Terrain: Meeting area or Flat Surface Lift Area

-Introduce yourself and your students to each other.

-Boot Fit: Check student’s boots for a snug fit – outer boot and inner liner.

-Make sure pants are over the boot and no inner pant cuff is inside the boot.

-Equipment: Helmet? Eye protection? Gloves? Introduce the equipment –

-Board: nose, tail, edges, top sheet, base. Bindings: check straps and high backs for proper fit. Show students how to ratchet down and release the straps.

-Safety: You must prevent runaway equipment.

Terrain: Flat Surface Lift Area

-Identify front foot, strap in foot across the hill, ankle strap first, then toe strap.

-While stationary, Balance on foot that isn’t attached to the board.

Terrain: Flat Surface Lift Area

-Control the relationship of the center of mass to the base of support to direct pressure along the length of the board.

-Control the relationship of the center of mass to the base of support to direct pressure across the width of the board.

-Regulate the magnitude of pressure created through the board/surface interaction.

-Control the board’s tilt through a combination of inclination and angulation.

-Control the board’s pivot through flexion/extension and rotation of the body.

-Control the twist (torsional flex) of the board through flexion/extension and rotation.

-Always stay in control. You must be able to stop or avoid people or objects.

-Look Uphill and avoid others before starting downhill or entering a trail.

People ahead or downhill of you have the right-of-way. You must avoid them.

Terrain: Surface Lift Area

-Flatland Activities: Skating – Push yourself around with the nose of the board leading where you want to go. Add back foot on board against back binding.

-Gliding – CM should be centered over the board. Glide across the hill. Look where you want to go. Play a circle game. Offer verbal descriptions and visual demonstrations. Glide downhill to simulate getting off surface lift/chair. Stop using back leg as brake by dragging in snow on either toe or heel edge.

-Balanced Slide and Glide on Heelside & Toeside – Traverse. Lead shoulder and hip should be pointed in direction of travel. CM should be stacked over effective edge.

-Practice pivoting board under a stable upper body.

-Practice flexing and extending while maintaining a balanced stance.

Terrain: Surface Lift Area

-Explain the direction of travel or ‘the fall line’ a snowball would roll down the slope.

- Explain that for the rider to stop sliding down or to climb up the hill, the board must be across the fall line.

-Face uphill with the board across the fall line. Tilt the board on the toe edge with the back foot uphill of the board.

- Practice lifting the board off of the snow, and setting back down.

-Add a step uphill.

Terrain: Surface Lift Area

-Practice a glide, flexing the knee and ankle towards the toes to twist and gently tilt the tilt the board onto the toeside edge, moving CM over the effective edge. Look at an object on the hill in the direction of travel.

Safety: The timing and/or distance will vary depending on steepness of area.

-Practice a glide, flex/lift the toes towards the shin to the twist and gently tilt the board onto the heelside edge, moving CM over the effective edge. Look at an object on the hill in the direction of travel.

-The goal would be to straight glide, make a direction change to a balanced stop on toeside and heelside, before strapping in the back foot.

-Explain once the backfoot is strapped in, they can no longer drag the back foot to a stop.

Terrain: Surface Lift Area

-Demonstrate strapping in both feet from sitting and standing, toeside and heelside.

-Board should always be across the hill

-Strapping in should always be to the side of the trail.

-The goal is to stand up and assume a stopped position.

-Remember to ASSIST and not LIFT your students to help them up.

Terrain: Base of Chair Lift Area

MV: First Time

CV: High Meadow

-Practice balanced toeside and heelside traverses and straight glides with direction changes to a balanced stop in the surface lift area.

-The goal would be to control direction, speed, come to a complete stop (unassisted) and listen to directions prior to riding the chair lift.

-Take your class to the chair lift area so you can explain how to load/unload within view, without blocking traffic or the lift line.

-Safety – Explain they must put the bar down after they load and wait for the raise bar here sign to raise it. Discuss why we don’t horseplay on the lift.

-Remember the rules for kids on lifts. Discuss Lift Line Etiquette.

Terrain: Chair Lift Area

MV: First Time

CV: High Meadow

-Skate to and stop at the Load Here sign and look over shoulder for chair.

-Sit on the chair and keep your board straight until it lifts off the snow.

-Pull down the safety bar.

-Once off the loading ramp, turn board sideways and rest it on the free foot.

-When approaching the ‘raise bar here’ sign, raise the bar.

-Turn the board so it’s pointed straight ahead.

-Allow the board to glide straight over the unload ramp

-Place the back foot securely in front of the rear binding and stand up tall.

-Straight glide to a stop, or use direction change to avoid obstacles.

-Skate away from the unload area.

-Celebrate Success!

I can glide to a stop on both my heel and toeside edge.

This serves as a warmup and review. It also offers an opportunity to evaluate skills.

-Pay particular attention to athletic stance. Many challenges resolve or dissipate when this is successful or improved.

-Review 1 footed skills required to ride the lift.

-Review traverses and glides.

Terrain:

First Time: Top and Bottom are Steepest

High Meadow: Skiers Right is Steepest

-Garlands – Discuss and demonstrate using twist to flatten lead foot, while back foot stays on edge.

-Heelside – Let toes on lead foot push down until board slides in that direction. Lift back up to move across the hill moving CM over heelside edge to stop again.

-Toeside – Rotate with hips by looking over the shoulder in the direction you want to travel and flex the knee and ankle until the board moves in that direction. Look back up hill and flex both knees moving CM over toeside edge to stop again.

-For younger children, you could simply rotate and pivot looking in the direction you want to travel.

