DIY Logging

By Thomas Naab…Unfortunately all good things come to an end. To the vast majority of snowboarders this happens every spring when the lifts shut down. This is the perfect time to explore your mountain and get it ready for winter. While the park crews spend summers wearing welding masks and bending metal, you should be gathering some friends and going logging.Building log slides has a few big upsides.

First you can get “extreme” where you want, from misty spots on your mountain to your local sledding hill. Secondly, security guards and police don’t patrol the woods and won’t bother you and your friends out here. (If they do spot you, they’ll most likely assume you’re doing “that thing they saw on the X-Games.”) Lastly, you’re only limited by your imagination (and skill).

You can build anything from classic Vail rainbows to A-frames, Battleships, and even ridiculous down-flat-down-flat-downers.IMPORTANT ASPECTS OF LOGGING:The most important part of building log slides is location. You need to find a place that is secret, has a good pitch, and some wood nearby.It’s best to keep things as natural as possible. For example, if there’s a broken tree in a good spot you can use the trunk as a support and not have to build one yourself. Look around your area for deadfall as it can be used for supports as long as it isn’t rotten.

You don’t need that many tools. Just remember: electric chainsaws are virtually silent and will help your location remain a mystery!Basic Tools:• Saw• Rope• Nails• Hammer• Shovel• HatchetAdvanced Tools:• Draw Knife• Axe• Electric ChainsawUse the shovel to dig a hole in the ground for the support(s). Remember: less is more. Taking a support to the shin sucks, but it really sucks when the support isn’t necessary in the first place.Make sure the support is sturdy and notched out to fit the slide. If you do need to use some nails, countersink them and don’t over-do it. Nails can take your board’s edges faster than a stripper can take your money.Using rope and some deadfall, you can use the log’s own weight to hold it down (e.g for rainbows).

Putting some branches and smaller logs in the front will help the snow naturally pile up into a good transition.The draw knife or axe/hatchet edge should be used to clean the top surface to prevent the ever-painful-yet-hilarious “scorpion plant.” If you are building something overhead remember to do this before you can’t reach it.The last thing to keep in mind is that you are building without snow on the ground. Anything you build now will be buried under at least a midget’s worth of the white stuff, so that “huge log slide” you were talking about won’t be nearly as “sick” as you said it was.As you are out getting after your new log slides remember to keep them a secret.

Why should the world reap the fruits of your labor? Invite only.What are you waiting for? Go build it, name it, and full-pull it. Going logging this summer will make the shredding that much more fun next winter—we guarantee it.

A good axe will get you a long way.

Trim the edge or risk a painful impact.

Bendin’ her over.

The Payoff