After two quick runs on my usual skis to recce the mountain and check out the snow conditions, I’m back at the car changing boots. Having decided that I’d learn snowboarding as a SKI 7TENTHS feature, it was time to trial the piste sideways rather than forwards. I swap stiff, plastic shells for what turn out to be toastie-warm, padded booties. Ah, now I know the best-kept secret of snowboarding – these modern boots are damned comfortable!

This isn’t my first rodeo, but it may as well be. My previous experience of snowboarding includes the grand total of two mini-sessions. The first time was a quick 30 mins lesson on ‘edging’ on a dry slope way back in 2006. The second, a little longer, with two or three hours ‘just having a go’ on the baby slopes and some of Avoriaz’ blue runs during a cheeky pre-Xmas ski holiday in 2008.

But now it’s January 2019 and I’m performing an experiment – by truly thinking about dynamics and applying my skiing techniques, can I learn to snowboard without formal lessons? How long will it take to go from ‘having a go’ to ‘riding the mountain’?

I may be ambitious and usually prefer to avoid the shallow end, but I thought I’d best start on the moderately easy stuff rather than straight down the reds for my first massive stack! So I walk over to the most difficult slope in the beginner zone. Actually, carrying a board and walking in snowboard boots is much easier than my usual skis, poles and stiff, plastic ankle-lockers.

You’ve heard the expression ‘all the gear, no idea’. Well, after already treating myself to brand new boots I wasn’t going to splash out on the latest board and bindings. Oddly, there is some immediate pleasure in the delayed gratification achieved by starting with some fairly ropy kit, but old boots would be a step too far. My board for the day is an old Rossignol Harmony 150. Not one of the recent models, but my partner’s older brother’s old board. One he bought second-hand around the year 2000. It’s so old, the bindings use a folded aluminium construction and don’t have ratchet levers on the toes. Come to think of it, the board is probably as old as my copy of Cool Boarders from my first Playstation. Anyway, on with the learning…

If my foray into teenage skateboarding is anything to go by, I should be Regular rather than Goofy so we’ll crack on like this. Starting with some heel edging, it feels OK even in choppy powder from last night’s fresh snowfall. A quick 180 jump and some toe edging feels OK too. I can’t believe that dryslope session thirteen years ago is coming back to me. Surely it’s just that edging is fairly easy if you already slide down the mountain in various forms. Time to up the bar. Some heel edge traversing and braking – no problem. Except I’m now heading to the side of the piste and not far from the drag lift. I’ll try a cheeky 180 jump and then do some toe edge traversing and braking back the other way. Not bad. Stack count: zero. Not sure how long this will last – it’s time to try linking turns.

So I started thinking about the dynamics of sliding turn. On skis, I’d ease the pressure from the uphill edges, bring my weight (and knees) central and towards the front of the skis and stand up to make the skis start to straighten and run down the slope. Once running down, I’d ease my weight slightly rearward and ease my knees (and weight) in the direction I’d like to turn. The board is different, but should act like a lone ski. I’m at ninety degrees to my usual attitude, but the laws of physics haven’t changed. Simply, if I put more pressure on the front foot as I level the board from heel edge to flat and then wait a short moment, the board should turn down the slope. Some subtle pressure onto the toe edge and sliding my rear foot round behind me should rotate the board onto the toe edge so I can control the speed. Here goes…

Phew! It turned. I’ve clearly rushed the second half and kicked my rear foot round hard, as the edge immediately started to slide. I slid down the slope a couple of feet with a bit of a wobble, but I’m still standing. Let’s try the other way… Good, that was easier. Scarier, but definitely easier. Some blind faith is essential to lean backwards without eyes in the back of my head, but a few more of these and I’ll take the chairlift up to try my first blue piste.

If comfortable boots are, so far, the best bit to riding on the darkside, approaching the chairlift is definitely the worst. With my entry-level speed on approach, the flat section means that awful, unstrap-and-skate thing. Yes, the one I usually snigger at as I glide in on my well-waxed skis with an occasional pole-push. Well, now I’m on the other side of fence. The front binding angle is clearly a compromise. Mine is currently very much across the board and skating is difficult. Twisted-chairlift-seating discomfort is just one area I’m not enjoying and the concentration needed to exit the chair gracefully and standing up is pretty intense!

Anyway, this is getting long so I’ll sign off, but the first day had one good run down the blue. Some nice linked turns, keeping it slow and trying not to catch an edge on the slow flat stuff went pretty well, but I’ve definitely taken a few quick tumbles. I’ve also learned how to sit-drop quickly when I lose balance to minimise the impact of bum on snow. Let’s see how the next time goes…

NF