5 Cool Snowboard Tricks you can try in 2022
We don’t all have the time or the desire to go out there and learn a backflip to impress our friends. Sometimes all we have is one spring break or one weekend trip to get better and we want to learn some cool things right now without putting in years of practice and without risking or hurting ourselves. Today, in this article, I’m going to cover five easy tricks that you can try in 2022. You can try these tricks even if you only have an intermediate skill set. You can go out and learn right now today.
So these are a few easy tricks that you’ve probably seen before but still I hope you get some of the same excitement when you go out and nail them for the very first time.
Ninja Vanish
This is when you go fast in a straight line and then you throw up a huge cloud of smoke. It’s pretty easy to do but it can also be dangerous like if your buddy is flying behind you and all of a sudden he can’t see and he’s going Mach 10 over a roller or if you get carried away and you end up spraying too many skiers. But I probably wouldn’t hold it against you.
The Ninja Vanish looks cool, it feels cool and it creates a big cloud of snow hence the term Vanish. Just be sure not to blind anyone. The key here is speed and then you want to lay into your toe edge hard at a 90-degree angle but stay light on your feet to let it blow up the snow rather than bringing you to a stop. The way to do that is to put your board a little bit out in front of you so your entire body weight isn’t centered over the board.
Tailblock
The second trick is the Tailblock. This is usually done by riding up a wall front side on your toe edge and at the peak of your speed jumping up onto your tail and grabbing your nose. The key here is to wait until you’re just about to stop before jumping. So, as high as you’re going to go on the wall when you get to the very top that’s the exact moment that you want to jump. You don’t want to wait until you’re coming back down. You also want to make sure that the snow is soft enough for your tail to stick. Don’t do it on pure ice. If you jump 180 into this trick it will set you up to drop straight back into the slope.
Side Hits
This isn’t really a trick but more of a skillset and that’s finding Side Hits. Sure we’ve all gone off Side Hits before but some people seem to find them anywhere and everywhere and they go huge off of them. Just watch Arthur Longo’s Side Hit Euphoria on YouTube. It’s insane. The key to finding Side Hits is to look for tree grows, for steep walls, for glades, and to weave in and out of the slope. You can tell a lot about somebody’s snowboarding by how many Side Hits they find and pretty much any trick can be done off a side hit from huge ollies to 540s. Just be sure to spot the run before launching into it so you don’t land on anyone. Finding Side Hits makes snowboarding a lot more fun. It’s like turning the entire mountain into your own personal terrain park.
Backside Tail Dragger
It’s kind of like a wheelie with a backside shifty and it helps to pre-load this trick. Bend your knees down and put a little pressure on your front foot so you can rock back onto your back foot. Now you can do this over rollers or just cruising down the run and it’s going to add some serious style to your snowboarding.
Board Flip
Lastly, I have a daring trick that requires a full commitment, the hand flip to no footed ride. This can be attempted by just about anyone but just beware that you will eat it. The key here is to get a running start, flip the board right as you’re jumping, and fully commit. You’re not going to land it every time but even if you don’t your friends will get a kick out of it.
That’s it, five easy tricks that you can go out and try and most likely learn today. It doesn’t take years of experience risking life and limb or launching yourself over an 80-foot jump. It just takes a willingness to go for it.
