If you can picture a snowboard sliced down the center but then latched back together, that’s basically what a splitboard looks like. The two pieces come apart, too, almost as if they were skis, but it still clearly looks like two equal pieces of a snowboard.
Splitboarding is a fairly new snow sport, and Edgar Rivera, sales associate at Bobo’s Mogul Mouse Ski & Patio, showed me some of the boards Bobo’s sells, explaining that it’s popular in the area.
“One of the newest things that’s making a real footprint right now is splitboarding,” Rivera said. “This is for the guy that wants to go even further than his snowmobile is going to take him—way in the backcountry. Backcountry is a big thing in the last few years for skiing and snowboarding.”
As he took the two pieces apart, he showed me the logistics of the splitboard.
“You take it apart … and use them almost like skis. You put what’s called skins on them. … If you run your hand down [the skin], it’s smooth in one direction and rough the other direction. That’s so you can actually ascend on the snow. There’s special binding plates that are made for your bindings or step-in boots. With the binders, you just pop them off and re-assemble them for a snowboard.”
The skins attach to the under side of each ski-like piece of the splitboard giving you more traction in the snow. The boots or bindings can be faced in a sideways stance—like for snowboarding—or front facing on each “ski.”
At Bobo’s, Rivera said they carry brands like K2, Burton, GNU and Jones. And he mentioned that it might be a good idea to go for lighter weight equipment when possible for splitboarding because you’re often carrying it all.
Some of the equipment needed for splitboarding is more obvious, like all the typical snow gear you would wear when snowboarding or skiing, but since splitboarding takes you to the backcountry, you need a little bit more than that. Rivera showed me a starter pack for splitboarding that included a shovel, gear pack and probe. He said these along with transponders and avalanche beacons are some gear that every splitboarder should have in the backcountry. Poles—preferably lightweight and collapsible—are also necessary.
Referencing a personal loss of a friend to an avalanche accident at a ski resort, Rivera said that preparation for the worst is key, especially in the backcountry.
“Getting caught in a situation like that [an avalanche], you definitely want to be prepared and you want the people around you prepared as well. The last thing you want is somebody in your group that didn’t have all their stuff. … You want to be prepared if you are going to be there overnight or a few days. Always, always be prepared. You can also take avalanche safety courses.”