This is the first in a series about off-snow training. We’ll look at trampolines, fitness training, favorite exercises, and other sports with skills that transfer easily to snowboarding.

Continue Reading “Off-Snow Training: Trampolines” at Steamboat Guides

Chris big indy at the PL jump

Terminology
Before we get to the different grabs, it’s important to know some of the terminology these instructions will refer to.

Front/Back Hand/Foot: When approaching a jump, the leading, or downhill, hand and foot is your front hand and foot; the trailing, or uphill, hand and foot is your back hand or foot. For example, if you are a regular rider your left hand is your front hand, and your right foot is your back foot; while a goofy rider is opposite with the right hand as the front hand, and the left foot as the back foot.

For purposes of tricks, the definition of front hand and foot is determined by the direction you are facing when you leave a jump. For example, if a regular rider approaches the jump switch (or right hand pointed down hill), all tricks are defined based on the goofy stance, not their regular stance. To re-state this, what matters is not your normal stance for snowboarding, but in the moment you’re leaving the jump, which side of your body is down the hill.

Nose and Tail: The board’s nose is the tip of the board that is pointing in the direction of travel. The board’s tail is the trailing tip.

Toe and Heel Edge: Snowboards have two edges, the toe edge is the edge underneath the rider’s toes; the heel edge is below the rider’s heels.

The Six Primary Grabs
These grabs will make up the bulk of your grabbing, especially when you are first learning. Get to know them well, Nose:, Mute, Indy, Tail, Stalefish, and Lien.

How To Grab: Nose

Grabs with the front hand:

Nose: As you leave the launch, flex your front knee and pull the nose of the board up towards your front hand. Reach with your front hand and grab the board’s nose. Straighten your back leg to help push the board into your hand.

Lien: As you leave the launch, pull the board up, flexing your front knee slightly more than your back knee. Reach around the outside of your front foot with your front hand, and grab the heel edge of your board between your feet or on the heel edge of your front binding.

How To Grab: Mute

Mute: As you leave the jump, pull the board up, flexing your front knee slightly more than your back knee. With your front hand, grab the toe edge between your feet or on the toe edge of your front binding.

Grabs with the back hand:
Tail: As you leave the launch, flex your back knee and pull the tail of the board up towards your back hand. Reach with your back hand and grab the board’s tail. Straighten your front leg to help push the board into your hand.

How To Grab: Indy

Indy: As you leave the jump, pull the board up, flexing your back knee slightly more than your front knee. With your back hand, grab the toe edge between your feet or on the toe edge of your back binding.

Stalefish: As you leave the launch, pull the board up, flexing your back knee slightly more than your front knee. Reach around the outside of your back foot with your back hand, and grab the heel edge of your board between your feet or on the heel edge of your back binding.

Start Grabbing
Get a feel for these grabs on the ground before you take them to the air. Find a flat area, and strap both feet into the bindings. Crouch down and try a couple of the grabs. You’ll find that bending your knees makes a huge difference in reaching different areas on the board. At first, you can look at the board as you reach for the grab, but once you have a basic idea of where the board is beneath you, start trying to touch the zones of your board for the different grabs while looking towards the imaginary landing of a jump. (When you get to the point that you try these grabs going off jumps, when you are in the air you will need to be able to grab without looking at the board.)

Another way that you can practice grabs before hitting a jump is to strap in both feet and lie down on the ground with your back on the ground and your feet in the air. You’ll look like a flipped over beetle, but if you can suck up the pride-factor, this is one of the better ways to feel the grabs off-snow.

When ready, head to your favorite jump and do a safety run. When you’re comfortable with the feature and are ready to try a grab, approach it like you normally do. As you leave the lip of the jump, start pulling your knees up towards your upper body, and reach down with your arm to the grab; Indy and Mute are usually the easiest to start with. For your first couple of tries, just tap the edge of your board with your fingers, don’t actually grab it. This will make for a more comfortable attempt because it lets you feel the movement and timing, without needing as much air. After you’ve tapped the edge a few times, try grabbing the edge briefly. Once you’re styling with the Indy and Mute grab, move on to try grabbing Nose, Tail, Melon, or Stalefish.

Your progress and the size of jumps you go off of is up to you. This article will not explain the learning process for extremely advanced freestyle. However, some of the terminology is discussed in the next section.

Safety
When riding in the park and working on freestyle progression you put yourself at a higher risk for injury than when you’re just cruising around the mountain. Here are some tips to help you stay safe while learning these moves.

• Pre-ride, re-ride, free-ride: Always do a run past whatever feature (be it natural or man-made) that you hope to jump off of. This is an opportunity to look at the launch and landing (which you may not be able to see clearly from your starting area). You can assess many things in a quick run past, including how icy the landing is. On your second run you can carefully hit the feature to get a feel for the jump. Once you’re comfortable riding the feature you can freeride it comfortably.
• When you’re in the park always be on the lookout for others. Assume that your safety is in your own hands, you cannot trust that someone you see going off a jump is aware of who and what is around them, or that they will be able to land the jump properly. Keeping clear of features that you are scouting is critical.
• Once you have done a safety scout run, hit the jump without trying anything fancy- especially if it is one you have never gone off of. Take your time to get the feel of that particular feature before you try to work on new stuff.

