make the jump to snowboardin?

My nine year old has picked up snowboarding. I'm 34. Never snowboarded. Think I can make the transition from the water to the snow without killing myself to spend some time on the hill with him? I'm 6'5 225lbs with a size 12 foot. Can you suggest an inexpensive set up?

the most important thing in snowboarding is comfort. your not gunna have a good day if your feet are cold or hurt your not gunna have fun. that being said, dont be afraid to buy more expensive boots because they will probably be more comfortable.
as for boards i would would recomend a burton bullet. i rode one last season and like you i have a big foot and its a decently wide board and i had to toe or heel drag at all. As for bindings i would recomend customs or missions. both great bindings.

there are also other companies you can choose from, but i just have experiance with burton. happy riding

I'm hoping to try out snowboarding this winter too. Lookin forward to it. Hopefully there are a FEW parallels lol

i think that your best bet is to rent everything your first day. that way you have an idea of what you like if in fact you do enjoy riding. the biggest thing is to figure out weather you like step in or strap bingings. then you can go buy a pair of your own boots and rent the board and bindings until your sure of what kind of board you want.

i learned to snowboard after i learned to wakeboard and found the crossover very easy. deffiantely take a lesson your first day. if you advance faster than the lesson then you can just take off on your own.

Bob, I don't want to discourage you from trying, but just be careful. Ice/hard packed snow hurts a lot more than water. I know...

2 years ago, I was 37 & I thought the same thing. And it did transition over fairly well. By my 3rd day, I was carving S-turns down intermediate slopes no problem. I even rode switch for a bit.

Then, out of nowhere, BAM! I caught a TS edge & was thrown to the ground, head over heels. I fractured the right 'Glenoid Neck', which is effectively part of the shoulder blade/socket. I couldn't use my right arm for 2 weeks, and no sports for 6 weeks. Ever try to wipe your butt w/ your left hand? Not pretty.

Luckily, I rented the first few times I went, so I'm not stuck w/ equipment. I'm sticking w/ snow skiing from now on as I enjoy my time on the water way too much.

My advice: Give it a try, but go slow & be careful.

Youll do fine. just remember you are sliding down the hill. Use your edge and use your backfoot to help steer.

use your lead sholder to the point the direction you want to go. No more having both sholders open up to the boat

also keep the majority of your weight on your front foot. at first it will feel weird but its the correct way. also dont use the momentum of your hands to switch from toeside to heelside

Get a pair of padded shorts, you will never regret it. I have been a boarder for about 8 or so years and still put them on every time I go out. Also nice if you are sitting on the snow to strap in at the top of the hill, your butt won't get cold. Like the others said be careful the only hard part in snow boarding is the transition from heel to toe. Once you get that down it will be very enjoyable. Never ride flat footed, this is when your board will get squirlly, and catching an edge at any speed can be a day ender. You have to always be edging one way or the other. Heel or toe.

I skied for years...all my life...took up snowboarding last year. I don't find any parallels to wakeboarding except an understanding of edging. And even that is different timing. It was difficult to make the transition for me. It was hard and I so wanted to go back to skiing. But I made myself stick it out and after 1 private lesson I got the hang of it. I would highly recommend a private lesson. I did the beginner group and got more out of the private.

Just stick with it. you will be happy you did.

Group lessons did nothing for me. The best advise I can give is to just make sure you can have fun with it, and be able to laugh at yourself. Try to give yourself a few days on the slopes before you make up your mind. Hang in there, it is a blast!!!!

look at ride bindings.
i forgot which model i have, but they were only $110
and are super comfy.

as for boots, youll just need to try a bunch on to see which one fits your foot

I remember seeing an awesome competition on tv once where some pro snowboarders and pro wakeboarders had competitions in wakeboarding and then snowboarding... I want to see that being done again, i think it would be great!!!

I took up snowboarding 3 years ago at age 45. Second the suggestion on the private lesson. I always try to guard against catching the front edge, even if it means manhandling the board with my hips or upper body. Last year I bought a Morrow setup, not a lot of money but it works well for me.

Me and my friends are just talking about doing the same, but what about the board size conversions. I ride a 140 wakeboard, but what size snow board would that be. Some of girls from work are thinking about doing a girls day out some where in IN.

Remember this, whatever end of the board has the most weight on it wants to head downhill first.
Find a nice groomed intermediate slope and figure out how much bite your edges have on both HS and TS then just trust your edge and try your first carved turn. If you spend some time sliding down the hill sideways on both HS and TS it will come pretty easily. I never had a student who couldn't learn to carve a decent turn on day #1. Keep your shoulders square with the board and try to learn switch stance from your first time down while learning to weight the edges. I'd skip the beginner's slope as there is not enough pull to allow your edge to bite so all you're doing is sliding down the hill while building bad habits.

Have fun, John

The most important advice I can think of is try to go out for your first time on a powdery day. DON'T TRY AND LEARN IN ICEY CONDITIONS. You'll just hurt yourself and hate the sport.

Bob, definitly give it a shot. I have been wakeboarding for a long, long time and just started snowboarding a couple years ago. I picked it up real quick. Wakeboarding definitly helped me. Just moved to Steamboat Springs CO and am having a sick season so far! Rent a board the first couple times out and make sure it is for you, I would bet you will love it.

I don't find much carryover between wakeboarding and snowboarding except being comfortable in a sideways stance (normal and switch). If you're a good athlete, you'll pick up snowboarding quickly, mostly because of your athleticism and not because of wakeboarding.

I recommend wearing wrist guards like skateboarders or rollerbladers for your first few times. The most common injury is a buckle fracture of the wrist from putting your hands out to break a fall.

You'll fall a lot the first day or two till you get the feel of the edges. When you catch an edge, you fall fast, kinda like catching a toeside edge in wakeboarding. Whack!!

ya i have been snowboarding for 12 years, teaching snowboarding as a seasonal job for 4 years and wakeboarding for 10. I find almost no similarities other than knowing that i ride normal.

Wakeboarding you turn mostly by leaning your weight against the rope for basic riding. Snowboarding your going to be carving and diggin your edge into the snow and it is all in your edges. No fins to keep traction.

Also with snowboarding you lead a lot more with your front foot than you do with wakeboarding. When making toe side turns there is quite a bit of weight placed on your front foot.

Good luck, totally agree with Eagle about the writst guards...just wear them under you gloves so you dont look lame

im 6'2 200 with a size 13 foot and have a lamar stealth wide and burton freestyle boots ill let go for $100 shipped if interested in a cheap used setup.

Some good advice so far. Here are some highlights from my 12+ years experience (some are repeats):

1) Wrist guards mandatory.
2) Start with a lesson (one day should be enough, at a minimum, but more would be a nice luxury).
3) Helmet keeps your head toasty warm in addition to safe.
4) Padded shorts are another nice luxury for learning at any level.
5) A super-great expensive boot for one person might fit like crap on another person, try them on first, demo if possible. For all other gear, it's not as important.
6) Fresh powder, awesome as it is, can be quite challenging and difficult to work with until you get the hang of it - not the best place to learn, IMO.
7) Happy feet, warm head and no broken bones at the end of the day usually means it was a good day.

^^^^ I meant freestyle bindings.... dont got boots for you if interested. ^^^^

another great day on the hill... even did my first surface 360....tried out my new board and bindings...Burton Feelgood with Lexa bindings AHHHHHHHHH