Snow skating
If you’ve ever been frustrated by having to fiddle with snowboard bindings, you’re not alone. For one man I met today, that led him to the snowboard’s smaller, lighter, bindings-less cousin, the snow skate. Step on the board and ride away, with no need to sit down, bend over, thread ratchets, pull up a lever or do anything else. Step. On. Go.
There are some other advantages, too. With a skate you don’t need to, well, skate in the lift line or on flats, which reduces torque on the body. With the skate being smaller than a snowboard, it’s also easier to carry.
My chairlift companion does wear a leash, which in theory all snowboarders should be doing (see the Responsibility Code published at any ski area), as well as a helmet (a good idea for anyone).
Some resorts don’t allow skates, but some, do. At the moment I don’t have a list of handy, but the distinction reminds me of the early days of snowboarding.
As you can see from the video, snow skating can look a lot like snowboarding, but on a smaller scale. And if you think about it, a snow skate, unlike a snowboard, shares its “no bindings” quality with cafeteria trays. So should the term “grays on trays” refer not to snowboarders, but to snow skates?
Have you ever tried a snow skate? Would you ever try one out?
March 5, 2014 @ 3:13 pm
Nice!! I’ve been meaning to try this out. They usually have some snowskates available to demo at Hawk Island in Lansing, maybe I will try it next time I am up there.
Then again, I am bad enough at ordinary skateboarding… not sure it will be a good idea!
If you’re looking at other binding-less ways to slide sideways, a number of brands are making “Pow Surfers” or No-boards. The one local company I think in Muskegon area is Novak Snurfboards. But there are many others. They are bigger, and more like first generation snurfers or snowboards from the early days.
March 5, 2014 @ 3:57 pm
I’d say go for it, especially on a warm day in the spring.
One area around here says that snow skates are not allowed, but I’m still waiting on others. It does look like a fun way to get in some sliding without having to get in the car and drive a while–more like an easily accessible form of sliding.
March 5, 2014 @ 6:44 pm
For sure! I have to drive for a while (well, 30ish minutes) to find any decent hills outside of the metroparks or sled hills (which now that I think about it, would probably be plenty on a snowskate) but one other thing I’m super keen to try out is the Marquette Backcountry Ski.
March 6, 2014 @ 3:51 pm
I’ve seen them in action and would like to try one.
At the end of last season I hauled out the Snurfer I had bought on eBay years ago. You can see our efforts on it at the end of this video of a couple of “grays on trays”
http://youtu.be/VNdJ8NxAxSI