We've been waiting far too long to start our beloved winter activities. I'm confident to say that we can eagerly embark on the winter adventure we have been craving. It's no secret that we are fat bike crazy! But this year we have enthusiastically caught the splitboard wave. I grew up snowboarding starting in the early 90's. Much like mountain bikes, snowboard technology reached what I would call a peak by the mid 2000's, enter the splitboard and the redesign of board edges and design that are becoming more similar to the original Burton directional.
Austin is definitely or inhouse expert when it comes to switching from a traditional "resort board" to the mighty splitboard, he has spent days exploring the backcountry on his splitboard. This is my first year using a splitboard,
but I will say that to this point I have absolutely fallen in love with the sport. The reason I like it so much? It broadens your options in the snow, meaning this; first it allows you access more powder easier. Before if you wanted untouched powder you would strap your board to you back and typically snowshoe or just posthole, both brutal options. Skinning uphill on a splitboard is far easier and faster than the previous methods. Secondly, you can use them strictly for touring, my wife prefers xc skiing and if I want I can strap on the splitboard in ski mode and just tour with her.
The catch with splitboarding is that you do need to know how to snowboard if you planning on decending after the skin up. If you don't have experience snowboarding but are really interested in splitboarding I would recommend renting a board and tune your skills on the resort runs then when you are comfortable with the general boarding techniques get your splitboard!
At Geared Up we pride ourselves on not just selling our gear but using and becoming familiar with our products in the field. If you have questions about our bikes, boards or gear chances are we can answer it because we've tried it. WELCOME SNOW!!