Backcountry.com Newsletter Articles

Pond Skimming at The Canyons Resort, Park City, Utah

Soggy s’mores for everyone.

Can crustaceans really get drunk? Apparently they can.

C’mon E-baby, I’m not back on the tour yet ... just one last hoorah!

Hey boys, can we trade you some candy bars for your girlfriend? ... We’re having a party later.

And now hear this...

Summer Lovin’

Your shred-stick deserves to be treated like a passionate lover, not a one-night stand. You can’t just ride it hard and toss it aside for months—you need to cuddle it every once in a while, especially after a long winter full of kinky pleasures. Use our handy five-step guide to maintain a healthy relationship with your board during the off-season.

Step 1: Ride It Long & Hard

It goes without saying that you should milk every possible day out of your season—it’s important to prime your snowboard for summer storage, but you don’t want to jump the gun. For those lucky enough to live near places with lots of late-season snow, there’s plenty of fun to be had at resorts after closing day. Picnic-table jibs, mini-kickers into slush, the list goes on—and there’s no ski patrol to harass you. Don’t miss out by calling it too early.

Smooth out major edge burrs with a file and/or gummy stone.

Step 2: Patch Things Up

When the snow is gone for good, it’s time to make peace with your board. You’ve put some dings in the base and edges, and you haven’t forgotten about that unexplained cat-track scorpion, either. Now is a perfect time to clear the air. Say something like: “Baby, we’ve done some hurtful things to one another, but we can still be happy together.” Clean up any major edge burrs and fill in significant gouges with a P-tex candle. You don’t need a race tune, especially if you’re a park rat—just take care of the biggies. (We’ve covered this previously in greater detail, get the scoop here)

Thoroughly cover your base and edges with a protective layer of wax.

Step 3: Wax On

After smoothing things over (you sweet-talker, you), it’s business time. Grab your base cleaner and give your standup-sled a sensual rubdown for the ages. Once the cleaner dries, drip and iron hot wax into an even layer completely covering your base and edges. Remove your bindings first, or else you’ll create dimples under the inserts during hot-ironing. Be thorough and skip the scraping—you need to build a barrier against drying and corrosion during the warm months.

Step 4: Stash It

We’re into a little slap-and-tickle every once in a while, but locking a significant other in the attic for months on end is a bit hardcore. Same thing goes for your snowboard—store it somewhere comfy during the off-season. Garages, storage units, and other hot, humid places won’t do your deck any favors, even with a good summer wax. We’re not saying you should keep your board next to your bed and spoon with it every evening…but it’s not a bad idea.

Love your snowboard.

Step 5: Coping With Loss

Your main squeeze is safe for the summer, but life just isn’t the same without shredding. To fill the void, we recommend lots of tacos, sunny skatepark sessions, and porn. Snow porn, that is. If you get really desperate, you can always suit up, strap in, and practice carpet-butters while watching snowboard flicks. Although you’ll probably get some strange looks when your roommates walk in and catch you pleasuring yourself.

Hey guess what? Someone’s hungry!

Check out the B-Footage from Transworld’s In Color

Stay tuned throughout the summer for more shenanigans, opinionated rants, product shout outs, and possibly even some useful information.