Hannah Teter

I wish this book had been available when I was first learning to snowboard.

I had purchased other books, but none of them would have measured up to the level of information present in this one.

Snowboarding is first and foremost a physical sport that requires you to be on snow. You can’t just read a book to understand how to do it, because it takes many hours of physically working at it to become proficient. However, that said, when you’re learning snowboarding, everything is new and show more unfamiliar. Having a book like this for the times that you can’t be on the slopes is immeasureably useful. It also provides an excellent resource for making sense of concepts introduced on the slopes, for when you come home and review things.

The book is broken up into different sections, starting with preparation for heading to the hill: before you begin information, basic techniques, and advanced riding.

The following topics are covered in Before You Begin: snowboarding history, choosing and assembling equipment, and what to expect when heading for the mountain for the day. The following topics are covered in Basic Techniques: getting started, be in control and stay in control, and ride any terrain. The following topics are covered in Advanced Riding: introduction to tricks, taking it to the next level, getting the most out of your ride, and competitive riding.

The book has really wonderful photographic diagrams of turns and tricks. The series of moves for a particular trick are combined into one photo, such that the sequence can be easily seen by the reader. In essence, it is a condensed version of a video-like view, but without the blur. The reader needs to pay attention to the labels, because while the sequence of the move is clearly labeled, sometimes the movement goes left-to-right and sometimes it goes right-to-left.

The written descriptions of the movements are excellent, and descriptive of how to do the physical actions. (At least up to my own level of skill. I can't comment on anything advanced.)

The only minor flaw I had with the book involved the descriptions of some of the movements, for example the half-pipe descriptions, where I was confused about the left-wall and right-wall. Left and right only make sense when you know if you’re looking uphill or downhill. I assume it is for looking downhill, in the direction that a rider descends, but it took me awhile to figure that out, and I suspect perhaps I should have already known that, but I didn’t. (I’ve never been in a half-pipe, so I don’t really have a grasp of what is required there. If nothing else, this book will induce some seriuos daydreaming aspects into the reader. Live vicariously!) But, again, snowboarding is a very physical sport, and left/right becomes very arbitrary when you can spin around on a board and point downhill with either foot. Overall, I think that great pains were taken in writing the book to be very distinctly clear about toe-side, heel-side, and the descriptions of riding regular-stance and goofy-stance.

The overall tone of the book is really well balanced between encouragement and a nod to safely riding within one’s limits. The chapters on snowboard specific exercises and on competitive riding are great starting points for beginner riders (especially young ones who have a lot of enthusiasm and may be developing goals). Additionally, the glossary at the very end is useful, although not exhaustive.

This book isn’t the end-all-be-all of books about snowboarding. It presents a great introduction to a lot of topics, and a good amount of depth, but not exhaustive coverage. The book tackles the full scope of beginners to intermediate and advanced riders, and really would be a useful book for just about every snowboarder, or anyone planning to become one.

I received this book as part of the librarything reviewer program; but my views are my own. show less

I started snowboarding in December, so I am still a novice. I thought Mastering Snowboarding did a good job covering the basics, including explaining about the equipment and safety considerations. Teter covers basic moves, but where she really shines is her step by step explanations of tricks on the half pipe and other really advanced moves. Obviously since I am still a beginner, I have not tried the tricks first hand, but I do love how she literally breaks down each one into detailed steps, show more including which foot should go forward, which direction you should face, etc. She really goes into depth for those moves. It's like reading a snowboarding manual or how-to. Even if you're like me and aren't ready to do the tricks, it's still a fun read. show less

Ever watched snowboarders in the Olympics and wanted to pull some of the same tricks they make look so simple? Did you think you could read a book to learn how? If so, Mastering Snowboarding may be the book for you.

I grabbed a promotional copy of the book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewer's program. My snowboarding skills have greatly diminished since having kids and spending less time on the slopes. But, The Boy is a budding snowboarder, so maybe we could share the resources in the show more book.

It's hard to argue with snowboard lessons from Hannah Teter, a two time Olympic medalist and winner of a multitude of elite snowboarding competitions. Of course being a champion does not mean you can write well, so Teter teamed up with veteran snowboard writer Tawnya Schultz to compile the lessons in the book.

They try to tackle it all: history of snowboarding, equipment, clothing, first-time riding, big mountain riding, and tricks. That's a lot to pack into one book.

I agree with many of their seven truths of snowboarding:

1. You are going to fall. Everyone falls.

2. You are going to feel uncoordinated. Everyone feels uncoordinated when learning something new.

3. Feeling embarrassed is optional and will not improve your performance.

4. Visualizing helps. So does trusting your body.

5. You may love or hate snowboarding right away. Either way, you’ll get better with practice.

6. If you are optimistic and focus on having fun, you will enjoy the ride.

7. You are going to be sore by the end of the day

I started out snowboarding in 1995 and left the mountain very sore, but wanting more. My first mistake was trying to learn without a lesson. I had just missed the morning lesson time and had two hours to kill until the next lesson. My second mistake was trying to get up the bunny slope before that lesson on a tow rope, a difficult uphill transport for a snowboard.

Reading this book would have helped avoid those mistakes. It my have even given me a better starting point. Attempting to cover the breadth of snowboarding subjects is inherently going to mean that most topics are not covered in depth. The only subject covered in depth are tricks which take up 60 of 189 pages in the book. show less

Mastering Snowboarding by Teter and Schultz includes information for beginners to more advanced snowboarders. My son and I paged through this book together...he the snowboarder and I the review writer. He looked at the practical value of the book and I tried to imagine using it to learn to snowboard. He felt that this book was a good visual tutorial on how to start and then master some tricks using the instructions and images. I enjoyed learning more about the "how to" aspect of snowboarding show more and the information on equipment and safety were well done. I would recommend this book for all snowboarders to get some tips and learn some new tricks too! show less