Skidded Turns And Beyond
By Jakob Jelling, Thu Dec 8th

For many beginners, learning to turn on a snowboard can berather challenging and unnerving. The reason for this is thatturning on a snowboard requires you to twist and turn is such away that you feel like you are going to fall. Of course turningis absolutely essential to riding a snowboard and the feeling ofloosing control goes away with time and practice.

A skidded turn and a linked skidded turn are one of the firstturns that you should learn. There are several ways to makethese turns on the slopes but the basics of the turns are thesame. A skidded turn is a turn preformed while your snowboard isskidding across the slope. This is very useful for slopes thatmay have hard packed snow or ice.

First lets look at performing a basic skidded turn. Beginpracticing your skidded turns on a slope that you arecomfortable with. Ride down the slope with your knees bentslightly and face your shoulders in the direction that you wishto travel. As you ride down the slope pick a point where youwill execute your turn. When you approach this point simply pushyour back leg out thus forcing your snowboard to skid along itsside down the hill. Now shift your weight onto your front footand you will begin to move in the direction that your snowboardis pointing.

While this is the basic procedure for a skidded turn, there aresome finer points to keep in mind that will almost seem likeanother technique. When you are skidding down a hill raising oneend of your snowboard to a higher angle than the other will alsomake it turn. The reason that this works is because the end ofyour snow board that has a higher angle will bite in to the snowa little harder than the other end thus

Savoie / Mont Pourri North west Face

Savoie / Val D Isere Face Du Charvet

Savoie / Val D Isere Tour Du Charvet

Hautes-Alpes / Serre Chevalier Off Piste

Isere-Drome / Dome De Pravouta

Isere-Drome / Col De La Lavey North

Isere-Drome / Grand Replomb by the br?e Ouest

Isere-Drome / Rochers Du Midi Via Sources Du Guiers

Isere-Drome / La Combe Du Giclas

Isere-Drome / les Illettes by the col de l'Aigleton

Isere-Drome / Dents De Bedina East Face

Isere-Drome / Cime De La Jasse

Hautes-Alpes / La Rouya North Couloir

Haute-Savoie / Pointe Du Midi South west Couloir

Isere-Drome / Grands Moulins South Face

Isere-Drome / Pic De Barlet North West Bowl

Jura / La Dole Figure Of Eight From La Cergue

Haute-Savoie / Point Du Midi Tour Of The Cu Deri

Jura / Pointe De Poele Chaud East Couloir

Haute-Savoie / Le Mole Normal Route

causing that end to slowdown and force the snowboard to rotate.

Another option that sometimes favored is the hip rotationtechnique. And begin by skidding down a hill. When you are readyto turn simply rotate your hips in the direction that you wishyour snowboard to rotate. Rotating your hips will naturallycause your body to shift its weight to accomplish the turn andpush the correct end of the snowboard in the direction that itneeds to go to turn.

Which method is more correct depends upon you and what you wishto get out of snowboarding. The easiest option is the third way,to rotate your hips. The most technical way that also builds upskill for other maneuvers is the second way. The key is to knowyour riding style and to get out there and try each method tosee what works for you.

When you are on the slopes practicing your turns you may alsowish to practice a linked skidded turn. A linked skidded turn isthe act of going from your skidded turn to another. Oneimportant point is to make sure that you allow a few seconds totravel before turning in the other direction. If you turn tooquickly you run the risk of catching the downhill edge of yoursnowboard and bailing very fast.

Learning and practicing skidded turns are an essentially part ofsnowboarding and depending upon the style you prefer may helpyou with other tricks that you will soon be learning. Try eachof the techniques mentioned here and learn to use each methodregardless of what your favorite method is. This extraexperience will make you more confident on the slopes and willround out your skills thus opening more doors later on when youare ready to try new tricks.

About the author:Jakob Jelling is the founder of http://www.snowboardinghelp.com.Please visit his website to discover the world of snowboarding!