Nothing can compare to snowboarding on fresh powder on a beautiful sunny day. This is not to say that you don’t need to safety conscious when out riding on your snowboard. This article mentions a few safety tips for when you’re out there on the mountains.

Looking for signs of past events is part of planning your route down a mountain safely, and is an important skill to practice. Anytime there is a huge avalanche, you hear about it on the news. The news stories do a good job of showing how devastating and unforgiving this natural disaster can be. What you may not realize is that a small avalanche can kill you just as easily as a big one. It’s really about experience when it comes to reading your routes. It’s also not the easiest skill to acquire either, but it’s not something you should ignore. It can be difficult to detect the variations in the terrain but you need to learn to study them. Doing so can show you potential hazards as well as signs of past damage to trees. Neglecting you equipment is a mistake, maintain your snowboard gear properly and inspect it regularly as every part is critical to safe snowboarding. Head to your local snowboard shop to get it checked out and services regularly.

For beginner snowboarders, be smart and get some lessons before you go out tearing it up. Learn from a very experienced buddy or a professional snowboard instructor. This is one of the cleverest things you can ever do. Think about wanting to learn the proper way to snowboard from the start because if you don’t, then you are actually putting yourself in some extent of harm’s way because you’re possibly performing a move inappropriately. Check out your first snowboard lesson online here by reading our article about the parts of a snowboard.

Obviously like any sport especially extreme sports, you can’t stop all of the potential injuries from happening while you are snowboarding, but you can do your best to prevent a lot of them.

It usually just depends on where you are snowboarding. If you’re out in the back-country, then you need to take extra precautions for obvious reasons. If something happens you might be all by yourself. Going out snowboarding alone (which is absolutely not recommended) is not a good idea as it invites extreme risks. So, give some thought to what you’re doing and where you’re going.

Over the past few years, signal snowboards have been commited to their brand, they have spent their time building snowboards, snowboarding and filiming their own show on the third thursday of every month. Even though they have been busy with all this other stuff going on Signal snowboards have just finished finalizing their new website. Check it out at signalsnowboards.com.

One of the questions a lot of beginner snowboarders ask is, what is the correct way to stand on a snowboard?

There are two possible answers to this question, one refers to how your body should be positioned when snowboarding, and the other refers to how your snowboard bindings should be set up on your snowboard.

How should I stand when I’m snowboarding?

When snowboarding, your back should be upright with your knees bent, you should try to make sure that your arms are almost always parallel to your snowboard, (One of the worst things you can do as a beginner is twist the top half of your body, this will only make things more difficult). You should also ensure that your head is up and you are looking where you are going at all times. Your arms should be down by your sides and you should have an even pressure on both of your feet so that you are standing centrally over your snowboard. We call this your basic snowboard stance and you can find out more about this by reading our article about how to stand on a snowboard.

How should my bindings be set up on my snowboard?

All i can do is explain to you why I set my bindings up in the snowboard stance that I use and you can make your own decisions from this…

• I ride a twin-tip snowboard so my snowboard can be ridden either way around. It is for this reason that I set up my snowboard stance so that both of my bindings are equal distances from each end of my snowboard. I also put my bindings as far apart from each other as I can (using the threads in the snowboard that are closest to the nose and tail). I do this because I find that a wider snowboard stance can help you to bend your knees, and a lower centre of gravity will mean better balance. Obviously you do not want your snowboard bindings so wide that you are nearly doing the splits, I would suggest them being just over shoulder width apart. There is no wrong or right way to set up your snowboard bindings for a perfect snowboard stance, it all comes down to personal preference. Every snowboarder will tell you to set your bindings up in a certain

• Each snowboard binding can be positioned at a variety of angles. There is no perfect angle to set your bindings at to achieve the perfect snowboard stance however, from my experience, having both bindings slightly duck footed seems to be the most preferred position. By pointing both snowboard bindings outwards, you will be forced to keep your knees apart from each other which will in turn help you to bend your knees and improve that centre of gravity. This snowboard stance will also be of an advantage to you when you become more experienced and start to learn to snowboard in switch.

Sierra has to be one of my favourite resorts around Lake Tahoe in California. After speaking to a few local snowboarders, it was obvious that this was the snowboard resort that most riders that lived in and around Lake Tahoe loved to shred with their mates.

Why is Sierra so popular amongst snowboarders in Lake Tahoe? Yes, Sierra at Lake Tahoe gets a very decent snow fall with around 480 inches of fresh snow a year it also offers state-of-the-art terrain parks and wind protected slopes, but it isn’t these factors which make snowboarding in Sierra so brilliant. There is something about the authenticity of snowboarding in this resort, it is very calm and laid back which is how a snowboard resort is supposed to be. Sierra offers true Californian snowboarding at it’s best.

