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So you've got a kite, a buggy, a helmet and insurance, its time to have fun. Buggying is one of those mysterious things that it is initially really hard until it suddenly all falls into place. Patience at this point will be rewarded. Firstly figure out which way the wind is blowing then arrange your buggy so it is pointing towards a broad reach. Launch your kite and position it directly over you head at the top of the wind window. The kite should feel very stable and should not be pulling you around. If you are being pulled around, it is likely that the wind is turbulent, so it may be more difficult to control the kite. You need to be aware of this. With the kite above your head, sit in the buggy and put your feet on the foot pegs, you will still need to pay attention to what the kite is doing while you do this, make sure it stays directly above you head. Once you are comfortably in the buggy, you are ready to go. Steer and gently lower the kite in the direction you want the buggy to travel. Don't drop the kite immediately into the power zone as you will be dragged sideways out of the buggy, all kite movements need to be slow and fluid. The kite should always be down wind from you. As you lower the kite and steer it slightly forwards, you will feel the power gradually come in. As it does, both you and the buggy will start to move forwards. You will need to counter the pull of the kite otherwise you will encounter your first OBE very quickly. From above, here's how it will look if you take the left hand broad reach. If you are heading in the right hand board reach direction, it will look like: Slowing Down and Stopping Once you start to move it is very important that you learn how to stop. Stopping is very easy; gently steer the buggy away from the kite while moving the kite directly above your head. In other words steer the buggy into the wind. This will have the effect of slowing you down. Moving the kite above your head will remove the traction, so there will be no pull from the kite in the direction you are traveling. Don't steer the kite to the overhead position too quickly or the kite will begin to generate lots of lift and an OBE will quickly follow. It is a little difficult to explain this easily, so don't worry if you are confused, however once you have done it a few times it will all become clear. This is how it looks if you are on the left hand broad reach. And again, if you are heading on the right hand broad reach : Power slides are a very good way to stop quickly, however we'll cover those later. For now, learning to stop quickly and safely is more important than learning how to go fast. Downwind Turning As you've probably figured out, the buggy is steered by the feet on the front pegs. It very easy and comes quite naturally. You do need to be aware however of your kite and how it will react when you want to go in a different direction. Remember that you can't buggy into the wind and at this stage, although it's easy to do so, don't buggy directly down wind. If you buggy directly down wind you and the buggy will catch up with the kite, the kite will then luff and typically fall out of the sky. At this point the lines get tangled around the buggy wheels and the kite suddenly powers up when you are least expecting it. Try and avoid it. It is important to keep the lines under tension all the time. Turning the buggy around and going in the opposite direction initially requires lots of concentration. There are several things which you need to control all at the same time. If you have mastered stopping as described previously, then you are half way to turning, however this time you are turning away from the wind rather than towards it. You will be traveling on a beam reach and will generally need a little more speed in order to allow the buggy to do the turn and still have momentum to continue moving. While you make this turn towards the direction you have already come from, as before when stopping, you also need to raise the kite to the over head position or zenith and once you have completed the turn, steer the kite so it beings to provide traction again and it will being to pull you along. If you get this right, you'll have completed your first turn. Down wind Turning Steps 1. Heading down wind on a beam reach run. Kite proving traction to pull you at a reasonable speed. 2. Half way through the turn the kite should be above your head in at the zenith. 3. On completing the turn, the kite is maneuvered into a position where it is generating enough power to pull you along again. You can now buggy on a beam reach in the opposition direction from where you came from. Well, that's pretty much the basics, you should now be able to buggy, stop when required and do down wind turns. Easy !!

