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
