I Tested Snowboarding for the First Time

I’m Romane, part of the communications team at OxySki. I’m a confident skier, but I’d never once stood on a snowboard. My colleague Angeline, our marketing manager, and I decided to change that with a full day’s lesson in Tignes.

Kitted out properly

OxySki has a brand new ski shop in Tignes, so we got sorted with the latest gear straight away. Snowboard boots are a revelation if you’re used to ski boots: no more waddling across the resort or feet you can’t feel, it’s more like wearing trainers. Carrying a board is easier too, especially when you’re faced with a flight of stairs.

Goofy or Regular?

Down at the beginner slope, our instructor for the day, a snowboard specialist, ran us through the basics: how to fasten your boot into the binding, how to tighten it properly. He was endlessly patient and walked us through the whole ABC of snowboarding.

Before the first run, you need to know whether you’re Goofy or Regular, in other words, which foot leads on the board. Regulars ride with the left foot forward, Goofys with the right. Spoiler: we’re both Regular. Apparently there are more Goofy champions than Regular ones out there, so we won’t be the next Chloe Kim just yet.

First turns

After a few practice slides holding on to our instructor, we headed for a slightly steeper run. Time to get serious.

The first real challenge was standing up. It looks simple, but it isn’t. Once we managed it, after several attempts, we learned the falling leaf, sliding backside with the board pointing downhill. That’s when the first real gliding feeling kicks in, staying upright for more than a minute at a time. Between the falls and some fairly comic positions early on, we gained confidence quickly and made it down the run. To avoid landing on your backside, you need to bend your knees, stay upright and look ahead, or you lose your balance fast.

One tip: if you feel yourself going, sit back down gently rather than fighting it, it saves your wrists from an edge catch.

The chairlift: the real test

The bit I dreaded most was the chairlift. I’d watched one too many videos of snowboarders falling off on the way down, enough to give me nightmares. With our instructor guiding us, it went perfectly: good position, eyes on the horizon, no falls at all.

From there, we kept building. We were soon turning left and right just by looking where we wanted to go and shifting our weight. Repeat that enough times and it starts to feel natural.

Tired but hooked

After two hours on the slope, the tiredness set in. By then we could ride both backside and frontside, facing downhill, which is much easier to get up from.

By the end of the day, soggy and sore, thighs burning, we were thrilled with our afternoon. We’ll need a few more lessons before tackling steeper runs with real confidence, but we already have solid foundations. Snowboarding comes on faster than skiing does, but it still pays to have an instructor who keeps you on the right track and out of trouble. After a tiring but brilliant day, we only wanted one thing: to do it again.

Fancy giving it a go?

If you’ve always wanted to try snowboarding, or you’re looking to build on what you already know, book a snowboard lesson at the resort of your choice.