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HISTORY You’ve got to know where you’ve come from to know where you’re going, right? With that in mind, here’s a (very) short history of snowboarding, the activity that tried to become a sport... but had too much fun, and became a way of life instead. Nobody knows for sure who first had the bright idea to strap themselves sideways to a sled/ski/lunch tray, but we do know that by the late sixties a kid’s toy called a Snurfer was attracting a following of adult enthusiasts in the USA. Over the next decade pioneers like Jake Burton, Dimitri Milovich and Tom Sims all contributed to the Snurfer’s evolution, and by the early eighties key elements such as steel edges, highback bindings and sidecut were in place. Soon, a rapid influx of skateboarders were strapping in and taking their skills to legendary spots like the Tahoe City Halfpipe, and freestyle was born. Snowboarders quickly earned a reputation for hell-raising, skier-snowboarder tensions rose, and the ski establishment responded by banning it on many mountains. This of course made snowboarding more popular than ever, and
Halfpipe
through the eighties the sport spread like fluorescent pink wildfire across the globe. Freestyle took a little longer to catch on here in Europe, where steeper mountains and riders coming from a ski background meant hard boots and bindings dominated for longer, which led to the Americans laughing at our ‘crazy Euro style’ for a while. By the start of the ‘90’s, it was our turn to laugh when a young Norwegian kid called Terje Haakonsen came out of nowhere to completely re-define freestyle snowboarding, winning contests and inventing new tricks faster than anyone could count them. As the nineties progressed, equipment evolved further, more resorts opened their doors to snowboarders, and boardercross joined halfpipe and dual slalom as the
The original ‘freestyle’ terrain, the halfpipe originated from skateboarding and is basically two facing transitions on a downhill slope, where the rider pulls a sequence of tricks until he or she reaches the end. Get good at this and you can go to the Olympics...
Quarterpipe
Half a halfpipe... a quarter faces up the mountain and allows the rider to hit the transition straight-on with lots of speed, so it’s great for big, big airs.
latest competition discipline. Meanwhile, filmmakers like Mike Hatchett and Mack Dawg were creating backcountry superstars, far away from the contest circuit. The sport was evolving fast, and as it did so, many riders became increasingly specialized in order to keep progressing. When Halfpipe made its debut as an Olympic discipline in Nagano in 1998, it signaled a new era: snowboarding was finally accepted as a ‘real’ sport, operating under the control of the international ski federation (FIS). Meanwhile Terje, the number one contender for gold, refused to compete in a ski event, keeping the spirit of rebellion alive... nice. By the turn of the millennium, snowboarding was officially the fastest growing sport in the US, and also one of the most
Straight jump
Also referred to as kickers and tabletops, this comes in all shapes and sizes, and is the staple of the snowpark: a wedge, a flat ‘table’, and a landing. Come up too short to reach the sweet spot of the landing, and you’ll hit the ‘knuckle’... not a good idea.
Hip
dangerous: riding powder is so easy on a snowboard that riders with zero experience were heading off-piste and getting buried on a regular basis. On both sides of the Atlantic, resorts were climbing over each other to attract new business, while at the same time trying to keep this new business from dying in avalanches, or ruining Mr and Mrs Skier’s holiday with their bad language and ‘bad boy’ attitude. The answer was simple: build them a snowpark. And that brings us nicely up to the present day, where every resort worth it’s salt has a snowpark, and slopestyle is the event of choice for the modern ripper.
Also known as a corner, this is a jump with the landing placed on a 90° angle, the benefit being that you can go as fast/high as you like, and provided you take the right line you’ll always hit the sweet spot on the landing.
Jibs
A general term for all the different obstacles that are built for sliding down and riding up, and include boxes, rails, wall rides, picnic tables, oil drums... and so on.
