This is a step that you’ll find yourself just feeling it out. It is exhausting to move on any semi-flat surface. What do you do when you find yourself stopping while going up a hill?

Well, once you lose momentum on a upward hill there is nothing more you can do. You will end up stopping. The best way to prevent this is obviously having enough speed but sometimes we might fall, slow down too much, or didn’t know there was about to be a hill.

There is nothing special to do here. You can remove one foot and move up the hill. If you hate strapping up on the board, you can do what I do and use the board to slowly push yourself up. It will take some energy but you can start going down faster with no need to un-strap. Your board becomes your feet in moments like these. You don’t want flat feet until you get to the top or you will go down the wrong side. Use the edge and use your booty, scooch up that hill.

When scooching, always try to move towards the ends of the routes to avoid becoming an obstacle. Be smart in these situations. First thing should be moving out of the way. The scooch technique has helped me overcome countless hills. I hope you can use this to get you to the top.

When you go on a ski trip, you have to worry about more than just yourself. Everyone is there to have a good time. It is important to remember rules and guidelines so you can help keep people safe. If it’s a rule about staying out of certain areas, breaking them may be appropriate.

Snowboarding takes some skill to be able to have full control. This is especially the case at high speeds. If you aren’t able to have total control just yet, maybe hold off on going super fast. Not even for your own sake. There could be some little kid just chilling and you just smack into her. No jokes, little kids will pop out of nowhere on the mountain. You’ll find yourself asking, “Where’s the parents?” too many times.

Another guideline to keep others safe is to take caution when coming to drop offs or places that you can’t see. This is where other riders could be resting or down because they fell.

A general rule of thumb, always be cautious and no where you’re riding. If it’s late and your alone you can definitely get more crazy with it at your own risk. If it’s busy, maybe just focus on not crashing into anyone cause it pretty much sucks.

If there is tape that suggests you stay out of a certain area. Ask yourself how good you are. Sometimes untouched snow is the most satisfying to ride on. I do it all of the time and it is peaceful to create your own path through the trees. Don’t do this without being able to control your board. You’ll probably hit a tree.

Snowboarding is a difficult sport by itself. When you make these common mistakes it only makes the experience tougher. I will share some common mistakes with reminders on what you should do. This should help make sure you are prepared for your next trip.

Not Bringing Enough Gear

Always make sure to have the essentials and any extra gear depending on your skill level. Beginners would want to remember the extra padding while for more standard riders we just need to remember the wool socks. Wool socks keep your feet warm and you will find that snowboarding boots don’t keep them that warm alone. My advice, make a list and check it twice. You won’t want to find yourself panicking to buy gear in town after realizing you forgot a necessity.

Work Out

You will be extremely sore and tired after a full day of snowboarding if you aren’t a remotely active person. There is a lot of work on the legs and being in the mountains makes breathing that much more difficult. I found myself burnt out multiple times when I went boarding after having an injury. Keep active before your upcoming trip, you will feel good and enjoy the mountains without dying for air.

Falling Wrong

This one is harder to fix without training in person. However, you want to land on your butt rather than your face. Try to keep yourself falling behind. Obviously, there are occasions that you can’t prevent a fall forward. In this case you want to be careful and use your hands to guide yourself down rather than hold yourself up. Using too much power to hold yourself can sprain your wrists or worse.

Alright here it is. This is the single most horrifying part of snowboarding. If you have skied before and are familiar with this, it doesn’t seem that bad. But for any first timers going to the mountain, it’s terrifying.

What makes the ski lift so scary? You have to get on and off with your board attached. I have fallen too many times trying to get off of this thing. It takes time to get the right amount of balance and direction to get off properly. The ski lift never stops moving and there is constant pressure to get off and get out of the way due to more people coming right behind you. Falling sucks because everyone at the top will see you tumble and get covered in snow before even going down the mountain. Use these tips to help. this won’t immediately make you a pro, but will help.

Face your board forward.

Where your board is pointing is where you will go. If you try to get off sideways the board will snatch the snow and you will end up falling pretty much immediately. Put your board forward and focus on standing on the board until you are away from the lift.

Plan which direction to go towards.

There will be 2 to 4 riders with you on the lift and sometimes even more. Collisions happen all the time and I have run into my friends a lot. Sometimes it helps and you can use them to push yourself up or use teamwork and hold each other like your lives depend on it. Choosing a way to go will help everyone know where they should go and prevent collisions that could bring on stupid injuries.

Get ready to fall.

These tips are not enough, the best way to learn is hands on practice. So you will probably fall a few times. Don’t be discouraged! This kind of fall isn’t painful and more embarrassing than anything. Take the time to learn how and become a pro in front of friends or family.