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ACTIVITIES
Snowboarding 101
Heading Up, Boarding Down
By Peter Stark
The most disconcerting part of the undertaking, we found, is the moment that you first clamp your feet into the snowboard bindings. Arriving at Santa Ski Area, we hooked up with our friend and mentor—expert snowboarder Jason Rawley. When he snapped shut our bindings, we felt we were welded to a large, immobile steel plate. Wherever we went, that board was coming with us-whether we descended upright or in a less dignified position.
Accept this from the start: You will fall at first. A lot.
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Yet it came as an encouraging revelation when Jason stood up on his own board on the flat top of the mountain, hopped into the air, and spun 180 degrees. He encouraged us to do the same, and we suddenly felt more comfortable on the board, and realized that we could actually maneuver this thing.
Jason eased us into it, showing us how to walk around with our front foot fastened and rear foot free until we were comfortable with the feel of the board.
"A board works best when it''s on edge," Jason explained."Most of the time you''re turning and putting the board up on one edge or the other. When it''s riding flat to the snow, as opposed to on edge, the board tends to wobble and you can easily catch an edge and trip."
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