Any Snowboarders out there?

Awesome! My girlfriend's brother lives in Portland. Guess I'll be making quite a few trips to Timberline this early season.

How does Timberline compare to Meadows?

 

1) Start out with a lesson. Even if you think it's dorky, a good instructor will teach you some small tips you might not have even considered. My local lodge offers starting packages for less than $60 that include lesson, full day gear rental, and bunny hill ticket. It was well worth it when I started.

2) If you plan on buying your own gear, save some money and get what you need the first time around. When I started, I bought into a K2 setup that ended up not being what I needed, but because it was on sale. I eventually landed on a Burton Custom X (wide) that I still ride, and love it. While the Custom X is a pricy board, what cost me even more was getting the first setup that didn't fit what I need. Expensive lesson learned. It's not that K2 is a bad brand, it's that the board was too stiff for what I like to do.

3) Get in and talk with a local outdoor store associate. Don't go in to a Wal-Mart or other big box store and expect to get a knowledgable associate. Out here in the NW we have Oregon Sports Authority, REI (my favorite), US outdoor, and several other smaller specialty stores. Get in, get measured, and get advice on what fits your style, and what you plan to do. Good brands that offer boards for all types of styles are Burton (the largest by far), K2, Ride, Rome, and Arbor. Don't get an expensive board with cheap bindings. Don't buy boots online without trying them on first. And don't get gloves that aren't waterproof (you'll be spending a lot of time with your hands in the snow as you learn).

4) Check out stores that carry gear from the previous year for great deals. I picked up my Cartel bindings for 70% off because I went with a style from the year before. Shoes are harder, especially if you wear a common size, but deals can be had.

5) Get a season pass. If you can't swing a pass, then get "5 times" or "10 times" ticket. Most lodges usually sell them as a way to get a discount. It's more money up front, but it can save you a ton of money in the long run.

6) Speaking of getting a pass, if you have a flexible work schedule, try to get up on a weekday. I work on shift, and have Sun/Mon/Tue and every other Wed off from work. My local lodge (again, Timberline) offers a weekday pass good Mon-Fri for $219. Good from whenever the winter season opens, until May 30th. I did this one year, and it was a heck of a deal for me, because I have more weekdays off than weekends. Saved me a ton of money vs getting single lift tickets.

 

There are 3 local lodges up here on Mt Hood: Timberline, Meadows, and Skibowl. Skibowl has the largest night ski area in the US (according to them), as well as good selection of black diamond runs and beginner runs, but not much good stuff in between. They sit at the lowest elevation, and as such they tend to open later and close earlier. Timberline has the most blue runs, is considerable larger than skibowl, and has some incredible terrain parks. There highest lift is at 8000', and open year round (although hardly open in the winter because the weather is too bad). I've never been to meadows (because timberline is closer, open for a longer winter season, and it's where I buy my passes), but I've heard they offer the best black diamond areas on Mt. Hood.

Edit: Here's the Timberline trail map: http://www.timberlinelodge.com/terrain/

 

Check out this site http://www.sierrasnowboard.com/ you can save a lot of money they have 80% off sales all the time i picked up my board boots & bindings for under $400 and i didn't buy the cheap shit it was 70% off so it would of cost me over $1000 bucks.

Man when i seen where your from I was like where the hell is he going to go boarding in Kansas. I lived in Ellsworth for 2 years and there ain't a mountain for hours.

 

Worst gloves I have ever owned...

 

if you wanna get a feel for snowboarding on the streets give this thing a shot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LURYDJQZ3JM?fs=1

 

oh another tip. i didnt learn crap! on the bunny hill. IMO some of the steeper trails are easier to learn on.

easier/ bunny hill are not steep enough to keep any speed. Speed=Stability.

another tip is to learn to stop first. When going down a steeper section you can "feather" down the mountian to learn to be stable and learn to stop.

"feathering" is going down the mountain facing down the mountain. the board perpendicular to the slope. and just go back and forth like a falling feather. This allows you to get comfortable while decending on your back edge. On a small slope you cant do this.

another thing is to try to not have your snowboard flat, try to stay on an edge. if its flat you will catch an edge and end up on your ass/face.

the next step, after learning to stop and descend on your back edge you would then start going down straight and then transfer to your back edge and stop. "j turns" do this for a while on both edges. toes too.

sorry for the long post... lol... one more thing go to the bunny hill and go down it with one foot not in the binding. this is prctice for getting oof the lift. IMO the hardest part of snowboarding is getting off the lift. Especially if its a lift with 4 people and everyone is trying to keep out of each others way. (some funny ass pile ups getting off the lift)

 

Where do you board at? It's like 90 bucks a day here in Colorado, then again we have real snowboarding

x2, I love Never Summer, I've had my system a few years, best board I've owned. The new Heritage boards are sick too. And being a local Denver company, can't go wrong


I would say it's probably a good idea to rent first. You WILL get frustrated, but if you keep at it, usually only takes 4-6 times to get the carving down. Lessons aren't a bad idea either, even a one day lesson would at least teach you the basics. If you come out to Colorado this winter, Hoyal and myself go up weekly during the season.

