How To: Stay Stoked in the Offseason
Winter can be a sad season for us longboarders. For those of us living in places with pretty mild climates, it’s not too difficult to find somewhere to skate. However, it’s another story when your whole city is covered in snow for three months straight, like if you live at the North Pole or somewhere similar. So, we decided to ask our longboarding Facebook friends how they managed to stay stoked all winter long. Here are some of the awesome suggestions we received:
1. Get a snowboard and hit the (snowy) slopes.
2. Find some covered parking garages to skate. Sometimes you get lucky and find an underground heated parking garage. Score!
3. “Take all your sh*t off your board, lay it down on your carpet, and shred the gnar. Eh?” - Kelvin (We agree, challenge your friends to a carpetboard throwdown)
4. “Skate as much as possible until the first snow, then wait until the roads somewhat clear up and dry, then shred as hard as possible, aaannnddgo like that until spring.” -Nate
5. “Use really grippy wheels, they actually slide butter smooth in the snow.” -Grant
6. Hit up an indoor park or bowl. Become a park riding master!
7. “If you love bombing hills and want your twitchy balancing muscles stay fit during the “off” season, speed tuck in your house with really loose trucks to keep your muscles busy.” - Gerald
8. Buy a balance board or make your own. They’re great for improving your balance, strengthening your muscles and practicing new tricks.
9. Cop a water-proof longboard. Moonshine Longboards make water/weather-proof boards to satisfy all your shredding needs.
10. Put together an “all-weather” setup for riding in inclement weather. Invest in some rain wheels if you live somewhere that gets a lot of rain. Check out this post for tips on weather-proofing your longboarding setup. Watch “Ethan Gets Vicious” to get inspired for your next rainy day session: