Monday, December 31

Handrail Mission

By Preston Strout
EXPN.com

The winter is once again upon us and it is time to snowboard. Winter storms are dropping snow all over the country, creating endless opportunities for you and your snowboard to have some fun together. So it's time to drive up to the mountains, right? Wrong. Often times we forget that you can snowboard anywhere that it snows, not just down a mountain. So before you wake up at the crack of dawn and drive two hours in traffic to resort-land, try looking around your town for stuff to ride.

With lift ticket prices costing about as much as a KIA, unless you're hell bent on riding powder, after a storm I say head to the rails not the hills. Going out with your buddies and doing handrails is a blast. Sure it can be dangerous, and I'm guessing it's probably illegal, but I tell you, some of the most fun days I have ever had snowboarding have been sliding rails with my friends.

Without a drop-in ramp you're a sitting duck. Here Zach Leach straps in for the Grenade Gloves video to show the world that he ain't no duck.

OK, so you've decided to skip the mountain in exchange for an urban snowboarding adventure. Just remember to let your skill level dictate the type of rails you attempt. For instance, if you've never slid a rail before, start out with something small like a coat hanger and work your way up. If you think guys like JP Walker learned how to jib by trying gnarly kinked rails right off the bat, you're nuts. They took it slow and built a strong foundation on little rails first.

The biggest problem with most rails is getting speed. There aren't too many rails with downhill runways leading up to them. Unless you ride one of those wacky motor boards, you'll be about as helpless as a two-legged turtle with a backpack on. Lets face the facts, when you're strapped into your snowboard on flat ground you're pretty much useless. Skateboarders can push, bikers can pedal, freestyle walkers can walk, but we're simply out of luck. Don't give up hope just yet, a handful of solutions exist. You can have a friend (preferably two) give you a running slingshot. The problem with this technique however is that you can be a bit off balance when your friends fling you at the rail. Not a good thing. Another technique is the automobile tow in. This works sometimes, but is generally a giant pain in the ass. When it comes down to it, nothing beats our good friend gravity and a little hill. With some tricky shovel work, a bunch of snow and a sore back you can make a drop-in hill. These work great. The only problem is that there is sometimes a lack of snow to build a big enough drop in, and this process can be kind of time consuming. Often you don't have much time sliding a rail before some gown-up who doesn't remember what it is like to have a good time comes and kicks you out. It stinks when you get kicked out before you even get a chance to start sliding the rail. So what do you do? Build a drop-in ramp ahead of time. A good prefabricated drop-in ramp that you can bring on rail missions will prove to be invaluable.

Everything is a tool if you know how to work it. Apparently Preston is a bit of a tool also.

OK, here is where things get tricky. A lot of snowboarders are too concerned with being a cool guy and will try to tell you that building a drop-in ramp is lame and that you shouldn't do a rail if you can't just ride up to it. Those same guys will tell you that it's lame to build a jump to get onto a rail. Don't worry though. They're just trying too hard to be skateboarders. Doing rails is about having fun on your snowboard, not about looking cool in a photo. So build a drop in, build a jump. Hell, build the rail too if you want. Snowboarding was invented so people could have fun, so do whatever makes you the happiest. Just remember to round your edges so you don't hook up on any rails. Also don't forget that riding your snowboard down stairs and across streets destroys your board, so use a junker.

The only thing more fun than sliding rails is playing with power tools.

For about the price of a half-day lift ticket you can build a drop-in ramp that will last for years to come. Sliding rails might not be for everyone, but neither are thirty-minute lift lines and fifty-dollar cheeseburgers. So next time it snows, don't be afraid to take it to the streets.