Backside 180

The backside 180 is a spin where your back rotates toward the downhill side. Many riders find this scarier than frontside because you lose sight of the landing midway. But the blind landing feels natural once you commit. Your body knows where the ground is.

Approach on your toe edge. Slightly wind your shoulders open (away from the hill) so you can unwind them into the spin as you pop. The first 90 degrees takes you from facing the kicker to looking back at the approach. This is the moment beginners freeze, because the landing has just disappeared behind you. Don't slow the rotation; if anything, commit harder. Keep your head turning with your shoulders all the way around until your new front shoulder brings the landing back into view.

A useful mental trick: practice flat-ground backside 180s in your living room, on a skateboard, or on grass with bindings off. What you're training is the feeling of your head leading the rotation past the "blind" 90-degree mark without slowing down. Once that feels natural on flat ground, taking it to a small kicker is mostly about air time. The rotation itself is already in your body.

Video here:

Video by Snowboard Addiction

Key tips

• Ride in with slight toe-edge pressure
• As the nose of your board reaches the lip, start turning your head and shoulders.
• Look over your leading shoulder to initiate the spin
• Look for the landing.
• Commit fully. Hesitating at 90 degrees is where falls happen
• The landing is blind for a moment, trust the rotation
• Land switch with knees bent
• Practice on smaller kickers first