considering making a youtube vid for the stuff i have learned in the past 2 years snowskating. will outline the points here:
1. "Pro Decks" vs "Team Decks": from Ambition have different foam grip on the top. The Pro boards have some concave to them, while the team boards are completely flat. It is possible to buy the concave after the fact and just paste it onto your Flat deck. Harfang snowskates used to sell it on their website but it seems they don't offer it anymore / sold out. all in all, i dont think the foam concave makes a HUGE difference.i can do flip tricks on both decks fine.
2. Grips: The companies do not actually manufacture the grips themselves, they are done through third party.
https://www.gripallsports.com/store this is where I bought some Scrap Packs so I could try all different kinds of grips. I would say most people find the Tundra Grip which Ambition used to sell in a complete kit is way too aggressive. There are smaller spikes you can get that are much less aggressive called Xtreme grip. I have attached an image to help you lay out the grip (this is from Jensen Fiskerr, one of the first pro's on Ambition)
Ambition has released a new "Prism Grip" that seems to be superior, but it is fairly expensive. I definintely am going to try this when i get my next board maybe next year or the year after.
3. Footwear: First priorty for me would be getting a pair of boots that go up your shin and of course snow pants. You are going to be shovelling a lot. I have noticed a lot of brands even SOREL or North Face the boots are not particularly warm, they are really just designed to keep your feet DRY. so I bought really nice waterproof socks that keep my feet very warm. You dont need shoes if you are just bombing hills, i can do flip tricks in boots even. I got these:
https://www.amazon.ca/Waterproof-Breathable-Certified-RANDY-SUN/dp/B09M9LLXVJ they work great.
if you are skating a spot you want to pop off of, you need to shovel it really well, and thne you are going to want to switch to your shoes. You don't really need VANS MTE shoes, but I will say they sure do help. Sometimes the area is slippery / icy, and you just cant get any speed running up to the board. you are falling before you even get onto the board. I think you get a lot more board feel using normal skate shoes though. I find chunkier shoes like es Accels actually felt really good for flip tricks. but yeah once the spot is really cleared out + prepared you want to switch to shoes.
snowskate grips do not mess up your shoes at all so it can be worth it to pay some extra $ to get a nice pair that will keep you warm. i am a huge pussy for the cold though.
4. Spot preparation: You need to shovel the snow down to the concrete or wood that you are planning to pop off of, and then just add a tiny bit of snow on at the end. you might get away with some very hard packed down snow sending off it for a few tries, but after awhile, it will just start to rut and you will be fighting the board just to keep it straight while just trying to set up for a trick. you also want to shovel yourself room to run because it is actually a lot more tiring running in deep snow, and its probably icy underneath too which is no good.
if you look at most pro clips, they usually hit rails right after a fresh snow, or else they spend a ton of time preparring it so they can get a huge snap off the ground.
5. trick progression: it is a lot harder to skate on just flat ground and do flip tricks and have the same kind of fun you would on a skateboard. i would say the ideal kind of spot for flip tricks is a 2 stair or higher and then into a bank or hill so you have good speed on the ride away. a lot of time i will just go a bit slower and skate a 6 stair. even though i wont clear the entire stair set, i will for sure clear sometthing. and theres no wheels to catch on the stairs, so it provides a nice ride out with speed.
shove + 360 shove are much easier on snowskate because no trucks / wheels to force the board to flip. i would say heelflips seem especially harder but it might just be the way i do them. its pretty hard for me to do it on flat but i can do them off of stuff. for reference, i can do double heelflips on skateboard pretty easily.
it is REALLY hard to ollie over stuff like you would ollie decks, BUT, if its an obstacle, its actually kinda easier because you can just pop your tail as hard as you can, ready yourself lol then bash your board into it and absorb your way onto the obstacle. no ttrucks or wheels to worry about.
rails are really fun and dont seem to mess your board up much - especially round rails. because your board has grooves to lock in on, you wont really damage the integrity of the board by grinding on those parts because they never make contact with the ground. even boardslides arent too bad on flat bars. Round will make less surface contact though and do less damage so probably more ideal for a backyard setup. where you will do the most damage is grinding really dry hubbas, rocks, riding down dry stairs, sidewalks, that type of shit.
typically the boards start to lose speed after awhile and that is when people will switch them out, its not so much that they lose pop or lose shape like skateboards.
Topic: Snowskating (Read 2592 times)