Jan 10
So I’ve been a skier since I was in Junior High school, but these days I don’t go skiing too often mainly because I can’t get myself up out of bed that early. 
This weekend, I thought it’d be fun to learn how to snowboard, and I was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a good place with a good snowboarding school?? I know how to wakeboard pretty well, so I’m pretty confident I’ll be amazing at it ; but it’d be nice to learn properly from a good instructor who’s sexy.
Anyway, if you know of a place, let me know. We’re going Sunday.
Thank you.
hi Matt,
I don’t know the best place to go, but I do have advice. I skied for 30 years (started when I was 3) before trying boarding. I enjoy doing both, I especially enjoy boarding when hanging with intermediate skiers since I can have fun and play on any intermediate or even beginner trail.
What I learned and tell others is that boarding has a somewhat steep learning curve for the first day – after that it goes pretty easy. But that first day consists largely of falling to your knees in hard pack snow. Repeatedly. And again. To get the feel for it do 6 solid knee drops to concrete. Fortunately those are broken up by the occasional fall on your back accompanied by the neck snap and head whack.
So my advice is to throw fashion to the wind a wear knee pads for the first day. Under the bibs might work. After that you;ll be ok. And wear a helmet, if you don’t already, for the first day and whenever you board. I don’t know about others but for the first two years I would often catch the downside edge of the board when moving at a good clip, which would snap me down harder than I ever had fallen in 30 years of skiing.
Oh yeah – and have fun!
I learned to ski at Gore and loved the instructors…. had a ton of snowboarding classes going on as well, so I’m sure they’re great too!
try killington..a bunch of us go every year at least a few times..they hsve great lessons, both individual and group..and definately hit up the wobbly barn for apres ski happy hour..great beer selection and the wings are GREAT – tho no lem pepper garlic! have fun!
Transitioning from skis to a board is almost as tough as starting off on a board without having skied at all. I did it myself after having skied for 8 years and spent the better part of the first year on my ass. A place like Jiminy is all you need at this point. Don’t drive too far to get to a place because the bunny hill will be all you will riding. Stick with it though, its alot of fun, besides the getting up early, schlepping your equipment through a parking lot, fighting for two feet of picnic table space at lunch time, freezing your ass off and shelling out the ever increasing price of the lift ticket. My favorite part has become the apre ski beers.
To give you even more inspiration and confidence – those who skateboard and perhaps wakeboard have a harder time learning because the actions are backwards. To turn when boarding you do use the heel and toe edges, but especially when going slow you use the BACK leg to swing the board back or forth to make the turn. I do love it though…
My sister is a snowboard instructor at Whiteface Mountain. She’s been doing it for about 5 years so I guess she’s good (never had a lesson personally). If you go, ask for Vickie or Victoria.
From what I hear the first lesson is learning how to fall properly. Her first lesson when she learned consisted of being pushed over. :)
I’ve had the same experience as The Original Mike & Chris V and their advice is absolutely correct. Get ready to have your ass kicked during your first few tries. However, after that you will NEVER want to go back to skiing. Snowboarding is so challenging and therefore rewarding that you will spend every free minute thinking about the next time that you can get on the mountain to have your ass kicked again by the board. Good luck!
I would head to Stratton. They are a VERY boarder friendly mountain and most of their lifts are designed for easy egress for boarders. Most other mtns are not the easiest to deal with when getting off a lift.
If you can ski & wakeboard you should have no issues with snowboarding. I have been skiing for 30+ yrs and I do know how to board but an NOT superconfident on it.
Word of advice… BE PREPARED TO FALL A LOT!!!
I hear the Jiminy instructors are pretty good. I believe it’s a Burton school, same as Stratton, only much closer.
I learned @ Willard Mountain. A small mountain with good instructors and not intimidating what so ever. Good Luck!
Wish you had gone to Windham – it’s close, FUN, and has every level of hill for boarding. Hope you didn’t go to West – ugh
Matt, Look into Windham. It’s close and they have a great lesson program. They have a few good bar choices as well!
http://www.windhammountain.com/lessons/adult/
I would try Jiminy… it’s close and they have a Burton certified program (or something to that effect). Also, to echo the sentiment of others, it is hard to learn and you will most likely hate it the first few times, but once you get the hang of it, it’s awesome! Let us know how it goes!
Without a doubt – Stratton Mountain… They’ve the BEST instructors and the mountain has great ski-able trails perfect for a beginner.
I have heard that Willard Mountain has a great ski/snowboard school!
A friend of mine works at Jiminy (not teaching I think he’s like one of those St. Bernards that saves your ass) he recommends their classes he said they have good teachers and it’s not too far away ! Good luck!!!
Ditto on Jiminy. I had positive experiences with their instructors. And its close and opened at night.
Forget what you know about skiing. Try Jiminy since it’s close, but Sugarbush is also nice.
Gore. the best ever. Jiminy is close, but a little boring.