No Grab Zones
Certain areas of your board are “no grab zones.” A vital piece of grab-education is knowing where not to grab, to avoid looking like a gaper. Here are the areas you don’t want to grab.

Naming differences for the halfpipe
The naming convention for grabs is different in the pipe. Any air performed on the backside wall of the halfpipe can be called a backside air, and any air on the frontside wall can be called a frontside air. You never call it a Frontside Indy- it is just called a Frontside Air.

Variations
There are a few variations of these grabs that style them out and make them “steezy.” Some of the variation grabs have names of their own.

How To Grab - BS Shifty

How To Grab: Method Shifty

Shifty: Before you attempt any tweaked grabs, start with shifties. A shifty is a trick where you move the board out of alignment from your body, without grabbing. You can do all sorts of shifties, get creative and see how you can tweak the board without grabbing.

Tweak: To “tweak” a grab is to really emphasize the grab and push all movements to the max, styling out the trick. The grab should contort the body to some extent, ankles, knees, and other joints should appear fully bent or extended.

Bone: To “bone” a grab is to fully straighten either leg during a grab. If you boned your front leg while grabbing Indy, you would call it an Indy Nose Bone.

Stiffy: Variation of any grab where you bone both legs.

How To Grab: Crossbone Method

Double Grab: Name given to a jump that includes two separate grabs. Grab your board one way, release and grab another way. Some combinations look better than others, try varying front hand grab to back hand grab.

Meloncholy: Grab Lien, but straighten (or bone) your front leg.

Method: Grab Lien, but pull the board up behind your back.

Crossbone Method: A Method combined with a backside shifty.

Remember, everyone has embarrassing stories about loading or unloading lifts, so don’t feel like you have to get it on your first try. And if someone you’re with can’t remember ever having had a lift issue, ask them to ride the lift switch; they’ll be falling just like you.

STEP 1 – Strap In: Take time outside of the lift line to stand at a place where you can see people loading to watch the process. Lay your board down in a flat area and strap your front foot into your binding. If you’re on a hill, make sure not to let go of your board while you’re getting your foot in. Most toe-straps go over the top of your boot, but some newer bindings use “cap straps,” which are C shaped straps that go around the toe of your boot.

STEP 2 – Skate: Give yourself some time to warm up to the idea of having one foot in and one foot out. You can push with your back foot on either side your board, so use whichever feels more comfortable. When you’re ready, skate through the lift line, keeping the board’s nose (front) pointing forward. Your ankle may feel tweaked, but with time you’ll get used to it.

STEP 3 – Load Here: When the group in front of you moves to board the lift, get ready, and follow behind the chair they will be sitting on. You want to skate quickly, but carefully, as falling down here will slow down the lift. When you get to the “Load Here” line, stop skating, position your back foot along the toe edge of the board, and look back for the chair.

STEP 4 – Sit in the Chair: As the chair swings around, sit on it as you would a regular seat and keep the nose of your board pointing forward until your feet are off the ground. You do not want to catch an edge while still taking off! Once you’re board is in the air, you can let the board turn sideways, and sit all the way back in the chair.

STEP 5 – Relax and enjoy the ride: Now that you’ve made it on the lift, you get to relax for the next several minutes. Listen to some music, or chat with the other people on the lift. If there is a bar you can pull it down once you’re settled. You can catch the heel edge of your board with you back foot to take some of the pressure off your front foot and knee. Watch out for chairs with footrests built in, most were designed for skis and take a bit of finesse to comfortably hold a board.

STEP 6 – Prepare to Unload: Lift the bar if there is one and prepare to unload by sitting on the edge of the seat with your board’s nose pointed forward.

STEP 7 – Stand Up and Ride it Out: When your board is touching the snow, stand up and immediately put your back foot on your snowboard against the inside of your back binding, all while keeping the board’s nose pointed forward. This will mimic your regular snowboard stance, and even though your back foot will not be strapped in, you will still have control by actively pushing it against the inner part of the back binding. Keep most of your weight on your front foot, use your back hand to give a little push off the lift, and ride straight off and out of the lift’s unloading zone

NOTE: If you fall in the unloading zone and are not hurt, do your best to get out of the way quickly. Chances are, if you are on a beginner lift, the person behind you may be about to do what you just did, and it is unsafe for you both for you to be there. Often the lift operator will slow or stop the lift, but in case they aren’t looking, it is best you know how to look out for yourself.

STEP 8 – Glide Away: Continue to slide away from the unloading area and then glide and/or skate to a safe area to sit down and strap in.

*Bonus SBG Style Pointer: When you strap in, pull your snowpant cuffs up and away from the straps. Once your straps are tight, pull the cuffs down and over the highback. This keeps the bindings from tearing up your pants and looks better as well.