THE BASICS S
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The way you attach yourself to your board is maybe the biggest single factor affecting how you ride, and your overall style. Here are a few pointers to make sure you’re not hindering your progress with a wack stance. Stance Angles Over the last few years, stance angles have settled into two general categories: forward and duck. Forward stance means both bindings have a positive angle, while duck stance means the back foot has a negative angle, and the feet point in opposing directions. In a nutshell, forward stance is better if you don’t ride switch much – a freerider, and duck works best if you want to ride switch – a freestyler. Specific angles are really down to you to experiment with, but if you’re looking for a good place to start, try 0° back, 21° front. Overall, it’s good to keep your feet at around 18°-24° apart (it’s better for your knees). Stance Width Too narrow, and your balance and style will suck. Too wide, and your knees won’t work properly. A little wider than your shoulders is a good start, or measure the distance from the top of your shin to the floor and go from there. Set-back and Centred Stance This is completely down to personal preference, but a few general rules apply. A centred stance suits a rider who sticks mainly to the park and rides switch a lot, while a set back stance suits an all-rounder who wants to be ready for powder when they find it. Stance Centering A common mistake people make is fixing their binding exactly centred on the board, without checking how this affects their heel and toe overhang. If your feet are not centred over the board, you’ll find yourself with toe/heel drag, and uneven pressure on your edges. Forward Lean How much you tilt your highbacks forward affects your riding style too. Lots of lean makes your board very responsive, while less makes for a more relaxed ride. Generally, pipe riders prefer more lean, rail riders less. Highback Rotation Another useful bit of fine-tuning is to rotate your highback so it is parallel to the heelside edge. This makes heelside turns work better, and allows more freedom of movement for tweaks.
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A Beginners guide to trick calling Once you understand the fundamentals, figuring out the trick you just saw someone do is actually a pretty logical process, based on listing the component parts of the trick. Working out a trick done on a jump will be based on one or more of the following: direction, rotation, grab. For grabs, see the following page.
Direction
How you normally ride. Regular = left foot forward. Goofy = right foot forward. Switch = The opposite to how you normally ride. Frontside / Backside = the direction you turn in. Turning heelside as you take off so that you are facing forwards is frontside, turning toeside so that your back faces the direction you are going is backside.
Rotation
Amount: 180, 360, 540, 720, 900, 1080… the amount you rotate. One full rotation is 360. Type: the axis on which the body rotates: either a horizontal ‘flat’ spin, an off-axis ‘corked’ spin, or a completely inverted ‘flip’ where the rider includes a full frontflip or backflip.
Trick Names & Terms (jumps)
Sometimes a trick name is a straight description i.e. frontside 360 tailgrab. Sometimes a name is given to a specific trick i.e. an inverted backside 540 mute grab in the pipe is a McTwist. Tweak:To push one leg out straight – front leg nosebone, back leg tailbone Alley-oop: Frontside rotation on a backside wall or vice-versa Backside/frontside Rodeo: 540 merged with a backflip Half Cab/ Cab 3/5/7/9/10: Short for Caballerial, after skater Steve Caballero. Used when describing all fakie to backside rotations (switch frontside).
What is blindside? All tricks where you are facing away from the direction you are travelling or rotating. A backside 180 is a blindside trick, whereas a frontside 180 is not. What is the difference between fakie and switch? Very little. This is basically a distinction that affects the way you name the trick. Fakie is riding backwards in your normal stance, while switch is riding forwards in the opposite stance.
Jibbing
Most jib tricks involve sliding along a rail, box or ledge of some description. The key to spotting a rail trick lies in the way the rider gets on the rail, and which part of the board is sliding. Every trick has its frontside or backside version, but unlike jumps, it’s pretty complicated to figure out which is which. Some Jib Tricks Bonk: Tapping the obstacle with nose or tail Fastplant: planting rear foot on obstacle midway through a jump 50-50: both feet directly over rail 5-0: like 50-50, but front foot is lifted off rail Nosepress: like 50-50, but rear foot is lifted off rail Boardslide: board at 90° to rail, rider centred over rail Lipslide: like boardslide, but rider jumps on from opposite side of rail Noseslide: like boardslides, but rider balanced over the nose Tailslide: like lipslides, but rider balanced over the tail
Grabs and tweaks f with Mi ni Karp
As soon as your board leaves the snow, you are getting air. And as soon as you are getting air, you are ready to grab your board. To the stupid/uneducated, grabbing a board that you are already strapped to seems pointless and unnecessary. But when we take a look at the origins of grabs, it soon becomes clear that without them, we’d all be into lycra, dual slalom, and calling it ‘skiboarding’. Like many good things, grabs originate from skateboarding, where riders would grab to hold their feet to their board while performing aerial moves. As time went by, skaters injected their own style by experimenting with different kinds of grab and body position. Later, when skaters started snowboarding, they soon began performing the same moves. So there you go: cross-pollination. Skateboarders brought their unique style to snowboarding, and saved us from the ski influence in the process.
