Westbound Boarder

This Saturday, we’ll ring in the New Year… but we still have four days to go until 2010 rolls downhill!  And to help send the two big 0′s out in style, we’ve put together the Westbound Boarder “Best Of” series – the “Best Of” 2010.  From snowboard tricks to, well, mustaches, our end of the year 2010 “Best Of” series is the product of careful contemplation, personal experience, hours of arguments and coin flips, and many Starbucks coffees.  But we’ve finally narrowed 2010′s “Best Of’s” into a few compact lists, which we’ll diligently share with you over the next couple of days.  2010, we’ll miss you, but hey, at least you’ll be remembered in style!

New Years is only four days away, which means you only have four days to master these tricks. These tricks are they perfect tricks to master in order to really progress in the park. Once you get these down, though, you’re sure to head into the new year trying feeling confident and willing to try even more.

1. Ollie: You really can’t go any further until you master the ollie.  As the core of all jumps, drops and rails the ollie is the bread and butter of your trick progression. To execute the ollie, you simply go off a kicker, lift and thrust your front foot, and let the rest of your body follow.
2. Indie Grab: Once you have the ollie down on your jumps, you’re finally ready to move on to bigger and better things – enter, the “grab” (hey, gotta start somewhere!)  The indie (aka, where your trailing hand grabs right between your feet, on the front side of your board where your toes are pointing) is the easiest for most people to get right off the bat because it is the most natural.
3. Roast Beef Grab: Partly because this trick looks kinda cool, and partly because we just really like the name, we just had to add it to the top of the list.  A roast beef, where you grab the back of your board between your heels with you trailing hand, is another easy trick to try, and it is sure to impress onlookers.
4. Back Side Board Slide: Almost easier than 50/50ing a rail (in my opinion), the back side boardslide, where your board is perpendicular to a rail with your toes pointing downhill, is one of the easiest rail tricks to learn.
5. Half Cab: For many, the half cab (or in other words, a switch 180) is the easiest spin to start out with because you have the security of landing regular, instead of landing goofy.  The tricky part is making sure you have your board planted and correctly aligned before you go over the jump, because you’ll be riding goofy which can feel just a little bit awkward.  Remember to start small!
6. Tail Grab: This is my personal favorite grab, because it just feels fun and natural, and once you get the gist you can go bigger and tweak your grab and add some fun style to it.
7. Shifty: Shiftys are great tricks because there are so many ways a rider can interpret it.  You simply go off a jump, shift your body any way you like.  One popular shift is a 90 degree turn in the air and then rotate back and land.
8. Method: One of the oldest grabs in the trick book, the method grab, where you bend your feet backward and grab the back of your board in between your heels, always looks smooth and solid.
9. Allyoup: Allyoups (ie, a 180 off an uphill kicker) are so fun, and they are easy!  The first step is to find a nice kicker that shoots you up, and then you just naturally turn into place.
10. Cliff Drops: It is what it sounds… find a nice cliff (a small one!) and ride over it.  You can never go wrong with a cliff drop.

Once you have these 10 tricks down, you’ll be able to start doing them over larger tables while getting bigger air, and soon you’ll be doing 3′s, 5′s and 7′s in no time.  But you gotta start somewhere!

Thanks for reading!  Check back tomorrow for another “Best of 2010″ article – the Top 10 Safety Rules to Remember.

For those of you who have not heard, the USSA Revolution Tour is coming to Mt. Hood Meadows this February 20-22! With events in Slopestyle, Superpipe and Snowboard Cross, the tour is open to all riders over age 13 (must be 15 for the SBX events).

If you are looking to take your snowboarding skills to the next level you should really consider pushing yourself to compete in this event. All you need is a National USSA membership and an FIS license to compete. Don’t worry, these credentials are easier than you may think to obtain. All you have to do is follow the USSA and FIS links from above, fill out the forms and send them some cash. Be sure to act quickly, as the competition is right around the corner – and registration is required.

Got cold feet? Don’t let your nerves get you down. Competing in snowboarding is a great way to push your skills to the next level. Although the park, rails and pipe may be intimidating at times, don’t let that scare you. Everyone has to start somewhere, so take the Revolution Tour as a chance to motivate you all the way through the park. Believe me, you will be so glad that you did.

Still nervous? Stay tuned for our upcoming blog post which will include lots of tips on how to begin your tricks in the park; you will be shredding big time in no time. Until then, check out our friend Dan’s blog Boards and Decks; he has some great tips on how to master those rails!

So get those forms filled out, and let us know what you decided to compete in by emailing us at www.westboundboarder@gmail.com. If you still don’t want to compete, no problem – just be sure to make your way up to the mountain so you can see it all go down and give your fellow Portland riders your support. See you at the Revolution Tour!