December 27, 2000

13#3 Moves Backside Alley-Oop Tailgrab

By Justin Mooney

Prior to learning alley-oop tailgrabs, it would help if you’re already comfortable doing backside 180s and 360s with various grabs off straight jumps. Also, some prowess on the frontside wall of a halfpipe would help you accomplish this trick–good luck.

1. First, be sure you have a snowboard under your feet and you’re standing on snow.

2. Approach the jump with an average amount of speed. Picture the trick while riding toward the jump.

3. It’s important to take off from the jump on a fairly flat base and center your balance over your toe edge. Don’t lean into the jump too much or you’ll end up on your ass.

4. Start your spin, paying careful attention not to over-rotate. Also, reach a mutual agreement with the tail of your board so it knows your back hand is going to grab it. Grabbing tindy on this trick might get you banned from the sport, or make your friends vomit on the spot.

5. The great thing about alley-oops is that once you’re 90 degrees into the rotation you can see the landing and position your board and body accordingly.

6. By the time you land, you should have already let go of your tail. 7. Make a deal with your friend that when you get back to the lodge they’ll claim the trick for you, and that way you can just pretend you’re really shy and it wasn’t that big of a deal.

I ride for Ride, Da Kine, Dragon, Bluebird wax, and World Boards shop. I graduated from Montana State with a BA in graphic design in 2000. I temporarily live in Salem, Oregon. I do freelance design work in my spare time for several companies. I like cheeseburgers, and hate the yo in snowboarding.