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Not only do grabs and tweaks look good, they also have a function. Grabbing your board helps to stabilise your body in the air, and tweaks can be used to control rotation. They are your friend. Use them well. Forget about exotic moves like Taipans, Chicken Salads and Rockets for now, here are the most common grabs and tweaks. ILLUSTRATION SHOWS REGULAR STANCE
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Tindy, Tailfish, Nute... all of these ‘in between’ grabs are ugly as hell and only to be done in an ironic way, after you have mastered the standards.
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Ollies with Ni co Dr oz
Like skateboarding, the ollie is the basic trick that a lot of other tricks are based on, so it’s important to get this right before you take on harder moves. Ollieing is what gives you control and pop on jumps, and it’s pretty useful for jumping over fallen skiers and small children. It’s basically a jump where you lift the nose and spring off the tail.
REGULAR STANCE
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HOW HARD?
• Ride along with your weight centred over your board. • As you get closer to the thing you want to jump over, move your weight over the back leg a little bit • Bend your knees, ready to jump • Push off your back foot, and at the same time pull up your front leg • Jump upwards and forwards, bringing your weight back over the centre of your board • Suck the board up under you and level it out in the air • And then open up again, ready to land • Land it, then look for something bigger to ollie over…
REGULAR STANCE
HOW HARD?
• Get up early, that’s when you get the best corduroy (groomed piste) • Find a smooth, even slope, not too steep. Preferably leading into a wide, flat area. • Do a few smooth carving turns to get into the flow
Eurocarve el with Er ic Th em
• When you see the flat section, straight- line it to pick up as much speed as you can handle. • Keeping your body and legs as straight as possible, lean into a smooth toeside carve. • With your shoulders facing forwards, extend your trailing arm out ahead of you. • Keep leaning until your body is almost flat against the snow, your hand stretched out and skimming the piste. • As you slow down, suck your knees up into your body and use your remaining speed to get back upright and complete the turn.
Originated by the hard-booters of the eighties and perfected by French racer/ freerider Serge Vitelli (also known as a V-turn), this is the ultimate show-off move to do on a freshly groomed piste. The Eurocarve is basically a toeside carving turn pushed to the limit. It’s fun to learn, simple to do, and all about style mixed with a big spoonful of irony. American’s don’t seem to understand why they are so funny, hence the name...
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Frontside out butter 180 li bab ic with San i A
Butter is the general term for changing direction by leaning onto your nose or tail, and sliding the board around on a pivot. The most basic version is a frontside 180 over the nose. Once you have these mastered, there are lots of variations to try, like this one, which is an ollie into the butter, with another 180 out.
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REGULAR STANCE
HOW HARD?
• When you have ollies and frontside 180 nose butters figured out, you can combine them here. • Approach a flat patch of snow at a slow pace. • Pop a small ollie off the heel edge, at the same time turning your shoulders frontside and scooping the board around. • Turn at least 90 degrees in the air, aiming for 180.
Tip: This is basically a frontside 360 broken down into two parts: think of it as a hop from the back foot to the front foot to both feet, while doing a full turn.
• Land on the front foot, with all your weight over the nose. If necessary, pivot round to complete the 180. • Holding the tail off the ground, slide backwards keeping balance using your arms and looking down at the nose.. • Slowly continue to rotate your head and shoulders, then pop off your front foot. • Quickly hop the board around 180° to face forwards, and ride away.