So you’ve seen the video’s of the pro’s on youtube jumping, looping and throwing the board around like its as heavy as a fag packet and you want to buy the gear and fly like the pro’s. Well hold on! You need to walk before you can run and you need to run before you can jump. Landboarding is a great sport to do and isn’t dictated by age as to who can do it although a sense of balance helps. GETTING GEARED UP: The first thing you need is a kite! If you can only afford to buy one kite to start with then look around the 3-4m size. If you can afford two kites then look at getting a 2.5-3m and 5-6m kites dependent on your weight Obviously if your a bit of a chip stick then look at the smaller end and if your a chunky monkey look at the larger end. Either way just make sure you get a low/medium aspect 4 line fixed bridle foil kite. HQ Beamer II-III. Peter Lynn Pepper I-II. Peter Lynn Hornet. PKD Buster II. Ozone Cult, Samurai I-II, Little Devils. Flexi Rage, (the flexi Sting range is ideal for kids under 12). These are all low lift, low aspect kites that will last a long time and unless you progress very quickly will stay in you quiver for years. Don’t be tempted by getting a bar for your 4 line fixed bridle kite, IMHO they’re a waste of money and you lose half of your control over the kite. Like wise wait until you can control the kite and board before you get a harness and hook in using a strop (a length of line that runs between your handles) because its hard to unhook whilst getting dragged along face first. THE BOARD: There is a lot of boards out there to choose from with a price range to match. You can buy a cheap maple ply deck for less than £100 all the way upto £400 for a carbon fiber deck. What board you get is dependent ultimately on what you intend to do. Cruise, freestyle, freeride (a bit of both) plus your weight comes into it. How much you spend dictates what hardware comes on the board. There is a whole world of parts that come fitted on different decks! Look for brands such as Scrub, Trampa and MBS, there are other brands out there but you really cant go wrong with any of these company’s For the money the whole Scrub range takes a lot of beating and Trampa make decks you can drive a car over and not break, MBS also make good boards If you just want to cruise then look at a deck that’s around 100cm and fitted with channel trucks. For freestyle look for a deck that’s around 90cm fitted with skate trucks, and for freeriding anything in between the two. OTHER ESSENTIALS: Helmet. Pads (elbow, knee). Insurance (£15 from the BPKA). Kite killers (nearly all new kites come with them now). Crash shorts. Ground stake. Sunglasses. Now before you try going all Lewis Wilby. Learn the basics: Practice flying the kite before you jump on the board, this might only take 30 minutes or it might take you a day but knowing how to control the kite is more important than knowing how to control the board. Learn to ride the board, for this I would recommend finding a gentle grass slope. Think grassy knoll more than mount Everest. Now before you get on the board you need to decide if your a regular or a goofy rider (left or right foot forward). To do this is easy, imagine your running on a slippery floor and want to slide. We’ve all done it weather on ice or a slippery floor. What foot you put forward is what your leading leg is. If you put your left leg out and have your weight on your right leg then you have a regular stance and going to the left with the kite is likely to be your stronger side. Vice versa if you put your right leg forward and put your weight on your left leg. Ride down the slope with out the kite to get used to carving heelside and toeside. To stop on the slope either lean back to carve up the hill or crouch down and grab the middle of the board and just lean back hard. This will make the board turn sideways and you will slide to a stop. Putting them both together: Now for the fun/painful bit. On a nice wind day ie 8-15mph head to the field or beach and prepare to fall! HA HA. When you feel confident about doing the above its time to hop on the board with the kite! Keeping your back to the wind and the kite overhead point the board 45deg down wind and then put your leading/strongest foot in the binding first followed by your trailing leg. You put your leading foot in first, because sods law says that if you put your trailing foot in the binding first you will do something stupid with the kite and be flat on you back with lots of people laughing at you (try to get used to it, every body loves to laugh and cheer when they see a boarder bail). Now with both feet in the bindings and the kite over head (assuming your going to your left first) your ready for action. Now depending on wind speed your gonna have to do one of three things. If the winds strong then gently lower the kite from 12 o’clock (above you) down to around 10-11 o’clock and you will feel the kite starting to move the board, once you get to a jogging speed you need to apply some heel side pressure to help you go across and up wind, this also helps keep tension in the lines and stops you catching up with the kite and the kite then collapsing. In medium winds you will need to be a little more aggressive when dropping the kite down to10o’clock in the window, it might even help taking the kite over to 12.30-1 o’clock before sending it to 