Get Shred Ready For Indoor Slopes
Over the last decade the number of Indoor slopes in the UK has exploded; from the humble beginnings of Tamworth, the first indoor real snow slope in the UK, to six centres across Britain. For most people, especially those in England, travelling to get some real snow action involves only a maximum of a couple of hours' drive!
The slopes may not be massive in length but they are a great resource for learning, developing racing and freestyle talent and generally having fun on.
The indoor hills vary in price throughout the year and you normally only head on for a couple of hours. One of the best ways to make the most of your limited time on the snow is to make sure your gear is correctly set up for indoor conditions.
Slope Temperature
The snow on indoor slopes is generally made up of hard ice crystal that are very abrasive on the bottom of your board. A low temperature wax will stand up to this beating better and get the best performance out of your snowboard.
Freestyle Park Sessions
Every indoor slope has a freestyle night where they transform the slope into a series of jumps, rails and obstacles for you to devour. If you go to these nights or want to start going it is useful to de-tune your edges in order to avoid the dreaded edge catch. This is where your edge digs into the rail or box you are travelling along and stops instantly, flipping you onto the ground!
How to detune your edges
1.
Gently rub a chrome file at 45 degrees around the tip and tail of the board (this part of the snowboard edge is not used) up to the contact points (these are highlighted in green in the diagram) then follow this with a pass of a gummy stone to remove any burrs formed by the rough chrome file.
2. Very gently pass the chrome file over your edges between your bindings, just ever so slightly removing that sharp edge - then follow with a gummy stone
The more time you spend at freestyle nights and in park the more you can round your edges but be aware that round edges do not turn well on pistes. It is also also worth noting that once an edge has been rounded to a certain point you will struggle to make it sharp again.
Freestyle features
It is sometimes hard to get enough speed to jump onto rails, reach the landings of jumps and turn effectively on a freestyle night. A quick pass of some Zardoz over your base before you start a session will sort this out.
If you want any more advice, have questions about snowboarding indoors, or want our qualified snowboard technicians to carry out any work for you then pop in one of the stores and have a chat with our friendly staff.