Shifty’s
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Tip
A Shifty is when you push (shift) your board in the opposite direction to your shoulders, either in a frontside or backside direction, or both (shifty-shifty). Done as a straight air or as part of a rotation, it’s a great way to add extra style to a trick, and shows full control. It’s also sometimes used to get a trick back under control after you’ve lost it...
REGULAR STANCE
HOW HARD?
• Approach the jump as you would a straight air: looking forward, shoulders parallel to the board. • Ollie off the lip, and start to bone your front leg off to the side. • At the same time, turn your shoulders in the opposite direction, forwards with a bs shifty, twisting at the waist. • Keep facing forwards, while fully extending the front leg and holding the board at 90 degrees. • As the landing approaches, unwind at the waist, pull back your board to face forwards, and land.
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The frontside 180 is usually the first rotational move you learn. It is probably the easiest because very little rotation is needed, and you remain facing forwards at all times.
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REGULAR STANCE
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HOW HARD?
• Approach the kicker straight, flat on your base, with a little pressure on the heel edge. • As you take off, start to slowly turn your shoulders frontside, to face forwards. • At the same time, suck your knees up into your body, and grab frontside, boning out your front leg for style. Hold that pose as you slowly drift around. • As you reach the peak of your jump, your body should be at 90° and you will already have spotted the landing. • If you need to stall the rotation, tweak it a little harder. • Keeping your eye on the landing zone, slowly turn your shoulders to complete the rotation, extend your legs, and land fakie.
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Backside 180’ li bab ic with San i A
It might be a basic trick, but the backside 180 is one of the absolute classic moves, and a favourite of pretty much every pro rider. Why? Because it is one long, slow, blindside rotation that feels amazing, and, when done properly, looks amazing too. The key to this move is letting your body feel the rotation, and staying smooth off the takeoff.
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REGULAR STANCE
HOW HARD?
• Approach the kicker slightly faster than you would a straight air. • Keep your shoulders parallel to the board, and ride straight up the kicker, flat on the base, with just a little pressure on the toe edge to keep you stable. • As you take off, slowly turn your head and shoulders backside, and do a small ollie. • Once you have taken off, you should be turning slowly, leaning slightly forwards, and looking down at the ground. Bring your legs up into your body and grab Indy. • If your balance feels right, at 90° push your front leg out in front of you for the tweak. • Keep looking down and between your legs for the landing. • Release the grab as late as you can, and get ready for touchdown. • Land, turn your head to face down the hill, and ride away switch.
s ’ 0 6 3 e d i s k c a B Jo n es with Je n ny
Pulling your first 360 is one of those sweet moments you’ll remember forever – now you’re a freestyler! Most riders learn the backside version first: it’s easier to initiate the rotation and spot the landing. Once you have them locked in, backside three’s feel great: some riders never feel the need to learn another move, while many pros use it as their ‘safety’ trick for the rest of their career.
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GOOFY STANCE
HOW HARD?
• Approach the jump with a little more speed than you would a straight air, slightly on your heel edge. • As you ride up the kicker, switch from your heel to your toe edge. • As you take off, drop and turn your head and shoulders back towards the jump, and pop off your back foot, • While your head and leading arm are leading the rotation, drop your trailing arm, pull up your knees, and grab Indy. • Once you have completed the first 180°, you’ll already be able to see the landing. Keep looking over your trailing shoulder to the landing. • As your board reaches 270°, release the grab, complete the rotation, and land.
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GOOFY STANCE
HOW HARD?
• Ride towards your kicker/windlip/pile of snow. • Commitment is the key: start throwing yourself backwards as your front foot leaves the lip. • Pop hard off the tail, leaning backwards as you take off, and throw your head back to initiate the flip. • Pull your knees up into your body, and grab – Indy or Melon are easiest. • Keep looking upwards, staying tucked until you can see the ground. • Now you should be able to work out how much air time you’ve got to complete the rotation. Let go of the grab, open up your body to complete the rotation, and land.