10 o’clock, once again when you reach a jogging speed lean back and apply heel side pressure to turn the board up wind. In lighter winds its hard to get going as you need to be nicely powered to board with but practice and you will get it. As above you will need to be even more aggressive with the kite to get the power you need out of it. Start by moving the kite to 1 o’clock then instead of sending it to 10 o’clock fly it to the ground with an S shape motion and aim to have the kite coming to about 9 o’clock after the manoeuvre, then you will need to keep the kite moving up and down like this \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ so air keeps flowing over it and generating power to move you. Once moving try and pick an object level or just up wind of you as this will give you a point to aim for and lets you know if you moving up wind or down wind. Once at the end of your run gently gently bring your kite up to 12 o’clock and then gently over to 1 o’clock the kite will now act like an air brake and slow you down till you stop. Now just repeat the above description going the other way and before long you will have clocked it. Trusting the kite and leaning back is the most important part of getting up wind. But as you lean back you inevitably apply a lot of heelside pressure which in turn make you crank up wind more but you will come to a stop and drop on your arse. To prevent this as you lean back point your toes forwards, this will prevent you from applying to much heelside pressure and stopping. Author : Lee Sadler Author Website : http://www.learntopowerkite.com

Fancy building your own ATB deck? Well now you can! In this article I aim to give anyone thinking of building their own landboard a good idea of how to go about it, by sharing my experiences of designing and creating decks. From this... To this... First off Anyone embarking on this sort of project needs a few things; dedication, patience, spare time, a good supply of materials and the use of a decent selection of tools. If you haven’t got these, then don’t bother starting out! If you have them, then you shouldn’t find it too hard to finish up with a really quality bit of work! My custom decks started off as a piece of school Design work; the big project to end my A-level D&T course with. We were given a reasonably free reign to choose our own ideas, so I went for boardbuilding as it looked an exciting challenge, and I could get a new deck out of it to save my hard-earned cash for kites! When I started the project I was riding a ’03 Scrub Lion Canyon, which was a little basic and rather short in stance for my liking. The basic premise of the project was to create something more suited for an adult stance, a board that would take the fittings from the Lion Canyon (keeping costs down!) and would be nice and stable at speed. I figured creating a super-lightweight deck for tricks could be difficult in the time period I was allowed, so I took the easy option instead... Initial Preparation : After spending a couple of months doing some of the rather dull paperwork for the project folder, it was on to concept ideas and the real research! I looked around at several sites on the web to investigate suitable materials and manufacturing processes. This page : http://www.hugh308.homestead.com/tutor_longboard.html was particularly helpful and provided some valuable inspiration and ideas, although in the end I changed several of the basic points to make the build method suitable for a proper landboard deck. I then did a few sheets of various concept ideas and my thoughts for each- this usually gives you a better idea of how you are going to actually go about construction, helps you eliminate bad ideas and develop those which look promising! I decided on a wood laminate of ply sheets for the deck, which would be relatively simple to put together and reasonably cheap materials-wise. I would use a former to bend in the curves for the kicktails, and a strong adhesive to bond the laminate layers together. Materials : If you are building your own deck, then you’ll first need to decide on a material for the deck. In this article I will detail using plywood, mainly as it was what I’ve had experience of doing! Secondly, it is pretty cheap compared to the other options, such as carbon composites which require more complex and expensive equipment to work with, and which you are less likely to have access to... I decided on a Russian Birch ply for my raw wood; a couple of large 3-ply 1500mm X 1500mm 3mm thick sheets cost me the princely sum of £16, and provided me enough wood for at least two and a half boards… This was a bit of a gamble, as I hadn’t actually seen the wood before ordering it, but it all turned out for the best! You could consider using a marine-grade ply, but they are expensive in comparison, and a standard ply was fine for my purposes. Maple is also an excellent wood for boardbuilding, but again, rather expensive; the birch was perfectly adequate in terms of looks, strength and durability- I have had no problems with my decks so far; so save some money