Manuals & Butters

Once you have mastered the basics of snowboarding the next step is to add some tricks to your skill set. One trick that is easy and is also the basis for most of the tricks that one can perform on a snowboard is a manual. A manual is simply the act of raising either the front nose of your snowboard or the back or tail.

I would recommend starting with a tail manual first. To perform this you need to lift up your front foot, while at the same time push forward with your back foot. It is important to remember that while your back foot is pushing forward that the pressure is being distributed evenly. This is so you will be able to keep your balance as well as keeps you going straight forward.

Once you have the tail manual under control you can try a nose manual. To perform a nose manual the same actions are performed as a tail manual except you lift up on the tail of the board and place your weight on the front foot.

After these manuals have become mastered you can move onto ‘butters.’ To perform butters you start by performing a manual, and then apply pressure to either the toe or heel edge to start rotating. This is a stylish move that is sure to attract some attention from the ladies on the lift.

Now that the manuals are under control you are ready to learn how to ‘pop’ your board to perform a jump. To do this start with performing a tail manual, then as you feel the pressure build up pop the board to bring your tail into the air. You have now performed a jump and are ready to hit the terrain park with your new set of skills.