Category: Snow Sports

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15 Ways That Make Storing Winter Sports Gear Easy!

Winter time is here and with winters comes out the love of winter sports.

Now that may be fun but the trouble begins when it comes down to storing your winter gear. Here are 15 tips for storing your winter sports gear so it stays in good condition for a long time:

Wax them up

One of the best tips you could get about storing your sports gear is to wax them up well before you store them. Remember to scrape off the previous layer of wax before applying a fresh coat of hot wax. Consider applying two-three layers so the base stays hydrated during the summer season.

Ski bags are not the answer

While most people believe that the best way to store winter sports gear is to stuff them up in a sports bag, they can’t be more wrong. Ski bags are known to store up moisture as well which means you’ll be facing the trouble of rust sooner than you can imagine. Try lining them up in a climate-controlled closet instead; that keeps them new and fresh!

Strap them up

Marking #3 in your list of 15 tips for storing your winter sports gear is one that you would least expect. Strapping your winter sports gear together will keep them from rubbing against each other and eventually dulling themselves out.

Sharpen out the edges

It’s best to sharpen out the edges of your gear beforehand so you don’t have to face much trouble with them in the later months. This will not only help to keep your gear in good condition, it will also help you avoid the long waits in the start of the season to sharpen out your gear.

Shelving is the best option

While tip #2 already mentioned the importance of storing your gear on the outside but that doesn’t mean you throw them out in your garage. Shelving your gear helps to keep them organized and maintained for a long time.

Wrap them up

When you’re looking into storing your winter gear, this tip amongst your other 15 tips for storing your winter sports gear will help you keep off the dust and other harmful particles from settling onto your gear. Once you’re done waxing and strapping them, as tips #1 and 2 suggest, it’s best to wrap them up in a sheet to keep them looking new.

Stow away your boards

You need to understand that amongst your winter sports gear, one of them is your snowboard and you need to be extra careful with them. Make sure you store them away at a place that’s both cool as well as dry.

Don’t lay it down, stand them up

When you’re looking into 15 tips for storing your winter sports gear concerning your boards, it’s often best that you consider storing them standing up. This allows the gear to maintain its shape or the camber.

Hard surfaces are a major no

When you’re placing your items in storage, it’s always best to avoid hard surfaces. You can either place them on carpeted flooring or lay down towels or Styrofoam to keep them intact.

Ice skates deserve a place on the wall

Ice skates need to be stored away like every other shoes to:

  1. Avoid tripping hazards
  2. Keep them in good condition

Hooks or a shoe rack often does the trick.

Snow boots need to be buckled

You also need to consider your snow boots for a change; if you leave them unbuckled, there’s a high chance it will lose its shape.

Clean out your gear

Before storing them away, it’s best that you thoroughly clean out your gear to prevent damage during the seasonal changes.

Storage bins actually help

Your gloves and caps can actually be stored away in storage bins lined with colorful plastic to keep it looking attractive. Kids will be encouraged to fill it up as well!

Winter items go back in

Once winters are out of the way, it’s best to not keep your gear lying around outside. This will only take up precious space.

Time to throw away

Lastly, you need to know which items you need to discard away. That means the items that are rarely used do not come in the category of the 15 tips for storing your winter sports gear.

Make sure you adhere to these tips and you wouldn’t face any problem with your winter sports gear again!

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Winter Sport Photography – Tips to Capture Some Exciting Pictures This Winter

Capturing the beauty of particular setting in a tricky lighting is difficult.

As you photograph during winters in the mountains, light may continue to vary from deep and rich to blown out and flat. Similarly, as winters are approaching, a lot of people are getting ready to hit the slopes along with their cameras to do some action sports photography.

Indeed, the combination of snowy mountains and scorching sun is hard to deal with but if you know some tips for winter sport photography, you can get yourself some awesome winter sport photographs, full of excitement and colors, which will be cherished and remembered for years.

So, before you plan to hit the slopes and conquer the mountains, let us have a look at some useful tips for awesome winter sport photography.

