Ah yes, winter is here. We got a bit of snow two days. Skating in the winter is always a challenge, and one I actually like. Snow makes things a bit more problematic than it just being cold. When the snow comes, you have two options. First, is to find somewhere indoor/covered to skate. Second, is to start shoveling.
WHERE TO SKATE
Indoors is not much of an option for me. There are no indoor skate parks anywhere near me (and I usually hare indoor parks, too. Often very cramped, very dusty/very slippery, and very busy when the cold and snow hits. The other indoor option is parking garages. I work in the evenings, and most parking garages are in-use/a bust during my free time (e.g. mid-day and afternoons). The decent ones around here are also not all that close to me.
That leaves shoveling. The best effort-to-reward ratio of shoveling is a mini ramp. To clear out something like a curb, a bank, and ledge, etc. takes an enormous amount of space (that you need to shovel out) for sufficient run-up, the trick itself, and then roll-away space. Even if you just clear out a small section of curb for just stall tricks, you still need a decent area. Worse, since these are usually at ground level, melting snow will often cause the area you just cleared to start getting wet. There may also be salt/sand on the pavement that you also have to deal with (if not clearing a section at a skate park). Bowls suck to clear out because they are usually on the large side, and you have to get the snow OUT of them...you can’t just push it off to the side.
That brings us to mini ramps. The transition helps slide snow down to the flat. Just clear out the flat bottom (which usually isn’t that big of an area…certainly much smaller than space you’d need for a curb, ledge, bank, etc.), push the snow off the platforms, and you now have access to endless fun. The effort-to-reward ratio simply cannot be beat. Proper mini ramps are not really around as much as they used to be, and are often no longer found/made in modern skateparks. Fortunately, I have two good mini within a 25 min drive.
Yesterday I cleared this ramp out.
THE SNOW SET-UP
But clearing snow is only part of the complications. The next issue, is your set-up. When you skate, you bail tricks. When you bail, your board often goes flying off to God-knows-where. When you bail on a ramp, your board frequently falls, or launches, off the side of the ramp. If the surrounding area is covered with snow, that means you board is going to get snowy and wet. And we all know a wet board is a bad situation. In late fall I decommission a deck that still has some life left in it. This deck becomes part of my “snow board,” which I am not worried about getting water-logged. I also put a set of lesser bearings in my wheels, which I am not too concerned about getting wet. It also helps to bring a towel (to dry board off in/when it becomes snow bound), and second pair of shoes or boots (to put on if you have walk out into the snow to get retrieve your board). Fortunately, my local park also has some movable grind bars, that I place along the bottom of the ramp to help stop runaway boards.
WHAT TO WEAR
Boston is actually the windiest major city in America. Add low temps to that, and the “real feel” can get really, really gnarly. The key to skating in Boston winters is (a) layers, and (b) a windbreaker. I usually wear a base-layer of Under Armor cold gear, and then thermal/waffle long underwear over that. Add a long sleeve t-shirt, a hoodie, and windbreaker and that is usually enough to keep my upper body warm. You also need something to keep your ears from freezing-up. I wear a helmet when I skate ramps, so I wear a toque over my ears (under my helmet), or a full-face mask/balaclava if it’s really cold/windy (e.g. a windbreaker for your cheeks/nose). Once you get skating/moving, all of this often quite warm. If the wind isn’t too bad, and sun is out, I often have to lose a layer once I am warmed-up. It’s actually amazing how warm the low 30s can feel with the Sun and no wind. Oh, gloves/mittens! Mittens are the best, because they keep your hands much warmer than gloves. Here is me, decked out in cold gear. I think the coldest I'll skate in is upper teens, but I have to be really wanting it at that point. Lower 20s I'm fine with, but below that, things start to get bit more dicey, esp. if there is a strong wind.
In any event, today is January 21st. Hopefully we only have about 8 more weeks of the really cold/bad stuff. By the end of March, things usually start warming up. Here’s to an early Spring.
