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Snowboarding Course - Sideslipping (Heelside)



As mentioned in our Sideslipping (Toeside) section, Sideslipping is sliding along the fall line of the slope. This exercise will teach you how to use your Snowboard's edges to control your speed in going downhill.

In this section, know what Sideslipping (heelside) is all about and learn how to use the heel edge of your Snowboard in controlling your descent:


STEP 1: When starting out, learn on a moderate slope. Your feet should be attached to your Snowboard Bindings. Then, face downhill and sit on the ground. Your legs should be bent and your snowboard should be on its heel edge. Make sure to keep your balance.

STEP 2: Dig your heel edge deeper into the snow. This will give you a firm hold or a stable position before you continue. Plant your hands into the snow to support your upper body.

STEP 3: Move your hands toward your body. Use them to balance yourself while you lift yourself gradually from the ground. Distribute your weight evenly to your knees to help maintain your balance.


STEP 4: Finally, try to stand up. This is quite a difficult position to make but it can be mastered through practice. Just find your balance and hold your upright position while the board is on its heel edge.

STEP 5: Know how to control your Snowboard and the speed of your descent using your heel edge. Your speed in going downhill increases as you decrease your edge angle. Push your Snowboard further down for more speed.

STEP 6: In the previous step, you learned that you will gain more speed if you decrease your edge angle. This time, increase the edge angle of your Snowboard. You will notice that there is a decrease in your speed. Keep on slowing down by continuously increasing the angle of your Snowboard heel edge. Soon, you will come to a halt.

STEP 7: You have finally reached the last step of the exercise. Keep your board on its heel edge while gradually lowering your body. Put your hands on the ground to support your body.



At this point, you already know how to control your Snowboard (heelside and toeside). In general, it does not really matter if you learn Sideslipping on the heel edge or toe edge first, since you will learn both as you go on with the Snowboarding Course. Practice Snowboard control and make use of your edges in controlling your speed down the slope.


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Article Comments
bordin rules
Thursday 26th July 2007 at 3:18:41 PM  

not to be rode but isnt it snow plowing

kmetkomkt
Sunday 30th September 2007 at 4:53:33 AM  

A better edging is based on using of lower legs as levers. That means lower legs permanently push to the front or back sides of boots and thus move the power from the body through the boots next trough the bindings to the board and so standing the board on the edge.

That involves the lower legs muscles action to the opposite direction than on the pictures above.

sbeginner
Monday 22nd December 2008 at 6:43:51 PM  

Please add something about how the heck you keep the edge perpendicular with the slope without gliding down with crazy speed!

adi mc
Sunday 25th January 2009 at 11:54:37 AM  

got my first snowboard lesson 2 months ago. I can't wait doing level 1 and 2. Anyone got more tips? pls.

Lisa
Thursday 5th February 2009 at 6:32:25 PM  

sbeginner~If you start out (standing up after strapping in) from the beginning with your board already perpendicular it's not too hard to keep it that way. If you feel one side/foot is getting head of the other simply place a little more weight or pressure on that side. The extra friction will slow it down to stay even. Just don't get crazy with leaning and try to keep your center of gravity by staying low! Good luck :)

Jaz
Saturday 28th February 2009 at 5:21:43 AM  

Lisa, I will have to keep that in mind. That is one issue that I found was a constant the first day I went out... Anything else you can recommend to keep the board perpendicular to the slope?

Groco
Monday 9th March 2009 at 7:45:20 PM  

I'm 6'01'' 250 lbs. and I have the worst balance ever, I've never been able to stand on any kind of board before and I can't seem to do this exercise, every time I lean back to the heel edge I fall backwards, tried for hours and simply couldn't get in balance, I'm gonna try again tomorrow so any tips (I do bend my knees and all of that, I do everything it says in here), on how a person like me could get balance would be greatly appreciated, I''m not giving up so yeah...
Keep in mind that I do everything correctly up to the 5th step (sometimes I fall backwards when I stand up on the heel side in step 4) but its when I try to slow down that I always fall backwards.

mini man
Wednesday 18th March 2009 at 11:06:36 AM  

Groco, at first I have the some problem as you but I found out that I just have to lean forward when snowboarding. So im not sure if this will help but it did help me :) So whenever you're trying to do this suggestion, try leaning forward a little bit. If you do feel like you are going to fall over forward then try leaning backwards. But i would say the most important tip of all is just keep trying and if you just can't ever seem to get this style then try something else and come back to this one. ~_^


 
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Lessons Overview

Below you can find all the lessons of our Learn Snowboarding Online Course:

1: Snowboard Basics
2: Carrying your Snowboard
3: Skating
4: Switching Edges
5: Gliding
6: Moving Up the Slope
7: Sideslipping (Heelside)
8: Sideslipping (Toeside)
9: Traversing (Heelside)
10: Traversing (Toeside)
11: Falling Leaf
12: Garlands
13: Linking Turns

Done? Try our Snowboarding Tricks section.