Snowboard Wax

The snowboard ollie is the most basic of snowboarding tricks and is your entry ticket into the world of freestyle tricks. Learning how to ollie on a snowboard properly is critical because the ollie is one of the major building blocks of more advanced snowboard tricks.

The snowboard ollie is a trick that can be used in a wide variety of situations and is very practical in many situations as well, such as getting extra height of kickers or avoiding small obstacles so not to snowboard over them, i.e. rock patches or debris. An ollie is a relatively simple trick to pull off but does take time to perfect. To start learning this trick begin on a flat and at a fairly slow speed. Once you are comfortable ollieing at that pace experiment with faster speeds and different terrain such as drops and kickers.

Note: The below steps are a step-by-step guide of how to ollie on a snowboard. Try to perform all the steps in one smooth, fluid motion and remember that the more you spring off the snowboards tail the more height you will get during the ollie.

1. Shift your weight onto your back leg which will pull the nose of your board up.
2. With your board now bending spring or ‘pop’ off the tail to launch yourself in to the air.
3. Bend your knees bringing your legs up underneath your body as you rise. Try to keep your weight central over the board; if you lean to far back you will end up flying through the air uncontrollably and land on your arse.
4. When you start to descend you will naturally straighten out your legs a little.
5. When you make contact with the ground absorb the impact immediately by bending your legs, again try to keep your weight over the center of the board as this will help to maintain your balance as you land from the ollie.
6. Snowboard away and keep practicing!

Keep ollieing on your snowboard and when you start to get the hang of it and feel more confident take what you have learned and start applying it to other tricks like jumps and getting on to non-ride-on rails.

When you have got the hang of ollie’s off small kickers and jumps you should start thinking about grabbing your snowboard during a jump as it steadies you in the air, helps you go bigger off jumps, feels more comfortable and of course looks way more stylish too! There are multiple ways to grab your snowboard with either hand at various points on your board each with its own name. Each trick is a variation of the ollie so try to consider each of the steps for the ollie in mind, integrating a grab in to the process. Your initial attempts at snowboard grabs will probably only go as far as reaching for the snowboard but not actually making contact with it. Don’t let this dampen your enthusiasm though as with a bit of practice you will start to instinctively know where your board is and the position you want to grab, without looking at what you’re doing.

Here are some of the major snowboard grabs:

Indy Grab
This is possibly the simplest and easiest snowboard grab to perform and is usually the grab most people attempt first. Grab the snowboard on the toe edge just in front of your rear binding with your trailing hand. If your hand strays towards the back of the board and ends up grabbing behind your rear binding this grab becomes a ‘Tindy’ grab which is a major no-no(!) because this is sloppy.

Mute Grab
The mute grab is another one of the simpler and relatively easier snowboard grabs to execute. The mute grab is very similar to the indy grab; it involves grabbing your snowboard on the toe edge in between both bindings with your leading hand instead of your trailing hand as with the indy grab.

Meloncollie Grab
This is kind of the reverse of a mute grab; you grab your snowboard on your heel edge in between your bindings with your leading hand.

Method Grab
The method grab is subject to a fair amount of variation and can be executed in many different ways. For a more stylish looking method grab, position your hands the same as you would for a meloncollie grab however as you spring in to the trick begin lifting your front leg and push your back leg out which turns your snowboard sideways parallel with the ground. Now grab your snowboard with your leading hand on its heel edge in between your bindings. When you have got a grab on your snowboard, or at least attempted to grab your snowboard, start bringing your legs back under you in the same way they went out. Suck you legs up and absorb the impact as you would normally when landing.

Nose Grab
This snowboard grab is pretty much given away by its name. The nose grab is a real old school snowboard grab and is more likely to be seen in day-glo wearing 80’s snowboard videos however this grab still looks stylish in big air jumps today. When in the air move your leading hand to the nose of your snowboard and pull up the nose whilst bending your front leg. When attempting this at first you may be surprised as to how far you have to grab for your snowboards nose.

Palmer Grab
This snowboard grab is a variation on the method grab and was invented by Shaun Palmer of Palmer Snowboards. Instead of grabbing your snowboards heel edge in between your bindings with your leading hand you grab in front of your front binding towards the nose whilst pushing your back foot up and out so that your whole body is almost horizontal with the ground. This is a pretty advanced grab to perform.

