Descent Lab is a small snowboard guiding and instruction outfit in Northern California. We ride the Sierra backcountry, one group at a time, with an instructor who rides the same terrain on their days off.
Lessons & Tours
First Turns
half day · one rider
Never been on a board, or back after a long layoff. Three hours on quiet, low-angle terrain: strapping in, skating, sideslipping, and your first linked turns.
All-Mountain Private
full day · up to two riders
For riders who can link turns and want them to get cleaner. Edge control, board performance in bumps and trees, and riding switch without thinking about it.
Freeride & Steeps Coaching
full day · up to two riders
Steep entrances, variable snow, chutes, and pillow lines. Line choice and slough management as much as technique.
Sidecountry & Backcountry Tour
full day · up to three riders
Splitboard or bootpack days on Donner Summit, Carson Pass, and Mt. Shasta. Beacon, shovel, and probe required; we plan the day around the morning's avalanche forecast.
Video Review
add-on to any day
We film your riding and watch it back frame by frame at the end of the day, so you can see what the coaching is actually asking for.
Bring your own touring setup, or tell us and we will point you at a shop. Multi-day blocks and larger groups can be arranged — ask when you write.
Where We Ride
- Donner Summit — touring
- Carson Pass — touring
- Mt. Shasta — spring corn
Days start once the snowpack is worth touring on, usually around the turn of the year, and run through Shasta corn season in May and June. We pick the zone the night before, based on the forecast and where the snow actually is.
Your Instructor
Max Ma
Lead Instructor · AASI Level 2 Certified
Max holds a Level 2 certification from the American Association of Snowboard Instructors and has spent the better part of two decades riding the Sierra Nevada — teaching first-timers their first linked turns, and coaching advanced riders through steep and variable snow.
Every day is taught by Max unless you are told otherwise in advance.
Booking
Contact us to book. Tell us the dates you have in mind, how many riders, and roughly where everyone is at, and we will come back with a zone, a plan, and what the day costs. We confirm the day before, once the forecast is in.
If the weather or the avalanche forecast shuts down a tour, we move the day at no cost to you.