this isn’t an insult to your character! This actually refers to which foot is going to be your lead foot while on the board.
A simple test to discover which is your lead foot is to ask a friend to give you a gentle shove from behind. The foot you step forward with is your lead foot. If it’s your left foot then you’re ‘Regular’. If you step forward with your right then you are what’s known as ‘Goofy’.
Your snowboard needs to be set up so that the correct leg is your lead leg to make it easier for you to ride.
Snowboarding Tip Number 2: Fastening the Bindings
For snowboarding beginners, the term ‘bindings’ is probably quite an alien one. Bindings are the plastic fastenings attached to your snowboard that you strap your feet into when stepping onto your board. Fastening your bindings can be quite confusing at first, but in reality they’re fairly straightforward to use. There are two common types of binding: strap bindings and speed entry bindings.
Strap bindings are the most common binding type because there are two straps that you fasten over your boot to secure yourself to the board. The straps are made of padded plastic, offering excellent cushioning, and feature multiple adjustments.
Speed entry bindings look similar but also have a high back part to them which reclines to allow you to slide your boot out easily. It’s purely for convenience and means you don’t have to struggle with fastening the bindings whilst wearing thick gloves.
To fasten either comfortably, place your foot in position and then push one end of the binding through the fastener on the other. Keep pushing until they are comfortable and firmly holding your foot to the board. To release, simply press the quick release toggle and slide the binding apart.
To move around on flat surfaces, get on and off lifts and climb up the beginner’s slope, you should keep your rear foot out of the binding and use it to push yourself along; a little like skateboarding.
Snowboarding Tip Number 3: How to Control Your Speed
When on the snow for the first time, it’s important to be able to control your speed, otherwise you’ll lose control of your board. Mastering your speed and board means you can feel more confident hitting the snow.
Half the battle to control your speed is getting into the correct posture. Learning how to get better at snowboarding for beginners is all about getting the foundations right. That means maintaining even pressure across both feet and sinking down into the knees.
Applying pressure to the edge of your snowboard will create friction and this means your board will gradually start to slow down. This is a very important skill when on the snow because it means you’ll be able to slow down and speed up whenever you need to. Your confidence will develop a lot quicker as a result.
Extra Snowboarding Tips for Beginners
How to Fall Safely
There’s no point in beating around the bush. If you’re learning to snowboard, you’re going to fall - and quite a lot. As a result, it’s important to learn how to fall safely.
Always try to fall uphill rather than downhill and try to avoid falling on your coccyx as this can really hurt. When you do fall, try to stay as relaxed as you can and avoid putting your hands out to stop yourself as this can damage your wrists.
Dropping slightly to your knees when you feel yourself about to fall means that you will only hit the snow from about one foot in height. This lowers the chances of you hurting yourself. Fortunately, snow is very soft but a hard fall can still hurt. If you remember these snowboarding tips for beginners, you can lessen the impact considerably.
How to Get Fit for Your Board
Snowboarding is a fun and challenging sport that takes physical effort, strength and stamina. The fitter and stronger you are, the easier it will be to go through snowboarding lessons and pick up what you’re being taught. Because you’ll be spending a lot of time with your knees slightly bent, you’ll soon start to build strength in your legs. But, if you’d prefer to build your strength before you hit the slopes, try working on building your leg muscles with exercises like squats, lunges and calf raises.
Get on Your Board Regularly
Our final snowboarding tip for beginners is to continue getting on your board. You need to get out there on the slopes and keep working at it in order to improve. The more hours you put in the better you will get!
Luckily for you, Chill Factore is open seven days a week, opening early and closing late. So there’s always time to practice your skills.
Come and join us and give snowboarding a go. We’re sure you’ll get hooked like the rest of us!