Tail Grab
This is quite a tricky grab to perform because simply put you are grabbing your snowboard in a place you do not actually see! To execute this grab bring your trailing hand out and down grabbing the end area of your snowboards tail. It may also help to shift your back leg up a little to get your snowboards tail in to view a bit; this should make the tail grab easier.

Stalefish Grab
This is yet again one of the slightly trickier snowboard grabs to perform. The stalefish grab requires reaching round the back of your legs with your trailing hand and grabbing your snowboard on the heel edge in between your snowboard bindings.

Roast Beef Grab
This is a particularly difficult snowboard grab to pull of and is similar to the stalefish grab. With the roast beef grab you put your hand in exactly the same place as the stalefish grab, in between your bindings on the heel edge, but this time instead of going around you legs with your trailing hand you put your arm through your legs; in between them. This grab does feel very unnatural so it can take a while to master.

Chicken Salad Grab
The chicken salad grab is another in between the legs grab and is similar to the meloncollie grab. Grab your snowboards heel edge in between your bindings with your leading hand and as with the roast beef grab your arm goes in between or through your legs. Another tricky grab that feels unnatural but is fun when you’ve got it down.

Have fun trying these different snowboard grabs but remember to go at your own pace, it is not a race. If you try snowboard grabs or jumps and you are not ready the consequences can be dire.

If you receive ill-fitting, damaged or simply the wrong type of snowboard rental equipment your snowboard holiday can be completely ruined from the outset.

Follow this snowboard equipment rental advice to help you make a more informed decision on where to get your rental snowboard equipment and what to look out for when choosing your rental snowboard equipment.

Where to rent snowboard equipment from:

You have a few choices as to where you can get your rental snowboard equipment.

The first and most obvious choice is actually from a rental shop in the resort you are going to. The advantage of this is that if you have any problems with your rental equipment you can get them fixed straight away. The downside of this is that often the day you need to get your rental equipment is the same day everyone else needs to get theirs because holiday makers tent to leave and arrive in resorts around the same times (weekends) and so you may be faced with enormous queues and waiting times on your first day. This is very frustrating when you are only going for one week and every day counts. If you end up at the back of a queue you may find the choice of rental equipment available by the time you get to the front is some what limited and only the older tatty equipment is left. You can always go to another shop but by then most rental shops will have the same problem. Renting in the resort can also be more expensive than the other options, however, at the end of the day it is the safest bet if you are not experienced with snowboard equipment.

Another option for your snowboard equipment rental is to go nearer to home. You will often find sports shops catering for winter sports around winter time which often includes equipment rental. The advantages of renting your snowboard equipment from a non-resort based shop back at home is that the snowboard equipment can often be of a higher quality, you will save valuable time and hassle when in the resort and renting this way is usually cheaper. The disadvantages are that you will have extra luggage when travelling to your resort so make sure you have a snowboard bag or the rental shop provides you one with your snowboard equipment rental. You may also find that these ‘local’ sports shops tend to have a much more limited range of equipment compared to the resort-based rental shops. Another issue with renting your equipment outside of the resort you are going to is that if you have problems with the snowboard equipment you will have to pay for a resort shop to fix the problem and if the problem is serious you won’t be able to just swap out your faulty snowboard equipment with a replacement; you will need to pay a rental fee again for a new snowboard equipment rental from a resort shop.

One other option you have for snowboard equipment rental is locating a cheap internet rental shop. Whilst this can save you the most money it id fraught with the same problems as the previous option of renting snowboard equipment outside of the resort you are going to PLUS another issue with this method, and a big issue, is that you do not get to actually see the exact snowboard rental equipment until it arrives at your door. This makes the whole process guess work and when choosing snowboard boots especially this could be a big problem. Unless you know exactly what you want and what you are getting I would highly suggest against renting your snowboard equipment in this way. If however you do choose to go this route to save money, make sure you rent your snowboard equipment way in advance of your snowboard holiday so that you have time to check the rental equipment and return it to receive a refund or replacement if it is not right.

Those are the three main options for obtaining your snowboard equipment rental, however, above all I would say that if you are serious about snowboarding there is no substitute for having your own equipment. It will be far superior to any rental equipment, you will get used to one set of equipment and you will save money in the long run. For the price of three winters worth of snowboard equipment rentals you can pick up a half decent snowboard setup (especially in the sales at the end of a season).

