Boards for the Summer

Summer is here and the snow is not. But can you simulate some of the sensations of snowboarding? Perhaps.

“The Pro Rider” is the annual publication of the American Association of Snowboard Instructors. The 2008 edition has an article, “Summertime Shredding?,” which describes several different boards that might be worth trying out … this summer.

Here’s are a few quick comments on the options, as presented by the article.

1. The standard skateboard is good for snowborders interested in refining freestyle basics such as ollies, grinds and jibs. But if, like most adult snowboarders, you’re more interested in cruising and big-mountain riding, read on, especially to the third item.

2. To use either the Ripstick or the Wave, imagine that you’re standing on a snowboard. Now twist your feet from edge to edge–independently–so that you push down on the toes of one foot and lift up the toes of your other foot. That motion gets the board moving. Along with the Flowboard (see below), it’s one of the cheaper options mentioned. It’s too unstable for use on hills, but works well on flat areas.

These boards can help you learn how to move your feet independent of each other. That’s the upside. The downside is that they might encourage you to use your shoulders a lot, which is not considered the best form by today’s snowboarding instructors.

3. The Freeboard looks more like a standard skateboard, but with some important differences. On top, it has bindings. On the underside, it has two extra wheels. One is near the nose and the other is near the tail. The company says that the standard wheels are like your snowboard edges, while the spinning wheels are like the p-tex base of a snowboard, in that they allow you to slide.

The Freeboard has this advantage over the other boards: You can skid (the only board tested that allows you to do so) and come to a complete stop (no dismounting required) in a fashion similar to putting your snowboard across the fall line.

Be warned, though. The testers say that riding this board “is a very realistic experience, including the distinct possibility of catching a downhill edge.” Another warning: Some assembly required. Unlike the Ripstick, you can’t use it on entirely flat surfaces.

4. The Tierney Rides T-Board (downhill model) does away with traditional skateboard wheels altogether. Instead, it has just two wheels. The front one swivels, the back one does not. (As you might expect, this is a directional board.) Like a snowboard, you can’t use it on entirely flat surfaces.

Give the T-board some credit. It’s the most readable site among those mentioned here.

A word of warning: if you tilt the board too severely, it will touch the pavement, which could stop you rather quickly. Ouch!

5. The Flowboard is one of the cheaper options in the list. Flip it upside down and you’ll notice something unusual. There are a set of wheels underneath both the nose and tail–7 on each end! Even more unusual, they’re aligned a concave fashion, so they make the image of a smile. You don’t all the wheels at once; when you tilt the board, you’ll be changing which wheels you ride on. (Compare this with a typical skateboard, in which the board top–the deck–pivots, but the wheels do not.)

6. Many companies will sell you a traditional longboard, which is (to put it crudely) an extra-long skateboard. As with the Freeboard and T-Board, longboards got high marks from the testers for offering a freeriding experience.

So there you go. Any of these boards can give you some aspect of snowboarding. But none can provide the snow-on-mountain experience, and you may have to make some adjustments once you get back on your snowboard.