Snowboarding - tell me all about it!

[SJCzar]

I took up snowboarding at the end of last season and LOVED it !!! I had gotten back into skiing about three seasons before that and wanted to try something different. It also helped that I had all the hand-me-down equipment after my daughter upgraded hers.

I highly recommend RED (a Burton brand) Impact shorts. They have seperate areas that have padded plastic in them. As you progress, you can take out the areas that you don't think you're going to need anymore. The tailbone area is a definite must for at least the first few times out. Besides they add extra butt warmth.

Absolutely plan on taking a lesson....and don't give up after the first time or two out. Don't forget to bend your knees. I thought I'd never be able to make it down a whole run without falling the first two days. Once you somewhat get it, you'll really be enjoying yourself. I still get a bit nervous getting off the lifts, especially when I'm with a stranger. I don't want to take them down with me.

I wear my biking tights and arm warmers under my other gear. I get year round use out of quite a few of my cycling clothes just by using them for base layers. You want good water-proof pants...as you'll be falling on them alot in the beginning. It also helps if you have gloves that are warm, but not so bulky that you can't work the bindings.

Have fun and let us know how it goes.

[colby]

I highly recommend RED (a Burton brand) Impact shorts. They have seperate areas that have padded plastic in them. As you progress, you can take out the areas that you don't think you're going to need anymore. The tailbone area is a definite must for at least the first few times out. Besides they add extra butt warmth.

Wow, that stuff looks cool! An extra layer of protection. My favorite is the kidney belt.

Here's a link from the Burton store (though I'm sure you can get it cheaper elsewhere): http://store.burton.com/Red/BodyProt...=1165261500043

[Cassandra_Cain]

Thank you for all the encouraging and helpful comments, so nice to see and read

SJCzar - that is a fabulous suggestion about the padded shorts. After you mentioned it, I thought, darn why hadn't I considered that!

Colby - I'll check out the belt you mentioned also on that link.

I got some decent pants today, I already have gloves, but am looking into some good base layers, and possibly those wrist guards mentioned at the beginning of the thread.

The plan is to go this coming weekend, so I'll be sure to let everyone know how much time (in seconds) that I managed to stay upright on the 1st day

[HappyAnika]

I'm glad others have already recommended helmets and wrist guards. I fractured my wrist, well, technically my distal radius (arm bone near the wrist) snowboarding last Feb. I actually put my hands down behind me instead of in front. This happened on my third day out snowboarding, the first two times I borrowed my friends wrist guards, but I didn't have them this third time, and I can't help but think if I'd had them I wouldn't have had to be in a cast, go through PT, endure the humiliation of explaining what happened, blah blah blah. (I'm still undecided about trying again, something about being on a steep snowy hill going fast terrifies me. Put me on a steep paved hill on a bike going fast and I'm in heaven).

The other thing I recommed is knee pads, the volleyball type available at any sporting goods store. In addition to falling on your butt, you'll also fall on your knees which can get painful after several times.

A huge part of snowboarding is balance, and if you're good at balancing on your bike, you'll probably be good at balancing on a board. Have fun!