Backflips Vale ntan with Tad ej
The backflip is the ultimate ‘crowd pleaser’ trick. Very impressive to look at, and really not that hard – it just takes plenty of balls to try it. Difficulty-wise, it’s about the same as a 360, yet even some pros admit they can’t (or won’t) do them. The main reason for learning backflips is that they are really fun to do on small, steep jumps.
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s ’ 0 6 3 e d i s t n Fro Droz with N ico
Like the backside 180, the frontside 3 is a classic: a trick that you can learn early on, and spend the rest of your life trying to perfect… Done well, it’s one of the most stylish moves in the book: done badly, it’s one of the ugliest. Frontside three’s are more tricky than backside because they are a blindside rotation.
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REGULAR STANCE
HOW HARD?
• Approach the kicker straight on, slowly leaning into a heelside edge as you approach the lip. • As you reach the lip, turn your head and shoulders frontside, to begin the rotation. Pop off the heelside edge. • As you take off, quickly pull the board up into your body, grabbing your toe edge between your knees with the back hand. • As you rotate, keep looking in the direction you are going. If you feel you are spinning slowly, stay tight. If not, bone out your front leg to slow the rotation. • After 270°, start looking down between your feet to spot your landing and stall the rotation. Get ready to land. • Let go of the grab at the last possible moment, and bring your board around the last 90 degrees. • Land as flat on your base as possible, turn your head to look down the landing, and ride away.
50-50’s Jo n es with Je n ny
To the rookie park rider, rails and boxes are the scariest thing ever. But don’t worry, they aren’t half as dangerous as they look. Most snowparks have at least one small, wide box for you to build confidence on, and master the basics. The 50-50 is one of the building blocks of jibbing, and describes riding along an obstacle with both feet directly over the rail. It’s usually the first thing you will try on a jib, as you are basically just riding over it.
GOOFY STANCE
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HOW HARD?
• The most important thing is to be balanced on the take-off, so check the run-in and kicker is flat and smooth. • Approach the obstacle with medium speed, and an “I can do this” attitude. • Keep your shoulders parallel to the board, and ride straight towards the box – no speed checking. • At the take-off, pop a small ollie, just high enough to make it onto the box. • Land on the box and focus on the end, this will help you reach it! • Relax, knees bent, and keep your shoulders parallel to the rail. This will keep you straight. • Lift your nose slightly as you ride off the end, and land centred and flat on your base.
Bomb Drops na Li g o cka with Pau li
A Bomb drop basically means dropping from a stationary standing position to the ground below. As well as being fun and challenging, they also come in handy if you ever find yourself stuck above a rock band in the backcountry. Or in a burning building. REGULAR STANCE
HOW HARD?
• Find a good spot: make sure the ledge you are standing on is stable and has some traction, so you don’t slip as you jump off. Also make sure the landing has a little transition to land in. • Look down and focus on the spot you’re aiming for. Visualise the take-off, drop, and landing. • Get down low, lean a little bit forward, and push equally off both feet. • Pull your feet up into your body, keeping your eyes on the landing spot at all times, and grab. • As you’re coming in towards the landing, extend legs to meet the ground, and get ready to absorb the shock of landing flat. • Land, soak up the impact, and ride away.
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REGULAR STANCE
Boardslides lz m os er with Li sa Fi
HOW HARD?
Boardslide To Fakie
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• Approach the box straight on, or slightly from the side on your heel edge – whichever feels more comfortable.
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• Pop a small ollie, and turn your whole body 90 degrees to face the rail. eigh
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• Land on the box with your board at 90°, body facing forwards, weight centred over the box. • Look down the rail for the end, and relax your upper body. • If you turned a full 90° jumping on, as you reach the end your body will naturally want to keep turning in the same direction.
Once you have 50-50’s wired, it’s time to turn the board around 90 degrees and start sliding that bad boy like a real snowboarder... The boardslide is actually easier to come out of fakie, so that’s what we’re doing here.
