Snowboarding
Rails
Snowboarding rails is one of the greatest feelings. There are all kinds of different snowboarding rails. There are rails for beginners that are shorter and length and lower to the ground and rails for advanced riders that can be pretty insane. You definitely don’t want to start hitting some of the bigger rails until you feel comfortable on beginner snowboard rails.
Sliding your board across a rail is such a great feeling. It is the ultimate in going with the flow. You have to really focus and keep your balance even. Too much pressure from your toe or heel and you will catch your edge on the rail and wipe out. (trust me, it happens a bunch when your just learning snowboard rails.
Like I mentioned above there are all kinds of different snowboarding rails. In just one you can hit a logslide, a box and a flat rail. That’s kind of of why hitting snowboard rails is so much fun, because there are a lot of options.
Flat Rails are self-explanatory, they are flat ALL the way across. They are typically a few inches wide. Don’t let the flat rail fool you though, because some can be hard to clear (clearing a rail is what you call it when you slide all the way across the rail without coming off). For example, there’s this 100ft flat rail that is slopping down hill (it’s cool, fireworks shoot out from underneath you when you clear it). But that doesn’t mean flat rails are only for advanced snowboards, the best way for learning snowboarding rails is to start with a short flat rail.
Box Rails are much wider than flat rails. They can be as wide or wider than the width of your snowboard. Some people feel that it is easier to learn on boxes than on flat rails. (I think it is easier to learn on flat rails because there is less chances of catching your edge).
Logslides are the ultimate in snowboarding rails. A fallen tree can make one of your best rails ever. There is something very special about hitting snowboard rails that are nature made. There use to be this most amazing loglside. It was a c-shaped rail (a c-rail) that started about 2’ off the ground, went to about 7’ off the ground (near center) and then went back to about 2’. It was about 30’ long. You hit it and it sort of curved to the right. The coolest thing about hitting the logslide is that is was half way through this awesome backcountry run.
The backcountry run starts off with this huge wide open bowel, there’s always untouched powder fields because the wind blows the tracks in every night. At the bottom of the powder field there is this run through the woods that’s kind of flat. But in the middle of the flat part through the woods lies this open field that is about 100ft wide. It is there, in the open field, that the c-rail use to be (yea… it sucks though because somebody eventually cut it down, what a bummer).
Snowboarding rails come in all different shapes and sizes.Like the c-rail, their name usually has something to do with their shape. For example, a Rainbow Rail is shaped like a rainbow and the S-Rail is shaped like the letter s. They can be curvy or up and down. They are close to the ground and really high off the ground.
Flat rails, boxes, and logslides all come in different ways. Each rail is unique. One kind of rail might be easier to learn, while another will be hard to master. Fortunately there are snowboard rail training techniques that can help you become a rail master before you even hit the slopes.
BUT WAIT… there is still one more type of snowboarding rail, THE HANDRAIL. A handrail, again very obvious, is any handrail that is either in the middle or to the sides (or both) of stairs. Check a local high school, they usually have some good handrails. If you live near a city and there is snow, you are in luck, you will find plenty of rails to slide. We’ve put together a HANDRAIL SCHOOL 101 for anyone who is about to session a rail. Click here or below to check it out.