and don’t just buy expensive materials because you think they will be the best, but don’t buy rubbish either! I chose the relatively thin 3mm sheet as I planned to build the deck up in three layers, so the thin wood was needed to prevent it being; Too difficult to bendTo stop it straining to bend back flat as much when removed from the former. Getting the former right is possibly the most important part of the project- I went for a two-part matched former, which would use the weight of the top section to bend in the curves, as well as being clamped to compress and laminate the ply together. To build this I decided on using MDF, which as well as being pretty cheap, is also reasonably easy to work with, so was the perfect material to make the big block I needed. For the board hardware there was one easy option for me- to take all the parts off my Lion Canyon and use them! Upgrading to a new board is a fun way to do this sort of project, and a cheaper one too - If you are starting from scratch, then you’ll have to buy the parts in. This will undoubtedly be the most expensive part of the board- buying parts as components brand new is not cheap, although the 'For Sale' sections of kite websites can be good sources of parts if you look carefully. To stick the wood layers together and create a strong, shaped board, you need a good quality adhesive. Two-part epoxy resins are suited for this type of application, as they create an astoundingly effective bond that will easily hold curves in a deck. There are several products out there that will do the job, but I bought some Fastglas polyester resin, as it is widely available (check car repair and DIY shops), and reasonably cheap. It comes in two parts, a tin of gloopy yellowish liquid (the resin) and a small tube of red paste (the hardener). Mixing the correct quantities of these together starts a chemical reaction that will set the resin and stick together pretty much anything! It is worth noting here that resins are pretty nasty substances- they can cause severe skin reactions and allergies, and are pretty bad for the environment as well. Avoid breathing in fumes and getting them on your skin if at all possible. Construction : Construction will probably be quite time consuming, but hopefully with this guide, if you build your own you can avoid some of the pitfalls and likely delays you may encounter along the way! Firstly, I suggest you develop your ideas to a stage in which you are happy to start your build. Have the size of deck you want decided, your materials ready and components gathered. For my deck, I had pages of measurements, a plan drawing of the deck and a full-scale flat template/model of half the deck to refer to. The Former : First up for construction is the former- get this right if nothing else; once you have it you’ll be able to build as many boards as you have resin and wood! As I was building a long deck, my former had to be longer still! Both my formers are approximately 40mm longer than the finished decks, to give you a rough idea of what you should aim at. Allowing this extra length lets you cut the ply and lay it up leaving some margin for error when cutting out the shape in the finished laminate. For my formers I used MDF (Medium Density Fibreboard) as the raw material- it is soft enough to work with and cut the necessary shapes from, and was easy to stick together and make a big chunk ready for cutting. After getting a set of 1220mm x 250mm lengths of 12mm sheet cut to size, I used PVA to glue them together. I suggest you use a good number of evenly spaced clamps to hold layers together while they dry- getting a good tight bond between layers is important for what you do next. Gluing the former. A 70-80mm thick former should have sufficient depth to cut the curves needed to curve a deck to fit skate style trucks. For a deck with channel trucks you will probably need to make a thicker former to give enough depth for the steeper kicktails you need to get channel trucks working effectively. Once my former was dry, I marked out the curves for the deck along one long face. I added a bit of a convex bend upwards in the middle to prevent my weight from making the deck sag too much, and kept the curves nice and smooth, using a roughly 25 degree bend upwards for the tips- I was only using skate trucks, so this would be perfect. Marking out the curves. To slice the big chunk of wood into two matched halves you will need a decent, powerful saw, able to cut the curves you have marked. For me, the school bandsaw was the only option; it was powerful enough to actually cut the wood, and accurate enough to make a fine cut and keep the halves matching. A bandsaw is not really the ideal tool for this job, although it will do it- if you find a better option, let me know!  