How to Go Uphill With a Snowboard

Snowboarding is great fun, as long as there is a hill to go down. Snowboarders tend to suffer, however, when hills flatten out, or worse, when a hill needs to be crested. Skiers have the advantage of poles and a few other techniques to propel them up hills. While snowboarders have no such advantage, they do have a few different techniques available to them to get up a hill.

Instructions

    • 1

      Take your back foot out of the binding. Have the board be horizontal and straight across in front of you, with your toe edge dug in. Step over the board with your free foot, and begin stepping up the hill. Use the foot still in the snowboard to step up the hill as well, bringing the board with you and always keeping the toe edge engaged so that you do not slide backward. This approach is most useful on steep, short sections of uphill.

    • 2

      Keep both feet strapped in to the board. Face the hill you want to climb with your toe edge engaged. Put your weight on one foot and move your other foot forward, and then quickly shift your weight to the other foot and bring your other foot forward. Use this hopping, shuffling motion to walk yourself up the hill. This approach is best on uphill sections with shallow slopes.

    • 3

      Gather enough speed on a downhill section prior to the hill you need to climb that your momentum carries you up the hill. You can increase your speed on a downhill section by engaging your edges as little as possible and crouching down so that there is less wind resistance on your body.

    • 4

      Take the board off both feet and carry it as you walk up the hill. If you have a long way to walk, then this is the most practical approach.