Florida Snowskate

Snowskate Stylee. http://fpskate.com/POWDERSKATE.html

Share your stoke!

If you have a snurf picture you'd like to share, shoot it to me by email at opsurf@gmail.com. Much Appreciated.

Snurf Stoke!

Winter is coming, and snurf stoke is brewing. I've been dreaming of building snake run on a hillside to accomodate this stoke. Looking a cheap pieces of property to build a backyard haven for snurfing.

The almanac is calling for unusually cold and snowy conditions for the Northeast. If you don't have a snurfer yet, get hooked up. Winter can be brutal of you don't get out and play. It's cheap, it's deep, for all you peeps.

Dutch Rudder

These folks from the Netherlands, appear to be using this board for kitesurfing, but I thought it was interesting to see someone else looking at the merit of skegs for right or wrong. Nice little dutch rudder. Source:

City Snurf

When I first started experimenting with snurfing on old snowboards, I was living in the city. Every little hill was an opportunity to snurf, to try something different, to see how the board could be riden, to try surfing it and skating it. I really didn't know how it was going to perform. Should it be shorter? Fatter? Fins/No fins? Does the rope even matter?

These are some of the questions that I tried to figure out, all from a $10 Kemper snowboard I had picked up on ebay. In fact, I got stood up on Ebay trying to purchase some unique plastic snurfers from the 80's. Never got my money back. Learned something about trust, though.

Here are some pics of the first few snurf environments I was able to hit within walking distance of my house. There is terrain worth exploring everywhere. There is almost more snurf terrain than skate terrain due to the smoothing out effect of snow. snow can be built up into banks.

A run could conceivably be designed to make the most of the limitations and performance characteristics of a snurfer. A groomer with banks, jumps, snake-runs, rollers, etc.

Here's making the best of it...

Golf Course Snurfing - Do What You Have to Do

March Lions III

March Lions II

March Lions

To skeg or not to skeg

There is a saying about the Inuit that they have an unusually large number of words to describe snow. Snow quality, from a snurfer's, skier's or boarder's perspective is just the same, though we may not have to words to express it. What happens to an accumulation of snow over time with varying temperatures, time between snowfalls, the amount of snow and the pitch or terrain you are riding, will shape what kind of ride you might expect on a snurfer. Over time, many different designs of boards have come out to suit the interest of the rider. In Montreal, I've had a fascination with an ideal board than could be dragged along on a city sidewalk covered in snow, hitting the odd snow bank, to get to a local hill. The original snurfer had at times, a fixed aluminum skeg at the back center of the board for stability. Some of the first snowboard had outboard skegs towards the back of the board. All meant to keep the board tracking where the nose was pointed. I figured retractable skegs would make sense, so I tried a few designs without true success. There have been moments when it seemed to work, and others when they were clogged with snow and heavy, that they were more than redundant. Just the same, it's been fun working on different designs, testing them, and reworking them. It's all for fun.

Snurf Ya Later - I'm sooo Jealous

Big ups to the Provo Bros. Awesome footage of Utah backcountry snurfing. The joy and stoke of such a simple and rewarding activity are clear.



"For the last 10 years, Neil and I have been riding boards through the powder without bindings. What started as preseason fun on rails and kickers with the early Premier snowskates, has evolved into a new passion and a new way to experience the powder covered mountains. Without bindings, powder surfing has been like taking a step back in time, providing a timeless feeling that really connects you back to the roots. By de-progressing the boards we ride, we actually opened up a whole new set of challenges and goals. After 22 years of riding on snow, it feels amazing to discover something so new and fresh. If you can't have an indonesian overhead tube, than the next best thing might be a 2500 foot powder pipe in Utah!" - Ian provo

Another Roadside Attraction

Don't go playing in traffic, but I gotta say - Roadsides offer easy access to bountiful snurf runs. This is a great hill for longboarding (skateboard), the sides of which offer some nice snurf lines. Glad we checked it out. Check your local hills for your own roadside attraction.

Snurf and Snowboard

Sometimes you've got to mix it up. A little snurf here, a little snowboarding there.
The joy of snurfing is in the freedom and challenge of not having bindings. It's way more challenging than snowboarding. Snowboarding allows the precision that a solid connecting to your board provides. That same attachment can make your snowboard a plow, a drag, and frankly, boring on not-so-challenging terrain. It's not fair to compare, really. They both have benefits, and weaknesses. Here, we mix it up a bit on a Sunday Morning. Call it Church.

Go Explore

Scouting for terrain and finding the goods is the whole spirit of Snurf.

Life is an adventure, and the rewards for the snurfer are huge. Fresh air, exercise, adventure and reward in it's simplest form.

Fresh Tracks

Urban Snurf Session Montreal

Late Night Suburban Snurf Session