If using a bandsaw, you need a new, sharp blade. The saw will cut to a depth of about 300mm of material, and with a soft material like MDF it will cope reasonably well. However, the thicker the material, the more the blade will struggle, especially if it is getting blunt! It will shriek a bit- take things EXCEEDINGLY slow to keep the cut accurate, and be aware of twisting the blade over with the weight of the wood, to avoid snapping it- if your saw has a short cutting bed, having a helper to take the weight of the former as it comes off the bed is essential as the former is so long. If you are doing this in school, your teacher will probably do this stage for you (with some worried mutterings to begin with no doubt)! Also avoid trapping and jamming the blade in the cut slot if you need to remove it before you complete the cut, and if you’ve glued sheets together to make your large chunk like me, watch out for the heat of the blade melting the glue and catching the blade. Having a chat to a teacher or design technician about your ideas and work is a great idea on a project as complex as this- most will happily help you out and give you some invaluable advice and help at any stage. Once you have the former sliced into two halves, you are almost ready to begin the actual board. However, firstly check to make sure the former fits together properly. Glue down any thin slivers of wood that may have come free, and sand both inside surfaces smooth. With my first former I was forced to make each half in two sections due to the blunt blade- it wouldn’t cut the full thickness of the wood! This meant I had to stick two not-quite identical halves to another bit of MDF and then sand them using a handheld belt sander to get them flush- a noisy, dusty and very time consuming task- not recommended! If your cut has been successful you should get two well fitting halves which are pretty much ready for forming.  The Layup : Getting your plywood cut to the right length is the first step- you know your board length, so add 40-50mm onto this for safety, and get a set of lengths cut. My first deck was 9mm thick, so I used three 3mm sheets. I had them 250mm across to match my formers width- this will allow you to line them up easily in the former. Note here that shaping the board takes place after the layup is complete- it is much easier to cut out a shape from a big chunk of wood than to try and laminate three irregularly shaped pieces of wood together! When getting the wood cut, ensure you have the main ‘strength’ of the ply running from tip to tip; NOT across the deck; your deck will be rather bendy if you do this! Take a look at your cut wood and decide which surfaces you want to show. Manufacturers will bore out big knots and cover them with a patch- make sure you point these inwards and don’t have them on the top or bottom faces; as well as looking unsightly, they will provide a way for water to work between layers, so if you thrash your board through puddles a lot they are likely to have the deck delaminating before your eyes! Once you have decided which sheet is going where (number them to help you remember), then get your former set up… Ideally, a vacuum bag would be used at this stage to get the wood layers perfectly flush, without any trapped air bubbles... However, I didn't have access to one, so had to make do with a lot of clamps instead, a method which still works perfectly! Cover your worksurface to prevent any resin drips from mucking it up. Then you can place the bottom half of your former on this, mounted on some blocks of wood to give you access underneath it for attaching clamps. Put the top half behind it, ready to be lifted into place. Collect some decent quality sash clamps (G clamps are NOT ideal for this as smaller ones can bend under high stress). For my layups I used around 10 - space these around the former, in easy reach, ready to be quickly whipped on. Cover the bottom layer of the former with clingfilm; this will prevent resin drips sticking the former and bottom sheet together, which isn’t what you are after! Covering the Former. I strongly recommend you stick two layers together at a time- you could do more, but it is extra hassle and so keep things simple unless you are in a rush. Place your bottom layer on the lower half of the former- put the middle half in grab-able distance- you’ll want to get it on quick! Get some helpers at this point- two people are the minimum to successfully carry out this stage in my opinion. Safety : Wear disposable plastic gloves to prevent skin contact with resin. Open windows to keep your workspace ventilated. Following the instructions on the can, mix up your resin and hardener- a disposable plastic coffee cup is a reasonable mixing container, although a glass beaker will allow you to measure accurately. Stir the mixture thoroughly to ensure the substances have mixed. Depending on the quantity of hardener used and the room temperature, you’ll have a few minutes to get things together and clamped down before the resin starts to cure. Spreading the resin, with clamps at the ready... Pour the mixture over the bottom ply sheet, and spread it evenly over the surface, ensuring you get full coverage. Then slap the next layer on and line it up. Now have your helpers lift the top half of the former on, and keep the ply lined up. Once the top half is on, the ply will bend down a little. When