After working hard all summer to successfully destroy your beach body with beers and late night burritos, it’s time to get back into fitness mode in preparation of hot n’ fast park laps and endless powder runs! While beer and burritos are definitely still a large part of the shred season, it’s always good to get physically and mentally prepared for long days on the hill and cold nights in the streets, and here’s our suggestions on how to do that:
1. Make sure you have all your gear
I decided to start out strong since this is arguably the only step you NEED to do before shred season, but all 9 are important! Nothing is worse than getting out on that first day of fresh, probably man-made snow (thanks global warming) and realizing your boots don’t fit, or your goggles look like a cat’s scratching post, or you’re missing a whole binding! Do yourself a favor and go through our checklist early and often so you know everything is in order for day 1 of 100:
2. Tune/wax your board
Once you have all your gear present and accounted for, make sure that sh!t will ride! Getting off your first chairlift of the season and immediately not being able to move is almost worse than forgetting your gear. Stop by the shop for a professional wax/tune or grab all the supplies to do it yourself, but either will definitely be worth it!
3. Practice waking up early
This is one I have personally been struggling with FOREVER. Waking up early sucks, especially when your room feels the same temp as outside, but it is ridiculously worth it when the deepest of powder days roll to town. If you’re on that 9-5 grind, you’ll probably be pretty well-acclimated to the early morning ways, but for those of us who spent our summer waking up at around noon to come hang out in a skate shop all day, switching the alarm to 6am is ROUGH. My humble suggestion would be to start bumping the alarm back right about now. I have been waking up at 9am for the past couple weeks, soon I’ll bump it to 8:30am, then 8am, and so on so that when winter hits hard, I’ll be up and at ’em at 6am like a true powder hound!
4. Go Skateboarding
One thing I’ve been doing to help with the early wake-up call is making plans to skate before work. Exercise not only helps you wake up in the morning, but it is crazy how much skating will help your balance, stamina, and confidence when the time comes to strap yourself in. If you’re an ocean dweller, surfing will definitely get the job done as well, plus you probably already have a rockin’ beach bod.
5. Yoga
Yoga is incredible for snowboarding and life in general, plus it’s another way to help yourself wake up earlier. With all the crazy grabs, tweaks, and presses in the pro-level trick bags these days, it does not hurt to be limber. Not only will your new found flexibility let you twock grabs like you’re riding in the 80’s, but even falling hurts less and the recovery time from a good slam is usually much shorter. Do you body and mind a favor and bust out the yoga mat for at least 30 minutes each morning. Namaste.
6. Get snow tires/winter-proof your car
Skip the bar scene the next couple weekends and save up to fix your trusty old rig. Trust me, it’ll be worth it. Grab some new wipers for when it’s puking, make sure your heat is going to work on those extra frigid days, and be sure you have the best tires you can afford for when the canyon alerts are calling for a foot plus.
7. Stock up on Fireball
For those fortunate enough to be over 21 years old, nothing keeps you warm from the peak to the parking lot quite like a pocket flask of Fireball among friends. And if you’re like me and are actually pretty sick of Fireball, and healthy combo of whiskey and beer will do the trick. And while you’re at it, treat yourself to some of Utah’s excellent local breweries and distilleries like Epic, Squatters, Red Rock, or High West to name a few!
8. Reconnect with your riding buddies
You know who I’m talking about. The homies you always see and high-five on the slopes, but when winter winds down, you switch into summer party mode a lose touch with your hand-slapping, snow-slashing companions. Which means now’s the time to hit them up! Grab a beer with a friend you haven’t seen in a while and discuss your upcoming hopes and dreams for the shred future like grade school girls at a slumber party. You’ll be stoked you did next time you find yourself riding solo on a sunny park day and “Chuck from Brighton” shows up on your caller ID.
9. Watch tons of snowboard videos (all the newest and all your favorites)
This is one of the most important steps in my humble opinion. With the internet growing ever more vast like an invisible parasite of science fiction proportions, it’s easy to ignore the latest and greatest snowboard videos that you have to pay for since there’s an overwhelming amount of free content coming out constantly. A lot of up-and-coming riders these days are missing out on the magic of owning a physical copy of an amazing piece of shred cinema that you can watch over and over and over till it’s scratched and loved as hell. Set aside some more would-be party money, take the time to watch the trailers, and buy some movies that look sick to you. You’ll be infinitely more stoked to ride than just by simply watching a 3 minute online part and then forgetting it existed 30 seconds later.
Hopefully this list puts some thoughts in your brain and some stoke in your heart. Feel free to reach out to us with any questions at either service@woo.newdevsite.dev, 801-467-8000, or on our social media channels, and definitely feel free to comment below if you think I missed some steps! Finally, for some extra tips, be sure to check out episode 3 of Transworld Snowboarding’s series Eddie’s Wall below. Cheers!