• Sliding off the rail, slide the tail around to forwards and ride out fakie. REGULAR STANCE
HOW HARD?
Boardslide (not pictured)
Coming out of a boardslide forwards or backwards is controlled by your shoulders. Doing a regular boardslide is slightly more difficult: you have to keep your shoulders parallel to the box, turning more at the hip. This will help your board come away forwards again.
Rock to fakie Vale ntan with Tad ej
This is pretty much the first trick to try on a wall ride. You start out just sliding a little way, straight up and down. As your confidence increases, work up to the coping. Once you have it, try hitting the wall at a slight angle, and sliding along the coping.
GOOFY STANCE
HOW HARD?
• The most important thing is to get the speed right: enough to reach the coping, plus a little more to ‘rock’ your weight over the top. • Approach the wall flat on your base, and keep your eye on the coping. • As your foot passes the coping, start to straighten out your front leg. • Aim to stop with the middle of your board on the coping, then lean forward to rock over the top. • Keep your shoulders parallel to the board, and your eyes on your feet. • To complete the move, do everything in reverse, riding back down fakie. • Keep your eyes on your feet, and as soon as you touch the snow, turn your head to face the direction you’re travelling.
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Frontside boardslides are THE classic rail trick, reason being they are the simplest, most stylish way to get down a rail, period. As for difficulty... this is one to try when you’re comfortable with boardslides and nose slides.
REGULAR STANCE
HOW HARD?
Tip
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• Approach the rail straight on, or slightly from the side, shoulders parallel to the board. • As you reach the take-off, pop a small ollie, and focus on your landing point on the box. • Turn the board backside, aiming to land on the rail at 90°, while keeping your shoulders in line with the rail – basically like a backside shifty. • Land, weight centred over the board, or slightly more on the front foot. • Keep looking down the rail, at the same time tweaking the board in the opposite direction with your feet. • Keeping your head and shoulders facing down the rail will help your balance, and help you ride out clean. • As you leave the rail, counter-rotate your shoulders and hips to ride out facing forwards.
Dropping in na Li g o cka with Pau li
Tip
While not a trick as such, dropping in is one thing that has to be mastered before much progress is made: it is the key to understanding transition, and how it can give us extra speed. There are two ways to ride into a halfpipe – backside or frontside. First to learn is backside, because it’s a) easier, and b) sets you up for a frontside air on your first hit.
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REGULAR STANCE
HOW HARD?
The mistake most riders make is ‘dropping’ when they should be ‘riding’ into the transition. They jump away from the wall and land with a bump halfway down the transition, which puts them off balance and kills speed. • Select a spot without too much vert or bumps in the transition. • Ride along the lip to build up a little speed, and spot your entry point. • Lean into the pipe and pop a little ollie, pulling your knees up high to enter the pipe well tucked. • As soon as your weight is fully inside the pipe, extend your legs to meet the pipe wall. • Ride down the wall compact, and as you hit the transition, push with both feet to pump, then, staying on your toe edge, set up for a frontside air.
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Frontside Air lz m os er with Li sa Fi
The best thing about frontside airs is that they’re such an easy trick to learn, and once you’ve got them, you spend the rest of your life finding new ways to do them, new places to try them, and new heights to take them. Here, we have the frontside nosebone – the classic.
Tip
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REGULAR STANCE
HOW HARD?
• Decide your line on the flat bottom, and stick with it. Aim to leave the pipe at around 45° from vertical. • Approach the frontside wall with as much speed as you feel happy with. • Ride up the wall, weight over your toe edge, gradually becoming more flat on your base, and focus on the lip. • As you leave the pipe, pop a small ollie, turn your head and shoulders to face down the pipe, and pull your feet up in front of you. • Grab frontside, and straighten out your front leg. • Holding the tweak, start looking down at the lip, and get ready for re-entry. • Pull your front leg back in, and touch down on the pipe wall. Aim to land just below the lip. • Ride out flat-based, then quickly transfer to your heel-edge, ready to line up for the backside wall...
