LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. — Although challenging, learning the snowboarding basics can be done in a day. It will take hard work, a willingness to fall over and prior preparation, but anyone with strong motivation can do it.

Step one: How to put on a snowboard

When you first arrive on the mountain, you must know which foot is your dominant foot, as that will be your leading foot. Be sure to secure your foot safely in the straps of your board. After you practice putting on your snowboard, practice moving it with one foot, since you will need to know how to do this when entering and exiting the ski lift.

A good way to move with only one foot on the board is to keep your dominant foot on the board and you non-dominant foot behind the board. This makes it easy to move with only one foot. For those who worry that they will fall, it is key to remember that the first time is the hardest; from here on out, you can only get better. Get ready to enter the ski lift!

Step two: How to enter/exit a ski lift

Make sure you know how to properly move on your snowboard with one foot, since you will only have one foot on your board on the ski lift. Entering the ski lift is easy: The only thing you have to do is make sure you are ready in time for when the next ski lift comes.

“I fell the first couple of times trying to get off of the ski lift,” Chase Gil, a senior at Los Alamitos High School, said. Gil also fell trying to get onto the ski lift.

Exiting the ski lift it is a little bit harder since you have to snowboard off the ski lift with only one foot, and the first time, there is a high chance you will fall. But my friend taught me a trick: With the foot outside the snowboard, place it where it would be if it were in the snowboard, and then snowboard off the ski lift. After entering and exiting the ski lift a few times, you will be a pro.

Step three: Learning to brake

Braking is one of the most important things to learn when snowboarding because if you don’t know how to break, you could fall down the mountain. To learn how to brake, make sure your whole body is facing downward, and lean back; this stops the snowboard, so you can slowly lean forward. I recommend practicing this down the whole mountain to get it down. This will take time and may seem boring, but it is a crucial part of learning to snowboard.

“When braking, you have to start slow down the mountain, and then start going faster,” LAHS senior Colson Seegars said.

Seegars said that you can’t get good at braking fast without working your way there. On the next run, face sideways until you pick up momentum, then brake, and continue this down the mountain. This is harder as you pick up speed, so start slow and work your way up to boarding faster.

Step four: Learning how to turn

Now after a run or two, you should have your braking down well and learn how to turn. According to Seegars, an S-turn is when you go all the way to one side of the mountain, facing the bottom, and then brake and turn the board facing the top of the mountain. Then, break and repeat down the mountain.

For S-turns, make sure one side of the board is up at all times; when you face downward, lean slightly back. When facing upward, lean slightly forward: This helps with stability and braking. When I tried an S-turn, I worried about another person hitting me, but Seegars said most snowboarders on the mountain are experienced enough to move out of the way.

Step five: How to recover from a fall

If you’re facing downward when you fall, lean back as you stand up; if facing toward the mountain, lean forward. When you get stuck on a flat part of the mountain, this is called a catwalk — once you get up, you can’t move. LAHS Snow Sports Club president Adam Kogan suggested taking off your snowboard completely and walking until the mountain is no longer flat. If you’re with friends who ski, you can hold on to them for help moving out of the catwalk. I typically hop on the board to start moving again.

I definitely think it’s possible to learn how to snowboard in one day. All it takes is dedication and not being afraid to fail or fall. With LAHS’ week-long Presidents’ Day vacation coming up and the school’s proximity to Big Bear and Mammoth, snowboarding is a popular winter sport for students to learn.