Firstly... GODDAM I absolutely LOVE snowboarding!
Like, really LOVE it. It's something I've always wanted to do, literally since the mid 90's when Normski hosted "Board Stupid" A much (I think) maligned C4 program that featured board sports like Surfing, Skating and Snowboarding. I was already a BMXer and skateboarder and loved the clack of the paving slabs under my wheels echoing actress the market square if the shit-hole Nottinghamshire town I spent my teenage years. But Snow was all so far away and un-accessible. Especially in this very early iteration, snowboarding may as well have been on another planet.
It was very strange investing in what turned out to be close to £1000 worth of gear for a sport I had never tried, didn't know if I could do and seemed so far away.
Well after some personal upheaval this year I decided I was going to make some changes. A new partner in my life played an unassuming and unknowingly significant role in expending my horizons on the subject of what "can be done" when you allow yourself the opportunity. She has been boarding for 20 years and encouraged my to get prepared to slide this coming winter. This was back in June and let me tell you, it was very strange investing in what turned out to be close to £1000 worth of gear for a sport I had never tried, didn't know if I could do and still seemed so far away.
Turns out that summer is the time to buy winter sports gear. Who knew! After carefully researching ride characteristics, proper length, flexibility and general purposes of the right board, I finally plumped for an Arbor board. An Arbor whiskey board to be precise. A board that I actually initially found to be unavailable in the UK in general and pretty rare where it was available. Also, not really having any cultural attachment to the sport I hadn't realised the design I wanted was discontinued. So I set both and eBay, Gumtree and Facebook Marketplace alert to find one. A month later, one came up and after some negotiation I got the while lot used twice for just £250. They even left the Nitro bindings on too with a big bag of tuning accessories and wax. Total package brand new? Almost £700. Not bad if I do say so. The weirdest thing though, that the seller lived just 5 miles away!
So what gear did I end up using as a beginner snowboarder? bearing in mind I know a fair bit about outdoor brands and textiles through my other interests I had some ammo to start with. But with specific boarding gear I had to do my research.
How to get the "all the gear" look...
My Board: Arbor whiskey. A fairly lightweight 159cm medium stiffness directional twin all mountain board with a rocker profile. Got this board used twice with Nitro "Pusher" bindings. I actually dropped pretty lucky with this combo. Although I did a fair bit of research, I still didn't really know what it would be like. But as far as I can tell, it's paid off to hang off and not buy on impulse to ultimately get the board I really wanted. Plus the graphics are so cool and I get a lot of compliments on it too. I'll never sell this board. When it's done, it's going on the wall somewhere!
My Boots: Thirty-Two TM-2 double BOA. Really just did my research on these and they seemed to be widely respected and advocated by a good few athletes. They look good and fit good with a heat-mouldable inner sock, and ankle support rings they get (fit) better with every time I use them. Plus the BOA laced are super convenient and tighten very well. I've used them in other sports and products and whilst they were questionable back in the day, they now seem super reliable.
My helmet is a SMITH Level MIPS. I love SMITH gear and I'm a brand ambassador in the mountain biking world. It fits amazing and marries up with my SMITH Squad XL Chromapop goggles too. The helmet also has adjustable vents and removable ear pads too. I absolutely can't see past a SMITH helmet and goggle combo, whatever the sport.
Goggles are SMITH Squad XL. I've had these for a while and kept them especially for snowboarding. I use SMITH Squad goggles and eyewear in my real job. The Chromapop lenses are great and between the orange positive lens and the darker lens they pretty much have it covered. I've not investigated the whole conveyed lens thing yet. But maybe next year!?
My Gloves and trousers are Both from Salamon. We all know that their gear is super tech and absolutely reliable whatever the pursuit, so finding both of these in a 50% off sale meant they just had to come home with me.
Lastly, my jacket. An absolutely brainless purchase that is soo comfy it's not even funny. The amazing North Face "Four barrel" Tri-climate jacket. Just a super comfy dry-vent jacket with a removable and totally useable second "primaloft" jacket zipped into the lining. It has all of the usual perks a good jacket should have and looks ace too! I firstly got an orange one but it was just TOO orange, so I settled on a weird forest green colour which is pretty cool!
I had all of this in place in time for around October so all I had to do was wait maybe 2 months and the we were off bourding right. Well no actually, this is Scotland, the home of frustrated snow sport enthusiasts.
More on that in part 2 of this blog. Including my first slide, my first lesson, second and third lesson, travel and scheduling woes as well as the list of physical ailments brought on my falling over a few dozen times with a 159cm plank of laminate and composite bolted to my feet.
I've been logging video of my journey so far so at sometime an edit will go up on my Youtube channel, but I haven't managed to get any footage of me actually sliding as I've not actually been boarding with anyone else yet....
To be continued...
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