Fitting your snowboard boots and choosing your snowboard:

When you are in a snowboard equipment rental shop the first things that you will be measured up for will be your boots and the size of your snowboard. Different width snowboards are available for different sizes of feet so if you have particularly small or large feet make sure you go to a snowboard rental shop that can cater for both extremes of sized feet; good snowboard rental shops should have narrower and wider models of snowboards.

The length of the rental snowboard you get depends on a few things including your level of snowboarding and the type/style of snowboarding you intend on doing. Make sure the tell the rental shop assistant these details so they can accurately provide you with the right length snowboard. Also with snowboarding size is more important than height when sizing a person for a snowboard, however, if you are of average size & height you can expect your snowboard to to come up to between your nose and chin.

Snowboard boots are one of, if not the most important part of your snowboard rental equipment to get right. If your snowboard boots don’t fit right or cause you discomfort your snowboarding and holiday will be massively effected. When having your snowboard boots fitted make sure they feel comfortable and snug - tight but not to tight so that your circulation is cut off! Your heel a toes should reach and be in contact with both ends of the boot. Unlike normal shoe fitting where you want a bit of room at your toe end of the shoe, with snowboard boots it is important that your toes are touching the end of the boots when you stand up straight. This is because when you are snowboarding your knees will be slightly bent because of whats called ‘forward lean’ which causes your toes to be brought away from the front end of the boot. When this happens the distance of your toes from the front of the boot should be just right. Because of this make sure you cut your toe nails before snowboarding otherwise they can become sore from pushing up against the front of your snowboard boots when you are not snowboarding. Having the right snowboard boots is very important so make sure you get a good pair, decent snowboard rental shops sometimes have top-end snowboard boots which have a memory-foam inner liner that moulds and readjusts to each new wearers feet. This can solve a big problem in rental boots where they become very loose and stretched over time making it hard to find a tight fitting rental boot. If you are considering buying your own snowboard equipment I would recommend that your snowboard boots are the first item you purchase.

Setting up your rental snowboard equipment:

The snowboard rental shop assistants should help you find the best and most comfortable stance for you on your snowboard if you do not already know it. You may find even if you have tried other board sports you may prefer a different stance when you are snowboarding so keep an open mind when figuring out your snowboarding stance. There are pro snowboarders who prefer to skateboard regular (left foot first) yet snowboard more comfortably in a goofy stance (right foot first). I won’t go into detail on snowboard stance setup here because if you are renting snowboards you won’t need to know about setting up your stance as the shop assistants will figure it out for you and setup your rental snowboard accordingly. One thing to note here is that it isn’t always easy to get your stance perfect the first time round so make sure your snowboard rental shop is happy for you to return for stance setup adjustments until you get it just right. Any decent resort rental shop will provide this service for you at no extra cost.

You will likely be presented with a choice of snowboard bindings when you rent your snowboard equipment. This choice consists of two different types of snowboard bindings: Step-ins & Strap-ins. Sometimes the rental shop assistants will just give you whatever they have or feel you should use. If you have a preference make sure to tell them or you could end up with a setup you are unfamiliar or unhappy with. So whats the difference between step-in bindings and strap-in bindings? Snowboard step-in bindings are much easier an quicker to use. They have no straps that go over the top of your boots holding your feet down in place. They simply consist of a disc shaped plate that has a locking mechanism which locks the matching pair of snowboard boots in place when you step-down on them. This makes them quick to operate, however they have been known to be troublesome when they get clogged up with snow in heavy conditions. They can also be tricky to put on when on a steep slope because the bindings have no high-back to rest your calf against keeping the board perpendicular to the slope; getting your first foot in can be a hassle. Snowboard step-in bindings can also have reduced responsiveness compared to the strap-in bindings and thus result in you feeling less confident and secure. Strap-in snowboard bindings are the original type of snowboard bindings and are still the preferred choice of most pro snowboarders because they really do provide much better support, response and versatility in your riding. As most most things in snowboarding it is all down to personal choice so try both types of bindings out when you rent your snowboard equipment and see what prefer. Some snowboard rental shops allow you to swap around your snowboard gear until you are happy with what it. Some snowboard rental shop assistants may not look happy to constantly change about your bindings but they will do it if asked!!

