Amateur Snowboarder VS Pro Level Side Hits

So, I'm an amateur snowboarder, but I've always wanted to ride side hits like the pros. I love watching guys like Arthur Longo and Kevin Backstrom ride them. So today, we're going to try and do just that. Ride side hits like a pro. We've got a bunch of great hits lined up, and you're going to want to stick around because the last one is a sick one. But first, we're going to start off with this side hit. Dude, that thing is so good! It's almost too poppy, but I don't know, I think those ones are really fun because the bang for the buck is just awesome. For hits like this, I think tricks that really, like, do well are flips. And, I think we've got to do one. Woo-hoo! There we go! That felt awesome! Yeah! It's such a crazy feeling doing a cripple on that, because you, like, smack the takeoff, and, like, there's your pop, and then you get into your flip and roll around. Side hits are so fun. Now, what's so different with how a pro rides a side hit? Well, I've broken it down into three parts. They go as big as the feature allows, they do sweet tricks, and they do it with good style. They make it look fun. So, that's going to be our criteria for each feature today. Have you ever seen Nico do the backflip stalefish? Yeah. I'm tempted to try a stalefish. Side hits like this one are tough because it's such a thin band that you're riding up. Like, there's no room to go side to side, so you're really, like, choosing your direction on the takeoff. And then this one especially has got, like, such a kink. I feel like guys like Arthur are so good for, like, managing something like that and getting pop without getting bucked. Drop! Oh, that was wild! Yeah! Whoa! That was wild! Thanks, man! How did you land that? I have no idea. That was crazy. I thought you were going to go to your back. Dude, when I grabbed the stalefish, it was, like, super vortex, and I was like, oh, I'm hooped. But then as soon as I let go, it, like, canceled out and I rode away. That was really cool. Yeah, that was sick. All right. That's a wrap. We conquered the poppy long go hit. Cruising to the next one. All right, this is one of the bigger ones we have today. I mean, when we talked about what makes a pro so different on side hits, going as big as possible is definitely one of the key parameters. So, I think hitting this thing big is going to be good. As far as the trick goes, I mean, something steezy like a grab I think is going to be our ticket because it's going to be hard to ride away. But it's a good feature. We'll see how this plays out. I think if I go right, it's better. Bit of a hole. But left looks shitty. It's a tough thing with side hits. The landings aren't always perfect. Oh, this is a big one. I'm kind of nervous. So, this is another trick you can do if you're trying to line up your landing is just put this on the takeoff. A little bit of a mark. And then you can run your board off it and go for it. There's about a two-foot section that I have to land on, but I think it'll be good. Stomp, don't fall. Oh, boy. All right, you ready, Kos? Okay, drop it. I wish I went like five feet farther. Well, that was good because I just went straight and didn't pop. If I go straight and pop, I'll probably get to the landing. There's a two-foot tranny that we're trying to hit about 50 feet out, and I was five feet short of it. All right, dropping five. Drop. I caught it. Yeah. Oh. Yeah. Oh. You went deep. I was so nervous. That felt good, though. That didn't hurt. That's big, man. Sick. Thanks, Kos. Yeah. Nice. Oh, man. I'm stoked on that. Just nerve-wracking to go so huge onto the wrong part of a bump, but that was good tranny. I just put my hand right on that rock. Okay, this is a sick one. This is one of my favorite styles of side heads where it's cut off the cat track and popping into a bank, mainly because you can just progressively go bigger and bigger as the day goes on and build it up. I think this is going to be a really friendly one to trick, but it's fast and it's big, so definitely still technical. I think that one's begging for something more. I think we've got to try and spin it. Front three on this guy, but I've got to overcook it so that I land into the landing. It's kind of like a 450, and I'm going to grab melon. I feel like that's what the sick kids would do. Drop. Full squat. Oh, I can't believe I landed that. That was risky. You went deep. Feels good. That was a crazy landing. Yeah. Your knee kind of bent in. Yeah. Well, my toe's caught, but it feels fine. I can't believe I landed that. Stoked, though. Nothing hurt. Hurt the knee a little bit? No, I just felt a lot of load. I was just like, this is dangerous right now, what I'm doing. That's the only thing I don't always like about side heads is it's such a body beater, especially when it's not soft, because you're just jumping into crazy landings. Yeah, I think all that stretching might have paid off. Well, I got that front three first try, which was surprising. I really dug my toes in, which was a bit contortion-y on the back leg, but this one was fun. Oh, the temerity! Woo! Oh, that's going to be sporty. All right, so we found this takeoff here in the woods. Some pro must have built it or something sometime. They tend to do that, so this thing is definitely tough. I mean, you got the sporty run in there to a very skinny takeoff. I wish the guy who built it made it wider. You've also got this tree and that tree to worry about. And then if we come over to the landing, I mean, this is what we're dealing with. So if you land right there, everything's good. If you land anywhere else, you might have to work for it. A couple little trees there, too. Yeah, but all that said, I think it's going to look really, really cool coming out of the woods. So this is our top-tier, pro-level side head, just from uniqueness, feature size. And if I can pull it off, then I think we've done a good job for the day. If I can pretty much hit that branch, I'm going to make the landing. Okay, wish me luck on this one. Good luck. Thank you. What are you going to do? Survive. Okay. I've never heard of that one. Oh, boy. I'm nervous about this one. Okay, dropping. I can't believe that worked. Dude, that thing is so cool. Dude, I totally smoked that branch. Oh, yeah. Boys, I did not know if that was going to work out. Holy ----. Sick. Dude, that thing is going to go. We can trick that. Okay, let's get back up there. Dude, a wildcat through the tree? Oh, that'd be insane. That'd be so sick. All right, hit number two. I mean, I can't believe how well the last one went. I want to get a nice grab or a nice air on it. See if I can get a little bit farther into the landing, and then we can think about a trick. I've got to get a good one and warm up to this thing. There's a lot of sporty little bits like the sticks on the running and whatnot, but I think this thing is really cool. I'm excited. Hopefully, we can get a good clip on it. Drop. That worked. If we're going to trick it, I need to somehow get into this right side of the landing, like land by where those shrubs are. I've got to land right here. This is my pocket. Oh, nice. Because right here gives me enough that I can trick it and not hit the tree. Okay. Right off the corner. Just come in right along that line. Right off the corner. You got that. Oh, my God. Yeah, we need to be right through here to there. It goes. Okay. Drop. Oh, I want it so bad. Freaky wee. I didn't want to let it go, but I didn't have it. Man, that was so close. I didn't hit the tree, which was awesome, but I did hit those shrubs, which kind of put me on a wonky throwing fisticuffs down the landing, and then I lost it in the bottom. But, man, can't really ask for too much more than that. Hopefully, I can just ride away this time. Oh, here we go. Drop. Ha, ha, ha, ha. Whoa. Had to get the arms up, but oh, my God. Oh, that felt so good. Wow. Well, that's the end to a great day. Thank you guys for watching. You're the reason why we can do these videos, so, all right, see you next one.