Equipment

Your camera might not be designed to get wet unless it’s waterproof. Therefore, as you photograph in winter, chances are that snow will melt into puddles and obviously nobody likes to see puddles in the picture that is aimed to capture the winter sport action. So, keep your camera inside a proper cover. Similarly, the best way to capture the winter colors and outdoor sport action is to use different kind of lenses. However, a pair of telephoto lens and a wide angle lens will also suffice the purpose. The wide angle lens will help in shooting mountain scene whereas a telephoto lens provides excellent results for an in-the-air shot.

Batteries

Batteries are always problematic in such cold weather. If it’s either your car battery or camera or flash batteries, they usually die faster in the cold. So, in order to prevent this problem, you have a few options to consider. For instance, bring with you additional batteries, keep your gear covered or in your coat, store some backup batteries at some warm place or you may use the thermal cooler to store batteries which is easily available at various hardware stores.

Capture the Action

We all want to freeze and capture that split of second when the snowboarder or a skier is barreling by. To capture this moment perfectly and at the right time, keep the shutter speed much faster such as 1/1000 per second which is considered ideal by professional photographers. Also, to allow your camera to determine correlating aperture and to figure out shutter speed, try setting it to shutter priority. Moreover, considering the condition, decide if you should set up some stops in terms of EV compensation. As you follow this tip for winter sport photography, take some test shots and in case the image is too dark, step up two or more stops until the image is adequately brightened.

Color Temperature/Lighting

Lighting is important for photography. Regardless of whether you are shooting inside a house or if its outdoor winter photography, the consideration will remain the same except for just one thing. During winters, there is more UV light. This means, that your photographs are more likely to take on a cyan/blue cast. While you can always edit your pictures later and control the light factor, there are two ways you can combat this light issue right there. First, you may put on your lenses a UV filters or secondly; if you are photographing with a digital camera, you may manually fix the white balance. However, if you are unaware of white balance settings then remove auto white balance and fix it to cloudy bright or simple cloudy as per the conditions.

Help of a Friend

Generally, friends are snowboarders or skiers who are always willing to go down slopes for you. This is the perfect chance to capture the pictures the way you like them to be, especially if you are hesitant of photographing strangers. This is the most effective tip for winter sport photography as your friend can easily coordinate and adjust the action as per your needs. They know your shooting spot and can aim their actions accordingly to produce some awesome winter sport pictures.

Whether you want to capture the bursting snow, a spattering of snow or may be performing a helicopter above the head, if you bring some right friends with you to capture amazing winter sport pictures, then you will not be disappointed.

The bottom line

Try all of these amazing tips for awesome winter sport photography and capture the most exciting moments of winter sports. While winter sport photography is difficult for beginners, don’t forget to take a break and meanwhile capture some great lifestyle portraits. After all, winter sport photography is not just about capturing the perfect move, but also to capture the feel of excitement and winter sport spirit.

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Extreme Sports for the Fall and Winter

Are you looking for some good outdoor activities outside of team sports you can do this Fall and Winter? You’ve come to the right place. I’ve selected four of my favorite outdoor activities, plus one I’m jonesing to check out. Take a look below to get inspired to stay outdoors when it gets cold.

Spelunking

(Suggested day trip – Mammoth Caves KY followed by visit to Corsair in Bowling Green)

Exploring caves might not seem like an extreme sport, but if you’re into hiking, scrambling and climbing it can get pretty intense. Plus, the eeriness of caves has always fascinated me. And if you want a low intensity thrill of spelunking, there is just as much variety inside caves as there is if you like hiking.

Another intriguing component to spelunking is taking the time to study up on bats. They are fascinating creatures of the night who possess some incredible physical gifts. We can also be thankful of bats for eating so many pesky insects. If you really want the thrill of being near bats, go caving around dusk and enjoy the spectacular airshow.

Downhill Mountain Biking

(Suggested day trip – Mammoth Lakes)

Are you a gearhead who loves thrill rides and exploring the mountains? Get yourself and your bike to a ski lift before the snow falls. Downhill mountain biking is exhilarating without having to pedal uphill. But that doesn’t mean it’s effortless. The rocky, tree-lined terrain will be challenging, and force you to be hyper-vigilant as you fly past each obstacle.

Plus, this sport will really get you primed for the upcoming boarding season. And just like winters on the mountain, at the bottom of your last run you can treat yourself to your favorite coffee stout at the village pub.

