How have you progressed over your season?
While I’m here in Aus waiting for some white stuff to hit our hills, many of you are in the NoHe having lots of fun.
So I was wondering how has everyone’s riding progressed over the NoHe season?
Have you taken your riding to that next level you were aiming for? Landed those few tricks you have been trying to get for ages? Or just tried and smashed new tricks that you never attempted? Dropped that killer line that you havent had the nerve for before?
So yeh, just write what you have done and how you think you have improved! I’d like to hear your progression success stories 
It is hard to say how I’ve improved over the last many years.
I know my riding is getting more dialed in. I know that I am displaying more control in my riding. I dont have any great new tricks to claim. But I know I’m gaining more confidence when I’m in the pipe. I am riding a little faster when able to stay safe (safer at higher speeds) and gaining confidence to hit larger features in the park. But not like I’m doing anything amazing off of them. The fact that I am more comfortable around them is important to me. Of course hte last 5 years, I have not been on the snow as much as I would have liked to have been. This past winter I was back in the game. My real main goal is AASI level III certification. The fact that in the clinic I took this year… The guy that I clicked with the most, and he and I enjoyed additional riding time together… Well, he took his level III exam and passed! This gives me a lot of confidence to continue moving forward and take more clinics and train toward the level III myself in the next year or two. THAT is my real goal.
Other wise, my goals are only to get on snow and have tons of fun!
There is a dry slope locally, and I cant believe I’ve not been there yet. but I know I will get there soon. there are some bigger jumps there that I can gain confidence in, and some boxes that I can improve on too.
I really just want to ride big mountains and deep snow (lol dont we all) but I dont have access to it.
Another goal for net NoHe season, is to make the trip my wife and I keep talking about to go back to Salt Lake City, UT! My brother-in-law is living there and we just need to pay the money for plane tickets!
Why havent more people contributed to this topic????
Why havent more people contributed to this topic????
Yeh i was hoping to hear a few more stories.
My real main goal is AASI level III certification. The fact that in the clinic I took this year… The guy that I clicked with the most, and he and I enjoyed additional riding time together… Well, he took his level III exam and passed! This gives me a lot of confidence to continue moving forward and take more clinics and train toward the level III myself in the next year or two. THAT is my real goal.
Other wise, my goals are only to get on snow and have tons of fun!
There is a dry slope locally, and I cant believe I’ve not been there yet. but I know I will get there soon. there are some bigger jumps there that I can gain confidence in, and some boxes that I can improve on too.
I really just want to ride big mountains and deep snow (lol dont we all) but I dont have access to it.Another goal for net NoHe season, is to make the trip my wife and I keep talking about to go back to Salt Lake City, UT! My brother-in-law is living there and we just need to pay the money for plane tickets!
Getting your AASI III is a good goal and it must be quite rewarding when you achieve each level of certification.
Dryslope would be great for keeping your riding fresh over the off season. It always feels like my riding drops a bit at the start of each season before i get back into the swing of it.
Id love to go to Salt Lake! If i had relos there i would be hitting them up as much as possible for accom 
Ok how about some success stories from last years SoHe season? Hopefully this might get a few comments..
I wish I could contribute to this thread. Unfortunately this was the first summer in six years I didn’t go snowboarding.
OK guys…
Best progression report wins a Boardworld T-shirt! I’ll pick the winner in two weeks from now.
Thats the way to get it going Jeremy haha, love your work
Does learning how to tile, plaster & install a new wood heater count as progression?
Does learning how to tile, plaster & install a new wood heater count as progression?
It does - just on a different level.
Well i’m back in Australia now. had a few setbacks with injuries, busted my ankle and wrist on 2 separate occasions and strained my shoulder. spent about 8 weeks in total on the couch. I progressed in some areas and not in others. I think my biggest improvement was on rails, learnt more this season jibbing around than any previous. I give credit to the dudes i was riding with this season, they really pushed me hard on rails i would usually avoid. learnt cab and front 27s on down rails and a combination of tricks and pretzels on easier rails and boxes. finally nailed both c boxes too. after i hurt my ankle i stayed away from big jumps and gnarly terrain so really didn’t improve much at all in my freeriding or jumps. now i’m just looking forward to healing properly and having a good season in the park in oz.
Well i’m back in Australia now. had a few setbacks with injuries, busted my ankle and wrist on 2 separate occasions and strained my shoulder. spent about 8 weeks in total on the couch. I progressed in some areas and not in others. I think my biggest improvement was on rails, learnt more this season jibbing around than any previous. I give credit to the dudes i was riding with this season, they really pushed me hard on rails i would usually avoid. learnt cab and front 27s on down rails and a combination of tricks and pretzels on easier rails and boxes. finally nailed both c boxes too. after i hurt my ankle i stayed away from big jumps and gnarly terrain so really didn’t improve much at all in my freeriding or jumps. now i’m just looking forward to healing properly and having a good season in the park in oz.
such a shame about the injuries. but injuries are a risk we all take for the sport we love i spose. at least it didnt write out your whole season.
