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The key to riding stairs forwards is speed. Every beginner I have taught has gone too slow, and had to run out of the stairs. You need to go a moderate speed, about a slow jogging pace, when you try and ride stairs.
The next factor has to be foot position. Though you can divide your weight between feet any way you want while riding steps, the easiest way to learn is with the weight spread fairly evenly between your feet. Your feet should be directly under you, with the toe of your back foot near the heel of the front foot. The width is not very important, as long as you have balance. Just try and keep them around 6 inches or so apart. When most people hit the stairs, they tend to tighten up, and they let their feet drift together. This is usually bad, as they soon lose their balance and fall. You MUST keep your feet staggered, at least while you are learning, or you will fall. Have a friend look at you and tell you what you are doing with your feet, or just pay close attention yourself. Also be sure to keep your knees bent, much like a shock absorber, otherwise you will go flying and/or end up with hurt knees!
Just like you wouldn't run a marathon your first time jogging, you shouldn't try to bash down that massive 100 stair flight your first time out. Start out riding down the smallest flights that you can see. Riding off of a curb is a descent start, and will help you learn the form, but I wouldn't be afraid of going down three or four steps to start out with. Then you can work up to the long, big sets. Its hard to explain, but once your body understands what it needs to do, the size of the flight doesn't really matter. If you can do that flight of 6 steps easy, a flight of 20 shouldn't bother you.
Oh.. A final note.. Make sure the steps you are trying to do aren't too steep! Though dimensions are kind of arbitrary, a good flight would be steps of about a foot long and 6-9 inches high. Once you start getting the ones that are that are perfectly square, you begin to get into the stairs that are less fun, and more like 'WATCH OUT I'M ABOUT TO LOSE IT BIG TIME!!!'. Most stairs are OK, so don't get all paranoid if you see a flight that might be steep :) Also, your back brake will get in the way, but the stairs are still possible. However, taking it off is much better!
So.. Keep a descent speed, with feet staggered, weight even, firm stance, and try to glide over the top of the steps. You aren't going to walk down them on skates, you want to glide over the bumps.
Backwards stair riding (bashing) is no harder than forwards riding. In fact, most skaters claim it is easier than forwards. However, one does need to get over the mental aspect of backwards bashing to do it. Just like in forwards stair riding, balance is essential. If you can't skate backwards in a straight line, you really shouldn't be trying to hit the stairs! Proficiency in 180's is definitely helpful.
Bashing backwards is essentially the same as forwards. You need about the same speed (slow jog), you need good balance, and you need a set of stairs that is about your level. (Ie- small if you are just starting)
Approach the stairs, and at around 10 feet away, do a 180. This will give you the time needed to stabilize, and prepare for the steps. As you near the steps, you need to push one leg far behind you, while keeping the other leg in front. Once you hit the stairs, and are in the flight, this stance looks like you have a (near) straight back leg, and a front leg at around 90 degrees in front of you. This wide stance gives you good balance, and allows you to glide down the stairs with ease. Don't forget to look behind you to see where you are going, but not so far as to twist your body and make you fall.
There are a few points that you need to remember. First, keep your stance firm, yet not too rigid. This will allow you to absorb the shock of the steps, while not changing your stance. Also be sure to stand up straight. Most people tend to lean forward when they are first starting out, and this is a bad thing. It is natural tendency to do this, but you must fight to stand up straight. Don't forget your back leg is out there to keep you from falling backwards. Something that may help you to stand up correctly is to keep your head up. Your body will follow your head, and if it is upright then you should naturally stand up and have good form.
Overall, backwards is easier to do than forwards as long as you get over the mental block. Turn early to gain stability, push the leg out just as you are entering the stairs, keep a firm stance, and ride the flight out. Good luck!
For those of you aren't aware of the definition of sidesurfing, it's just skating in a sort of spread-eagle position, with one skate rolling forward and one rolling backward. The trailing skate is usually following in the trail of the leading skate. Depending on your anatomy, you may be able to sidesurf standing almost straight up, you might only be able to do so sort of crouched over with your rear end sticking out, or you might not be able to it at all. To be able to do it, though, you need to be able to turn your hips out pretty widely or else you will constantly end up with at least one knee that feels like it's wrenched. An exercise that I found helps is to lie down on my back, placing the soles of my feet together with my knees outspread. The closer you can keep your knees to the floor while you draw your feet closer to your derriere, the better. Working on this while reading or watching TV helps.
The other stair tutorials seem to advocate balancing your weight evenly between the feet when bashing stairs forward or backwards, but my tendency when sidesurfing stairs is to shift my weight more toward the back foot, the one that is going backward. When I don't, I have a tendency to pitch forward after a few steps. I've wiped out once in such a situation, luckily twisting as I went down so that my butt took most of the impact instead of my leading hand or shoulder.
As the other tutorials mention, though, I also find that it helps to have built up just a bit of speed before starting the stairs. Jogging speed is about right. More than that and you may never even touch the first few stairs. Less than that and you get hung up pretty quickly.
A result of shifting your weight to the trailing foot while sidesurfing stairs is that after lots of practice, you might find yourself actually lifting your leading foot high enough that it never even touches the stairs. In other words, one-footed stair bashing, backwards. I've caught myself doing on this is on some four-step shorties and am beginning to dream about longer flights.
Below are some variations that you can try once you have gotten good at stair bashing. This is by no means a complete list, but it should be enough to give you an idea on possibilities.
Jump into flight: Skate up to your favorite flight of stairs, and just as you hit the lip, jump. Land your jump in the flight, and keep going. Try and absorb the landing in your knees, and make sure you have enough speed if you are having trouble landing it.
Late 180: Skate up to your favorite flight, and as you hit the edge, give a big 180. Land backwards in the steps, and ride the rest out.
360 into flight: Skate up to your favorite flight, and do a 360 into the steps. Land carefully, and ride the rest out going forwards.
Fakie 360: Skate up to the stairs backwards, and do a fakie 360. Land backwards in the steps, and ride the rest out.
540 into flight: Self explanatory..
Forward-Backward Switchstance: When you are riding a flight going forwards, turn around and go backwards. The only thing you need to be careful about is timing the jump right so you make it all the way around.
Backward-Forward Switchstance: Same as above, except you switch from backwards riding to forwards.
In-stair 360: While you are riding the stairs forwards, let out with a 360. Be careful of your jump timing!
Fakie In-stair 360: Same as above except you are going backwards.
Sideways Bashing: In this trick, you ride down the stairs sideways, with one foot pointed down the staircase, and the other one pointing up the stairs. Warning: If you are male and over 13, you may have trouble with this!
Five Wheeled Riding: This is just like normal forward stairs, but with your back foot, just use the toe. So your front foot is on normal, and your back foot is at around 90 degrees and only using to toe.
The key to coming up with new moves is just creativity! If you can think of it, chances are its possible. Don't be afraid to do something new! Good luck..