Snowboard equipment rental insurance:

Make sure your snowboard rental equipment is insured otherwise you may end up having to pay a lot more than just the weeks rental costs for the equipment! This can be the case even if your rental gear look years old. Many rental shops offer insurance as part of their snowboard equipment rental service so check this with the rental shop assistants. If you have already got winter holiday insurance your rental snowboard equipment may already be covered but do check your winter holiday insurance details as what you are covered for can vary greatly from one insurance company to another.

Last but not least, check your snowboard equipment regularly for loose parts and problems just to be safe and so you can have fun without worry on the mountains!

This has to be probably the best named snowboard wax out: Super HotSauce!!

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This snowboard wax Super HotSauce is supposed to be right at the top of the wax quality chart(!) so you can’t go wrong with this deal. Check it out at: www.aggressivemall.com/suphotbul.html

Here’s a quick list of do’s and dont’s for when you go out to buy your next snowboard:

Dont:

• Don’t just buy a snowboard because it’s your favorite rider’s pro model or because you’ve seen someone riding it.
• Don’t buy a snowboard because it looks good.
• Don’t buy a snowboard based on advice from someone who doesn’t snowboard themselves; if you’re in a shop ask the sales person if they actually do go snowboarding.. you may be surprised!

Do:

• Do try to buy from a reputable snowboard shop.
• Take your time when buying your snowboard, don’t rush it. I once had a snowboard stolen during a season and in order for me to get out snowboarding again as soon as possible I bought the first snowboard I came across that seemed like a good choice. After a few weeks I realised I had made the wrong choice and the snowboard just wasn’t for me.
• Make sure you question the sales staff on matter you want to know about. Even if the sales rep you are dealing with doesn’t know the answers there will often be other sales reps who are very experienced and knowledgeable riders and they should be able to help.
• Enquire about demo snowboards. Sometimes you may be able to ‘try before you buy’.

Learn To Snowboard - Snowboarding for Beginners
by Chris Kohut

This is a great book for beginner snowboarders that covers all the basics and goes that bit further. Another awesome reason for getting this book is that it is instantly available for download so if you are in a hurry you can get your copy immediately by downloading it to your computer.. either it read on your screen or print it out and take with you.

What’s so unique about this particular learn to snowboard eBook is that is has been written in direct connection with beginner snowboarders. This means that as well as the usual expert advice you also get answers to pressing questions that you are likely to ask when starting out with snowboarding; questions that are probably missed in most normal learn to snowboard books. This eBook is zero fluff.

This beginners learn to snowboard eBook covers all the important areas & beyond in full detail and in easy to understand terminology. Learn what snowboarding equipment you need, how to easily get on and off lifts, learn snowboarding skills from the basics to landing jumps without wipeing out and a whole lot more. This eBook fully delivers in every area.

To read more about what this beginners learn to snowboard eBook has to offer and to download it instantly visit the website here.

In essence snowboard binding forward lean is the angle of your calf to the snowboard itself. The amount of forward lean is usually adjustable by a device located on the back of your snowboard bindings highback (the part of the binding that surrounds the back of your leg supporting it when snowboarding). Due to the lack of a high back with snowboard hard boots a built-in adjustment system is usually how you adjust the forward lean for snowboard hard boots.

The more forward lean you have on your hard boots or soft boot bindings high-back the less angle there is between your calf and your snowboard.

Snowboarding forward lean is essential for control on your heel side carves and turns. Companies have been integrating this in to the designs of their snowboard soft bindings with the use of higher, stiffer highbacks for improved control. However, for freestyle snowboarding such as in the halfpipe you are likely to prefer a smaller more flexible highback. snowboard binding forward lean also forces you to bend your knees giving you a lower center of gravity which is better for quick reactions and control.

For more control and better leverage in your heel side turns add more forward lean, however, do note that over doing it and adding to much forward lean causes your knee to bend to much putting pressure on your quadriceps muscles and can actually make it harder to turn. The key is to find a happy middle ground that feels comfortable but also gives you sufficient heel side control and response. Experiment until you feel you have right amount of forward lean.

Snowboard binding angles refer to your foot positioning on the snowboard and are expressed with the front binding angle being written first followed by the rear binding angle, for example: (15°/0°).

You won’t need to get out a protractor to work out your snowboard binding angles because the angles are printed on the inside of the bindings themselves around the circumference of the snowboard binding discs. What angles you choose are down to personal preference and your snowboarding style; freeride, freestyle, racing, etc.

