Crossing over to snowboarding....How difficult?

I'm planning my first snowboard trip this winter and was wondering what everyone's thoughts were on crossing over. Is it comparable at all to wakeboarding? Let me know what you think and any advice.

Take a lession the first day, it will make your trip much more enjoyable.

I thought it was pretty easy until i decided i could just stroll into the park and hit one of the big kickers....boy was I wrong!!! Its weird because the kicker does all the work but I am used to popping off kickers, so when i went to pop i flew completely off axis and landed right on my shoulder, snow hurts!!

I took a 2 hour lesson just to get the basics, after that and about 4 hours on the slopes just riding and slayshing around, i was on the kickers and rails in no time.

it is a much easier transition than you think it will be

I also transitioned as a skier. I've been skiing 2-3 times a year since I was 3 years old (I'm 22 now). I am very good in the park on skis, can hit the real rails (not plastic boxes) and have done a few backflips on some backcountry jumps into powder (reminder I am from Florida) and can do different grabbed threes and what not in the park so I thought the transition would be easy. I think thats what screwed me up. I started snowboarding when I was 17ish maybe but choose to ski and I split my time now depending on the conditions.

The transition was pretty easy for me. There were only a couple of things that were different. Once you figure those out, you should be fine.
- As a wakeboarder, we ride flat all of the time. When you first start to snowboard, it is better if you are on an edge all of the time. Riding flat will make you catch an edge an fall.
- Getting weight over my front knee was also tricky for me. You really have to focus on getting your weight balanced over a board that is heading down a mountain (wakeboarders ride on flat surfaces)
- The last part that was weird was the board flex. Ex: when you make a toeside turn, you put pressure on your front toe and back heel.

I highly recomend a lesson or two to start out with. I was lucky (living with a snowboard instructor last winter) so I picked it up after a half day.

The padded pants are also a high recomendation. I did not get these, but a lot of vacationers do, and it makes the trip a lot more fun.

when u fall... cuz you will fall... lol. catch ur self with your forearms, not ur palms... my buddy went for the first time and fractured his wrists.

I found the transition to be easy

same basic concept as far as edge control, but you have to stay low more on the snow. yes kyle is right, you're on edge more cuz you're turning(carving) almost all the time. snowboarding--more freedom! wakeboarding--u go where the boat goes

if you have ever ridden the roam its alot like that.. wakeboarding is different because you steer with the front of the board (due to fins and channels) and use your weight alot more.. but with snowboarding you steer with the back of the board.. more of the work is done with a kicking motion of your back leg.. your front leg pretty much does nothing.. when your first learning keep this in mind.. when you look a direction have your shoulders follow your head and that will turn your body and help bring the back of the board to where you want it.. also never keep your board flat.. always be on edge because if you do you may catch an edge and like mentioned before snow hurts.. good luck and take a lesson.

You will have a leg up coming from a wakeboard background, but do not expect to ripping in the snow right off the bat. Learning to transfer your edges (linking turns) is a good bit different.

Padding the bum is a good idea. If you can find powder to learn on go for it. Things go slower in the powder and it is a lot more forgiving when you hit the deck.

i had been wakeboarding for about 3 years the first time i went snowboardin. i signed up and took the lesson but ended up ditchin it after about an hour and a half. deffaintely good to get lessons weather is be from a friend or guys/girls at the mountain. once you get the basics snowboarding fairly similar to wake. i found it pretty easy to transision. my first season i was able to learn 2 flips and a 540. it is a little wierd gettin used to initiating your rotations and not having the rope to pull on

Ryan Cargo what are you talking about??? Everything is about your front foot, you don't use a "kicking motion with your back leg"

it is a pretty tough transition but i got used to it after going a few times

THANK YOU Randy for pointing that out, I was thinking the exact same thing!

"kicking motion with your back leg" is not proper edging technique...your front foot initiates and guides everything.

