Sadly the snowboarding season has to come to an end sometime (unless you are willing to cross hemispheres in the summer). Once it does there is just one more thing to do – store your gear.
This post will discuss how to store a snowboard over summer or any time you aren’t using it for a prolonged period of time.
The last time you came off the mountain chances are your board is covered in all sorts of dirt and grit and was maybe even still wet with snow and just shoved into your snowboard bag or directly to where you plan on storing it.
There are some things you can do to make sure your snowboard doesn’t suffer over the off season and so that it’s ready to go for next season.
Clean it Up, Dry It Off
The first thing you should do is give your board a good clean. Get any mud, salt, grime and whatever else has accumulated off your snowboard.
Using water and a cloth should be enough to get it clean. Try to avoid using any detergents or the likes as this could affect the finish or the binding inserts.
I like to remove the bindings before I clean and just give everything a good wipe down with a damp cloth.
Dry it Off
Once you’ve finished cleaning your board give it a good dry with a towel or paper towels. Make sure it’s fully dry before you store it.
Sharpen Those Edges
The next thing is to sharpen your edges or have them sharpened – and remove any burrs. This will reduce the likelihood of your edges rusting over the off season.
Give Your Board a Generous Waxing
Give your board a generous wax. Don’t scrape any wax off – just leave a nice thick layer of wax over the board. This will help to keep the base from drying out.
Use a warm weather or all temperature wax if you can. If you get your board waxed in the shop let them know that you want a wax for protecting the board over the summer so they know it won’t be used until next season.
Also cover your edges with the wax too – this can further help to stop them from rusting.
>>More on how to wax your snowboard
Storing Place
Try to store your snowboard in a cool, dark place in your house if you can. A bedroom wardrobe works well.
Preferably somewhere that’s not going to have super high or super low humidity. High humidity can cause rust and delamination. Low humidity can dry your board out.
If you have to store it somewhere like the garage or the basement then make sure to keep it in a plastic zip lock board bag or wrap it in plastic wrap. You can do this anyway if you want, even if you are keeping it in a temperature, humidity controlled area of your house – just to be extra careful.
Storing Position
Store your snowboard standing up on its tail.
Make sure there isn’t pressure on the camber or rocker sections of the board. Having the snowboard stored lying down with pressure on the camber or rocker sections of the board can flatten those sections out – it won’t flatten them out completely obviously but it can affect them.
Make sure that nothing is leaning against it.
Also if you want to be really pedantic about it, you could place something soft like a rug cut off under the tail so that there is less pressure on the board. This might not make any difference over one season but over a few seasons may prolong the life of the board.
Next Season
When the new season rolls around you’ll need to scrape the excess wax off and the wax on the edges but then you should be ready to hit the slopes (once you’ve screwed your bindings back in).
You may want to give it a fresh wax just to make sure that the base is in its best possible state but otherwise you shouldn’t have to do anything to the board if you have taken these steps.
Don’t forget your Boots and Bindings
Bindings
If you haven’t taken your bindings off your board – which I recommend you do, then strap them up on the board. This is so that the straps aren’t bending over backwards (try to do this throughout the season too when your board isn’t in use).
If you have taken your bindings off make sure the screws are in a safe place. Putting them in a ziplock bag and taping them to your bindings is a good idea or just make sure they are secure in the binding’s disc. If you have put your board in a plastic board bag or wrapped it in plastic wrap you could tape the ziplock bag (with the screws in it) onto the board.
Boots
On your last day make sure to remove the liners from the boots and make sure that both the boots and liners are thoroughly dry before putting them back together.
Put the liners back in the boots once they are completely dry and do the boots up so they hold their shape. You don’t need to do them up as if you were riding them but don’t leave them loose and open.
If you are worried about moisture in the place you’re storing your boots you could place silica packs in them. Only do this if you think you are storing them in a high humidity place. If you use too many or if the boots are already in a low humidity area then they could dry out too much.
The best bet is to store them in a bedroom or other room in the house where the temperature and humidity should be controlled. Avoid keeping them in your garage or basement.
Thanks for reading
Now that your board is all ready for its summer hibernation you can get out there, enjoy the sun, stay fit mountain biking, hiking, wake-boarding or however you like to spend your summer.
When the snow starts falling again you’ll be ready to hit the slopes for another season with a well taken care of snowboard.
Photo Credits
Photo by Lance Fisher [CC BY 2.0], via Flikr
Hi! Thanks for the information.
I’ve lost my plastic warp bag and I couldn’t find in web a new one, maybe you can help me how to find and buy it ?
Hi Ron
Thanks for your message. I’ve never seen any of those plastic bags available to buy separately, they’ve only ever come with snowboards. You could look into something like this maybe?
Does it make sense to lay all my gear onto the ground in a room after a season and enable the radiator in the room to remove any wet areas?
Or would that destory the boards?
If it would be an option, maybe just for a short time (like 1-2 days?)
Hi Hendrik
I haven’t tried it. I usually leave my boards out in a warm room after every day riding to dry it out and they tend to sit out in the open in a room where there’s heat on and I haven’t had any issues. Can’t say I’ve left them for a full 2 days or anything with the heater on the whole time or anything, but I think (not a professional opinion though) that it would probably be fine, so long as it’s not super hot in there. And I would do a summer wax afterward for sure.
Hey Nate big fan, so no to snowboard wall mounts for storage?
Hi Albert
Thanks for your message.
I wouldn’t say it’s a big no no or anything. But for the longer life of your snowboard, then anything that has your snowboard lying flat on it’s base, there will be some downward pressure on the camber profile. That’s getting pretty pedantic though. But yeah, over a long period of time being stored like that it could affect the ride down the line. I think it also depends on how long you keep a snowboard for. If you’re someone that upgrades to newer snowboards every few years, then it’s less of a concern. But if you’re keeping the same snowboard for a long period of time, then it makes more of a difference.
Also depends on the room it’s being stored in. If it’s temperature and humidity controlled (either naturally or otherwise), then it’s less of an issue (depending on how you feel about keeping your snowboard stored lying flat).
Hi Nate,
After reading your replies & comments on my posts, i have got myself a Slash Brainstorm. It was really a great choice, I’m loving it so much now!
Right now i have some question on storage. Can i zip up my snowboard inside snowboard bag and storage upright? Will it affect the board?
Thanks. Your reply is much appreciated.
Hi K.S
Yeah you can store it in your snowboard bag and have it upright. Storing it standing on the tail is better than having it lying with the base flat on the ground. If you’re going to be lying it down, then having it resting on the edge is better. But yeah, standing up is fine – just make sure there’s nothing leaning against it. If you want you can also have it on a soft surface – though your snowboard bag will provide somewhat of a soft surface but if you wanted you could also put a rug or something under it.
Also, I’d definitely recommend doing an edge sharpen, a storage wax and make sure it’s clean and dry before putting it away for an extended length of time.
Glad you’re loving the Brainstorm!
Howzit! Where did you get those plastic zippered snowboard bags in the picture above?
Hey Mark
Those were boards I was demoing. The rep who I was borrowing them from for testing had them all in those bags. So I’m not sure where to get them from. I’m guessing he got them from Capita – but not sure.