Since the season for the northern hemisphere is winding down… who am I kidding? It’s straight up summer time on the east coast! Well, VNTRbirds started to finally give in to the summer heat and packing away our shred sticks and gear. That’s when it hit me! Most people just toss their beloved snowboards in the garage or basement without a second thought until next season. This is a perfect way for you to really damage your board. So for VNTRbirds’ first ‘how to’ article I’m going to instruct you on the proper way to store your snowboard. So go on and dig it back out of the clutter of Christmas decorations from the attic or wherever you’ve stashed the good stuff, you have some work to do!
Need more motivation to drag it out of the dust? Improper storage of your snowboard can lead to its untimely death! Seriously, do you want that on your conscious? Ignoring it will lead to a completely dried out base, rusty edges and even delaminating from all of the humidity and moisture stored up. As if that’s not enough, it can potentially have loss of camber. You know, the bend in the board that gives you an awesome pop while cruising along the white stuff. So listen up and take these steps to save your snowboard’s life!
1. Give it a real good tuning
Show that board some loving! It just allowed you to rip around all winter with hardly any complaints. And if you aren’t tossing it in the trash, making it a shelf or letting your homies burn it in their bonfire, then it deserves a thank you. Get in there and give it a thick coat of wax. This will seal up the base so it’ll be protected from what the summer has in store. And don’t forget those edges. Sharpen those puppies up to help keep the already built up rust at bay.
2. Remove the bindings
This should be done before you start your waxing anyway. Throw the screws in a plastic baggie for safe keeping.
3. Wrap it up!
If you still have the plastic board bag that your shred stick came in, pop it in and zip it up. Then you can tape your binding screws right to it so they won’t get lost. Didn’t buy your snowboard new? Or just threw away the bag thinking it was unnecessary? Well, snag some of your mom’s plastic wrap from the kitchen. This will keep out the humidity.
Then that’s it! I usually store my snowboards in my bedroom closet because it has a carpeted floor that will cushion the bottom of my board from the prolonged pressure it has (if that’s not an option get something cushiony to place it on while it chills in the garage). Make sure that bad boy is always sitting up as well for the camber support. Now when the winter months role in, your board will be all set and ready to go!