-Allow time for practice.

Terrain:

MV: First Time Middle Section is Mellower

CV: High Meadow – Skiers Left / Mellow Moose is mellower and middle section, skiers right

-Choose mellow terrain for their first C Turns.

-Highlight to students that they have already done every part of a C turn.

-Draw C shape on the snow and introduce turn phases: Initiation, Control & Finish.

- Heelside – Start on toeside, look over the shoulder and move CM down the fall line to flatten the board. Lift toes of lead foot up to initiate twist and then follow with back foot and move CM over heel edge to finish the turn.

- Toeside – Start on heelside, push down the toes of the lead foot and move the CM down the fall line to flatten the board. Flex knee and ankle of front foot toward the toe to twist the board and move CM over the toe side to finish the turn.

-Extend at initiation of the turn, flex through the control of the turn and complete using twist & pivot.

-Maintain equal weight on both feet while pointed down the slope.

-A stop between these turns Is important for safety and to reduce fear.

-Allow time for practice.

I can link single toe and heelside turns together

-This serves as a warmup and review. It also offers an opportunity to evaluate skills.

-Pay particular attention to athletic stance. Many challenges resolve or dissipate when this is successful or improved.

-Review 1 footed skills required to ride the lift.

Check for speed, speed control, shape control. Decide what to develop first.

Which of the 6 Fundamentals should you develop? Which parts of the turn? Are they comfortable, relaxed, and confident or stiff and afraid? How steep or narrow or busy can the hill be and the student be comfortable? Can they speed up and slow down? Do they have enough direction control to follow a trail?

Terrain: MV: First Time CV: High Meadow

-Start to connect Toeside and Heelside C turns with a pause or traverse between turns.

-Start to initiate direction change through the fall line by looking across the hill in direction of travel.

-If they are feeling out of control during the traverse / finish of the turn, have them stop and reset.

-Start to challenge with different routes down green runs.

-Allow time for practice.

-Celebrate Success!

Terrain: MV: First Time CV: High Meadow

Steering through lower body

-Using a mellow traverse and building into a more aggressive garland. Have student use hips to steer down and out of the fall line.

-Both heel side and toe side.

-Then move down the body and use the knees to steer using the same drill. The focus should be on twisting the board using the lead knee to guide them through the garlands in and out of the fall line.

-add steering with the front knee to S turns with the focus on consistent speed and steering down into and out of the fall line.

Terrain: MV: First Time CV: High Meadow

-Once the snowboarder can steer into the turn, start playing with different turn sizes. You can add a count or rhythm for timing to make turns bigger or smaller.

-Follow the leader. Have the student try to match your turns and follow your line. Start changing up the rhythm and add the occasional garland in between S turns. Make it fun and challenging.

What’s going wrong fundamentally? Do you need to take a step back? More practice time with garlands may be needed.

-Too much weight on their back foot? This is usually due to a lack of confidence. Using garlands, practice keeping pressure on the front foot while steering down the hill into the fall line.

-Are they stuck on their uphill edge? Review stance fundamentals and movements standing still with the focus on moving pressure from heel to toe and vice versa. Build back up to a garland, C and S turns.

-Can they twist? You may need to reintroduce this. A lot of people get to this level without understanding or mastering this.

Playing with freestyle on beginner terrain is great way to teach fundamentals

-2 footed hops. Balanced on a flat board Pressure, pressure, pressure.

-nose and tail presses. Pressure along the length of the board

-flat spins. Twist and pivot. Mini C turns!

Keep student safe.

-Do they know how to stay safe?

-How does applying the code change as the students get ready to move off the beginner hill.

I can link multiple s turns to a stop on green terrain.

Reviewing athletic stance serves as a warmup and review. It also offers an opportunity to evaluate skills. Many challenges resolve or dissipate when this is successful or improved. Check for head up and good hand discipline.

Look for opportunities. What does the student need to succeed? What factors affect this, i.e. slope angle, space, speed, surface? Do they look relaxed? What shape of turn do they tend to make? Where are they in developing their skills? What development path offers the best promise for long term success? Build the 6 FUNDAMENTALS.

-Practice timing of flexion and extension of the lower body to move body across the snowboard. Both heel side and toe side. The goal being a smooth and deliberate transition of the body (CM) across the snowboard.

-explore the range of movement as well as different movement patterns throughout the phases of the turn for different outcomes.

As students get ready for more complex terrain we want them to have more diverse tools to survive. A static rider will tend to struggle when attempting steeper terrain.

- On easy green terrain, have the student practice changing edges before the snowboard is pointing into the fall line. This will start happening naturally as the student becomes more confident with speed and is carrying speed across the hill after a turn.

- Focus on and reinforce twist.

-Start blending the twist/front knee steering with the movement patterns above.

*The snowboard has to be pointed the direction you are moving to change edges.

This will start rounding out turns. Creating more speed control throughout each turn, allows the student to tackle steeper terrain without excessively speeding up during the initiation of the turn.

-Have Student Passport Booklet ready to go (Kids).

-Debrief the lesson, focusing on positive action, highlight the student’s improvement.

-Recommend terrain for continued development.

-Invite them back.

-When teaching younger students, share details with parents. Greet and introduce yourself.

-Present completed student passport (kids) and share benefits regarding a return lesson in the near future.

-Participants Under 18: (adults and kids) Confirm pick up name and indicate on your roster.

-Turn roster in to a Supervisor.

-Celebrate Success, Discuss challenges with a Supervisor or a Trainer.

I can control my speed using turn size / shape on blue terrain.