Tutor - First Morning (trotting)

Different Schools

Some schools of thought recommend starting immediately with both feet in the bindings (SSBS,JS). Other schools (FFS) recommend starting on the flat with only the front foot in the binding, and the rear foot loose.

Our recipe

Our experience has lead to the following recipe. Other schools may differ slightly:

1. On the flat, both feet in :
   1. Standing (Balance exercises): Touch the front of your board. Touch the back of your board. Touch the snow at each side of your board.
   2. Getting up (easy): Kneel down. Stand up.
   3. Getting up (difficult): Sit down. Stand up. Many students cannot do this. Try to think of an imaginary rail in front of you which you reach out and grab with your rear hand as you try to get up. If the student cannot get up from the sitting down position, show them how to roll over to change from the sit-down position to the kneeling position.
2. On the flat, One (Front) foot in: walk around. Skate and slide like a skateboard. Weight on front foot.
3. Front foot in : Straight run. Climb up on almost flat terrain. Push off. Glide straight down to a natural stop. Weight on front foot.
4. Front foot in: Direction change While doing straight run, with weight on front foot, look and point with front hand in the direction you want to turn.
   1. Left turn: Imagine you are opening a door to the left and you will turn left.
   2. Right turn: Imagine your are opening a door to the right and you will turn right.

   Note that we do not yet differentiate between regular/goofy and frontside/backside turns, although the instructor is free to do so. All these maneuvres should end in a natural stop. If the turning motion is not working - imagine the door is heavy and requires two hands to open!

5. Lift (front foot in): Watch people get on. Talk about getting off. Just do a straight run or slight direction changes as before as you get off. Lean forward.
6. Both feet in. Side slip:. Straight down on heal edge or toe edge. Need a moderate incline. Balance wait over edge. Smooth changes. Slide evenly - like spreading peanut butter on bread. Stay on uphill edge.
7. Garland (Godilles): Move across the hill. Stay on uphill edge. Look up hill to slow down, look down hill to speed up. Do not make a full turn (edge change). Go across the hill, sit down, flip over, do on other edge. This is the best way to learn - teaches turning with out massive speed build up in that no-mans land between turns

What not to do

As a beginner you should:

• Never start immediately from the top of a piste without having tried the board on the flat.
• Never apply the one foot method on a long incline - it may lead to injury,
• Never lean backwards!