The old saying goes, “You get what you give”, and when it comes to snowboarding, you must give your board proper treatment in order to get its full potential. There is no way to avoid it; frequent use of your snowboard will result in damages to its base and edges. On average, the damage done to the base of a snowboard ranges anywhere from small scratches to large gashes.
Maintaining your snowboard can be compared to the way you maintain your car. After a few thousand miles, you get an oil change, tire rotation, and an overall check-up on the car to make sure everything is working properly. All this is done depending on the way you drive your car, and the same goes for snowboarding. It’s wise to check your snowboard for scratches after every use, which can be done by running your hand down the board to feel for any gashes.
Similar to a car, you can take your board to a mechanic or you can fix the damages yourself, if you have enough expertise. I prefer to take my board to a mechanic for certain types of maintenance because I trust their skills over mine. The type of damage and maintenance that is best left to a mechanic is large gashes in the board and the grinding of your edges. It’s best to have the edges of your board grinded after about one hundred uses; this has a huge impact on the performance of your snowboard. Grinding the edges is when you, or a mechanic, sharpen the metal around the base of your board which increases the speed and overall performance of the board.
You can usually handle smaller scrapes with wax that you can purchase from a snowboard shop. Waxing your snowboard is something you should do before every use because it keeps debris from collecting on your board and it also reduces the friction between the board and the snow. As well as waxing your board, you should tighten the screws in your bindings because they tend to loosen up easily. Tight bindings are important for safe riding.
All of this standard maintenance has a dramatic effect on the performance of your board. After all, a snowboard is an expensive purchase and tedious maintenance is the best way to protect your investment.
Maintaining your snowboard can be compared to the way you maintain your car. After a few thousand miles, you get an oil change, tire rotation, and an overall check-up on the car to make sure everything is working properly. All this is done depending on the way you drive your car, and the same goes for snowboarding. It’s wise to check your snowboard for scratches after every use, which can be done by running your hand down the board to feel for any gashes.
Similar to a car, you can take your board to a mechanic or you can fix the damages yourself, if you have enough expertise. I prefer to take my board to a mechanic for certain types of maintenance because I trust their skills over mine. The type of damage and maintenance that is best left to a mechanic is large gashes in the board and the grinding of your edges. It’s best to have the edges of your board grinded after about one hundred uses; this has a huge impact on the performance of your snowboard. Grinding the edges is when you, or a mechanic, sharpen the metal around the base of your board which increases the speed and overall performance of the board.
You can usually handle smaller scrapes with wax that you can purchase from a snowboard shop. Waxing your snowboard is something you should do before every use because it keeps debris from collecting on your board and it also reduces the friction between the board and the snow. As well as waxing your board, you should tighten the screws in your bindings because they tend to loosen up easily. Tight bindings are important for safe riding.
All of this standard maintenance has a dramatic effect on the performance of your board. After all, a snowboard is an expensive purchase and tedious maintenance is the best way to protect your investment.
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