How to Snowboard
Snowboard your first day as a complete beginner. Pick your stance, stop on your heel and toe edges, link your first turns, ride the chairlift, and fall in a way that protects your wrists.
You will end up stopping on both edges, linking slow turns down a green run, and getting on and off the chairlift. Expect to fall a lot on day one. Both feet are strapped to one board and there is no beginner brake like the snowplow on skis, so the steps teach both stops before any turn.
Wear a helmet and wrist guards from the first run. The needs list and FAQ 3 below explain why.
A snowboard, boots, and bindings. Rent these at the resort for your first few trips rather than buying. Rental shops set up your bindings for your stance and boot size, which eliminates a lot of guesswork. You will also need a helmet, which you can rent along with the board, plus a waterproof jacket and pants, warm layers underneath, waterproof gloves, and goggles. Wrist guards are the one piece of optional gear worth treating as standard. A systematic review in the Clinical Journal of Sport Medicine found the risk of wrist injury among snowboarders wearing them was roughly a quarter of the risk without. It also calculated that one wrist injury is averted for every 50 riders who wear a pair. They protect the joint that takes the impact when you brace a fall with an open hand.
Figure out your stance
Before you touch snow, figure out if you ride regular (left foot forward) or goofy (right foot forward). Stand on a smooth floor in socks and have someone give you a gentle push from behind. Whichever foot you step forward with is your lead foot. Another test is to slide across a smooth floor. The foot you naturally put in front is your lead foot. This is your stance, and your bindings need to be set up accordingly. The rental shop will ask you this, so have your answer ready.
Good to know: If the two tests disagree, start regular, and ask the rental shop to switch your bindings if it feels wrong after a few runs.
Get comfortable on flat ground
Strap in your front foot only and leave your back foot free. This is called skating, and it is how you move on flat ground and get on and off the lift. Practice pushing yourself along like a skateboard, with your back foot on the snow next to the board. Point your board where you want to go and push. Then practice resting your free back foot against the stomp pad (the grippy area between your bindings) and gliding. Do this until you can glide in a straight line. It will feel awkward at first because the board wants to turn when you shift your weight.
Learn to stop with your heels
Find a gentle slope, ideally a bunny hill or the flattest green run available, and practice along its side. NSAA's Responsibility Code, which US resorts post for skiers and snowboarders, says to stop only where you are visible from above and do not restrict traffic, and to look uphill and avoid others before starting downhill. Strap both feet in. Stand up facing downhill with your weight on your heels and the board perpendicular to the slope. You should be looking down the mountain with the board sideways beneath you. Keep your toes lifted the whole time. If they drop, the toe edge on the downhill side catches the snow and throws you forward onto your face. Dig your heels into the snow by pulling your toes up toward your shins. The harder you dig your heels in, the more you slow down. Let up slightly and you will start sliding. Press harder and you stop. This is heel-side braking. Practice sliding and stopping until you can control your speed confidently.
Learn to stop with your toes
Now face uphill with your back to the slope. Your toes are now the uphill edge. Keep your heels up the whole time. If they drop, the heel edge on the downhill side catches and slams you backward. Press your toes down into the snow to grip. Let up slightly to slide. Press harder to stop. This is toe-side braking. It feels scarier because you cannot see where you are going as easily. Look over your lead shoulder to see downhill. Practice the same slide-and-stop drill you did on your heels. You need both heel-side and toe-side control before you can turn.
Heads up: Getting up is easier on your toe side. After a fall, roll onto your knees facing uphill, dig your toe edge into the snow, and push yourself up with your hands.
Make your first turns
Start in your heel-side position, sliding across the slope at an angle rather than straight down. To initiate a turn, slowly shift your weight to your front foot and flatten the board. As the board starts pointing downhill, gradually transition to your toe-side edge by pressing your toes down and rotating your hips to face uphill. You will carve an arc across the slope. To turn back the other way, flatten the board again, shift weight forward, and transition back to your heel edge. Each transition through the flat board is the scary part. You will be pointing straight downhill for a moment. Commit to the turn and the board will come around.
Link turns down the run
Linking turns means connecting heel-side and toe-side turns in a continuous S-pattern down the mountain. Start with wide, slow turns across the full width of the run. Speed comes from how directly you point downhill during the transition. Wider turns give you more speed control. As you get comfortable, tighten your turns and spend less time traversing. Focus on smooth weight transitions rather than jerky movements. Keep your knees bent and your body relaxed. Stiff legs make everything harder.
Ride the chairlift
Unstrap your back foot before you get in the lift line. When it is your turn, shuffle forward to the loading line. The chair will swing around behind you. Sit down as it arrives, pull the safety bar down, and rest your board on the footrest with your free foot supporting it. At the top, stand up as the chair reaches the unloading ramp. Point your board straight ahead, place your back foot on the stomp pad, and glide down the ramp. Lean slightly on your front foot to keep moving. If you are nervous about unloading, tell the lift attendant before you load. The Responsibility Code says to ask the lift attendant if you need assistance, and attendants can slow or stop the chair.
If you keep catching an edge, go back to the slide-and-stop drills in steps 3 and 4 on the flattest slope you can find, and stay there until you can stop on either edge without thinking about it. Once you can link turns from the top of a green run to the bottom without stopping, ride more green runs before you try a blue, because the edge changes come faster on steeper snow. To compare the other sport before your next trip, our guide on how to ski starts from the snowplow.
Questions we get asked about this
Answers from experience, not a textbook.
Day one is harder on a snowboard. Both feet are strapped to one board, so you stop on an edge from the start, while the snowplow gives skiers a brake almost immediately. We could not find a study comparing how quickly beginners progress in each sport after that first day. Pick whichever looks more fun to you, since that is what decides whether you come back for day two.
There is no national figure worth quoting. Day tickets are priced dynamically now, so a weekend or holiday day can cost far more than a midweek day at the same mountain, and at resorts that price this way, a ticket bought at the window on the day costs more than one bought online in advance. Price your specific trip from the resort's own site rather than from any published range, and buy the ticket in advance. Three things reliably bring the number down: going midweek, asking about a beginner package (lesson, lift ticket, and rental in one), and renting rather than buying until you know what you like.
When you feel yourself falling backward, tuck your chin to your chest, clench your fists (to protect your fingers), and land on your forearms and butt rather than catching yourself with outstretched hands. Wrist fractures are what an outstretched hand buys you, which is why the fists and the forearms matter. When falling forward, make fists and land on your forearms. A meta-analysis of recreational snow-sport injuries rates wrist guards and helmets as the two countermeasures with the best evidence behind them, and found that beginners are hurt mainly by falls, while experienced riders are hurt more often on jumps. The wrist guard review in the needs list also notes that nonexperimental data suggested guards may increase the risk of finger and elbow-shoulder injuries, which is a reason to land on your forearms, not a reason to skip the guards.
Take at least one lesson, on your first morning. An instructor teaches the same stops and turns as the steps above, but watches you do them. You cannot see your own edge control or body position, and an instructor corrects both in the moment instead of a season later. Ask about a beginner package that bundles a lesson with a lift ticket and rental.
Layer up. Start with a moisture-wicking base layer (not cotton, which stays wet and cold). Add a fleece or insulating mid layer. Top it with a waterproof jacket and snow pants. Wear warm, waterproof gloves or mittens and a helmet. Goggles protect your eyes from glare, wind, and snow. Wear ski or snowboard socks (thin and tall, not thick cotton socks). Bring an extra pair of socks and gloves in the car. Expect to get wet on your first day, because you will spend a lot of it sitting and kneeling in the snow.
Winter Sports
How to Snowboard
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