you set up the former, prop up each end so you have space all around it. You can then start clamping the former together and applying pressure to get a good laminate. The Former with clamps applied. Get your clamps on quickly- space them evenly, and do them up carefully to keep the ply from sliding around inside- keep the pressure even as you tighten them. All the clamps should be done up pretty much as tightly as possible- resin will squeeze out of areas under strain, but worry not! Aligning the Former. Now, providing you have kept things lined up nicely and have mixed the resin correctly, it should be safe to relax! Read your resin instructions to find out how long you need to leave it to set- for safety, I left each of my layers overnight to dry, which worked out perfectly. Repeat this process until you reach the thickness of deck you want! I decided a 12mm thick 12-ply board was right for me in the end. The four layers of plywood I used were flexible, still light, but not as bendy as my prototype 9-ply deck. Marking out the top sheet. Before adding the top ply sheet, I recommend marking it out to the pattern you want cut the final board in on the top sheet –it’s a lot easier to draw it out on the flat than when it is curved! Mark out the position of the truck and binding bolts now as well to keep things simple. Once this is done, you are ready to get things looking like a real deck should! Shaping : Remove the finished layup from the former to begin with- check the resin is completely solid and all layers are bonded properly. Peel off any clingfilm that may have stuck to the bottom sheet, then carefully sand off any large blobs of resin. Next you can get the roughcut of your board shape done- either using a bandsaw (nice and quick and neat), a handheld jigsaw with a decent blade, or by hand (not recommended!)… Be careful not to breathe in loads of resin dust when cutting, or the melting resin fumes if you use a bandsaw- neither will do much for your lungs! The board after the first roughcut. When you’ve done this, providing you’ve been accurate, you are well on the way to finishing. Ready for some more sanding! To smooth off curves on the board shape, use power sanders, sandpaper, saws and any other appropriate tool you think is worthwhile- work things until you feel they are as accurate as you want them to be and have the shape you want... To round the edges of the deck off you can use a powerful belt sander to bevel them off, and finish with various grades of sandpaper, or you can find a decent router bit and zip round with that instead. Getting this right is time consuming, especially if you are a bit of a perfectionist like me! Next up is drilling the holes for the truck bolts and the bindings- choose the appropriate bit size for your holes, clamp the deck down firmly and go for it- be very carefully with getting things lined up correctly, otherwise you’ll have a struggle getting your trucks on! Drilling binding holes... A good fast drill running off the mains is what you want here, as it won’t chew up the wood as much as a slower one, especially with the larger binding holes. Once all this is done, and you are totally happy with the shape, you are ready for varnishing. With my board, I left it as natural wood. You could paint the whole thing, but you will want a durable paint and one that won’t strip with the varnish on it. I found the most effective varnish was a polyurethane floor varnish- built up over a week in about six coats, it has a rock-solid finish that looks beautifully glossy, brings out the wood very nicely and is also durable enough to take riding on sand, mud and through water without letting moisture into the wood or looking scruffy. When the varnishing is finished (make sure you seal the drill holes by the way!), you can add griptape and assemble the board. Griptape cut to shape and applied. Both rubber and sandpaper style self-adhesive tapes are available, you can pick them up at most skate or kite/ATB shops for around £5. Cut them to whatever shape you wish, line them up, and stick them down in place, carefully avoiding any bubbles or creases. A good sharp Stanley knife and a straight edge will cut tapes, although the sandpaper stuff will blunt a blade rather quickly! To finish off you board, bolt on all the other components… Trucks will go on easily- just line up the baseplate the correct way round, push the screws through the deck, add the riser, and slide the baseplate on. Do the screws up nice and tightly and you are done! Wheels should slide and bolt onto the axles easily, with the bolts tightened to prevent any lateral play. Bindings will bolt through or screw on depending on which you choose- there are loads of types out there now, so select a pair which suit you and fit your budget. Add some stickers or paint on a logo to add that finishing touch- I made a spray template for the eye design on my first board which looked great! Adding graphics. At last- you are done! Step back and pat yourself on the back for a job well done... The first test. Finally- pump up the tires, tighten the