Today’s reader question:
I always fall on when I try to ride boxes and I’ve hit my face a few times. How do I stop crashing?
Okay, so there’s a few golden rules you should follow any time you hit a box or a rail.
1) Don’t fight against the direction you’re sliding
When you hop onto a box there’s 2 scenarios that can occur.
- You’re on course to slide to the end of the box
- You’re off course and will not make it to the end of the rail
If you end up sliding off-course, go with it. Don’t fight it and don’t try to turn yourself back on course to save the trick. If you’re sliding off the box, just hop off the box.
If you aren’t sliding in the right direction when you land on the box, you won’t be able to fix it anyway. Trying to turn and force your snowboard to turn on a box is how you end up on your butt or faceplanting.
The only time you can try to fix your slide if you’re off course is if you’re hitting rails instead of boxes and even then it’s a very advanced skill that takes a long time to master.
2) No edges
No edges. Ever. If you try to use your edges on a box, you’ll either end up catching an edge or finding the snowboard slipping out from under you.
Don’t use your edges or try to turn on a box.
Other jib/box riding tips:
There’s a couple other blogs I did that may help if you want to fix it so that you get to the end of the box every time:
- Where to look when hitting park features (look at the 2nd half on rail tricks)
- Should you be looking towards the end of the rail?
Hope that answers your question!
- Jed
ps – If you intend to ride a lot of boxes and rails, I recommend investing in a mouthguard. It’ll help protect your teeth, plus mouth guards actually help with preventing concussions as well.
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