After going up and down the bunny hill a few hundred times or so, hopefully you have made it to the bottom of the beginner’s area and not fallen at least one time.  If you have a problem with habitual falling, maybe an adjustment to your equipment is needed.  Make sure your bindings are on tight enough, but not too tight and that you are centered correctly on the board.  Many beginners start with their front and back bindings at 0 degrees, but a better setting would be with your lead foot at a slight angle, like around 15 degrees or so and your rear foot at 0 degrees or so.  This way, you can utilize your back foot as a sort of rudder until you get the hang of it.  This is not a technique that you want to make a habit of, but when you are starting out, I figure that someone should try whatever will work until they being linking turns and consistently staying up.

OK, also I should mention that it may not take some of you and few hundred trips up and down the bunny hill to be able to make your first turns.  If this is you and you feel secure doing so, move onto lesson four, in which we’ll discuss the lift and the intricacies of riding it correctly. It’s important to note that bunny hills are not exclusive to intermediate and advanced runs. Nowadays, rope tows are not as common as they once were; it could be insurance or the fact that they do take some practice to master, but if you feel secure in taking the lift, bottom line, feel free to go for it.  Just be sure to read lesson four before you try and jump on the lift for the first time.

In snowboarding, some of us will catch on sooner than others; it’s like riding a bike though, so there is no exact learning curve.  I’ve known people who linked turns on their first day and others who took seasons to get it right, but who then went on to have a promising career as a semi-professional snowboarder(yours truly).

Assuming that we are still on the bunny hill, the most important advice I can give is to stick with it if you are having a rough time.  Just be sure that you are 100% committed to doing the best you can each time you try.  I recently heard a professional coach tell his team that “practice does not make perfect…  Perfect practice makes perfect.”  This means that when you make your mistakes on the hill, take your lumps, learn from what you did wrong (or right), remember this lesson and move on.  Don’t take it too hard if you are struggling.

There are some things you can do off the hill to continue practicing, especially in the Summer months.  One of the best ways is to stay in shape-particularly your “core muscles” meaning your abdominals and lower back muscles.  If you are in good shape, crunches, pull ups and good old pushups will help a lot.  If you have the cash, go ahead and invest in a longboard style skateboard.  Another avenue would be looking into a specialized board that replicates the movements that are made on the mountain; these are produced by companies like Flow Snowboards http://www.flow.com/.  Yet another is a balance board like the ones manufactured by Vew-Do who can be found at http://www.vewdo.com/.  Those guys rock-I met them way back in the day and they still offer a rock-solid product.  An hour a week will really help to strengthen your muscles and keep you primed for the season.

If you are strapped for cash, try watching some old “snowboard porn”; many old tapes or DVD’s of pro athletes snowboarding can be found at thrift stores or via rental at your local shop.  While it’s important to develop your own style, a lot can be learned simply by watching old tape.

Bottom line, just keep at it and soon you will be on the lift, which will be discussed in our next thrilling chapter.