Coming from a strong snowboard background before I ever wakeboarded, one of the things I've had to adjust for wakeboarding was getting my weight OFF my front foot and having a more balanced stance, especially with rails/sliders.
Spinning on a wakeboard was especially a challenge for me because I am SO used to using my head and shoulders for initiating spins on a snowboard. Anyway, just my $.02.

wow jason, flips and a 5 your first season on the snow, i've been riding for 12 and the only flip i've done was unintentional rignt on my head

i think maybe ryan was trying to emphasize that with snowboarding the weight is on the front leg so the back leg is more the "rudder." and jason c. is probably similar to shane k. who, on his 2nd run down the mountain (having never been on snow b4), did an ollie blind 180 and kept right on going. i know, because i saw it after he passed me up when i was supposed to be "teaching" him (damn texans!) some people are just extremely athletic and good at anything they try.

when i made the transition it was super easy, i got my heelside edging really quick, the toeside edging is a bit more tricky, but after the first day of earning on the bunny hill and smaller hills i could keep up with my dad whos an amazing skier.

also dont do what i did. I thought i was soooo good and learned rails but rushed the learning proccess. i ended up in the emergency room with a broken and extremely displaced left wrist. i learned my lesson two surgeries later.

The hardest part about crossing over is thinking that because you can wakeboard, you can snowboard. I know because I did that. It was painful even though I did get it with a fractured wrist in the process. Get a lesson is the most important advice you can follow. The single most important tip I got was from an instructor who was with someone else and saw me flailing around going down the hill. That was to put my weight on my front foot. My progress accelerated 10 fold after that.

You might want to get yourself some rollerblade wrist guards to use while learning. If you don't use them before you hurt your wrist, you can use them after. I cracked my wrist and then put it on and used it for the rest of the week. I thought it was just a bad sprain until I went to the doc.

Wrt the comment about kicking your rear leg... I do use that technique sometimes when on cat tracks and trying to maneuver around tight quarters. And sometimes while goofing around. When you put your weight on your front foot it makes the rear of the board light and easy to move around. Kicking your rear leg shouldn't be your main maneuvering method, as it's weight transfer. But you do use your rear leg to move the rear of the board so I guess it's understandable that someone may throw that out.

One other point about putting your weight on your front foot. Intuitively you don't want to do this for fear of falling forward on your noggin. Just the same as people who hit sliders for the first time. But when the rear edges of the board catch the snow you will get slammed down. Keeping your weight forward makes the rear light and prevents it from catching. You can feel it sometimes snag and then release. But too much weight on the rear and it snags hard and takes you down.

Oh well, keep in mind I'm a Florida boy who only gets to mountain once in a while. But that's my experience with learning.

"wow jason, flips and a 5 your first season on the snow, i've been riding for 12 and the only flip i've done was unintentional rignt on my head"

Sounds crazy but doable. My buddy was throwing 3's on his first trip. However, at the time he was one of the best riders at the cable.

yea agreed.. sorry i misspoke.. when stopping or turning tight corners i use the kicking motion, it seems to get the board out quicker.. i didnt mean to say you dont need to lean or edge properly.. when just going down hill you mainly just lean and do a really shallow series of s carves.. but as a beginner def take it slow.. pad up if you can.. some knee pads for volleyball or something might be a good idea for the knees and as Mr. Anderson said the wrist guards will help even if used the first day or two

no sarcasm intended, there's only so much instruction you can read about just get out there when the snow falls and see for yourself. i crossed over from the snow to the water and got up on the second try started carving around "like i was on the snow". yeah there's major differences but since you're used to being strapped in a board , you will have an easier time learning than one who has never snowboarded, wakeboarded, surfed, etc. TAKE A LESSON!!

I took a lesson when i tried snow despite my wake background.
The first time down the hill i was just about as good... or BAD as the rest of the group. THe second time down the hill i could tell i was getting a hang of it faster than the others. The third time i felt like i was waiting for the slow learners (about 1/2 the crowd) after the fourth time down the mountain i was ready to ditch the group (which lucky for me the teacher said those of us who felt comfortable go ahead and take off... so i didn't have to fill like i was truly ditching)

i would take a lesson if the extra cash is no big deal... it will help ya get to a good start... if you find you catch on faster despite, than maybe you can switch to a more advanced class mid-way, if they will let you and it is convenient... or at least take the instructor aside for advanced pointers when he/she is not instructing others (get on the lift with her/ him... just some ideas