View Full Version : Snowboard carrying techniques/tips/tricks?
prule84
05-05-2009, 02:09 AM
Alright so here's a quick run down. A buddy of mine and I went up to Tuck's around late May last year for our first experience ever. It was everything we'd hoped for but our lack of preparation and inexperience was certainly highlighted on the hike up and down. I'm a former skier turned snowboarder and couldn't stop thinking of how much easier the hike would have been with skis.
The dilemma that I have this year is that we both need a new way of getting our boards up the mountain. Last year all i did was carry it in my board bag and switch the shoulders and hands I'd carry it with. This was as painful and awkward as it sounds because there was no method to my madness. We hadn't thought about how terrible it would be to not have a good plan for carrying our boards, and both ended up kicking ourselves for not thinking it through as thoroughly as we should have.
Anyway, before I bore you guys too much, does anyone have any particularly good set-ups or some equipment that we could look into? Things that you've either personally used or seen used for the hike? We're desperate for something that will cause as little strain and discomfort as possible and make everything easier.
Thanks in advance guys,
John
Get a pack... Strap it to your back... Use bungies to secure the board up top..
Either hike with soft boots or put them in the bindings... With the board on your back...
Practice the set up the night before...
icedtea
05-05-2009, 07:19 AM
Most day / weekend packs you can find with a snowboard carry.
DMC - I am heading up, gonna be camping at HoJos so bringing my hiking pack into the hike at hojos...prob throw my smaller pack in there with the snowboard carry for hiking up the ravine, so I don't need to use the huge pack for that.
You think thats the best idea? Or just use the huge pack? I am going to do the hike from HOJOS to the top of he ravine in snowboard boots.
icedtea, you already answered your own query but here is some support...from a skier no less!
A daypack with carry straps for your stick is worth it's weight. Bring one!
Leave the monster for the trip to the Shelter and the trip back to the car.
prule84...you can spend a fortune (or less than a fortune) on the perfect pack, or you could get a few 48" lash straps and secure your board to your existing pack
icedtea
05-05-2009, 08:05 AM
You already answered your own query but here is some support...from a skier no less!
A daypack with carry straps for your stick is worth it's weight. Bring one!
Leave the monster for the trip to the Shelter and the trip back to the car.
irie! thanks.
petebanta
05-05-2009, 09:56 AM
Get a split board. I am selling one now... ;)
http://timefortuckerman.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11595
No, but seriously, they are great for long hikes in. Skin up like everyone else!
Saves weight, too, as you don't have to carry anything! :)
The only downside to them is edging performance in hard pack. But who wants to go BC when it is hardpack, any way? :confused:
yuckster
05-05-2009, 10:23 AM
But who wants to go BC when it is hardpack, any way? :confused:
jumpturn and jshefftz ;)
petebanta
05-05-2009, 10:28 AM
jumpturn and jshefftz ;)
From what I have seen, jshefftz is not human, but a BC robot who never runs out of fuel, so he is probably going when it is dirt & rocks! :p
Rider.Steve
05-05-2009, 06:38 PM
irie! thanks.
Look at the Dakine packs, they have nice snowboard carries:
- Heli Pro (smallish day pack)
- Poacher (largish day pack)
- Guide (large day pack, small overnight pack)
Osprey also makes nice ones. Use the pack to carry the board up the headwall too, keep those hands free.
yuckster
05-05-2009, 10:40 PM
Use the pack to carry the board up the headwall too, keep those hands free.
Needed to be said again. For the love of god, don't missile your board at everyone else.
surf88
05-06-2009, 09:19 AM
I've perfected this over the years. I have a small Burton AK that carries the board, shovel, and probe* very nicely on dayhikes, but isnt quite big enough for an overnighter, so I use my frameless pack and some compression straps, and a bungee to tie my board to the frameless pack up to hermit Lake. However I still take the small AK pack along for the trip, and use it from hojos to the bowl. It makes the climb so much more comfortable and safe, and I can still carry my avi gear as needed with out having the 40lb+ framelesspack throwing off my balance on the way down.
*Edit:I only mentioned shovel and probe cause thats all that goes in the pack. The beacon goes under a layer of clothes so that, god forbid, it wont get ripped off in the tubulence.
icedtea
05-06-2009, 09:43 AM
Needed to be said again. For the love of god, don't missile your board at everyone else.
ha, i may not have done tux, but i am not a gaper. have done some bc before!
i will not be 'missiling' any boards down the mountain. :D
... have done some bc before! ..So it seemed. Still, mentioning the obvious is part of our full service here at T4T.
I use a StashBC from BCA, I think they have a pack for boarders too.
Surf88 and Rider.Steve have really nice system packs for their boards, as they mentioned. Have a look at the clearance pages at EMS and REI and don't forget SierraTradingPost Dot Com.
Having the dedicated shovel pocket, probe sleeve and so on is a big plus for a pack's flexibility. Maybe a beacon is in your future, but having the probe or the shovel is a good start. At least, if you aren't the buried one, you will ready to probe or dig when someone else finds the place to start with their beacon.
Setting up for BC with the beacon (etc) and the training is a good idea...but you are working on a pack at this point...
Good Luck and Happy trails.
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