Unlike The Matrix, you can’t learn snowboarding while at home. Read all the trick tips you like but the only way to get better is hours on the hill. Just like getting fresh tracks on a pow day, the early bird does catch the worm – for the aerial riders anyway. If kickers are your thing, the best time to get airborne is in the morning. The cold lingering on from the night makes it soooo much easier to get speed up, plus freshly groomed take-offs and landings are easier to dial new spins on than the rutted carcasses you’ll find later in the day. After all, ski dads do make a habit of snow-ploughing up the run ins and eroding the knuckle when they hit it funny hat first.
However, if you wear your pants tight with a shoelace belt, hit the slopes with a balaclava/sunglasses combo and love urban jibbing, I’d hit the snooze button a few times. Hitting rails is daunting at the best of times, let alone when they’re surrounded by sheet ice. Let the afternoon sun soften everything up a bit and then ride through the sunset. Nothing beats it.
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