If you stand on your snowboard completely sideways and then attach your bindings where your feet were, you would have binding angles of (0°/0°). If you rotate your feet a little toward to nose of your snowboard you may have binding angles of (15°/15°). If you rotate your front foot a bit more in the direction of the snowboards nose but keep your rear foot in the same position you may have snowboard binding angles of (25°/15°). Again its all down to what feels most comfortable to you.

Freeride binding angles for a typical freeride stance with a freeride snowboard and soft boots & bindings would be (30°/10°). Some experienced riders like to rotate their back foot a small amount towards the tail, which makes the snowboard binding angle have a negative angle (15°/-3°). This is called ‘Duckfoot‘, and is said to aid stability and fakie riding (snowboarding in the opposite direction to the one you normally ride). A racing snowboarder or alpine snowboarder would usually ride with much steeper binding angles such as (55°/50°).

Many soft boot snowboard bindings have an adjustable disc marked with numbers that correlate to your snowboard binding angles. Adjust these to your desired angles. If your snowboard bindings do not have the angle printed then it’s out with the protractor, however, this is highly unlikely as most modern snowboard bindings these days have the angles printed or engraved on them. If you do not have the angles marked the teeth on your snowboard bindings usually force 3° steps at a time so once you figure out where 0° is you can work out your angles from the number of teeth steps in multiples of 3°.

The key here is to try out a variety of different snowboard binding angles in the suitable range for the riding style you are doing. The more you experiment the closer you will get to finding what snowboard binding angles work for you.

Setting your snowboard bindings back on the board is fairly normal these days for all mountain freeriding. Snowboard bindings set back involves attaching your bindings so that the mid point between your bindings is slightly behind the center point of the board. To determine your set back correctly your will need to find the center of the snowboard. However, this is a bit more tricky than simply halving the length of your snowboard and marking the point. You’ll have to perform a bit of calculation first:

1. Place your snowboard on it’s edge on a hard, flat surface.
2. Get a tape measure and note the distance between where the edge touches the surface at the nose of your board and where the edge touches the surface at the tail of your snowboard.
3. Now halve this length and and make a mark on the topsheet of your snowboard where this is because this is your snowboards center point.
4. Get your bindings next and attach them to your snowboard keeping your desired stance width (in this case lets just use 20 inches). The mid point of your stance is halfway between the center of both bindings (in this cases example this would be 10 inches).
5. For a centered stance your snowboard set back would be zero and so your mid point between both your bindings would be in the same place as the center point of your snowboard.
6. For a set back stance on your snowboard the mid point between your bindings must be behind the center point of your snowboard and therefore closer to the tail.
7. If you set your snowboard bindings up so that the mid point between your bindings is one inch behind the center point of your snowboard you have a set back stance of one inch.

Play and experiment with different amounts of set back on your snowboard to determine what you are comfortable with and under which types of riding and terrain you prefer which amounts of set back. Usually when riding powder you need to have a bigger set back then normal to keep your nose from diving and prevent your back leg taking all the strain from having to lean back on it to much.

Snowboard bindings are designed so that they can be moved around the snowboard to suit the individual rider or the terrain/conditions the rider is going to be snowboarding on.

The definition of a snowboarders stance width is the distance between the center of each of your snowboard bindings when they are attached to your snowboard. The stance width for an average sized man going freeriding using a freeride snowboard with soft boots and bindings will range between 18 to 21 inches. For an average sized woman who is going freeriding their stance width will usually be between 16 and 19 inches. Hard boot snowboarders will normally ride with much smaller stance widths for increased control and speed from edge to edge.

The best way on how to determine your stance width is to simply experiment with different sizes, but a good stance width to start from is with the same distance as the distance from the base of your heel to the middle of the back if your knee. This should end up being a little wider than your shoulder width. Starting from this will provide you with a sensible stance width to begin snowboarding with. From there you can keep adjusting the stance width to determine what stance width feels right for you.

If you find yourself trying lots of different stance widths and nothing seems to feel right you can also base your snowboarding stance width on your height using the following table:

Your Height –> Stance Width

less than 5′ –> 17″ - 18″ wide
5′ to 5′5″ –> 18″ - 19″ wide
5′5″ to 5′10″ –> 19″ - 21″ wide
5′10″ or more –> 20″ - 22″ wide