So, after being inspired by the Olympics last February, SSX Tricky or even a Jeep ad, you’re heading out to the mountains on your first snowboarding trip. Excitement, stoke, trepidation, nerves, fear… It’s all going on.

For every person who catches the bug, there are ten more who try it for a week or less, get cold/wet/injured and shelve that board for life

Of course, we’ll be the first to tell you that this is the very beginning of the journey of a lifetime. If you get this trip right and survive, most likely you’ll be hooked for life. Congratulations: an eternity of financial destitution, gloomy summers and knees that literally crackle awaits, but that’ll all be made worth it a thousand times over, one turn into a pristine powder line.

But for every person who catches the bug, there are ten more who try it for a week or less, get cold/wet/injured and shelve that board for life. We want less of that! We want more people to be inspired by the simple act of sliding sideways.

As such, here are ten common mistakes many a beginner makes. Already a seasoned shredder? Help a buddy out and send this over to a friend just about to venture off – you could end up with a new riding buddy for life.