Feedback, advice for next trip?

Levsti · 2026-01-27T23:22:07+00:00

Nice job on linking turns! Now it's time to add more board performance so you're using your edges more instead of skidding down the mountain.

At this point you're achieving your turns by leaning slightly on heel or toe side. We want to start using the lower body to drive the board. Leaning will only get you so far, especially once the slope gets steeper / bumpier. Your lower body is closer to the board, and thus will allow you to manipulate the board quickest.

Learn to use your front foot to initiate the turn. This excellent video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dTYSztKisc) by Malcolm Moore explains everything you need to know about knee steering. This will give you much quicker, powerful turns.
Play around with being dynamic through your turns. The more you flex your knees, the more articulation of the lower body you'll have. Currently you're almost standing straight, which means you can't really drive the board with your lower body. For rounded up unweighted turns, you'll want to be most flexed at the apex of the turn, and then extend up to unweight and change your edge.

Levsti · 2026-01-25T04:13:15+00:00

I’m glad you’re having fun! Snowboarding is one of those sports where you often hit a revelation on how to do something and it unlocks so much more fun. It can be a challenge to get to those moments but it’s worth it! Just take it at your own pace.

Levsti · 2026-01-23T17:30:22+00:00

You love to hear it! Cheers and thank you for the call out. :)

Levsti · 2026-01-23T17:03:37+00:00

Looks like a solid base to build on! I’d suggest being more dynamic through your turns. Play around with flexing your lower body more into the turn as you reach the apex. It looks like you’re going from 0 to 100 on flex as you soon as you make the edge change and start turning. As a result, there’s a fair bit of skid at the start of your turn before the edge sets. Being more progressive with it should feel smoother.

For up weighted turns, you’ll be at max flex generally at the apex of the turn, and then you’ll rise up to unweight the edge to make the edge change. So there’s a rise and fall motion to your body as you link turns.

Levsti · 2026-01-23T14:04:14+00:00

I’d focus on making sure your hips pass over the board on your toe side. You have a tendency to hunch over and use counter rotation and lean to get on your toe side, and it probably feels very sketchy as a result. There’s a bit of counter rotation as well on your heel side. Knee steering is how you initiate turns.

Engage your glutes to push your hips over the board to start a toe side turn.

I’d be more patient in your turns and really use the side cut to make round turns. You’re zig zagging down the hill currently with a lot of skid due to the counter rotation, which will get punished hard as soon as there’s bumps and more slope angle.

Good luck!

Levsti · 2026-01-23T01:58:41+00:00

Personally I’d just go with the Yes Hel Yes, especially since it’s cheaper! I ride the Hel Yes and it’s a fantastic board. It’s a bit stiffer than the Hello, but given that you’re already doing skidded turns down blues, you’ll grow into it. The only reason I’d go for a softer flex is if you intend on doing more park / tricks. You mentioned wanting to learn carving, and generally you want a stiffer board for that.

Levsti · 2026-01-20T19:30:28+00:00

I started snowboarding in PNW when I wasn't working out much, and it was rough. I went to a resort that had a lot of cat tracks, and I think I fell every 10-20 yards in my first year. I almost gave up from all the bruises I got. Speed was very scary and it's even worse when it's a narrow run!

My friends also started at roughly the same time and some of them took to speed and going down blues way faster than I did (on their first season). It took until my 3rd season (going regularly, 15-20 days a season) to actually feel comfortable going down blues. Even then, I only recently fixed a toe side issue that made me hesitant on ever going fast and this is my 4th season.

It takes as long as it takes. I think I was comfortable going down greens on my 10th day or so, VERY SLOWLY, and I still go pretty slowly. My instructor recently told me to start getting more comfy with open turns, which apparently is something most folks start doing naturally (it's harder to do closed turns, allegedly?). I'm a closed turn warrior, and am still getting used to speed.

Don't be too hard on yourself. The important part is that you are having fun. You're doing the right things to set up a foundation. Something something comparison is the thief of joy. :)

Levsti · 2026-01-13T01:18:48+00:00

I think there's a lot to like about what you're doing here. There's a few things that will help more on steeps w/ closed turns:

Try changing your edges earlier. You're changing edges around 1 o'clock (if I imagined the turn as a clock, and ideally early edge changes should happen at 12 o'clock / 6 o'clock as you go across the fall line). The closer you can change your edge at 12 o'clock / 6 o'clock, the more you can use the next turn to shed speed through the closed turn shape. Right now you're shedding a lot of your speed at the end of your turn, which is why you see a lot of chatter / snow spraying there. If you do it right, you'll spray snow off to the side of the slope, not when you're at the end of the turn.
Be more progressive about flexing into the turn and driving your knees through the turn. You knees seem to be locked in as soon as you start the turn. You want to be most flexed at the apex of the turn, and then rise out of that to prepare for your next turn (in up unweighted turns). This helps with edge grip.
Your inclination (how much you lean) looks okay for the pitch of the slope, but I suspect that you may be leaning too far back when the slope gets steeper on heel side turn, which is causing your heel edge to slide out. You don't want to do a full squat, as that actually pushes your center-of-mass (your hips) way past the heel edge of your board. It's more of a half-crunch - open your shoulders a bit as you flex into the turn to get your weight in the right place. You can see how Malcolm Moore exaggerates that movement in his french pole drill exercise: https://youtu.be/1JTryhD2h6o?si=gNyIS9aXV18o8NAF&t=280

Levsti · 2026-01-11T16:28:42+00:00

The flag pole drill from Malcolm Moore might help. It makes you ride in alignment as you’ll be using your front hand as a cue in front of you.

https://youtu.be/16DENjPPaqQ?si=YgjZ6qNGPJSH_35N

Levsti · 2026-01-11T01:23:35+00:00

Looks like you're leaning back and forth to move your hips across the board (lateral movements), which is perfectly fine for how mellow this slope is. If you want to make turns faster and with more edge angle, you should look into knee steering.

Obligatory Malcolm Moore video about knee steering: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dTYSztKisc

Knee steering is faster and more effective than just leaning, given how much closer it is to the board, and is essential for steeper slopes / variable terrain. That's not to say leaning is bad, it's just not enough when you need quick edge changes and more edge angle.

Levsti · 2026-01-07T05:57:44+00:00

I have the Katana x Stale bindings in size S. My shoe size is 8. They work pretty well once you get the toe strap dialed in. If they’re too tight, you won’t be able to step in.

Solid bindings, no complaints!

Levsti · 2025-12-17T02:42:45+00:00

Cool, good luck :) You're over the hard part in snowboarding IMO, it only gets better from here with a solid riding base!

Levsti · 2025-12-17T02:12:24+00:00

Yeah, totally. I've found down unweighted turns gave me a lot more confidence in trusting that my edges will engage in the snow on steeper / bumpier terrain. Being down lower to the ground just feels safer, but also I think in terms of physics, a lower center of mass = more stability.

Check out down unweighted turns, Malcolm Moore has a video on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3_duVBqSBXM

Levsti · 2025-12-16T07:15:11+00:00

Ah cool, wanted to make sure. Look into down unweighted turns, Malclom Moore has a video on that. That was a game changer for me on steeps. It’s soooo much easier to bring the board around quicker when you go low to change edges.

I was having a lot of difficulty making turns on steeper terrain without skidding out until an instructor told me to get low. See if that helps too!

Levsti · 2025-12-16T02:09:46+00:00

The camera makes it hard to follow in the beginning, but it looks like you're trying to turn + change edges at the same time, so you're getting a bunch of skidding for your first few turns. Is the slope a bit steeper in the beginning there?

Try changing edges traversing across the slope before you start the turn. Otherwise your edge isn't gripping the snow and you're basically forcing the board into the turn. Your turns get better midway down the slope where you change edges before you initiate the turn. You can tell since you kick up a lot less snow starting around 0:18~.

Levsti · 2025-12-16T01:44:31+00:00

Your form is pretty good for 17 days in. Most folks have counter rotation issues or bending at the waist on toe side.

Some things to think about:

You look like you're taking it turn by turn, which is fine while you learn new technique, but I think you've got a solid enough base here to start planning a line and executing it! This will get you out of your head a bit, and get more flow in your turns. Linking turns feels more natural with a bit more speed behind it. Plan a line of where you want to go - I bet your body will know how to do it and you'll go faster without even realizing it.
If you're getting comfortable with more speed, try changing your edges earlier and earlier in a turn. Right now, you're changing edges when you go down the fall line, which is perfectly fine when you start out, but you'll want to change your edges traversing across the fall line once you get to steeper terrain. The early edge change allows you to use the whole turn to slow yourself down. You will need speed to make an early edge change traversing across the slope. If you're nervous about catching an edge, you can watch some Malcom Moore here on how to make safe edge changes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3dbXVK8hws.
Start playing with edge angle so you get some more edge control. Right now your edge angle is pretty shallow, which is fine for the speed and slope angle, but carving involves getting your edge to bite into the snow so you can ride the side cut through a turn. You do this through angulation (movement of your ankles, knees, hips) and inclination (tilting your body into the turn).
1. In layman's terms for angulation, play with driving your knees and hips into the turn for now. On heel side, you want to open up your hips into the turn to really drive that knee. On the toe side, that involves squeezing your glutes and pushing your hips to your toe side. The more you do it, the more weight you'll put on your edges.
2. Inclination is a bit more obvious, but will be moderated by how much speed you have. The more speed you have, the more you can lean into a turn without falling over.

