Learning to butter a snowboard is one of the first tricks that many beginner snowboarders learn. It is one of the easiest snowboarding tricks. After you learn to toeside, heelside turn and stop, you’ll be in a good spot to learn your first snowboard trick. It doesn’t even require you to get any air, which makes it very beginner friendly.
If you want to learn what is buttering a snowboard and how to butter a snowboard then you have come to the right place. Let’s dive into it!
What Does it Mean to Butter a Snowboard?
To butter a snowboard is term when you lift up the front side or back side of your snowboard and only ride the opposite end. This means you are just riding the tail of the snowboard while the tip is up in the air or vice versa.
Buttering a snowboard is comparable to a manual in skateboarding if you come from a skateboard background.
How Do You Learn To Butter a Snowboard?
To learn to butter a snowboard, it is easiest to start on a beginner slope with a low amount of speed. With your nose pointed down the hill, you will transfer your weight over your back binding and lift up with your front foot. The result should be the front tip coming up off the snow while you ride on the tail of the snowboard.
If you come from a skateboarding background, it is similar to a manual. Buttering is one trick where skateboarders find their skills transfer to snowboarding.
Some snowboards will have the nose come up higher than others so that begs the question, can you butter on a stiff snowboard?
Can You Butter on a Stiff Snowboard?
You certainly can butter on a stiff snowboard. Undoubtedly it is easier on a flexible snowboard like a park board but if you only ride mountain then you can still butter your board.
You’ll notice the tip and tail don’t come up as much off the snow and that is to be expected with a stiff board. So yes, while you can butter on stiff snowboards, you can get better butters with flexible snowboards. Be sure to check the flex rating scale from the manufacturer if you want a board to do a lot of buttering.
How Do You Butter a Powder Snowboard?
Often your best boards to butter are going to sink in powder. So what is the trick to buttering in powder?
You are going to have to transfer your weight back like a traditional butter but there won’t be the stability, you can either ride that and surf the powder or wait until you get to a spot of packed pow to throw down a traditional butter.
What Are the Best Butter Snowboards?
The best butter snowboards are ones with a lot of flex. Most manufacturers rate their board on a scale and many have a rating of 1-10. Getting anything in the 6-10 rating range or a park board in general will help you throw down some big butters on the slopes.
While we don’t specifically get a snowboard for butters, some people do. Make sure you think about all the tricks you will be targeting or if you want to ride all-mountain when you get a snowboard.
Snowboard Butter Trick List for Beginners
So once you learn the tailpress and nosepress, there are some other tricks you can work your way up to. Here are the first 5 snowboard butter tricks to learn, including the tailpress and nosepress.
- Tailpress
- Nosepress
- Penguin Walk
- Butter nose roll
- Butter 180
Alright, you now have an idea of some of the tricks but how do you do them? Let’s take a look at each one a bit deeper.
Trailpress – Move your hips over the tail of your board and lift up the tip
Nosepress – Move your hips over the nose of your board and lift up your tail
Penguin Walk – Flex the tip then the tail repeatedly to walk up a slope by digging in your frontside edge
Butter nose roll – Go into a nose press and then 180 to have the tail come around. This can be easier if you start in switch.
Butter 180 – Go into your nose press then pop your board off the nose and 180 degree turn
That should give you plenty to work on for a week or two at the slopes if you are new to buttering.
Final Thoughts on Buttering a Snowboard
Buttering a snowboard is often something people want to learn after getting their bearing on a snowboard and we get it. It feels great to hit your first snowboard trick and it doesn’t really matter what trick it is. You’ll feel great hitting your first butter and its a great way to progress and build up into harder tricks.
Get started and practice. You’ll be doing some of the best butters on the mountain in no time on your snowboard!
