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May, 2025

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How did your rail progression go?

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muffMan.
Posts: 2901 - Karma: 27,721
I can comfortably rail slide, just approaching the flat rail I have straight on, pop and turn 90. I’ve begun to add some pedaling and landing switch out.


Im still working on that pedaling part and then hitting rails from the side.


anyways how did it go when you first started rails?
4 years ago
16 0
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swaggrandpa
Posts: 161 - Karma: 1,847
It took me a while like a couple years to build up the courage, I’ve never really skied park but last year I had a dream one night that I could slide a rail and somehow that got me over my fear and the next day I slid one, only done flat rails but can technically slide one and haven’t done many since
4 years ago
14 0
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Everchanger
Posts: 59 - Karma: 234
I can hop on and of regular and switch going for 270s out next then prolly backslide then front swap then 2 on
4 years ago
3 0
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Slowbro
Posts: 4130 - Karma: 24,623
After I got comfortable approaching rails from the side I learned to hit down rails, then kink rails. Learned 2s out and then grinded out switch ups and unnatural tricks on a rail I built in my yard. I'd really recommend building a backyard setup if you don't already have one, they are great for learning.
4 years ago
9 0
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muffMan.
Posts: 2901 - Karma: 27,721
Probably wouldn’t like rails if I didn’t. Has been so much fun since it snowed
SlowbroAfter I got comfortable approaching rails from the side I learned to hit down rails, then kink rails. Learned 2s out and then grinded out switch ups and unnatural tricks on a rail I built in my yard. I'd really recommend building a backyard setup if you don't already have one, they are great for learning.
4 years ago
5 0
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weastcoat
Posts: 6505 - Karma: 75,420
Once I learned all 8 and to do nearly everything both ways it changed the game.
4 years ago
14 0
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Quaggy
Posts: 1152 - Karma: 19,197
weastcoatOnce I learned all 8 and to do nearly everything both ways it changed the game.

What's "all 8"?
4 years ago
2 0
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weastcoat
Posts: 6505 - Karma: 75,420
QuaggyWhat's "all 8"?


All 8 variations of a swap + 270 out.

Front up front 2, k fed, backswap cont 2, backswap pretz 2. Then all of those again but you get on unnatural.
4 years ago
8 0
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BigmoneyMatt
Posts: 1545 - Karma: 1,215
Years and years of going once or twice a season and hitting the tubes barely getting better. 1 day I randomly turned my head trying to potentially blind 2 out and I accidentally backsurface swapped and locked it. I was like wtf and continued to play around with it until I was going 10 or 20 times a season until now going almost everyday. Still inconsistent but got 3 swaps. 4 on. All 4, 4s out. Progressed alot the last few seasons from 21 to 24 years old. Learned how to do a rail when I was 10. It took me 11 years to finally fully commit to it and I was never really able to access skiing unless my brothers went with me. They played hockey which took up all their time, and my parents didn't consider freestyle skiing a sport which is what I've told them I've wanted to do since I was tiny. I've always been slightly bitter about it because they never took hockey crazy seriously, and because they played I could never really go skiing. Unless I got into racing they told me and I didn't want to race. Plus all their hockey stuff was so expensive I kinda decided when I was really young that ide bite the bullet.
4 years ago
11 0
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deadhead420
Posts: 2134 - Karma: 18,692
My summer setup was key for me
4 years ago
7 0
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Rparr
Posts: 5755 - Karma: 49,132
mrk127My summer setup was key for me


this right here, my skiing made a quantuum leap after I spent several seasons hitting my setup every day
4 years ago
8 0
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goatmaster
Posts: 374 - Karma: 2,433
You just got to ski a lot of rails to get better. Good next tricks to try are front 270 out, lip on, and front swap. Once you got those tricks, put them together in a bunch of ways. Honestly if you hike a flat tube you will get better faster than if you do one rail per run.
4 years ago
7 0
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switchlip2
Posts: 2142 - Karma: 25,179
Hitting rails faster
4 years ago
13 0
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lil.Boye
Posts: 2786 - Karma: 12,656
Took some time. But just skiing a lot and pushing myself. Hitting scary features early in the day to not let fear build up. Always had a good assortment of pvc and rails so super nice learning and getting confindent with tricks on pvc then taking them to rails.

my tip is just pushing yourself, visioning the trick and feeling the movements you are going to do on the rail/feature
good luck dude, stay stoked
4 years ago
8 0
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Logi
Posts: 388 - Karma: 3,889
Yeah I’d just try hitting the feature at a high speed. I just started learning how to slide rails this summer because my friend and I built a dryslope setup but once you get barrel rails and round rails you can do a lot more
4 years ago
4 0
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mountaindewgirl
Posts: 2317 - Karma: 21,132
Years of being stuck on a "boxes-only" plateau
4 years ago
7 0
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jompcock
Posts: 1578 - Karma: 11,746
Was eh at rails for many years, could do all 8 except for ray charles. Then I found a corrugated tube and set it up in my yard. Learned just about every variation of switch on up to sw tails 2 bs f2 and the next season I got ray charles, 2p2 and 2's on to down tubes. I swear the best way to progress at rails is to have a tube set up in your yard that you're comfortable learning stuff on.

