Best Rail Progression Flow?

ThegreatpastaWhat do you think the best flow for learning boxes and tubes and why?

I seem to think the flow is straight boxes>straight on milli tubes>side slide milli tubes>side slide fat tubes>side slide box.

I think side sliding tubes is easier than boxes bc you have a lil more friction on the metal compared to the plastic on top so it's not as easy to wash out onto your hip.

Also what were the best tips you received that helped it click to get your weight downhill?

Thanks in advance.

Id say the biggest thing that helped me was sliding all rails. Even if its scary or you fall off early that practice is always good. The other thing I would say is look at the end of the rail not your feet

There is no set order. Hit every shape you feel comfortable hitting umtil you feel like your on top of the world. Then leave your comfort zone. Eventually you'll be able to hit everything and develop preferences

the mechanics of a rail and a box are essentially identical. if it is a round sort of rail or a tube, you can argue that slightly more balance is necessary but humans are self balancing machines, so that actually come pretty naturally. we could probably write paragraphs and paragraphs about a million incremental ways to get more comfortable hitting rails properly but as with any trick, the #1 thing to do (after you can visualize it) is to simply commit.

most people have probably seen new folks in the park trying to learn rails and they just ski at the rail from the side and hardly twist their feet, barely touch the rail and immediately slip right off the other side (over and over, run after run). if they're a slightly more brave person, they maybe actually rotate their feet but the fear still kicks in and they completely leave their shoulders behind, hence the dreaded hip check right onto the rail, which totally sucks.

the truth is that if you genuinely commit to rotating your feet ~90 degrees and keeping your balance between left and right foot, you'll almost certainly be fine, irrespective of whether it is a box, a tube, or a rail. after that, repetition is key, as you start to subconsciously learn how to make those tiny adjustments (balance, edge angle, pressure etc) to keep you locked in. as you get more experienced, you can actually start to play around with those movements to expand your comfort and abilities. those sort of movements will help you unlock spins, swaps, presses and the like. if you have serious passion for jibbing, you'll learn fast and have the time of your life. good luck!

**This post was edited on Jan 13th 2025 at 11:25:27am

step 1: go side ways on a slope so that your edges are holding you and practice putting weight on your front foot, flattening out your edges and side slipping down the fall line. You can put both hands on your downhill knee when learning to get weight froward. If your weigh is not centered you will drift left or right of the fall line. When done right you can "drift" fully sideways on a groomed run with barely slowing down

step 2: Hit boxes 50/50 with good pop on and off
step 3: Hit the box 50/50 very slow and shifty on it. This lets you ease into sliding sideways.
step 4: jump 90 on and fully slide box sideways. you can go to switch or start to learn pretz/scissor.( dropping the heel on one foot and toe on other to grip the rail and spin)
step 5: hit a pvc tube/ other big ride on tube
step 6: practice alot and push yourself. Watch other good park skiers and how they move to do a trick.

make sure you have a basic athletic stance for all of this, knees bent, feet shoulder width apart, head up.
another drill is jumping 90 on snow and sliding sideways without losing any speed.
Overall just have fun and progression will come with time

Genuinely love seeing the amount positivity and actually good advice in these replies. Thanks a ton. Hoping to commit more time on my rail skill this upcoming month as I have some weekdays I took PTO on so I can hike the rail garden at my local without there being a big crowd. Def gonna take a lotta this into account.

My biggest struggle is def getting my weight down hill and on the front leg.