Why Snowboarding is Difficult

Snowboard enthusiasts are sometimes guilty of making it sound too easy. Here are a few ways in which that first day or two can be rather difficult.

Challenges in starting out on a snowboard.

• No poles to steady yourself
• Ski bindings? Step on in. Much easier, even than step-in bindings.
• To get a sense of what strap in bindings (the most common type of bindings) are like, do the following. Stand up. Now, without bending your knees much, untie and then tie each shoelace. To simulate the degree of difficulty of dealing with straps, do this while wearing gloves. Feel the blood rushing to your head. Are you getting sick yet?
• Repeat this exercise while standing on top of a flat, slippery piece of plastic on the snow.
• You can get at least one foot in a binding on skis, since the other foot is firmly on the ground.
• Standing up on a board is difficult. Imagine this: sit on the ground. Put your feet in front of you, spread apart, and with your knees in the air. Mentally draw a line that connects your feet to each other. Now stand up by putting equal weight on both feet. Don’t let one foot get ahead of the other.
• Some people think there’s an easier way around this. Oh? Try this: assume the same position as before: sitting down, feet partially extended, knees in the air. Keeping your knees and ankles a constant distance apart, roll from right to left until both of your knees and both of your hands are on the ground. Not easy, is it? Now think of doing this with a large, slippery object attached to both feet.