Like frontside’s, the backside air is a move you learn from day one, and spend the rest of your life refining and pushing. The Method air is basically a backside air with extra tweak – old school, but a timeless expression of style. Christian Hosoi perfected them in the eighties on a skateboard, Jamie Lynn did the same on snow in the nineties... and as soon as you’re getting some height, you’re ready to try them too. REGULAR STANCE
HOW HARD?
• Getting the line right in the flat bottom is the key to doing this trick right, so you don’t need to turn once you’re on the transition. • Head up the transition flat on your base, knees bent, with some weight on the heel edge. • If the pipe wall is not steep (under-vert), you need to ollie more off the lip. If it is close to vertical, just ride out without popping. • As the board leaves the lip, lean back a little, lift the nose and let the board come to your hand – don’t go to the board.
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Tip:
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• Grab the backside edge with your leading hand. If it feels right, tweak it out by pulling the board in with your hand, and pushing out the back foot. • Spot your landing. Pull your board back in underneath you, release the grab, and extend your legs to meet the top of the transition. • Land flat based with weight over your toe edge, and ride away clean.
Tip
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Layback slash em el with Er ic Th
One of the best things about being strapped to your board is the way it allows you to quickly pull surf and skate moves that would take skaters and surfers years to learn. The perfect example of this is the layback slash: frontside or backside, in the pipe or on a powder windlip, all you need to pull this off is a full tank of gas and some surf flicks playing in your head.
REGULAR STANCE
HOW HARD?
• Approach the frontside wall on your toeside edge, fast. • As you reach the vert section, lean backwards, and start to go into a heelside turn. • Drop your trailing hand backwards onto the snow, and at the same time push your back foot out in front of you, so that your board is at 90° and you are stretching out ahead of you, on the heel edge. • Tweak out the back leg for extra style. As you feel your speed go, dig in the heel edge and push with your arm to get back up over your board. • Ride back down the transition and switch back onto your toe edge.
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This is the first rotational move to learn in the pipe. It’s easy to do, because you can see where you’re going throughout, and you’re really only rotating 270°. Later, this will be a trick you use to set up for switch moves on the opposite wall, but for now try it as your last hit on the frontside wall.
Tip
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REGULAR STANCE
HOW HARD?
• The first part of this move is done exactly like a regular frontside air. • Ride up the wall, weight over your toe edge, gradually becoming more flat on your base, and focus on the lip. • As you leave the pipe, pop a small ollie, turn your head and shoulders to face down the pipe, a little more than with a regular air. • Grab. Frontside or Mute, however you feel more comfortable, while using the other arm to continue a slow rotation. • Holding the tweak, start looking down at the lip, and get ready for re-entry. • As you re-enter the pipe, quickly swing your tail around to re-enter fakie. • Ride out flat-based, then transfer to your toe-edge, ready to line up for the backside wall... switch.
Air to fakie n n Kar lss o with Ste fa
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The air to fakie is one of the basics of halfpipe riding, but it is also one of the hardest to do really well. They can be done on either wall, but most people start off with learning them on the frontside wall – although you will be flying blindside (back facing in the direction you are moving), it’s easier to control your takeoff. Start off small with an Indy grab, and as your confidence grows, aim bigger and go for the Melon (backside grab with a forward tweak) – the classic air to fakie style.
REGULAR STANCE
HOW HARD?
• Ride towards the frontside wall with as much speed as you feel happy with. • Ride up the wall, weight over your toe edge, gradually becoming flat on your base. It’s important to ride up the wall at the same angle as you would a regular frontside air – don’t go too straight up the wall, you’ll kill your speed. • As you leave the pipe, pop off your tail a little, more if the pipe is under vert. • Reach behind your front foot and grab backside. When you have the grab, bone out your front leg into the platform. • While you are in the air, You’re basically travelling blindside – keep looking down between your legs at the coping to stay on track. • Touch down on your toe edge. As soon as you land, quickly turn your head to set up for the next wall.
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