 

Bouldering

Rock climbing without ropes is a great sport for gym rats wanting more excitement. Bouldering is similar in structure to your indoor workouts – short, high-intensity workouts, each followed by a rest period. On top of that climbing can be a cerebral activity of solving puzzles.  It’s also a great sport for socializing mixed in with a lot of “can you top this?” with your friends.

In the Fall you have to deal with rain unfortunately. But that’s worth it because you get perfect climbing weather on the dry days. Just remember to bring your down jacket so you’re comfortable while you’re resting in the peanut gallery.

 

Snowshoeing

Ice Climbing

As a rock climber, I’ve always been fascinated with ice climbing

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Winter Sports Safety – Are You Following the Safety Guidelines?

Whenever you are out for any kind of sports, the first thing you need to take care of is the safety of yourself and your family, especially kids.

After all, colder temperatures might not keep adults or even kids from venturing outside for sports, but injuries can!

Therefore, you must consider some safety tips for winter sports!

Winter sports or any sort of recreational activities offer all of us with tons of excitement and fun, but with that, it is also imperative to follow the safety rules or guidelines, so that you don’t turn your exciting sport into a nightmare or suffer a severe injury.

Therefore, for your assistance, here are some useful safety tips for winter sports.

Snow Tubing and Sledding

  • Search for a good hill – You must select the hill that offers a clear pathway without any obstacles. For this, you need to make sure that hill doesn’t lead to a street, parking lot, road or any other watery area such as a lake, river or a pond.
  • Slide downhill in a proper body position as one of the most important safety tips for winter sports– Never try to slide downhill keeping your head at first as it will increase your chances of hitting the floor and damage your neck or head. Always sit up as you face forward in order to steer. If you lay down on the sled, you will simply increase the risks of neck, back or head injuries.
  • Keep the hill bottom clear – Before you allow another sled to go ahead, make sure that the hill bottom is clear and no one is present down the slope.
  • Use appropriate material – Never use low-quality or improper material for winter sport such as plastic sheet or rubber. This is because such materials can easily be pierced by sharp objects spread all over the ground.
  • Use a steering mechanism or a sled with runners – Make sure to avoid snow disks or toboggans as they are not considered safe.

Snowmobiling

  • Many people neglect the safety tips for winter sports and allow their kids to ride a snowmobile which results in severe injuries. No kid under the age of 6 should be allowed to take part in snowmobiling regardless of whether an adult is present to guide them or not.
  • Similarly, children under sixteen years of age are also not suitable to take up snowmobiling and adults should keep a check on this so that mishaps can be avoided.
  • Wearing a bike helmet cannot save you from injuring your head; therefore, make sure you go with only the specifically designed helmets for high-velocity motorsports. Do wear only the certified helmets and avoid the mistake of using a bike helmet for your safety purpose.

Pond Skating/Ice Skating

Your best bet is to go with skating rinks over traditional pond skating. However, if you prefer to go with pond skating, then here are some considerations for you.

  • Always contact with local authorities to determine which particular areas are actually approved and avail the permission if this is allowed to skate on a lake or pond.
  • Before you plan to skate on a lake or pond, make sure that the weather has been severely cold for at least a week.
  • Always go with skates which are sharp enough, especially before skating on lake ice or pond as this could be really dangerous otherwise.

Snowboarding and Skiing

  • If your kid is taking part in this winter sport for the very first time, then make sure that they get proper lessons for snowboarding or skiing.
  • Take adequate exercise activities that would help in warming up the muscles involved in snowboarding or skiing, so that you can prevent severe injuries. Also, make sure to stretch for a while after warming up to keep yourself going for your long exciting winter sport.
  • Always use adequate snowboard equipment and skis such as adjusted bindings and well-fitted boots. You may also take the assistance of certified technicians to get some help with fittings.
  • As you must stick to trails considering your own and your kid’s skill level, you must also pay attention to all the trail signs. Similarly, obey the trail closure and avoid going off the trail.

With that, don’t forget to stay hydrated, look out for others, take frequent breaks, watch the weather and use sunscreen. All of these are some useful safety tips for winter sports that must be considered at all times to have fun enjoying outdoor sports throughout this season!