trucks and get riding! Have fun if you decide to give a similar project a go, and please, please let me know how you get on! - drop a PM my way or post on the forums if you want any advice or comments… Since finishing the V-1 proto deck a few months ago, I’ve moved on a bit… The V-2 is my current board, and incorporates most of the fixes to the problems I encountered with the first deck- it is pretty light, long and stable, looks the business and rides very nicely! The V2. I’m also going to be producing a shorter, more freestyle orientated deck in the near future- I’ve had the former cut recently; it will work on exactly the same principle as the first, but is just shorter! The Former. Watch this space to see how I get on! To finish, I must thank my school Design department for being a bunch of top people and helping me out in all sorts of ways, to everyone else who gave me ideas, to Jerry for the stickers, and of course everyone else here at racekites who have been kind enough to comment and help me! Cheers... ~Gabriel (aka Wildcard)

There have been lots of questions about riding a mountain board, stance, speed wobble, stopping and turning - so I have written a ride guide starting with the basics to get you on the board and going down hill and then stopping at the bottom. Many of the principles can then be transferred to kiteboarding. This is only meant as a guide and in no way can replace having proper instruction/training from a qualified ATB instructor. Riding a mountain board has similarities to riding a skate board and a snowboard and if you have done either of these you will have an advantage (which I know doesn't help if you have never ridden a skateboard or snow board!). When riding safety is paramount, wear a helmet, wrist guards, and knee and elbow pads before even stepping onto the board. Never get on or off a moving board as this can cause injury to your self and your board can continue on and injure somebody else. Before riding you need to know your style (goofy or regular) this means which foot you lead with (or are comfortable leading with). Regular is leading with the left foot and goofy (or fakie) is leading with the right foot (obviously). If you have skateboarded or snow boarded you will probably already know if you are goofy or regular stance. If not you will need to know which is your lead foot. Did you ever slide along the ice as a kid (I still do!), which foot did you lead with? That is the one you want pointing down hill as your front foot, as you will feel that is the way that you will be most comfortable and in control. Or stand up with both feet together and get somebody to give you a gentle shove back - which foot did you step back with to stop yourself falling over? That again will be your front foot. If it still feels uncomfortable when riding try switching your stance, the above doesn't work for everybody. The way to stand on the board is, feet in the bindings (locked in -see atb guide), knees slightly flexed. At this point you will be pointing to one side and not forwards! So rotate at the waist to look where you want to go (the pictures on the mbs ride guide do show this) and keep your weight over the lead foot. Power sliding (when down hilling only) - start by practicing on the flat on a stationary board! Stand on the board with your feet in the bindings, crouch down and wrap your arms around your knees and grab the edge of the board between your feet. Gently lean back still holding the board - and eventually you will end up on your arse, which is the basis of a power slide that will stop you. Now try it on a gentle slope - as you start to role (and before you are going to fast!) crouch down, wrap your arms around your knees, grab the edge of the board and lean back - the board will turn hard (it may slide) and will stop. Again you will probably end up sat on the ground. Keep practising that on a gentle slope, you should be able to stop yourself quickly without ending on your arse and standing back up, it may take about 5 or 6 attempts. As you progress and gain confidence your power slides evolve, one handers, palm off's etc. I find that I also tend to lift my back foot slightly as this helps get the rear end around and you get a great looking spray of grass or dirt. Then hop the board around and off you go again. I still end up on my backside at times, but power sliding is a great feeling and I love it. The power slide technique can also be used with a kite to stop - but you won't grab the board and the kite needs to be sent up to the zenith. Getting moving I started off describing how to stop (huh!) as before you get moving it is essential that you know the technique to stop! If you are on a hill, rather than pushing your self off with one foot and then trying to step onto the board (and into the binding), set the board up on a slope, with it the right way round so that your lead foot is in front (down hill). If you let go of the board it will roll down hill, so before you step on reach across and hold the tyre of the up hill wheel and grip it tight so the board doesn't move as you