Picking Out “Your” Snowboard

Picking out “your” snowboard. It seems like a funny phrase, doesn’t it? After all, if it was already “your” snowboard, you wouldn’t ahve to go out and buy one. But instead of thinking about the snowboards to choose, let’s try thinking about this from another perspective: the right snowboard for you is available for purchase right now; you’ve just go to go and find it – “your” snowboard.

For the avid snowboarder, the snowboard isn’t just a way to slip down snow over and over. Instead, it’s a part of their identity, a branch of self-expression that means something personal to them. Snowboarders carry their equipment with them, bring it home, and travel with it in the car – a snowboard is something they’re going to have to look at a lot. And if they don’t have the right snowboard for them, it simply won’t be as fun.

Of course, picking out “your” snowboard isn’t only about style and personal identity, it’s about function. What kind of snowboarder are you, and what kind of board suits your style the best? These are questions only you can answer, of course, but there are some ways to find out.

Try this experiment. If you’re a serious snowboarder but you’re not happy with your snowboard, go ahead and give ten minutes to thinking about it. Sit in a nice quiet area with a pencil and a piece of paper. First, lay them down on a desk and relax. Close your eyes. Imagine yourself enjoying a nice skateboarding experience – feel the snow swish under your feet, the resistance of the hill when you turn to the side, and the cool air whizzing by your cheeks. Are you there? Good. Now imagine yourself as the best snowboarder you can be. Then look at your snowboard. What is it like?

Open your eyes now, and start writing down your ideas. Repeat the process if nothing “flows” out, but within a short amount of time, you’ll probably start getting a wave of ideas as to how your snowboard should feel, perform, and look.

Then, once you’ve got the details down, you know what you’re looking for. Finding it, then, will be the simpler process. Go online or to local pro shops to see what’s out there, and if something suddenly strikes you as being almost exactly what you wrote down, you’ll know you found “your skateboard.”

What variables should you consider? Consider comfort, performance, and style. Those are biggest three variables to a snowboard that help make it “you,” and no two snowboards – or snowboarders are alike. So take some time for yourself and invest something other than money in a quality snowboard.

Originally posted 2008-11-25 04:55:10.

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