Summer Boarding
Photography: Mark Menlove
Take heed, however: both sports are considered dangerous, and mountain boarding is officially considered extreme. Yet both sports can also be enjoyed in relative safety by novice and experienced boarders alike with proper training, protective gear and common sense.No need to count down the days until the snow flies before you can hop on a board and cruise down a mountainside … the thrill of soaring down a steep incline can be yours in summer, too, with long boarding or mountain boarding.
Long boarding and mountain boarding share many similarities in board style, riding technique and culture. The main difference between the two sports is the type of surface the sports are practiced on. Long boarders ride on boards that look like miniature surfboards and have large, non-treaded tires designed for riding asphalt surfaces. Mountain boarders have slightly thicker boards and treaded, fat ATV-like tires designed for navigating rugged mountain terrain and dirt.
Both types of boarders refer to themselves as “hill chasers” who like to “bomb” steep inclines. They also like the phrase “ride or die” when referring to situations wherein the rider must fully commit to the ride all the way to the bottom or face certain disaster should they try to bail. Both groups also enjoy an easy-going camaraderie and bond with each other through their sport.
Van DeWitt, of Salt Lake City, has been mountain boarding since the inception of the sport. In 1996, he bought his first mountain board (also called dirt boards), at Salty Peaks Skate and Snowboard Shop and started riding competitively for the store in 1998. Van now works at Salty Peaks and is the leader of a mountain boarding club called the “Dirt Star Army.” The group rides together locally and hosts expedition events
to promote the sport.
Halston Rhodes, one of Van’s partners in the Dirt Star Army, suggests that beginners learn on mellow grassy hills in full safety gear using boards equipped with hand-held brakes. People who get hooked on the sport generally increase their skills incrementally until they are capable of riding the bigger, and more dangerous, mountains.
“We aren’t just about mountain boarding,” says Van. “We’ve watched people join our club and go through tremendous personal change as a result of learning to trust themselves. When people start getting serious about the sport and realize they can do more than they thought they could, it carries over into other areas of their lives.”
“Mountain boarding is an extreme sport,” Van continues. “When you are going off a 20-foot jump, you must have complete faith in your ability to land it. Extreme sports require you to face your own mortality and conquer your fears. Besides good technique and skill, faith in your abilities and personal confidence are absolutely necessary, or you could be seriously injured or killed.”
Besides mentoring newcomers and riding mountains together, the Dirt Star Army Club members enjoy riding freestyle at the Dirt Park in Park City, hitting jumps and practicing maneuvers along with the BMX bikers. Mountain boarders also enjoy the ski runs at Park City Mountain Resort in the off-season as well as hitting the old mining roads above Old Town, which feature wide dirt tracks with lots of embankments and curves to maneuver.
Long boarders enjoy the thrill of riding big mountains, too, but they stick to asphalt surfaces, including streets, paved trails and even vacant cement parking garages. Instead of navigating tree roots, rocks and ravines, they navigate cars, pets and people. Like their mountain boarding counterparts, long boarders start off on gently sloping roads or paved paths and build up in skill and confidence levels until they’re “bombing” steep, winding roads.
“A lot of people start out long boarding on the bike path in Park City,” says Trisha Erickson, who started long boarding in her 40s. “It’s a nice easy grade and if your speed gets out of hand along the City Park area, you can always bail onto the grass.”
Trisha admits to getting hooked the very first time she tried long boarding. She uses her board for transportation around town whenever possible, and when her daughter was young, she would pick her up from school on the long board. “The look we got from other moms picking up kids from school, with my daughter sitting on the front of my board, was priceless,” laughs Trisha.
The best way to get into long boarding, according to Trisha, is to hang out around the bike path in Park City and talk to other long boarders. “Long boarders are very friendly and love talking about their sport. Some will even offer to let you try their board. You can also go to The Click on Bonanza Drive and talk to their staff, which is very knowledgeable about long boarding and how to get started.”
Some long boarders live for the thrill of bombing hilly streets located in quiet neighborhoods. These extreme boarders are reluctant to divulge their favorite locations because sometimes residents report them to the police. Sergeant Bob Lucking of the Park City Police Department reports that they do get occasional complaints about long boarders. “There is no ordinance that says long boarders can’t ride on the road unless, of course, they are impeding traffic,” says Lucking, “So we mostly just educate homeowners and boarders about being safe and conscientious.”
“We scout out road conditions before we ride, and we follow all the rules of the road,” says Lauren Dunn, a 20-year-old who regularly rides in Park City with a group of long boarding friends. “We know how to slow down and how to stop — like when you snowboard. A lot of long boarders like to ride at night to avoid traffic and people.”
Even after suffering severe road rashes and broken bones from long boarding accidents, Lauren continues to be passionate about the sport and rides hills in Heber Valley and Park City with her friends several times a week during the summer.
So, you don’t have to wait for winter to get a downhill thrill — learn how to ride big mountains this summer on a long board or mountain board. Oh, and before you hit the slopes, you might want to make sure you have good insurance coverage, too!
Wendy Mair works as a Family Advocate in Summit County and in her spare time she enjoys freelance writing, photography, shotgun sports, bowhunting and other outdoor activities.
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