Gore Mountain has the best Burton Learn to Ride school there is in the area aside from going to VT and talking to people at the Burton company themselves!!! Ask for a Private Lesson with Nick (trust me it is worth every penny and he is not bad on the eyes either!!!). He is an awesome instructor and now I am into my 3rd snowboarding season and rockin the black trails at Gore. Gore also has an awesome bar that you can relax in and enjoy a drink or two (or 3) after you ride. Watch out this weekend though, anywhere you go is going to be full of tourist from NYC and NJ due to the long holiday weekend. More Gore!!!
Falling in skiing is a tumbling roll (if your lucky)….falling in snowboarding is like hitting a brick wall! Be careful!
I don’t have any suggestions because I learned how to snowboard from my friends. Their idea of teaching me was taking me to the top of Jiminy the second time I’ve been to the mountain and then I proceeded to go fast, caught my edge, flipped over forward twice, rolled my shoulder and chipped a bone in my shoulder… But now I love snowboard and look forward to winter every year!
The point of this I was trying to make is don’t be discouraged when you’re snowboarding. It took more than a season before I was comfortable with even going down the mountain. Oh yea – and don’t let your friends trick you into going to the top of the mountain until you’re ready.
Also – I highly recommend wearing a helmet!
Jiminy all the way!
Completely unrelated but saw on facebook that Luna was found!! Thought you and the fellow puppy lovers should know.
I grew up skiing (stopped for a while), started snowboarding at 25 and last year (at 29) went back to skiing. I would recommend Jiminy Peak, it’s very beginner friendly and it’s super close. The added bonus is they have *great* night skiing/riding which means no early mornings (yay)!!!
I’d avoid Gore. The chairlifts are not snowboarder friendly (it’s hard to get off of them compared to most other mountains). Plus it’s a more challenging mountain which isn’t necessary for a beginner boarder. ;-)
Jiminy is close and they have a great program for beginners. Take one lesson and you’ll be on your way.
If you really want to learn to board, you need a multi day experience.
Try to do at a minimum of two days back to back. As stated before, day one you will be on your ass a lot! By the end of day two you will be starting to actually enjoy it. And if you have the time to spend 3 days in a row on the mountain- the third day you will be shredding all the greens and most of the blues. (or you will have given up on the board and will enjoy one last day on the planks) Try and get lessons at least the first two days from the same person. This is the only way you will actually learn and enjoy it. If you want to be the next X games star, I hear Mountain creek has a park school this year for beginners. Thats about all that mountain is good for (the parks).
Wear a helmet, try some pads for day one and make sure you have waterproof gear. In all the yeas of skiing you never touched the snow as much as you will day 1 on the board.. Good luck!
Don’t get me wrong, I love snowboarding and I hope you will too… but here is a story about my friend Chris Soto that you might really appreciate on Sunday evening. (Please keep in mind that this is supposed be a funny story. Well, maybe not for Chris.) Here goes…Chris really likes to surf. He’s from Florida. He’s been surfing his whole life. He would do nothing else but surf if he could. About 10 years ago (we were in our 20′s then), he and I visted a friend in Steamboat Springs, CO. Chris had never been snowboarding. In fact, he hadn’t been around snow either. Chris wanted to learn how to snowboard and decided to join me and others that first day on the mountain. He figured cause he was a kickass surfer, he’d probably be a kickass snowboarder. It seemed like a valid conclusion..then and now. Sadly, that is not how Chris’ story unfolds. He hated it. He fell, and he fell, and he fell all day long. Besides him falling, the only thing I can remember from that day is that he would become so frustrated that he would yell “THIS IS NOTHING LIKE SURFING” and then he would fall really, really hard.
I have a friend who works at Gore. Amazing mountain,fun times, and a great lodge to have drinks at! Hope you have fun!
Totally off the subject but I just read in TU Luna was found (the deaf missing dog)….YEAH!!!!
I have to third, or fourth, or whatever, Stratton.
Legend has it they invented snowboarding there.
I heard about it while I was sitting in a snowbank nursing my broken ass.
Mount Snow
ANSWER: FIREWORKS. TWO CONCERTS. TWO NEW PARKS. TUBING. 100% OPEN. GREAT WEATHER.
QUESTION: WHAT IS THIS WEEKEND?! GET HERE!
I have a place on Mount Snow, and they tweeted this today. So if the boarding sucks there is other stuff going on and it’s only 90 minutes away.
Stratton with a Burton LTR..(learn to ride)
But this is a holiday weekend, so wherever you go will be packed.
And LAS is right, snowboarding was invented here!
Also….Fireworks and Torchlight parade.
Windham, but it looks like Saturday might be the better of the two days.
I have been snowboarding for 13 years and instructing for 10 years at Gore so I can give you a couple tips. Gore is nice because it is a learn to ride center, which means the equipment is almost brand new, they have to buy a certain amount every year or every other year. Equipment is important. So not only will the boots not be smelly but the boards are specifically designed for “learning to ride,” meaning falling less on your ass. Very helpful
There are a lot of good instructors at Gore not including myself (I do have to boost a little), but Commenter 20 is right about Nick, he is an awesome instructor, and its great to see him get recognition. I think he is there most weekends.
Drink lots of water (i.e. not Vodka) before, because you’ll be moving around a lot. If you have a good instructor falling should be minimal, but don’t take it off the table. It should be fun, so go with that attitude, grab a good instructor.