Backyard tube changed my life
4 years ago
7 0
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galardogod
Posts: 1716 - Karma: 5,336
Boxes > flat bar > tube >down rails > kinky ones front 2 > front swap > ray Charles > 270 onto boxes > 270 on to flat rails > back two >
4 years ago
3 0
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deadhead420
Posts: 2134 - Karma: 18,692
Which switch up to spin off is a Ray Charles?
4 years ago
0 0
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Gourd
Posts: 468 - Karma: 5,052
mrk127Which switch up to spin off is a Ray Charles?

back swap to blind 2. Ray Charles is blind, so are both of the spins.
4 years ago
7 0
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deadhead420
Posts: 2134 - Karma: 18,692
Gordmanback swap to blind 2. Ray Charles is blind, so are both of the spins.


epic, I just learned BS to forward and to switch today. Ray Charles is gonna be my next goal
4 years ago
3 0
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BigmoneyMatt
Posts: 1545 - Karma: 1,215
mrk127epic, I just learned BS to forward and to switch today. Ray Charles is gonna be my next goal


Def the most difficult of the 4. Broke my wrist on 1.
4 years ago
3 0
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BigmoneyMatt
Posts: 1545 - Karma: 1,215
larilinesignYears of being stuck on a "boxes-only" plateau


Not sure if I'de call that a progression.
4 years ago
4 8
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ndye
Posts: 3756 - Karma: 7,094
DeadBNot sure if I'de call that a progression.


Hey man, I learned kfeds 12 years ago and I will never stop or be better. A plateau is just long form stair progression.
4 years ago
6 0
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Rparr
Posts: 5755 - Karma: 49,132
I found 2p2 to be easier than ray Charles
4 years ago
2 0
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BigmoneyMatt
Posts: 1545 - Karma: 1,215
ndyeHey man, I learned kfeds 12 years ago and I will never stop or be better. A plateau is just long form stair progression.


That's a little different then boxes. You just aren't even trying at the point of boxes.
4 years ago
0 4
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r00kie
Posts: 5238 - Karma: 59,602
larilinesignYears of being stuck on a "boxes-only" plateau


This is where I am. Can get down a fat tube but its just uncomfortable and not fun for me at this point. Rails just aren't my thing I guess.
4 years ago
3 0
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Jems
Posts: 7741 - Karma: 101,262
First year
- Front 4
- Blind 2
Second year
- Kfed
- Front/back swaps
- Britney
- Back 4
Third year
- All way swaps
- 270 on
- Front 6
Fourth year
- 2p2
- switch 2 on
- basically every swap to 2 off variation
- elusive
ETC
4 years ago
5 0
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Jems
Posts: 7741 - Karma: 101,262
RparrI found 2p2 to be easier than ray Charles


I've done many many 2p2 but like 2 ray Charles, its just harder to get that grip for the pretzel after the blind swap
4 years ago
4 0
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IsaacNW82
Posts: 777 - Karma: 6,776
Well I'm not really a park skier, just a freerider that dabbles when the snow is shit, so my learning was pretty erratic.

First year was me becoming frustrated that I was a stereotypical freerider who could backflip and 360 and whatever but not even slide a rail. So one particularly bad early season in Vermont I just camped at my favorite fat flat tube and sessioned over and over again until I could finally slide, go on from the side, and land forwards or backwards. Then a few weeks later, bam shit snow again and I learned unnat slides, all four 2's, and lip ons. Then I didn't really ski much park and stagnated hard for a few years. Then on a trip to Steamboat recently with some friends it didn't snow at all so back to the park and got Kfeds, front swaps, (sometimes) back swaps and 2's on but only if its a really easy rail. I still can't really combo them well with the exception of kfeds.

So moral of the story is I
3 years ago
2 0
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IsaacNW82
Posts: 777 - Karma: 6,776
IsaacNW82Well I'm not really a park skier, just a freerider that dabbles when the snow is shit, so my learning was pretty erratic.

