Snowboarding Instruction

Photograph of a snowboarder leaping of off a snow-covered cliff.

Enquiries

For snowboarding lesson enquiries only, please contact Stacy on 08456 182 891 (after 6:30pm) or email boarding@kendalski.co.uk

For general snowboard enquiries contact the KSC secretary via the form on the contact page or telephone 08456 345 173.

We run beginners courses every 6 weeks, so thats 2 before Christmas and 2 in the New Year. Intermediate lessons are available every Sunday and Tuesdays. Contact Stacy above to book a place.

Beginners

The general aims are:

To have fun
To become familiar with the equipment.
To learn good posture and balance.
To learn to move around with one foot in (scooting)

moving on to:

Stepping up and down the slope. Initially, stepping up is the best way to ascend the slope, and it is also good practice to get you used to manouevering on the slope, as well as strengthening the legs. However, as part of your beginners course you will learn how to use the tow system safely.
Sliding down a gentle slope in a straight line. This gets you used to travelling in the 'fall line' and helps you decide which foot is your front foot, ie left foot forward = 'regular', right = 'goofy'
Controlling speed by 'side slipping' and 'diagonal side slipping' using the edges of the board to enable you to control speed and direction. In the side slip, you travel both toes facing down the slope (heelside) or both facing up the slope (toeside).
Moving towards the turn using 'Foot Steering'
Half turns 'garlands'
Full 'basic turns'
And, if time permits, linked turns.

Equipment

In the early stages of learning to snowboard it can be warm work walking up the slope, so it's best to wear a layer system with a waterproof outer shell. Nothing expensive or fancy! Jeans are definitely not recommended. As a beginner, we would advise you to hire your boots and boards before you buy. We have a good range of boards and boots in the lodge and the instructors will help you choose your board and boots and make any nesscesary adjustments.

Slope surface

Our Snowflex matting has a foam underlay and is quite soft to fall on. It does however have stiff bristles that can cause a burn on exposed skin if you fall whilst moving. For this reason a pair of good strong gloves is essential. On this point it is required that anyone using the slope wears gloves and keeps arms and legs covered. Short tops are not recommended as they can be dragged up in a fall and expose your back to the matting. This all sounds worse than it is, and these are just the normal precautions that you would take when boarding on snow.

For your first class, please try to arrive 45 mins before the start to enable the staff to select and fit your board and boots. For subsequent classes it is advisable to arrive in time to pay your fees, collect your equipment, and get out to the bottom of the slope for the start of the lesson.

Intermediates

At this level you should be able to control the speed and direction of the board using sideslipping and foot steering and have attempted basic turns. The general aims for intermediates are:

To have even more fun
To achieve control of speed and direction from higher up the slope and build confidence.
Polish your basic turns
Perform linked turns
Develop carving skills (turning by tilting the board onto its edges as opposed to the more skidded basic turn)
Riding variable terrain

Unfortunately we can't teach jumping. Just come down to open boarding/freestyle and ask questions. There are a lot of good and approachable riders who will be happy to give you tips.