climb on. As an example - I ride regular style (left foot as lead) so I would have the board on the hill so that when I climb on and step into the bindings my left foot is in front. Before getting on I would then reach across with my right hand and grab the furthest up hill wheel (to stop the board moving), then climb on and still holding the wheel make sure you are comfortable in the bindings. Let go off the wheel and you should gently start rolling, stand up but keep your knees flexed, keep your weight over your lead foot. Keeping your weight low maintains a lower centre of gravity and better balance. Before you go to fast, practice the power slide to stop. Turning Once you can stop safely you can gradually build up to heel and toe side J- turns (the turn is in the shape of an inverted j). This will allow you to control your speed as you descend the hill (and avoid obstacles!). Start with heel side first (as is similar to a powerslide) and just press gently on the heels to turn and keep turning until you stop. When you are comfortable with heel side then try toe side. When you have mastered that then you can try to link turns carving across the hill to control your speed. The fastest way down the hill is in a straight line down the fall line (imagine letting a ball roll down a hill it will follow the fall line - the fastest route). To control your speed you need to be able to carve across the fall line. Depending on the size of your turns and how close to the fall line you turn depends on your speed of decent down the hill. For a fast decent, head more or less straight down hill with gentle turns to scrub of some speed. For a slow decent ride further across the hill, you will need to do big carves and remember as your board points down hill in the turn it will pick up speed. As your confidence and control increase you will find that you will make shallower turns and take a more direct and faster route down hill. As your balance on the board improves you may want to try a 90° hop to start - looks cooler! Practice first on flat ground; stand on the board feet securely in the bindings (locked in) and jump with the board, as you jump you need to spin the board through 90° - so that you land with your lead foot pointing the way you want to go. Jumping clockwise for regular stance and anti-clockwise for goofy. When you can do this on the flat, getting the board through 90°, landing, remaining upright and stable you can try it on the hill. Place the board at 90° to the fall line, it should remain stationary, so that when you get on you are facing down hill, stand on the board and secure yourself in the bindings. Then jump the board through 90° (clockwise=regular, anti-clockwise=goofy), you should end up with the board pointing down hill, with your lead foot in the lead (!) and starting to move. Before you know it you will be doing a 90° hop to start, speeding down the hill (in control) and pulling off a dramatic power slide at the bottom, kicking grass and dirt into the air! You will be covered in mud and grass stains (maybe some bruises!) but will hopefully have a huge grin on your face - bring it on! All this gets covered in an hour's lesson (which costs £10-£15) and is easier to teach directly and demonstrate than explain. As I said at the beginning this is only meant as a guide and in no way can replace having proper instruction/training from a qualified ATB instructor. Speed Wobble is the wobble that occurs when you are going at speed on a board! It mainly happens with skate trucks (which are the most unstable) but can happen with other trucks. It develops from steering/balance corrections which are very fine and done without knowing it, but because of the speed and less stable trucks, they gradually spiral into more and more over corrections that make the wobble bigger and bigger and you quickly feel less in control. Before you know it the board is snaking around under your feet and then you are lying on the ground thinking what the hell just happened! If you have skate trucks you can tighten the king pin (the central bolt) or change the bushes to a harder compound - though this may effect the steering. Keeping your weight onto your front foot (by trying to keep your foot, knee and hip in alignment) and both knees bent can also help. If it starts to wobble get lower (it hurts less if you fall off) and lowers the centre of gravity (more stable) if you are not going to run into something just try to let the board run out straight and slow down a bit. These principles work both with a kite and when down hilling. Sometimes knowing what it is helps - I saw a kid (9 or 10) riding a board with skate trucks, gradually getting more and more confident going down hill, then he started to get wobble and took a few spectacular wipe outs. Typical kid though, just jumped right up and had another go (fearless) but was starting to get frustrated. I just mentioned to him that it's nothing he was doing wrong and it was speed wobble; keep your weight forwards - no more speed wobble! Instead he decided to try and wipe himself out on a jump!