Another reason that I love snowboarding in Sierra so much is the fact that the resort can be very quiet, especially during weekdays. Most holiday companies that offer holidays in the Lake Tahoe area, will provide hotels in the more commercial areas like Heavenly Snowboard Resort although they will offer trips to resorts like Sierra. The fact that the resorts is reasonable quiet compared to others is probably another reason why local snowboarders favour this snowboard resort.

As a whole I would say that Sierra snowboard resort is best suited to intermediate and advanced snowboarders. The main beginner run can get very busy during the weekends and if you want to learn to snowboard then this resort is not one of the best. The other runs around the Sierra resort are relatively steep and are not ideal for amateur snowboarders but perfect for the more experienced snowboarders.

The terrain parks are very well groomed and very quiet, we spent a day snowboarding in the half pipe at Sierra and I think at one point in the day there were 4 other people riding the pipe with me, the rest of the time there were fewer snowboarders than this. One of the great things about the half pipe at Sierra is the Chair lift which runs directly above the pipe making it easy to access and rid for a whole day.

So if you are planning to visit Lake Tahoe and are reasonably experienced on your snowboard, then Sierra is a snowboard resort you just have to visit, talk to your rep about the day trips to Sierra or even rent your own car, you won’t be disappointed.

The all new ThirtyTwo website is now online.

Take a look at the new snowboard boots and other snowboard clothing that you could be shredding in this snowboard season. With only a few months to go until the season really kicks off, now’s your chance to grab your new seasons snowboard kit while you’ve got the money.

Head on over to the ThirtyTwo Website here to check out the 2010/2011 range.

Special Blend, one of the best snowboard clothing and Apparel companies in our opinion, has released their 2010/2011 range of outerwear and apparel.

Special Blend are market leaders when it comes to innovation and style, with a range of different styles to suit all snowboarders. You can check out this seasons new gear here at…

special-blend.com

Ride snowboards are giving away this years 2010/2011 season snowboard gear for FREE.

All you have to do is register and then search the internet like you would normally do, different searches will generate different point scores and you could be in with a chance of winning some really great prizes (including this years ride DH), just by doing what you would normally do anyway.

If you fancy some free snowboard gear, then give it a go by registering here…

http://ride.searchpw.com/refer/etannoom

A brand new SnowboardRespect.com Facebook account has now been added,

You can view our facebook profile here…  Snowboard Respect Facebook Profile

Please feel free to add us as a friend. What are you waiting for!!!!

Neff have produced the first ever hoodie with an interchangeable front pocket.

Now one snowboard hoodie can be transformed in to many different looks and designs by simply unzipping the front pocket of the hoodie and attaching  a pocket with a different design.

You can check out the new hoodies here… http://www.neffheadwear.com/category/blog

When learning to heel edge side slip on your snowboard, a reasonably short slope that is of a shallow gradient would be an ideal location for practicing.

You will need to start by strapping on to your snowboard at the top of the hill while sitting facing down the slope with your snowboard positioned horizontally across the slope in front of you.

Once you are strapped on to your snowboard you will probably need a mate to give you a hand getting up on to your feet. As your mate pulls you up, get them to rest their foot underneath the front of your snowboard near to your toe edge. As long as you mate’s wearing snowboard boots too, it won’t hurt them a bit. Once you are up and resting on your mates snowboard boot, it is at this point that you can begin to concentrate on standing in your basic snowboard stance.

Now you’re standing in the correct position, your aim is to keep your toe edge raised off of the floor at all times and keep your heel edge dug into the slop as you travel at a slow but steady speed down the slope in front of you. Ask your mate to remove their foot from under the toe edge of your snowboard. Once the foot is removed, try to keep your toe edge raised off of the floor nice and high, you should find that you stay in the same position and don’t move anywhere.

By lowering your toe edge slightly, you should find that your start to “slip” down the slope. The higher you raise your toe edge, the slower your heel edge side slip will be, the more you lower the toe edge of your snowboard, the faster you will go. Be warned, if you lower your toe edge too much, it will catch the slope in front of you and throw you forward. The aim of a heel edge side slip is to travel and a slow and steady speed down the slope at about walking pace.

The first few times you try this, get your mate to guide you down the slope by holding onto your hands while your arms are right out in front of you. As you become more confident, try it from the top of the same slope again but get your mate to only hold on to one of your hands. When you think you are ready, try giving it a go on your own from the top and keep practicing until you are happy that you can now perform a heel edge side slip on a snowboard every time.

Things to remember when heel edge side slipping on a snowboard…

• Stand in your basic snowboard stance
• Keep your arms as still as possible (moving your arms around will make this even more difficult, try to stand as still as you can on your snowboard)
• Make sure you keep your head up (it is very tempting and very easy to get into the habit of looking at your feet)
• Maintain an even pressure over both feet (try not to lean over the nose or tail of your snowboard)
• Try to travel at a constant walking speed down the slope

If you have any questions please feel free to leave a comment.