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Even though the snowboarding season is limited by the winter months and most of the people think this way, there are actually ways how to snowboard in the offseason as well.
1. Glaciers
In short, a glacier is a place in the mountains where snow is located all year long. Not all glaciers are available for snowboarding due to hazardous location and a certain level of danger, though some resorts are located on these glaciers and can offer a safe environment for snowboard in the offseason and are open in summer months.
There aren’t a lot of glaciers available during summer months, so it can be pricey and relatively hard to get there, usually a long trip, of course, it depends on where you currently reside.
Also, most of the summer snowboarding camps are located on glaciers. If you want to maintain your snowboarding skills in shape during summertime and ride on real snow then glacier is your way to go.
Pros: Real snow, Fresh Air, Snowboard Camps
Cons: Price, Location
2. Indoor halls
Indoor hall is like a giant fridge, such a facility can produce artificial snow and maintain a temperature to keep this snow from melting. These halls are located all over the world and provide people the ability to snowboard all year round.
Though some find artificial snow “bad”, this won’t stop true snowboard addicts. Some of these indoor halls even have snow parks with jumps and jibs. So if you’re a “park rat”, you can take laps over and over again as it takes only a few minutes to run down and take a lift, due to all of the indoor halls slopes are only about 200 meters (218 yards) long.
Pros: Relatively cheap, Fast laps, Usually can offer other activities
Cons: Artificial snow, Only one short slope
3. Dry slopes
As the name states, these slopes are dry, thus you will find no snow on them. These slopes are covered with a special material that enables them to glide just like on real snow.
Similar to Indoor halls these slopes are limited in distance, to mostly focus on training athletes during summer months or in areas where snow is unavailable.
Most of these slopes are located in the UK. Some of these slopes have park features like jibs and even jumps. So unlike Indoor hall, you can take advantage of snowboard under the clear sky breathing fresh air. Although the feeling of a snow substitute under your board can be weird at first.
Pros: Relatively cheap, Fast laps, Fresh air
Cons: Not real snow, Location (mostly UK), Only one short slope
4. Resorts in the opposite hemisphere
Finally the last but not least way to snowboard during summertime is to travel to the other hemisphere. As you know there is winter in Australia when there’s summertime in the USA and Europe and vice versa.
The possibility to snowboard on real snow will out beat all other ways. You have everything you can wish for, different terrain, snow conditions, variety and difficulty of slopes, resorts, backcountry spots, you name it.
There are tons of places to snowboard all over the world in both hemispheres to choose form. In fact, there’s always snowing somewhere on our planet Earth and the season never ends. That’s why many professional athletes travel to Australia (Perisher resort) during summertime to snowboard in the offseason in real snow conditions.
Pros: Real snow, Terrain and condition variety, High-grade resorts
Cons: Price, Location
Conclusion
To sum up, you can snowboard all year round. If you have the possibility, choose a way that best meets your needs and go for it. But if you don’t have the possibility to do so, you can choose one of the alternatives to snowboarding in the summertime.