I also agree with Yoytoda, the bunny hill is too slow, the slower you go, the harder it is. I feel I have way more control and a higher rate of speed.

 

I have been snowboarding for about 15 years, have been all over, CA, UT, CO, WY, MT, OR, WA, British Columbia, and Japan. Hopefully I will make out to New Zealand in the next couple years.

A few tips that I have learned over the years, I am by no means an expert on snowboarding, I also prefer powder back country runs with natural jumps and hips, as opposed to the park scene.

Don't go cheap on boots, seriously, try a bunch on a make sure they are conformable on you, don't give into brand hype. This also applies to socks and gloves, I recommend leather gloves if you can afford them, hands will never get cold, and maybe some neoprene socks. Nothing sucks more than cold feet and hands.

Lib Tech has some of the best boards, I have only ridden on a few, if you don't have the money for them, get a GNU, I have ridden GNU for many years, outstanding boards. Yes Burton makes good boards, but they are highly overpriced.

As for bindings you will need to see what feels best, this might take a couple of seasons. I personally like a Burton binding, for some reason I feel like they are more responsive, but you get what you pay for like others have said, the lower end shit is just that the lower end, don't expect too much.

As for pants and jackets, there are a tone of good options for you, I just started wearing 686 as few years ago and it is some of the best stuff I have ever had, I don't buy cheap shit though.

There are a ton of good brands, like people have mentioned, I am just giving you my experience, again do the research before you buy, and for goggles I prefer Oakley crowbar, super confy, never foggy and exellent peripheral vision.

Enjoy, this is by far the best sport to get into, nothing beats a fresh powder day, but it isn't cheap, my local hill's lift tickets are going to be around $93 a day (Mammoth)

 

Where do you go? Places like Copper and Keystone don't run 90 bucks!! And Keystone is great with the night skiing!

 

burton is by far the opposite of the best brand, they have good bindings thats about it. I would look into core brands such as union for bindings artec, early forum boards (since now forum is owned by burton), rome, and for boots the best brand without question is 32. outerwear is all personal preference

 

also, if your a big dude like me and wear 13/14 shoe, 32 makes 14s and dc are the only 13s that fit me.

 

I'm not sure when the last time you were at Copper or Keystone, but do your reasearch.
http://www.coppercolorado.com/winter/plan_and_buy/lift_tickets

2 day is $162 and that's online so that gives a $22 discount. Divide that by 2 thats $81 a day, but if you want just a day pass well add that $11 back in there, thats $92.

That was last year too, goes up every year.

This will help also... They sure as hell are 90 bucks
http://www.black-diamond.com/lift_ticket_pricing.phtml

 

$90? $95? Man, EFF that! Colorado may have awesome boarding, but i'm way more happy with my Chugach powder any day of the week. Its Free. Unless you wanna pay $65 at Alyeska. Save Money. Hike.

 

BTW that freeboard looks awesome!!!

 

ive been reading this and i can say that burton is not the best in means of apparel, jackets, pants, boots, etc. 686 and 4 square are great for jackets and pants dc is good for boots, ive been boarding for 7 years and have had every brand, steer clear of rome and 32 i dont like them at all, You need need need bindings idk if anyone told you that, get ones with things called cap straps, they go over your toe and give an extreme advantage in responsiveness, also when getting a board look at the feel, the higher it is the stiffer so it all depends i like a good solid 5 or 6 i love the flex when getting on a rail, also more flex equals more pop. PM me if you have anymore questions especially with season passes they arent all that cracked up for their price

 

Been snowboarding well over 10 years, seriously for the last 4-5. I agree that you should rent to see if you like it. And I can't agree more about needing a helmet, beginner or advanced. Sierrasnowboard is a good site to get a lot of cheap gear like liners, socks, etc. But they could be going under soon, they're getting sued by Burton and possibly a bunch of other companies for undercutting prices or something like that. So you may want to check them out while they're still in business. Asa beginner you don't need high end gear. If you stick with it, chances are you'll want new gear after a season or two when you have a better idea of what youwant. Burton is over priced and over rated, except maybe their bindings. Bought a pair of cartels from sierra for 125.

As far as riding, NO BUNNY HILLS.

 

Indeed bunny hills are seriously harder for a beginner then any other hill and whatever you do dont try to catch yourself when you fall youll screw your hands up i broke my arm like that, also another site you can try is thehouse.com its pretty good site cheap and very knowledgeable

 

Damn, Thanks for all the feedback guys. Definitly picked up some useful knowledge.

 

Sorry my info was bad, its Triple Nickel not 555, their logo is 555.