Westbound Boarder

Broken bones suck.  A lot.  Especially when they’re your wrists (trust me, I know; I’ve broken mine twice!  Once while snowboarding, and once, well…  Remember this story?)

Snowboarding and falling pretty much go hand in hand, so here’s a little rule we learned a long time ago that just, well, stuck: Fall on your fists, not on your wrists.

OK, I’ll just come right out and say what I know you all are thinking - The best way to protect your wrists is to not fall at all!  Duh moments aside, I really believe that if you’re not falling while riding, at least a few times, then you’re not pushing yourself hard enough or stepping outside of your comfort zone.  After all, we all want to become better snowboarders, right?  But another part to becoming a good rider is knowing how to protect your body from injury, first and foremost. And your wrists are your most vulnerable body part, so its good to keep this little rule in mind when using your hands to keep you from hitting the ground.

So next time you fall, don’t just fall; fall with a goal in mind - to fall on your fists, and then to get up and do it all over again.  Oh, and not come out with a broken wrist in the process.