5 Things to Try on Your Snowboard

8 June 2022

If you’re getting tired of your snowboarding being at the same level or doing the same thing every time you hit the slopes maybe it’s time to try something NEW…

Whatever our snowboarding level, here in the UK we’re spoilt with REAL SNOW indoor centre’s where we can practice our snowboard skills all year round, with our adult snowboarding lessons, especially on the summer’s quieter UK slopes which provides the perfect training ground for mastering new snowboard skills.

So, once you’ve bagged those turns, here’s 5 things you can try on your snowboard at your local indoor slope before the summer’s up so you can impress your friends on your next snowboard trip…

Penguin Walk

The ‘Penguin’ walk is a great way to move around on your snowboard without having to unstrap your feet from the board. You have to waddle the board side to side with your weight slightly lent forwards.

Carving

Carving on your snowboard is great fun and will take your riding to the next level, it means having the ability to tilt the board from edge to edge rather. At this stage in your snowboard journey, we’re using less of the base of the board and more edge to control speed and direction.

You can ease into this by trying to carve from one side of the piste to the other in between turns before linking them together.

Pop, Ollie and Nollie’s

This is the introduction to freestyle, you can do these on the flat parts of the slope to start, gradually progressing them onto the slope.

Start with a pop, you can do this by bending both knees and jumping into the air, lifting the board into the air and placing it back down all at the same time. The board must land all at the same time, not one side before the other.

Once you have mastered your pop move onto an Ollie, this is a great first trick to try on the slopes, this is where you will spring off the tail of your snowboard and into the air.

A Nollie is the complete opposite where you spring off the nose of your snowboard.

Freestyle

Once you’re a confident rider, you may be interested in getting into some freestyle and learning some more advanced tricks including learning how to hit a jump or kicker, ride a box, rail and so on.

The Snow Centre in Hemel Hempstead offer Freestyle Academy Sessions every Thursday, plus Give It A Go Freestyle Weekends which are perfect ways to start your Freestyle journey.

Grabs

Once you’re confident hitting a jump, you may want to start getting into grabbing the snowboard in the air, the name of the grab will depend on the area you grab and with which hand…

The most common and one of the easiest grabs to start with is a Nose Grab, whilst you are in the air grab the nose of the board with your front hand, or alternatively a Tail Grab where you would grab the tail of the board with your back hand.

There are also Indy Grabs, Melon Grabs and more, check out The Snow Centre’s Jargon Buster to read more!

Grab a Lift Pass or Monthly Pass at The Snow Centre to begin your summer snowboard practice, and try it first indoors