Following our look at frontside spins in the form of animated GIFs, here are (*drumroll…*) backside spins from 180s to 1080s!

Backside spins are a great starting point if you’re looking to try your first rotations on a snowboard. The first 90 degrees may be blind (hence the name backside) making them a little scary at first, but because they’re usually popped off the toes, they’re definitely a little easier to get to grips with when you’re starting out compared with frontside spins.

Backside 180 with Ben Kilner

Like the frontside 360 or the method air, the backside 180 is another trick that has earned a firm place in the snowboard trick hall of fame. Relatively speaking they’re one of the easiest spins you can learn but when done properly, they can also be one of the most stylish. Tweaked out indy or melon grabs work really well with them or if you’re feeling extra G, do them without a grab MFM or Devun Walsh style.

Backside 360 with Mattheo Ferraris

The backside 360 is perhaps one of the most common tricks to see in the snowboard parks around the world. They require a little bit more rotation and commitment than a backside 180, but because you can see your landing after 270 degrees of rotation, they’re a nice easy one to master. These days you’ll see kids doing ’em willy-nilly off the end of rails, but of course they’re still really fun to do big and floaty off kickers in the park and on side hits.

 Backside 540 with Claire Frost

Backside 5s are totally rad. The perfect half-way house between the mellow backside 180s and 360s and the more serious bigger rotations, a soild backside 540 is a great trick to have in your arsenal. As with all backside spins, mute (which is what Claire has gone for here) and melon grabs work particularly well because the act of grabbing with your front hand aids rotation in the backside direction.

Backside 720 with Andreas Wiig

Backside 720s are a really common trick to see in the backcountry because landing in your regular stance in deep powder snow is always easier than landing switch. Take Andreas Wiig’s back 7 on a massive stepdown in BC here for example.

Backside 900 with Gabor Abonyi

Now we’re talking. The back 9 is a pretty hefty trick and one that has been a staple in slopestyle competitions for yonks. As with all backside spins, it’s all about giving it the right amount of snap with your shoulders as you leave the lip and holding your toe edge all the way to the take off. Your head and shoulders turn first and the rest of your body follows. In principal anyway. We’re sad to say that we’ve never done a backside 9 ourselves. If we had them on lock we’d probably be snowboarding for a living rather than writing about it…

Backside 1080 with Jamie Nicholls

And finally we reach the end of our journey exploring backsides (*snigger*). The back 10 is a seriously rad trick: three full rotations either spun flat or double corked: huck, spin, wallop. Many pros will claim that spinning a 1080 flat is actually more technically demanding than doing the double corked version. We have no idea ourselves as we’ve only ever done them fictitiously – tucked away in our beds and snoring our faces off. Jamie Nicholls has a mean one. And a flatspun backside 1260 at that. Kid’s a straight boss.