How to ollie on a snowboard

How to ollie on a snowboard comes down to one idea: bend the tail, then let it spring you off the snow. It’s one of the first freestyle skills most riders learn, because it lets you create your own lift. You’ll use it to hop small bumps, get extra air off rollers and, much later, to take off from jumps with more control.

You’re ready when you can ride easy runs in control, link turns and stop where you choose. Pick a gentle, wide, quiet run with good visibility and practice at the side, out of the traffic line. Avoid spots just below a ridge or roller: people coming over the top won’t see you in time, and NSAA’s Responsibility Code is explicit about stopping only where you can be seen from above.

Put on a helmet that fits and fasten the strap. Early ollies often end in backward falls when the board shoots out in front, so start with small hops at slow speed. A freestyle lesson from a qualified instructor is a good way to learn the timing safely.

A snowboard flexes like a spring. In an ollie, you load the tail by moving your weight toward your back foot and pressing it down, then release it so the board springs you upward. Your legs then lift and tuck to bring the board off the snow.

1. Move back. Shift your hips toward your back foot so the tail bends.
2. Lift the front foot. Raise your front knee so the nose comes up.
3. Spring off the tail. Extend your back leg against the bent tail and let it snap you up.
4. Tuck. Bring both knees up so the board levels out underneath you.

How much pop you get depends partly on the board. Softer, more flexible boards are usually easier to bend; stiffer ones take more effort. Technique still makes the bigger difference.

1. Practice on the flat. Strapped in on flat ground, press the tail and lift the nose, like a slow-motion wheelie. Then try small hops off the tail.
2. Presses while sliding. On a gentle slope, running straight and slow, shift weight onto the tail until the nose lifts, then back to center. It’s the same balance you use for nose and tail presses.
3. Small ollies while sliding. Add the spring: press, lift, pop, tuck. Keep the pops small and your speed low.
4. Across the hill and switch. Once straight ollies work, try them while traversing and in your switch stance.

That last step matches how PSIA-AASI’s Freestyle Specialist Performance Guide assesses instructors: ollies and nollies standing still on the flat, straight down the fall line and across the hill, from both a natural and a switch stance, with the whole board leaving the snow.

Some riders find it helps to count: one to load the tail, two to pop, three to land. Keep your shoulders roughly in line with the board and your eyes up. Throwing your arms or twisting your upper body makes the board turn in the air.

• Land on both feet together. Board flat, weight centered, not on the tail.
• Bend to absorb. Let your knees and ankles flex as you touch down.
• Keep the board straight. Land pointing the way you’re traveling. A board that lands sideways on an edge can catch.
• Ride away in control. Look ahead, settle, then carry on or stop.

If you keep landing on the tail and sitting down, you’re probably staying back too long. Move your weight forward to center as you tuck.

Once small ollies are consistent, you can work on height. We suggest changing one thing at a time:

• Load the tail deeper. Bend your back knee more before the pop so the tail flexes further, but keep your chest over the board.
• Snap, don’t push. A quick extension off the tail gives more spring than a slow shove.
• Tuck harder. Pulling your knees up raises the board even if your body doesn’t go much higher.
• Use terrain. Popping off the top of a small roller on a groomed run gives extra lift, but check the far side is clear and gentle first.

Avoid adding speed to get more air while you learn. Speed makes every mistake bigger.

Once your ollie is consistent, try the nollie: shift your weight toward the front foot, load the nose, lift the back foot and spring off the nose. It feels less natural because you’re pressing forward while sliding downhill, so start even smaller and slower. Comfortable riding with your other foot forward helps, since a nollie is similar to an ollie with the other end leading.

Solid ollies and nollies feed straight into taking off from small jumps and into your first ollie 180s on the flat. Reading about them doesn’t mean you’re ready for park features: build up in person on the smallest terrain, ideally with a qualified freestyle coach. Our guide to the order of freestyle skills shows the bigger picture.

• Jumping straight up. Without loading the tail you just hop with a flat board. PSIA-AASI lists “unable to generate pop” as a fault for exactly this reason.
• Leaning too far back. The board shoots forward and you land on your tail or bottom.
• Going too fast. Practice slowly until the timing is automatic.
• Twisting the shoulders. The board follows your upper body. Keep your shoulders steady.
• Practicing in busy areas. Choose a quiet side of an easy run where you’re visible from above.