You've been snowboarding, have learned on your own or with a friend. Even though you could probably figure it out reasonably well after a while on your own, save yourself the grief of trial-and-error and years spent un-learning bad habits: Take a lesson.

Learn Your Lesson

There's a lot of talk, especially among converted skiers, about how much easier snowboarding is for a beginner to pick up. And certainly, as the majority of riders will tell you, the learning curve is drastically different. But that doesn't mean that first-timers or beginners should just huck themselves down the hill or into the halfpipe without first taking time to learn the basics. Even though you could probably figure it out reasonably well after a while on your own, save yourself the grief of trial-and-error and years spent un-learning bad habits: Take a lesson.

A group or private snowboard lesson with a PSIA certified instructor will give you the framework you need to start snowboarding and continue riding well on your own season after season. Not only is it a friendly and sympathetic environment where your beginner-peers understand your mistakes (instead of jeering and laughing as they zoom by and spray your hapless self with snow, like your more experienced "pals"), it also serves as a starting point for good technique. Even if you have friends or family who are great riders, they may not have the ability or the patience to teach you their skills.

This is especially true for female first-time riders. Typically, a brother, boyfriend, husband or male friend volunteers (or is coerced) to teach you. But by the end of the day, you're both so aggravated, by each other and by general frustration at the learning process, that you wish you'd never asked. Spare your loved ones (and yourself) the drama - you'll be much happier if you tell them that you'll meet up with them for lunch after your lesson or for après-ride drinks in the lodge.

Even if you have a few years of riding under your belt, a lesson is a great way to reacquaint yourself with all the skills that lie dormant the other three seasons of the year. Think of it as an annual check-up: a half-day lesson on your first day out each winter will remind you of the elemental techniques that help you progress and make riding easier.

Snowboard lessons are available at any mountain where riding is allowed. Prices vary depending on the resort, but some Ski/Snowboard Schools provide packages that include equipment rental and a lift ticket with a group lesson. At Mammoth Mountain, for example, a three-hour adult beginner group lesson is $45, a one-hour private adult lesson is $60, and their package deal (a three-hour beginner group lesson, snowboard rental, and beginner lift ticket) is $69. Contact your local mountain for Snowboard School details.

If you're looking for something a little more intensive, you may want to find a snowboarding camp. Sometimes they are gender-specific for more specialized instruction, such as Wild Women's Snowboarding Camp. Camps require more planning and more money on your part, but three to five days of non-stop attention and detailed instruction with other like-minded riders might be exactly what you need to banish the beginner's blues and fall in love with the sport. Don't know where to start looking? Try searching for "snowboard camp" on the web or contact your local mountain.

Here's a head start:

http://www.snowevents.com
http://www.delaneysnowboarding.com
http://www.snowboardcamp.com