Does anybody here snowboard?

[eyepaddle]

I have just recentl;y taken up the sport (my stepson does it, plus I was tired of being the only whitewater guy I knew who didn't ski or snowboard!)

Much to my surprise it hasn't been nearly as painful or humiliating as I had feared/expected--and is a hell of a good time to boot. But now that I know a little bit about it, I have a question: heel or toe?

My toe side turns are pretty solid and very dependable, but I just don't like going with the heel, at least not yet. This morning I took my board out of the car and lookee at the bottom, sure enough, I am really wearing the wax off of the toe side, with barely any wear at all on the heel.

This cannot stand! ;)

[Kolesar]

1. I always wanted to try snowboarding

But I "kind of" switched to XC skiing when we started a series of quite-snowy winters in this decade. I had been doing a lot of downhill skiing in the 1990s. We could buy a cheap season-pass ticket at the small ski area near here. I took a lot of lessons and even apply the techniques when XC skiing downhill. I swoosh my way down a hill doing "christie" turns. Yee haw

[eyepaddle]

8. I make sporadic moves into XC, but I am

pretty mediocre, and the snow around here has been spotty the last few years.

[flvegan]

2. I used to quite avidly.

I found that I wore my heel side more on a regular run, but that's probably due to me using the heel side for braking exclusively. However, if I ever (foolishly) tried trick runs or halfpipe stuff (I wish there was video of that), my toe side would wear more. Reason being, I could never set my line towards the wall leaning back.

Most boarders are far more aggressive on their right (non-goofy foot) turns than on their left, I think.

[eyepaddle]

5. I can only imagine the wreckage if I were to try that "terrain park" stuff

I am a natural lefty who got switched to being a righty, so my left/right business is all mixed up. I still can't tell if I like normal or goofy foot better. However, regardless of which foot is leading I am WAAAYYYYYYYY more comfortable braking on the toe side.

I think it might be because that motion/body posture is somewaht akin to setting up to roll a kayak. Well, that AND the fact that I worry about doing a faceplant if i F up a heel turn!

[ghostsofgiants]

13. Terrain parks are hella fun.

And yeah, toe edge is much easier when you're learning. Just be careful, if you're trying to stop or slow down with your toe edge and hit a bump, catching your heel edge and going down hard is not fun, haha.

[eyepaddle]

16. the interesting thing about boarding is how you never actually fall on your

"cheeks" but crush your tailbone instead!

I just seem to be much moreable to keep my heel edge up. It seems to be sort of like "don't lean upstream" when you are kayaking. The muscles used are different, but the mental picture is pretty much the same.

[Pierre.Suave]

3. I tried once

but never got into it, I preferred skiing more because I was better at it.

[eyepaddle]

6. That seems pretty common, all of my friends who ski well just doin't see the point to switching

since I haven't skiied much (downhill a handful of times, cross country a bit more than that) I didn't have anything to "lure me away" so to speak.

I am digging this, though!

[Pierre.Suave]

10. The thing I like the most about snowboarding

is the cute snowboarding girls...

:P

[ghostsofgiants]

4. Haven't been snowboarding in a few years, sadly.

I don't have a board and the only really good mountain is all the way on the other side of the province, so I can't really afford to.

[eyepaddle]

11. I haven't progressed to "the good mountain" yet. I'm still focused on

"the affordable" one. There is a little bunny hill/terrain park complex about ten minutes from where I work, and it is still good enough for me to work on my fundamentals.

[AlCzervik]

7. i've tried a few times but i ski, 2 boards for me, i can't get used to one.

[MineralMan]

9. I prefer waterboarding....I hate snow!

[eyepaddle]

12. bah doomp-bump-tssssssssss

I first read that as "Wakeboarding" but then I got it..... :)

[MineralMan]

14. I tried, but I could not resist....

[Heidi]

15. Not anymore, but I did when I lived in

Vail. The snowboarders were lots more fun than the ski crowd. Can't answer your heel or toe question, though. I spent much of my time on my a$$. :rofl: