How to Setup Your Board for Man-Made Snow | Never Summer
Just about anywhere there is snowboarding, you will likely have to ride on man-made snow at least part of the time. If you live in a place like Colorado, artificial snow largely makes early-season snowboarding possible. Conversely, people in regions like the Midwest snowboard on artificial snow for most of the winter.
When you consider the entire snowboard season, you’ll quickly realize that the Colorado Rockies or west coast mountain ranges require different riding styles and equipment than the Midwest and East Coast. Nonetheless, early season snow conditions are quite similar everywhere.
Whether man made snow is your norm, or you ride it just to get in shape for the season, there are some important things to consider for this type of snow.
Is Artificial Snow as Good as Real Snow?
When it comes to fresh powder turns, nothing beats the snow that comes straight from mother nature. However, man-made snow is extremely helpful when it comes to building a solid base for the snowboard season.
Generally speaking, artificial snow is made of clumps of ice, while natural snow forms out of snow crystals. As a result, artificial snow is much denser than snow that falls naturally. While man-made snow doesn’t make for world-class snowboarding, it provides a solid hardpack for carving, racing, and park riding.
Snowmaking technology has come a long way in the last few decades, however all things considered, artificial snow is not as good as real snow, although it does play a valuable role at nearly all ski areas.
Is Snowboarding on Man-Made Snow Different from Real Snow?
Contrary to popular belief, the only time there is a huge variation between man-made snow and natural snow is with freshly fallen powder or packed powder. Once fresh snow is skied down and groomed, it's almost impossible to tell the difference between artificial and natural snow.
Because snowboards literally heat up the snow surface as they slide down the slope, they quickly transform powder into hardpack. When groomed, this snow is further compressed into the dense base we enjoy all winter. Even in places like Montana that get serious amounts of powder, groomed runs often come to resemble the same consistency as man-made snow in time.
Whether man-made or natural, hardpack snow rides similarly across the board. Not only is hardpack extremely prone to ice, but it offers a very fast ride. It's for reasons such as this that snowboard race courses are heavily groomed and packed down.
What Type of Snowboard is Best for Artificial Snow?
Since artificial snow is basically the same as hardpack, you want to use a snowboard that is built to handle icy conditions. While carving snowboards definitely perform the best in such conditions, most all-mountain and freeride models are also up to the task.
Never Summer snowboards are ideal for early season hardpack riding because we use extensive rubber vibration damping in our construction. This smooths out the ride on the man made conditions. Never Summer also has a power grip sidecut that offers multiple contact points for extra grip on man made snow, also our Rocker Camber design provides additional pressure points for edge hold and response.
Popular Never Summer snowboards that are good for artificial snow include:
If you live in the Rocky Mountain region or West Coast, an all-mountain or freeride board will serve you quite well in the early season. However, people from the Midwest and East Coast should probably look into a carving board - unless you spend most of your time in the terrain park.
Setting Up Your Gear for Snowboarding on Man-Made Snow
Since early-season riding takes place almost exclusively on hardpack snow, you will want to dial your snowboard set up for these conditions. Make sure your edges are smooth and sharp, or get a full tune up on your snowboard.
For snowboarding on man-made snow, you can adjust the forward lean on your bindings for response and heelside edge hold. It’s important to bend your knees, this will allow you to absorb shock and maintain control over the board in the variable early season conditions. This is a good time to dial in your board, binding set up, stance and other gear. It’s also a good time to get into snowboarding shape, to warm up and be ready for when more terrain opens up.
Before hitting the mountain, always check that all your binding hardware is good and tight.
Contact Never Summer
At Never Summer, we love riding powder as much as anyone. Nonetheless, even Colorado requires riding on machine-made snow for early season snowboarding. Contact Us if you have more questions about your snowboard set up.
