So the season is coming to an end. The powder has turned to slush and most of the hardcore snowboarding has given way to sunny spring care free laps. Spring riding is actually my favourite part of the season; everyone and everything just seems more laid back. For me, this time of year is all about cruisey riding with friends and beers in the sun afterwards. The BBQs are out in full force, and google tans are in their prime. You may feel that your hard work for the season is done and you’re ready for soaking up the end of season atmosphere. However, if you’re still in the “snowboarding” mindset, there are still lots of things you can do to improve your riding in the spring conditions!
Piste Jibbing
Instead of blasting down slopes and getting the miles in, spring conditions allows you to really take your time as you’re not missing out on the good snow. You can “jib” (do little tricks) your way down the run. This is best enjoyed in a group so you can try things together and inspire one another. Piste jibbing can be anything from flat land tricks – trying different 180s (frontside, backside, cab, switch) to finding moguls and side hits (lip between the piste and off-piste) to try different jumps off. As the snow starts melting, the normal run becomes more interesting, revealing more obstacles so you could start creating your own features as you go down. I always make it into a game: take it is turns to copy one another and set different challenges to do. Each person will have different moves in their repertoire so it’s a great way to try new things. Once you’ve jibbed your way down a run a few times, you will get to know where all the hits are. Sometimes it can be really fun just to ride the same run all day long trying different tricks each time.
Piste jibbing can help improve your riding by… giving you the opportunity to experiment with new tricks in a fun and relaxed environment. The consequences are low as it doesn’t hurt much to fall in slush. Jibbing builds up the muscles in your body, aids your fitness (riding slush is hard work) and helps your snowboard creativity. It also gets you ready to try new tricks in the park.
Park Riding
The park won’t be as smooth or well-maintained late on in the season. The run-ins will be slower with the warm snow, and the features could be sticky. It is best to go once the ice has melted a little and softened up the landings, but not too late in the day when it will just be too slow and cut up to try things. If you go to the park with the right attitude (just fun laps, no pressure or expectations) then a slushy spring park can be a lot of fun. The main thing is that soft landings can give you the confidence to try new things. Here are some ideas to try…
Spring riding is good for boxes and rails. You could get all of your mates and hike one rail to practice it fully. Each call out tricks to try and just have fun, chilling in the sun between hits. It does get hot hiking so definitely wear layers you can take off and bring a drink. Then try something creative off the kickers: spin off the knuckles, hand drags or just some big old grabs. Spring is also a good time for trying backflips! Landings are soft so the risks are marginally lessened (still be careful though). Build yourself up to these first, try them on a trampoline, then on an airbag, then maybe a powder jump. When you are ready to take them to the park, a slushy smallish jump will be perfect for trying your first one.
Spring park riding can improve your riding by… keeping you in the park mindset for the next season and giving you the opportunity to try new tricks that you wouldn’t have had the confidence to try mid season with hard icy landings. Watch others to get new ideas of tricks to try and hopefully help get your motivation back.
Street Riding
This means setting up some obstacles in the town/ mountain resort. For example rails, wall rides, jumping over fences, sliding up trees, using the kids play park (watch out for kids!) literally ANYTHING can be used! Think creatively, the town is your playground. Often early/ mid season there can be too much snow to do stuff, lots of digging out has to be done to uncover features, and hard to keep them maintained in the snow, not to mention freezing cold. Spring time is a perfect to set up street snowboarding. The snow on the hill isn’t great anyway, and it’s a good excuse to session something with a group of mates and drink some beers (maybe after you have hit the death defying street feature?!). It’s good to find new places that no one has done before, be original. I think there is even something online that helps you find local street spots. Another alternative is to set up your own mini park in your own garden.
Street Riding can help improve your riding by… It really opens your mind and makes you think outside the box so you start to see everything differently. It can be very challenging, often you can spend all day setting something up and it just doesn’t work. It can be really disheartening. But when it works and you get the trick that you want, it’s the best feeling in the world. After riding street, the park will seem like nothing, so it certainly gives you more confidence. Street riding makes you stronger mentally and teaches you the value of team work. It also builds your technical knowledge of how to build snowboard features in order for them to work effectively e.g. size of jump, speed needed, angle of transitions/ landings.
Moguls
Slushy slopes can lead to HUGE moguls. Although this can seem a bit of an unusual way to improve your riding, riding moguls really can. Most snowboarders hate moguls. They are HARD work. But you could view them in a different light and use them to your advantage e.g. do jumps off them, focus on a proper mogul riding technique to improve your muscles, ride them switch or create your own little boarder cross course with banks in-between moguls.
Moguls can help improve your riding by… Well, try a whole day of slushy mogul riding and see how your legs feel! It can only be a good thing that you can barely walk the next day! Moguls are also good for improving your co-ordination and snowboard agility, both of which will help with your all-round mountain riding.
