“Gnar Shredder’s Guide to Mountainboarding.” This downloadable book is a compilation of the ‘How To’ Articles that have piled up over the years and makes for a great resource for your basic skills.

Speed Wobbles, Board Maintenance, Single Track, The Powerslide… 16 basic ‘how to’ topics all packed with photos and illustrations and neatly organized with PDF bookmarks. “Gnar Shredder’s Guide to Mountainboarding” is great for new riders building there foundation skills.

2.99 USD

There are times when a day of riding seems to soak deep into the soul. The kind of soaking that causes everything to flow. It’s not always the flow that we expected or planned, but still it seems to sync all the feelings of the day into one epically fluid ride. That is a good day.

It’s days like these that we feel as though our mountainboard is an extension of our own body; as much a part of us as an arm or leg. While these are awesome moments in mountainboarding, we still need to pay attention to the parts of us that really are attached.

The feet are what joins rider and board. In order to take care of that vital part of the body, mountainboarders have to pay attention to the kind of footwear they use. There are a few factors that we face when picking what type of shoe to stick our foot in. Ankle support, availability, and comfort are among these factors.

The ankles can take a beating at times, especially for newbies who have a tendency to step off their board when they loose control. But newbie or not, the ankles are always under a lot of stress in any active sport or activity. So what can you do? Wear a shoe with high supportive ankles that fits well, or you can wear any shoe and throw on an ankle brace.

Personally, I’d rather upgrade my helmet or buy some spare tubes before I spend money on mountainboard specific shoes. For those of you like me, who prefer to use what we have rather than bust open the wallet, we simply have to check out our old shoes and see what works best. If all you have is an old pair of Sunday church shoes however, you may want to look for an alternative.

Last but definitely not least, comfort. You want to wear a shoe that isn’t going to tear your foot to pieces on a long day of riding. At the same time, you don’t want to get too comfortable and sport a pair of fluffy slippers shaped like kittens. Not to loose, not to tight.

The feet are what joins the rider with his mountainboard. This doesn’t mean, in my opinion, that you have to go out and break the bank in order to take care of your feet. Perhaps the day will come when a “Mountainboarding Shoe” will be on the market. On that day, I don’t know if I would run to buy a pair as it really doesn’t take much to find footwear that works.

Send in a photo to Editor@Mountainboard.net, and let the rest of us see what kind of shoes you rock when you shred your gnar. If I get enough photos sent in we can post them on a future post. Why would I want to post a bunch of photos of feet? No reason whatsoever aside from it being funny. So tell all your friends to send there feet pics to Mountainboard.net so they can be a part of a completely pointless shoe gallery.

Here’s what Andrew Sanders perfers:
“Here is what I ride in, a pair of Nike Zooms, white leather, red shiny. They offer good ankle support, and are the perfect size for a good firm fit in the bindings. Also, the basketball style soles offer a great grip on the deck. I haven’t tried any other basketball shoes, but because they offer similar needs to what a mount boarder may desire, I think it may be worth looking into.”



Here’s what Dan Wilson (of Remolition) perfers:
I used to ride in old leather Saucony Jazz trainers till they let mud in and fell apart so invested in my Vans ico snowskate trainers.. They totally rock with high top, good grip, toughened sides, lace protection ( perfect for my f3 bindings) and an interior gaiter with drawstring to stop mud/dirt getting in! and totally waterproof. They embody Radness. With added odour eaters they don’t even stink either Wholly recommended and way cooler than anything else designed for fashion, basketball etc!

Here’s what Sean Marshall perfers:
Oh man! Nothing helps me rock the ride more than lacing up my US Issued Marine boots. My buddy (X-Marine) gave me a pair of these hardcore kicks. There’s just something about having your ankles laced up tight in some ultra-tuff boots that makes you feel invincible. Speed wobbles? What speed wobbles!

The snow covered winters here in Alaska usually force me to put my mountainboard away for a few months, and turn to snowboarding as an alternative. I’ve found that there’s much to learn from snowboarding that carries over nicely to mountain boarding. This makes my in the mountains with my snowboard, in a way, valuable mountainboard training time.

While this training is valuable, and snowboarding is a great sport, I never loose that urge to mountainboard. I find myself missing the more agressive nature of mountain boarding, the bond between board and rider that is only obtained after the most brutal, dirt-tossing wrecks.

Mountainboarding is fast and often times unforgiving. Decisions must be made quickly and carefull observation of the underlying terrain is essential. As I remember the feel of the dirt sliding under my tires, and of rocks rattling under my board I realize that there is much to miss about mountainboarding.

Some of you might have read my last post, “Defy Winter” Check it out if you missed it. “Defy Winter” was an official invite to pull out the mountainboards and ride this month. Mountainboard.net wants to post your slush slashing photos in a future article. You’ll need to hurry because the deadline for submission is the end of this month (February). The article will post at the beginning of March.

Just send your photos to Editor@Mountainboard.net. Make sure to include your name.

Have fun and be careful on your powerslides. I found out the hard way that you slide a long ways, let’s just say, “watch out for trees, no matter how far away they might seem.”

Mountainboard.net needs your winter photos!

For some of us, winter is a time where snow covers the ground and cold fills the air. The mountainboard is often tucked away into hibernation until spring and mountainboarding drifts away like as a memory. It is indeed a sad time for countless dirt shredders. Many turn to snowboarding for relief; a sport that helped inspire mountainboarding in the beginning. Unfortunately, snowboarding just isn’t the same.

So the question is, what do we do? I have a suggestion, I say we ride! I say we grab our mountainboards out of storage, pump the tires back up, and hit the trails. Snowboarding is great, but its just not mountain boarding.

This is an aggressive, no rules, anything goes kind of sport and here we are letting winter tell us what to do. Not anymore! I, on behalf of Mountainboard.net and the sport of mountainboarding, challenge all riders who live in cold winter parts of the world to get out and ride. Defy winter, get out and slash some slush!

While your at it take lots of pictures and help inspire other riders by sending them to me at Editor@Mountainboard.net before February 28th (THAT’S THE END OF THIS MONTH). I’ll post them along with an update on the winter slush slashing.

Good luck!

Note: Don’t forget to do your post ride maintenance, your board might be a little more wet than normal.