Snowboarding Skills: The Back-To-Basics Essentials for All Levels - Softcover

Kleh, Cindy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1552976262 ISBN 13: 9781552976265

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2002

Synopsis

This best-selling guide is ideal for those starting out as well as the more experienced boarders looking to fix a persistent problem or just improve their skills. Along with dozens of color photographs, Snowboarding Skills features:

• Pro tips from the world's top boarders
• Action photo sequences with explanatory diagrams
• Directional arrows showing exactly how and where to turn
• "Don't" and "do" photo comparisons
• Troubleshooting sidebars
• Lessons to improve skills
• Explanations on understanding snow and weather conditions
• Safety tips and equipment maintenance
• Hill etiquette, avoiding injury, and more.

From the basics of standing up and stopping to the challenges of pivoting and jumping, Snowboarding Skills covers everything a boarder needs to know.

About this title

About the Author

Cindy Kleh is an avid snowboarder who has written for various outdoor magazines. She began competing at the national level in 1999 and has won medals in boardercross, giant slalom and slalom for women. A certified Level 1 AAS1 snowboard instructor, she lives in Colorado.

Reviews

Adult/High School-A visual feast. Graphically appealing, wonderful color photographs show snowboarders involved in a variety of activities. Captions, labels, and step-by-step directions further extend the usefulness of the pictures. The colorful borders, use of white space, boxes with information on troubleshooting common problems, and sections with tips from professionals make this book reader friendly. The sport has a language of its own, and placing the glossary at the beginning is helpful to beginners. Teens will find a wealth of information on taking lessons, proper nutrition before hitting the slopes, safety, clothing, stretching and preseason exercises, maintaining the equipment, basic moves, proper etiquette, and riding in a variety of snow conditions. (Comments include, "snowboarding is the most fun you can have with your clothes on" and "avoid drinking alcohol the night before snowboarding.") The full-page diagram on what to look for in a board and terms to know will be helpful to potential buyers. A solid addition to winter sports collections.
Michael McCullough, Byron-Bergen Middle School, Bergen, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 7-12. "Keep your booty over the board!" Kleh's combination of dead-on practical advice, insider lingo, and near-religious enthusiasm makes this guide to snowboarding an invaluable resource for anyone wanting to try the sport or to advance his or her skills. The thorough text covers all stages of preparation, including toning exercises, and gear. Later chapters give precise, step-by-step instructions for everything from the simplest movements and mastering the chair lift to "riding the gnarly" and handling rough conditions such as ice. Crisp color photos demonstrate the moves, and boxed troubleshooting tips and quotes from the pros add more insight. Even though Kleh writes, "Helmets! That's a no-brainer!" not all of the photos feature riders wearing protective gear. But Kleh, a championship snowboarder and journalist, writes in laid-back, teen-friendly language that makes it clear that safety and preparation aren't uncool or uptight; they make people better riders. A "Board Talk" glossary opens this excellent title. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction
Grab a board and hang on!

Snowboarding is the most fun you can have with your clothes on! It's an exhilarating ride and almost anyone can learn quickly to glide downhill with confidence. Everyone's getting on board: moms, dads and kids, older folks, and even not-so-rad folks.

For a skier, it's an easy conversion. With a basic knowledge of how gravity, snow and edges work, skiers need only to apply that to a new edging sensation, rocking heel to toe instead of side to side. Snowboarding is easier on the knees than skiing and conquering powder with half the effort hooks most skiers onto the sport. Familiar trails take on a fresh, new look from a sideways perspective.

Best of all, self-expression rules! There is no right or wrong way to ride or dress, and more room to be yourself. It's not how you look, but how you feel -- and snowboarding feels great.

For those new to downhill snow sports, be forewarned: riding a snowboard is extremely addictive! The first time you link a heel turn with a toe turn and back to a heel turn, you will feel the grace of riding a snowboard and something changes in you forever. You are no longer someone who has tried snowboarding, you are a snowboarder. Each session on snow will be a breakthrough, as skills that seemed so difficult and uncomfortable on your first day become more energy-efficient and automatic.

And then, the first powder day comes and your "perma-grin" lasts for weeks. Floating though deep, dry snow is pure heaven, and once bitten by the "pow bug" you will spend the rest of your life trying to recreate that wonderful feeling, even if it means calling in sick for work or forgetting to buy groceries. Life has new priorities, new challenges ... and lots of new friends.

No one can read a book and then simply go out and snowboard, but there are many hints on these pages that will make the process of learning easier on your ego and your backside. That's what this book is all about -- getting you off the couch and dressed for action and helping you feel confident and ready for the first lesson. It will take you through the basics, from finding the right rental equipment to linking turns, it will save you from wasting energy and maybe spare you a few bruises along the way. It will even show you how to maintain your body for better performance on the slopes.

Who knows where a snowboard could take you? Through quiet, untracked powder in the trees ... to the top of a podium surrounded by cheering crowds ... or free-floating through big air caught off the biggest jump in the terrain park. So hop on board and get ready to experience the ride of your life!

Edition details

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1552976262
• ISBN 13: 9781552976265
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 128