Snowboard Diaries: The Fear of Going Forward!

Last week I spoke about my challenges trying to become a snowboarder for several years and the day I finally found my toe edge.

Now that I can carve, my next challenge was to overcome my fear of going straight down the hill.

It seemed everytime I wanted to go straight I would pick up speed and freak out then stop or default to 'falling leaf.' I explained this to an instructor as I attended my first ever group lesson last month.

"Ok - then let's get you going forward!" - said enthusiastic Lee, my instructor.

The first big thing Lee did was switch me from goofy to regular, I told him I had never committed to a side and found both comfortable so he made a decision for my indecisive feet.

The second note was to control my board. I needed to put more pressure and weight on my front foot and toes, this sounded wrong as wouldn't you just go faster?

The third was to get my squats in before my carves. Squat down, turn and get up, squat down turn and get up.

I took all of these tips and within the hour found myself going forward on my board and actually being able to control my speed.

Flash forward to yesterday, something finally clicked.

Putting together all of my tips, the fact that this was my third time up and my muscle memory was probably getting stronger I found myself confidentally zipping straight down on my board and carving like a champ.

I looked ahead at my snowboard partner and she was rocking her way down the hill too, a big smile was on both of our faces.

We have come a long way from our 'Chairlift Queen' days!

Snowboard Diaries:
1. The Struggle is Real
2. Finding my Toe Edge