So what's the consensus on teaching a newbie-

100% put them in a lesson. Most times I think you would just both get angry at each other and it would be a frustrating experience. I did have a friend though, we went out to WISP and he was a beginner skier... switched skis for my board for a morning and literally taught himself to link 2-3 carve turns in a row after 3 hours of riding and minimal shouted instructions! Some people are naturals, but I wouldn't take the chance.. get a lesson

I tend to be the teacher within my group since I guess I progressed the fastest (as a result of going much more often than the rest). If it's their first day, I would teach them "breaking" first. Go down the slope a few times purely using the heel edge and keeping it perpendicular to the slope. On a bunny slope this can be very slow but you do the same thing toe side afterward. I always emphasize bending knees more because every noob's tendency is to lean forward with straight legs (heel or toe side).

Afterward, I would promote a bit of leafing on both sides as well. You're right, I find it does hinder the progression to carving a bit but I find it's a necessary skill to have in case of "emergency" and they can't make that turn. After they start leafing, I take 'em off the bunny hill and bring them to a green, something with more incline.

And yeah, you basically said the rest, turns end up being skidded plows at first but you get them to overcome the fear of linking heel to toe edges. After that, you just gotta make them get used to picking up speed. You can't really carve properly without speed anyway.

The above is very similar to how I learned. But what was most important in my progression was "balls" (guts) and frequent practice. Spreading out each beginner session will only slow one's learning curve. You gotta go lots and go often until you get it.

send them to a lesson to save your friendship!

Send them to a lesson. But if they are a good skier, they should pick it up pretty quick. I did and a lot of my friends did

a lot of resorts here in tahoe have a deal for beginners with rental and lesson and limited lift ticket. if you're already a decent rider, it's typically better to have your newbie friend go with a lesson. you can meet up with them after the lesson if you feel guilty.

tell them u'll teach them for 30min and leave them.. give them the option either getting lessons or u rteachign them for 30min =P

put em in a lesson! haha its not that much more than a lift ticket and rentals... 

I haven't read all the above but I'll post my teaching method. I'm also at work right now so I'm just going to type this fast and not review what I've written.

First I run through everything I will be teaching the person verbally in the time prior to the trip. I let them know they will fall ALOT. I try to convey to them the general idea of how the body-feel of turning and stuff will be, this helps some people a lot. I tell them all the bad habits they will have at first and tell them they'll probably fall a lot trying to break those bad habits.

I do teach falling leaf but I warn them that they better not get too dependant on one side or the other edge will suffer at first. I let them know in advance that turning is actually a little more stable with some speed and slope on the hill.
I teach them how to fall properly.


Note: When I learned me and my friend learned from scratch with little to no direction.

i was taught by putting a board on my feet and getting sent down the hill, prob not the best idea

Hard part is the first day. Ill say have them take a quick lesson with a paid instructor. Once you are pass that stage, it gets easier to teach someone.

So far the census is leave them to the instructor instead of ruining your fun.  Doesn't anyone get a laugh out of watching your noob friends eat it?  

aaaha, I remember the days I first set foot on a mountain.

My best friend took me up to the top of a black diamond and said, "see ya at the bottom."
made it down... didn't pizza once. french fry'd my way down!

granted, this was on ski's and I played ice hockey for 10 years... soooo...
yea, don't use me as an example of how to teach someone...

now my 1st time on a board was more humbling, never skateboarded before in my life... wanted individual leg freedom. LoL

Do a PIZZA!!!

Lessons. It's so sad to see people yelling at others on the hills. Sometimes it can be pretty funny, but still sad. So, lessons.

Kind of an old thread, but if you think you'll be trying to teach a bunch of friends over time the best way to do so is go to a (preferably free) instructors training course at your local mountain when they are looking for snowboarding instructors for the season. We all know how to snowboard, but they will show you how to teach snowboarding. It will also make you a better rider because when you do demonstrations for students you have to make it look perfect because a lot of people learn visually. So basic things like your riding stance and carving will improve, which are fundamentals.
Some mountains charge just to take the course, which doesn't guarantee you a job and even if it does intro level instructors usually don't get paid well...the only perk is a free pass and doing a job you like doing. But if it's $50-100 I'd say it's worth it if you teach friends often.

^^ Sometimes it depends on the instructor and the group. I could hardly understand the guy that was teaching me and a couple of my friends. We took the "cruzer" class so that we would learn how to properly link carves and cruise the mountain. It turned out the people that took the lesson with us barely knew the basics. There was a lot of waiting and scream during the lesson (not us) We ditched the lesson 3/4 of the way because we already knew most of the stuff.

I would recommend teaching newbies the extreme basics before taking lessons (even newbie lessons) Stuff like: stopping, leafing, how to fall, and identifying which stance are they comfortable with.

Two words that make your problems away: "Private Lessons." Try to find an instructor that suits you, you'll be in much safer, more qualified hands. 

I for one don't mind teaching friends for half a day. I usually log a lot of riding time each year so losing a half day of riding is no big deal. Secondly, I'd say I'm a pretty patient guy so sitting on my but and repeating tips to a friend is no biggie.

I tried teaching my gf yesterday based on a video set I found on youtube.  I still couldn't get her to get going.  I agree with the lessons, seems to be the best way to go.  Lot of frustration on both of our parts and in the end neither of us had that great of a time.

I showed my friend how to stop and turn and then I let him be for 2 hours. I wanted him to learn at his own pace. I came back after 2 hours and showed him some more stuff. Its definitely not fun teaching someone to ride...

I have nothing against leafing, that's how I learned, but it's knowing to add on to that C-turns, J-turns etc.

not a bad idea to put them on skis first if they have no idea about the concepts of edging