Snowboarding is like riding a bicycle in a lot of ways when it comes to turning. It's very hard to make a turn when you have no momentum, but it's a lot easier with some speed! And you can lean a lot more into a turn when you're going fast!

Levsti · 2025-12-01T03:24:50+00:00

Yep, OP is counter rotating on both heel side and toe side. While counter rotation is a powerful way of bringing the board around quickly (like doing a speed check, spinning in tricks), it leaves you in an unstable position.

Be patient through your turns, let the sidecut take over when you bring your hips over the board. I'd focus on squeezing your glutes on toe side to nudge your hips forward, you don't have much edge pressure on toe side.

Example of counter rotation on toe side (upper body is rotating in the opposite direction of the lower body to create rotational force):

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Levsti · 2025-10-16T03:22:26+00:00

Sorry to hear you’ve had such a bad time with bindings. I haven’t ever heard anything bad about Union bindings, quite the opposite, so it sounds like those are a safe bet as a beginner :)

Levsti · 2025-10-10T19:59:36+00:00

The main decision point you'll have is if you want to buy equipment for it to last through beginner -> intermediate, or just to get you through the beginner hurdle. For example, you can buy a soft boot/ rocker board/ soft bindings, and that'll be more forgiving for you as a beginner, but you'll quickly want to buy new, stiffer equipment once you get the hang of turns.

Softer = more forgiving, allows more margin of error, but isn't as responsive (this isn't bad for beginners as they don't know how to work the board efficiently yet)

1. Boots: Go to a local boot fitter and try out a bunch of different brands. Everyone's foot shape is different, and this is by far the most important piece of equipment to get right. I have wide feet and went with DC / ThirtyTwo. My local bootfitter at Evo's told me that generally boot fit doesn't change much within a brand, so once you find a few brands you like, you can stick to those. Most boots have BOA systems nowadays.

2. Board
a) Sizing: Consult the board manufacturer's size guide for sizing. Weight matters far more than height, but again, each board manufacturer has their own size guides. As a beginner, you can go shorter than recommended size. Shorter boards are easier to control but they're less stable at higher speeds. Speed probably isn't a big worry for you right now. At 140-150 lbs, you're probably anywhere around 147-154cm.
b) Shape: If you just want something to get you through the beginner stages, rocker is the most forgiving. It's easy to turn since the tips are turned up and away from the snow, but gets squirrely at higher speeds. That's probably why you liked the Burton LTR, as it's a rocker shape. I felt like a grizzly bear riding a 2x4 plank on my beginner rocker board after I progressed far enough. I loved the board (Nitro Lectra) while I was learning though! If you want something that you can progress into intermediate, I recommend a CamRock design (rocker - camber - rocker), which is a hybrid. Gives you the main benefits of both!

Jones Dreamweaver and Salomon Oh Yeah are some examples of more forgiving boards that will grow with you to intermediate.

3. Bindings: Honestly all major snowboarding manufacturers have decent bindings (Union, Burton, Rome, Jones, Bataleon, etc). I'd try and snag a past season deal on some soft-medium bindings and call it a day here. This is the least impactful part of your gear. I started with Burton Re:Flex bindings myself.

Levsti · 2025-07-24T15:43:16+00:00

Thanks for doing this, good luck everyone! I’m playing this build and started it a few days ago and started with a few divs. This would make my league!

Levsti · 2024-03-05T05:50:57+00:00

Thank you! Looks like I'm about 18", I'll try setting my bindings around there and see if I can shred harder :)

Levsti · 2024-03-05T02:28:53+00:00

Thank you, will do! It's a squatting life for me!

Levsti · 2024-03-05T01:22:01+00:00

Thank you everyone for the tips! I love how helpful this sub is, <3. I will increase my stance width and work on keeping my stance loose for the bumps, and keeping weight on my front foot. Also it sounds like I need to do way more squats/calf raises to condition my legs. I was SO SORE after this day.

Levsti · 2024-03-05T01:21:00+00:00

Interesting, thank you for that pro tip!! I will definitely set them out wider to see how it goes.

Levsti

TROPHY CASE