Last years season I really didnt ride much in the way of jumps either, though i really would have liked to have had the chance to and improve too much. My progression last season came from me and my friends getting some lessons to touch up our basic skills. It really helped my riding alot. One area that it improved greatly was switch riding. I rode switch heaps because my instructor pushed me to and i really began to love it. Like learning to board again and getting that satisfaction. I also began to push alot more on rails/boxes and become more confident on down rails especially. Another thing that the instructor threw out there for me was to try some swich stuff on rails. I didnt think about doing it, but because my switch was improving i just did what he said and then next thing i knew i was doing switch front and back boards on a cbox!
I had a super sick season this year. The opening weekend was shoulder-deep blower - I even got stuck a couple of times on my fish! Anyways, the last few years I’ve been working on my carving (but not like you instructor-types). I’m a tall skinny guy who doesn’t bend his knees much, well, until this year. I was really stoked on my form on this line even though it’s not in the least bit gnar. I’m already looking forward to next year when I can be more aggressive on it. Massive avy danger on it that day - the entire next valley ripped out.
Got some amazing lines this year, and had some great photos taken.
This is my favourite pic of the year. You can see the steepness from my back hand touching the snow
Overall, I was able to charge way harder than before and my mountain-savy-ness improved. I got to learn how to use an ice axe and climbed to 2640m, before riding down. Found out I could actually climb for 8 hours!
Had some amazing days with some good friends and I ticked off a number of lines that I wanted to do. I didn’t get to all of them but need something to do for next year ha ha.
Also got to test out loads of different boards which really gave me a good idea of the different offerings out there.
Got to ride
Lib Trice C2, Never Summer camber & rocker (forget the name), Burton T6, 2011 easy living fv, custom fv, joystick, malolo,stellar, 2011 capita charlie slasher, bsod, old k2 travis parker, Smokin bigwig, burton puppy uninc and a K2 gyrator.
Along with my boards: Burton custom x, fish ltd (now sold), malolo, bmc, frontier, fish noboard. woah, I was pretty busy!
At the end of the year I hit the park and got my mojo back after losing interest in the park for a few years. Finally learnt methods, nose grabs and suitcase grabs. Even landed a bunch of frontside 3’s. Every year I spend most of my time freeriding and powhunting, so I never get round to getting tricks dialed down. So looking forward to next season!!!!
Can I count ‘08/‘09 in Japan when I went from zero to hero? At least in my opinion anyway, when I finally got my act together and went for the first time. Incidentally, it didn’t take me long to realise that my fantacies about the sport were not far from the truth. Love at first ride!
Brandy, how good is the thrill you get your first time! I remember when i first fell in love with snowboarding
Gambor, it really sounds like you did have an amazing season. Love the photos, and also your write up on your massive hike. Im stoked for you about all of the above , but also very jealous at the same time!
Thats a lot of boards you tested there. which was your favourite? How was noboarding? also what was the gyrator like? i really like the look of that board
noboarding is awesome, but only doable in powder. It really improves your snowboarding fundamentals as you can only lean out as far as your momentum/trajectory allows. It’s amazing how much we rely on bindings. It also forces you to read the terrain more as you have absorb or pump every bump or hollow just to stay on the board. With bindings you can just plow through everything no problem. When you get to the bottom of a run though, just knowing you noboarded it, is the greatest feeling ever.
My wife got some good shots of me last winter:
2 runs, 2 tracks - stoked!
actually, I’ll make a new thread later on with loads of pics.
re: gyrator
I think the gyrator’s day is done. It’s still a good board, but all it is is a reverse cambered board. I got the exact feeling from a burton joystick (only comparing it in pow conditions). You sink in in the middle of the board, and you have the tip and tail bending up. It’s super fun in pow as just pumping the board makes you bounce up and down. I didn’t like it in tight trees when I HAD to make a turn - it was a bit too mellow. The gyrator has gotten stiffer every year though, so it might be ok now. I just think getting a joystick would be better as it’s more of an all mountain board, which has the same ride as the Gy in pow. That said, my friend who rides for K2 would ride his Gy in all conditions.
Another friend who has one complained that it was slower than say, a fish, but I think that is just because of the reverse camber. Sinking in the middle, the nose pushes against the snow, rather than the taper and s-rocker combo of the fish. Riding the fish in powder is like being on a ginsu knife, the gyrator is more like one of those inflatable castles that kids jump around in
Cool thanks for the gyrator info
that first noboard pic is great, especially with the judges board in the corner
Yeah, no kidding Snatch. It was awesome. Am very much looking forward to regular seasons on the snow. My girlfriend doesn’t really have much say in the matter, and she realises this so it is OK! :D