Heel, toe ... and backside. That's the way things usually go for beginning snowboarders — heavy on the backside. It's the preferred body part to hit the snow first when off-balance.

The good news is that lessons for beginning snowboarders can make the backside falls far less frequent, said Maggie Loring, director of the Snowbird Ski and Snowboard School and in charge of instruction over the Deseret News/KSL NewsRadio's snowboard program.

New boarders do fall. But the argument in skiing has always been that those not falling, occasionally, are not learning. It must be the same for snowboarding.

According to Loring, snowboard instruction has evolved in recent years, "in part, because instructors are much more experienced. They've been doing it longer and are more experienced on what really works.

"Equipment has also evolved to make learning easier."

Under the Deseret News/KSL program, students get three lessons — Nov. 22, Dec. 6 and 13.

Taking three lessons, said Loring, is important in learning to snowboard.

"The first lesson is challenging because it's a foreign environment," she said. "The student may or may not have had similar experiences. It takes a little time.

"Generally, by the third lesson, the students are moving around and enjoying snowboarding. They're outside and don't need to think about everything they're trying to do."

The simple fact is that by taking a lesson, the road to reaching the intermediate level is straighter and more rapid. It's a fact, too, that a beginning lesson leads to fewer bad habits and far fewer falls.

"And, even more important," said Loring, "it's safer. That's something students often don't realize. Going with a bunch of friends often results in a lot more falls than if they took a lesson.

"Also, friends tend to go to terrain that's too steep. They go to terrain that's too steep, too soon. ... and friends tend not to give any tactics on how to handle the terrain. If people start moving faster than they expect, they freeze. We see that happen a lot. They end up not only being a threat to themselves but also to others."

Actually, the first steps are easy. Learning to carry the board and look professional is a snap. Same with getting into the new step-in bindings and pushing the board like a scooter to get to the lift.

The heelside, toeside moves doesn't come as easily, even though it looks as easy as standing upright to the beginner.

Heelside is where the boarder faces down the mountain, back toward the hill, and pushes with the heels to edge the board into the hill.

Toeside is where the boarder faces uphill and pushes down on the toes to dig the edge of the board into the hill.

The next step is almost too easy to believe. Simply look in the direction of the turn. Where the eyes look, the body seems to follow.

And it works. It's like the head is connected to a rudder in the snow, and as the head turns, so does the board. The tendency for beginners is to rotate the body and not the head.

By taking the three lessons, a student can become better much faster, which means they get more lift rides, more runs and spend less time falling.