This is a follow up to the original post: Learn To Snowboard Without Any Expensive Lessons?

That article considered the view that some people are capable of learning to snowboard, without lessons – and in doing so they could save the expense of using an instructor. Different people pick up snowboarding at a different rate; some will be more suited to lessons, others may get on just fine in the early days…

Since writing that post, I encountered an interesting poll on http://www.snowboardingforum.com/, which asked people how they had learned to snowboard. There were three options: By yourself, Lessons and Other. I was really interested in the results, so I followed that up with the same poll here.

Why? I’m assuming that the Snowboarding Forum is predominantly American, or at least, not predominantly British. So I was looking to see if there was a difference between the USA and other parts of the world.

I found the results very interesting…

Who learns without lessons: the numbers

OK – these aren’t huge samples, but they do still tell us something.

http://www.snowboardingforum.com/
Sample size: 99

  • By Yourself — 63/99 — 63.64%
  • With Lessons — 22/99 — 22.22%
  • Other means — 14/99 — 14.14%

https://www.snowboardingdays.com
Sample size: 33

  • By Yourself — 12/33 — 36.4%
  • With Lessons — 19/33 — 57.6%
  • Other means — 2/33 — 6%

Note: I listed other means as “Books, DVDs, etc.”

Thoughts about the numbers

When I first saw the numbers on the SnowboardingForum, I was surprised at how many people had learned without lessons. 60% + seems like a lot to me. That was the motivation to do the same poll on Goneboarding – to see if my view was biased by residing in the UK.

I have one or two ideas as to why the numbers might be different – although it’s worth bearing in mind that the sample sizes are small, and with bigger numbers, things might come out a little closer.

First off, if you learn in the UK on an artificial slope (dry or indoor), you’re not allowed on the slope until you’ve had lessons. There isn’t the same restriction with a full-on resort.

What’s more, if you’re in the UK and you go snowboarding in Europe, it’s most likely a holiday, rather than a weekend thing. In which case, you want to get it, so you might be more inclined to book lessons to make sure you do. If you were driving somewhere for the weekend, you might be more inclined to wing it, just give it a go.

There are quite a few wooly ideas there, lots of assumptions etc. But the main point is that I thought more people would have learned with lessons. Do you have any comments on the figures?

“Looking back – I would have been better off getting lessons”. One of the repeated comments on both forums was that with hindsight, people thought they would have been better off getting lessons in the beginning. That they might have avoided certain bad habits…

Is day #1 the best time to get a lesson? Putting the numbers to one side, I still think that many people are capable of getting started without lessons – especially if they’ve got some instruction to work with. That said, I do still advocate getting a lesson – when the time is right.

If you’re interested in getting good technique, and it’s something you’re keeping an eye on, you might be better off making the lesson-investment once you’re linking turns, once you’re exploring the mountain. I’m sure there are many snowboarders who start of with lessons, get the basics down, and then never re-evaluate their technique. That can leave you floundering as an intermediate snowboarder.

Get lessons – when you need them. That might not be day one.

Related posts

Are you thinking about learning without lessons? If so, I say Go for it! I highly recommend the Snowboard Addiction lessons for beginners – read my review of Learn to Ride to find out why – give yourself the tools to get going.

Are you getting started with snowboarding? Maybe you’ve done a week somewhere. What are you working on next? Check out my guest post on the SnowLife blog: 8 Targets For The Progressing Beginner Snowboarder.

For more beginner help, check out the Learn to Snowboard page. There’s a bunch of stuff on there designed to help people new to snowboarding.

You may also like

Leave a Comment

Subscribe for discounts AND A Chance to win $50!

Sign up to our newsletter for entry into the annual $50 gift card draw.

Subscribe for discounts AND A Chance to win $50!

Sign up to our newsletter for entry into our annual $50 gift card draw.