| The summer months are the hardest for | | | | blades they are not strapped to the rider's feet, this |
| snowboarders to keep up their skills for the slopes. | | | | offers an added bonus to riders by allowing them to |
| But there are a number of alternatives to help you | | | | achieve high levels of traction on the flats and uphill |
| practice and hone your boarding abilities once the | | | | providing a wide range of locations that are suitable |
| snow has melted. | | | | for the skates. |
| We don't all have the luxury of jetting off to New | | | | Freeline Skates cost £85 a pair and spare |
| Zealand and Chile to indulge in the alternate snow | | | | wheels are priced at £25. |
| season, some of us are stuck in the UK and stranded | | | | Mountain Boards |
| on dry land. So, here are four alternatives which | | | | Mountain Boards are often described as offroad |
| promise to give you skills and thrills of snowboarding, | | | | skateboards. They carve like snowboards and can be |
| without a trip to the rockies. | | | | ridden on grass, dirt and tarmac. |
| Snowboard Simulator | | | | While mountain boards can be pushed up a hill they |
| Snowboard simulators are a piece of apparatus | | | | are intended for downhill use mostly. Mountain Boards |
| designed to allow the user to simulate the action of a | | | | are viewed as an alternative to snowboarding, the |
| snowboard, often used during dry land training. | | | | dry land alternative to surfing and wakeboarding, and |
| Often found in amusement arcades or available for | | | | the off road alternative to skateboarding. |
| hire from many outdoor entertainment retailers, | | | | From carving to freestyle to boardercross, this |
| snowboard simulators are a fun way to get on a | | | | exciting piece of equipment really does offer a dry |
| board and enjoy the feeling of riding the slopes | | | | land riding experience. It replaces snow with dirt and |
| without covering any ground. | | | | builds on the premise of skateboarding with its four |
| The simulator tests your balance and coordination | | | | wheels and snowboarding with its foot bindings and |
| skills and challenges you to ride downhill and off piste | | | | riding stance. |
| as it tests your agility. Riders stand on the electronic | | | | All terrain boards (ATB) costs more than a |
| snowboard and are challenged to move in unison with | | | | skateboard but are far less expensive than a high |
| the board, requiring good coordination and first class | | | | quality bike. Most mountain boards are £200 or |
| core stability. | | | | less. After-market parts are on the cheap-side too. |
| This is not the easiest piece of equipment to master | | | | Mountain boards are fairly simple with few |
| and it certainly doesn't come cheap. If you were to | | | | maintenance needs. |
| buy a snowboard simulator it would set you back | | | | Xscape |
| several thousand pounds and to hire the equipment | | | | With some of the country's biggest real snow slopes, |
| you are looking at a rate ranging from £300 to | | | | boarders may want to take a trip to one of the |
| £600 for just a few hours. | | | | three UK based Xscape centres. Xscape Milton |
| Freeline Skates | | | | Keynes, Braehead and Castleford offer the ideal |
| Freeline Skates utilise the same movements as | | | | place to brush up your boarding skills out of season. |
| snowboarding and can be used on normal slopes, not | | | | It may seem a little far fetched, but these slopes |
| just ones of the dry or artificial snow variety. | | | | come complete with real, fresh snow. It's the nearest |
| The skates are dual independent skates that | | | | thing you'll get to the white stuff indoors, short of |
| combine elements of skateboarding, surfing and | | | | shipping back a mountain on your next boarding |
| snowboarding. | | | | holiday. |
| Freeline Skates offer a new experience for | | | | The centres offer lessons, a beginners' area and |
| snowboarders, which requires them to utilise existing | | | | dedicated Freestyle nights for you to hit some rails, |
| skills and transfer them to a new manner of riding. | | | | jibb the slide box and get some air off the jumps |
| These provide a challenging and innovative way to | | | | and pipes. |
| carve big turns and invent new tricks, all on dry land. | | | | Freestyle sessions are every Thursday and Friday |
| Freeline Skates are ridden in a similar manner to a | | | | from 7pm to11pm. A two hour Freestlye session will |
| snowboard with riders shifting their weight from heel | | | | set you back £25 if you're an adult and |
| to toe to change direction allowing them to carve | | | | £20 for children, add £10 for an extra two |
| smooth 'S' turns while riding downhill. | | | | hours. |
| The skates are independent, but unlike skates and | | | | |