Split Boarding/ Touring
Another area of snowboarding perfect to get into late season is touring. You can access more areas of untouched powder, get away from the Easter holiday crowds and explore beautiful areas of a ski resort you may otherwise know very well (so be careful and go with a guide if you are unsure). Touring as a snowboarder uses special snowboards called split boards that split into 2 skis with skins on to enable you to walk up the mountain. Then they convert back into a snowboard at the top so you can ride back down again. In certain mountain resorts you can even do trips to mountain refuges and stay the night up on the mountain. You take a few days and tour around the backcountry, ending up in a different mountain hut each night. This can be a really awesome adventure to do with a group of friends. This is again good to do late season as the weather will be a bit nicer (you don’t want to get stuck in the eye of a mid season storm, lost in the back country somewhere). It’s very important to know your routes when you tour, or at least go with someone who does, and check the weather forecast before you leave.
Split boarding can improve your riding by… giving you yet another aspect of it. This makes you an even more “all-round” snowboarder. Again it builds up your fitness, muscles and stamina (a lot!). Its good for your mental state – there is something about being in the backcountry, away from everything and everyone, that really clears you mind. I promise you will have one of those “moments” where you realise what snowboarding is all about and how amazing it is, and how lucky you are to be there and experience it and how amazing the world and mother nature is!
Getting Fit
With the nicer weather, the spring opens up more options for getting fit, no excuses. During the winter you might have been limited to inside fitness, like the gym or dancing in the pub! But in the spring you can get outside, and it goes without saying that the sun can make many of us feel way more motivated. Running outside is an obvious choice. Due to the altitude in resorts, if you manage to get you running sorted whilst you’re in the mountains, when you’re back down at sea level, running will seem like a doodle and you will feel mega fit. That’s why many athletes train at altitude. Be aware, it can still be icy under foot so wear good shoes and keep your eyes pealed for icy patches. How about doing some yoga outside? Could do it on a balcony, find a patch of grass or even pitch up on the side/ top of the mountain. Nothing more refreshing and exhilarating than finding your chi outside surrounded by the mountains. Other options to keep fit outside in a resort could be horse riding, skate parks (finally uncovered from the layer of snow), volley ball, tennis, even just nice walks around the resort are a lot easier to do now the snow is melting.
Getting fit will improve your snowboarding by… all activities that work on your fitness levels and you health in general will help improve your riding by making you stronger and the body more able to take the stress that riding puts on it. The fitter you are, the better your snowboarding will be, fact. Not to mention being outside and breathing in the mountain air is so beneficial. Activities such as yoga/ volley ball/ tennis will also work on your agility and muscle co-ordination which again is essential for snowboarding.
Projects To Keep Stoke Levels Up
To keep your motivation levels up for the final push at the end of the season, why not sign up for a casual snowboard competition? They are normally a lot more mellow towards the end of the season, more focused on fun rather than hardcore riding, but still something to keep pushing you. I always find if I have a goal or something to aim towards I work harder. Have a look in your local area and see whats going on. Another thing to keep stoke levels up is embarking on a video project. This can literally be anything from making a full length production with fancy cameras, to videoing your mates on your iPhone. By the end of the season you will hopefully have ticked a few things off your trick to-do list and you are ready to capture them all on film. There’s something about getting tricks on film that makes you feel great, like you have proof forever that you did them. It’s also nice just to have a memory of that season and what you were doing and the people you were riding with. NB: always include outtakes and fails to increase the comedy value!
This can improve your riding simply giving you things to focus on so you don’t get too side-tracked by all of the end of season parties!
Late Season Courses
Every year there are a handful of snowboard courses run by different companies in April, and it is a great option to get out for that last shred with a group of likeminded people. Have a look around and see what’s on offer, a lot of the prices will be cheaper late season too. It’s a great way to improve your snowboarding working with an instructor and always a fun week meeting new people to ride with and trying new things. Ticket To Ride run their Girls Snowboard Camp which was amazing this year, just the right balance of good snow, great training, mountain yoga and sunshine beers. If you’ve missed your favourite one for this season, you can get in there quick for next season before it gets booked up.
Still to come this season is the epic Snowboard Spring Break in Kaunertal in Austria. Spend your last mountain trip of the season trying out the latest snowboard gear and shredding on the glacier alongside pros, industry officials and other likeminded riders.
Snowboarding on a Budget
If you are looking for a last minute trip out to the mountains, but funds are limited, waiting until the spring is a great idea. Flights are cheaper late season, accommodation is cheaper and you can often buy a discounted spring lift pass. Bars reduce their prices (keep an eye out for “Drink The Bar Dry” parties), retail shops have end of season sales on and seasonnaires may well be selling off old equipment. You can leave booking your holiday until the last minute to check the snow conditions as it won’t be busy. Spring is just a nice, quiet, care-free time to be in mountains. Like I said, my favourite time of year and actually my favourite place to be (IN THE WHOLE WORLD) in the spring.
