WANT TO LEARN Snowboarding is the sport of the coming 21st century, alive today in what little remains of the 20th century. It is said that the first snowboard-like creation debuted in 1929. A guy named Jack Burchett cut out a plank of plywood and used lengths of clothesline and some horse reins to secure his feet to the board. It wasn't until the early 1970's, however, that boarding became a serious endeavor. An east coast surfer named Dimitrije Milovich used cafeteria trays to navigate the snowy slopes of Vermont. The rest, as "they" are fond of saying, is history, including status as an Olympic sport in the Winter Games of 1998. Want to ride a snowboard? If you've never tried it, you're in for quite a treat. Learning to ride is easier than learning to ski IF you follow a few rules. Here's a few tips. Stand up in a flexed position on the uphill edge with weight even on both feet. Raise the downhill edge to slow down or stop. Lower it to go forward and always keep the downhill edge off the snow. To turn remember that there are two things going on. First, the direction of travel changes and, second, the riding edge - the edge of the board in contact with the snow -changes . Shift your weight to the front foot and keep it there through the full turn. Half way through the turn, when you are headed straight down, smoothly change and smoothly raise the new edge. If you are on the front foot the snowboard will take you through the full turn by itself. INTERMEDIATE BOARDINGS If you are an intermediate snowboard rider, learning to ride fakie (backwards) will enhance your riding and allow you to ride longer if your front foot gets tired. Have your body in proper alignment over the new front foot and keep your shoulders over, or in front of the front knee. Make sure your eyes and head are faced in the direction you're going. To get more proficient, take lessons from one of Red Rivers professional instructors. Equipment gets better every year. Deciding how and where you want to ride is a factor in choosing your equipment. The list of available equipment includes soft boots, hard boots, step in bindings, strap in bindings, soft boards, hard boards, short boards, long boards - and each is designed specifically for the many different snowboarding activities available. Two of the more popular snowboard activities are terrain parks and the Half Pipe. Terrain parks have jumps, rails, and table tops, set up by snowboard riders and area management that offer a variety of challenges. The half pipe is about 300 ft. long on a 20% slope with 12 ft walls. Skilled riders accelerate up the half pipe walls to launch off the top for big air and do air tricks. Basic cruising and carving on ski runs is still popular, offering excitement and a challenge. AASI - American Association of Snowboard Instructors - trains instructors how to teach easy, safe and effective snowboarding. The learning curve is fast with a lesson from our qualified AASI Red River snowboard instructors.