First year was me becoming frustrated that I was a stereotypical freerider who could backflip and 360 and whatever but not even slide a rail. So one particularly bad early season in Vermont I just camped at my favorite fat flat tube and sessioned over and over again until I could finally slide, go on from the side, and land forwards or backwards. Then a few weeks later, bam shit snow again and I learned unnat slides, all four 2's, and lip ons. Then I didn't really ski much park and stagnated hard for a few years. Then on a trip to Steamboat recently with some friends it didn't snow at all so back to the park and got Kfeds, front swaps, (sometimes) back swaps and 2's on but only if its a really easy rail. I still can't really combo them well with the exception of kfeds.

So moral of the story is I


Not sure why it cut off the last sentence, but here ya go:

So moral of the story is I

*edit* it did it again,i give up

**This post was edited on Dec 11th 2021 at 9:55:13pm
3 years ago
2 0
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1234567891011121
Posts: 1750 - Karma: 13,850
I fell a lot, skiing isn’t natural for me at all.


fun tho
3 years ago
2 0
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isaacwrong
Posts: 2444 - Karma: 19,560
mrk127My summer setup was key for me


So tru...practically how I learned every rail variation. Fuq spending 40k on a ski academy to then just bum around. Rail progression first year was all 8. Next few years involve creating your own style in becoming confident in the tricks, landing switch, comfortable in the air etc.
3 years ago
3 0
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Chrischi69
Posts: 652 - Karma: 5,064
I couldnt do them for my life then one day it clicked just keep grinding tbh. Also i tell everyone this LOOK AT THE END and yeah pedaling is good for spins and stuff
3 years ago
3 0
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The.Fish
Posts: 2269 - Karma: 4,997
Flat boxes > flat bar > small down bar > broken wrist > front 2 off flat box > more difficult rails from the side > blind 2 > front 4 > front surface on fat tube > front swaps > kfed > very sketchy 270 onto boxes > front swap to forward > blind 4 > blind swap (idk why i picked a kink on a z tube but it worked great).
3 years ago
2 0
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Megamind
Posts: 30 - Karma: 288
Spent 3 years as a little fellow on non-park skis. Would jump on fat donkey rails and almost immediately slide off the other side. Then once I got park skis, I worked on a very wide and low flat rail to break the fear and get the feeling of sliding. That took a season. Then came going straight on like you are now, did that for a season. Then last year I just decided I needed to get on from the side. The big ticket for me with getting on from the side was to focus on keeping both skis parallel and under me, thinking of them as one unit. Another important part of getting on from the side for me was figuring out the optimal angle to leave the kicker, and to just expect to skip like the first 1/4 of the rail during your mounting jump. Also, I found it much easier to learn coming on from the side on round rails, I find it easier to lean either way to adjust if you don't land perfectly centered.

Now I've got that down, spent last season learning fun-shaped rails like down-flat-downs, rainbow rails, zig zag rails, etc. This year I'm hoping to learn lip on and getting on from switch.
3 years ago
2 0
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Megamind
Posts: 30 - Karma: 288
r00kieThis is where I am. Can get down a fat tube but its just uncomfortable and not fun for me at this point. Rails just aren't my thing I guess.


I'm telling you my man, I consider myself adequately rail proficient, and I still get caught up on fat tubes every once and a while. Try small round rails, there's nothing to catch on, it's way easier imo.
3 years ago
1 0
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muffMan.
Posts: 2901 - Karma: 27,721
Yeah have been working on some side stuff. I figure I’ll learn peddling while I’m at it too, heard it can help with balance.
MegamindSpent 3 years as a little fellow on non-park skis. Would jump on fat donkey rails and almost immediately slide off the other side. Then once I got park skis, I worked on a very wide and low flat rail to break the fear and get the feeling of sliding. That took a season. Then came going straight on like you are now, did that for a season. Then last year I just decided I needed to get on from the side. The big ticket for me with getting on from the side was to focus on keeping both skis parallel and under me, thinking of them as one unit. Another important part of getting on from the side for me was figuring out the optimal angle to leave the kicker, and to just expect to skip like the first 1/4 of the rail during your mounting jump. Also, I found it much easier to learn coming on from the side on round rails, I find it easier to lean either way to adjust if you don't land perfectly centered.

Now I've got that down, spent last season learning fun-shaped rails like down-flat-downs, rainbow rails, zig zag rails, etc. This year I'm hoping to learn lip on and getting on from switch.
3 years ago
1 0
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JLej
Posts: 114 - Karma: 476
switch 2 pretz 2 ambulance out
3 years ago
2 0
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