Snowboard to Freebord
One of my major gripes about living in the Midwest is that there is always a huge gap from time snowboarding is over to the time we can get on the water and wakeboard or wakesurf. Not to mention we have to deal with the same gap when we go from the water season to the snow season. I like to call these two gaps Fall and Spring. One of my goals is to fill the gaps, and lucky for you I have found another way to do just that. Have you ever heard of a skateboard/longboard called the Freebord?
Freebord came out with an innovative way to turn longboarding/skateboarding into snowboarding without snow. With this board you can now cruise down a hill like you would on a longboard; however it will now feel like you are on a snowboard. Their goal was to replicate the snowboarding experience and bring snowboarding to dry land. With the freebord you have total speed control, you can slide to a stop, and you can now carve down the hill like you would on the snow. It is hard to put into words how the Freebord system works, but I will take a stab at it.
The Freebord is a skateboard/longboard hybird that is longer than your typical skateboard and it has additional caster wheels positioned behind each of the trucks. The board has special bindings to keep your feet attached to the board, and the bindings also help you preform snowboard type maneuvers down the hill . With the addition of extra caster wheels you will be able to slide sideways down the hill as you would on a snowboard. Like I said, it is hard to explain, but if you can imagine snowboarding down an asphalt or concrete hill, you are well on your way to understanding the freebord experience.
Lucky for me, Youtube was invented, and we have fanatics of the Freebord that have produced a few videos of it in action. Since actions speak louder than words, check out the video, and I will let you decide if this is how you want to shorten the gap all of us in the Midwest fall victim to. Enjoy the video, and I hope to see more people Boarding the Midwest All day, Everyday.
May 9th, 2010 at 2:52 AM
Did u get a frebord? Want to try, but like longboarding it is so flat here I feel it would be a waste of money to buy one…
May 9th, 2010 at 12:45 PM
[...] Snowboard to Freebord | Jonathan Tollefson [...]
May 9th, 2010 at 4:38 PM
David, I do not have a freebord, but I think I have to test this out. MI is completely flat, you are right there. I’m trying to figure out where I could use it? Cruising from top to bottom of Pikes Peak in CO would be fun.
May 10th, 2010 at 5:02 PM
I hear there are some longboarders that cruise some places in GR, and I’m told that parking decks can be good fun, although I don’t know any that are really big enough to be worth the hassle…
I’ve been thinking about getting a longboard for a while, but just haven’t pulled the trigger, mostly because my dog is afraid of skateboards and I just wanted to cruise and have her tow me around town
May 10th, 2010 at 6:02 PM
David, there are also hills at OU that many people longboard down. I guess they are pretty good. This is probably where I would end up going. I have heard of many different people going there to longboard. GR sounds fun also.
Having your dog tow you around would be sweet. I also have not pulled the trigger for many of the same reasons. Just have to do it, but now I think I would go with the freebord.
May 10th, 2010 at 7:14 PM
yeah, thanks for the shoutout man! hit us up if you ever want to get a board… http://www.freebord.com
May 10th, 2010 at 7:55 PM
No problem man! Love the Idea behind your boards.
May 17th, 2010 at 8:20 PM
[...] Snowboard to Freebord | Jonathan Tollefson [...]
June 13th, 2010 at 1:15 PM
Can’t wait for school to be done so I can skate more and more everyday. Also cannot wait for skate day!
June 14th, 2010 at 8:00 AM
Skate Guy, I hope you are done with school very soon so you can get out and skate! Keep us posted on the Skate day also!!
June 16th, 2010 at 2:07 AM
I prefer to use a drop-through deck
June 16th, 2010 at 7:14 PM
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June 18th, 2010 at 3:27 PM
Hey man, was just looking through the internet searching for some info on this and stumbled your post. I am very impressed by the info that you have posted. It definitely shows how well you understand this. Bookmarked this page for further reading, will come back for more.
June 18th, 2010 at 3:30 PM
Do you use the drop-through deck for higher speeds? What is the reason you prefer it? The Freebord looks like so much fun. Still looking into one for myself. Thanks for the comment!