When you invest in a pair of skis or a snowboard, it’s not just your money that your spending.
When your skis or snowboard match exactly what you’re looking for it means perfect days on the mountain even if the snow is less than perfect, and when your skis or snowboard break you’ll lose the money that you spend on new gear as well as those perfect days on the mountain. To help you better plan your investment in ski and snowboard gear, the ASO Mammoth team has put together a quick guide to how long skis and snowboards last. Check it out below and come see us here in Mammoth Lakes today!
You Only Need to Replace a Board or Skis When You Have To
There isn’t an expiration date on skis and snowboards, so while you’ll often see a number between 80 and 100 for how many days of skiing or snowboarding you’ll get out of your gear there is no predicting how many it will actually be.
New technology and designs may help your riding, but unless your gear has serious damage or wear that is affecting how it performs you don’t need to upgrade it. For example, you may feel like your skis or snowboard are not stiff enough after a few seasons and want to replace them, or you might damage your gear to the point where the edge is blown out or the core is exposed. In these cases, it’s necessary to replace your skis or snowboard, but if there is no serious damage or wear then you can ride your skis or snowboard until they give out.
How Many Days Your Gear Lasts Depends on How You Ride
There’s always the chance of an accident that suddenly ruins your skis or snowboard, but you can bet that a park board that sees the snow for 30 days over a season is going to have a shorter life than a set of all-mountain skis that are ridden for only a week every season. You should ride the way you want to ride, so don’t be afraid of riding in the park on your new set of skis because you’re worried that they will break. However, if you’ve just spent your savings on a new snowboard then do yourself a favor and take the time to plan your run through a boulder field before dropping in.
How Old Your Gear is and How it Was Ridden Make a Difference
If you buy a new board or set of skis then you know the complete history of the gear, but if you’re buying used gear then you could be rolling the dice on how many days on the snow your new gear will survive. For this reason, it is vital for anyone buying used skis or snowboards to examine them closely and ask the seller how and how often it was used.
Scratches and shallow cuts are to be expected on used gear, but deep cuts, whether they’re repaired or not, should be red flags. Even if a deep cut is repaired well, it could be a scar from a lifetime of hard riding by the previous owner, and if there are multiple shots that cut to the base of the ski or snowboard then you know that you shouldn’t expect several years of riding from it.
Knowing the year of a snowboard or set of skis will also help you know what materials they’re made out of and how durable you can expect them to be.
If you are ready to get yourself some new gear, stop by ASO Mammoth today and we will set you up!