How to store your snowboard gear over summer

Winter is over and your snowboard equipment deserves a little break. Before you just put it all away, it’s time to give your equipment some love. Your equipment ultimately deserves the proper care after all the sweaty deep powder adventures and days at the park, because that's the only way for it to live up to its potential next season.

Together with Life in White, we have created a Guide to proper storage of your snowboard equipment, because if anyone knows what is important, it is Laura and Gabriel. Laura and Gabriel have been chasing the snow in their motorhome for more than 10 years and spend 200 days a year on their boards. Even if these two only have to store their equipment for a very short amount of time, it is still very important to them to do it properly, to not only extend the life of the equipment, but also to be ready to go at any time. After all, what could be worse than discovering at the beginning of the season that a part of your binding is still missing or that your jacket has a hole and your board is rusting away. But don't worry. With Life in White's tips, you can be sure this won't happen to you!

One of the first and most important steps is to remove any dirt from your snowboard boots. Once you've done that, you should take out the inside of your shoe and the insole. The best thing to do is dry the boots outside in the sun when it's warm outside. Otherwise you can put them in a suitable place in your home to dry (such as a window sill).

Tip: To give your boots the necessary freshness and a pleasant smell, we swear by the use of a shoe powder - and you'll never have smelly feet again!

Before you put your goggles away, you should definitely clean them properly one last time with a lens cleaning cloth. If the goggles are pretty dirty, make sure you use a suitable lens cleaning solution to avoid streaks or scratches. Afterwards, it is best to store your goggles in a case and put them inside your helmet for double the protection.

This is also the time to wash your face masks. Please note: If you have an MFI face mask, be sure to remove the magnetic frame before putting the face mask in the washing machine.

Before you start cleaning your clothes, you should thoroughly examine everything for holes and damage and fix them first. Down jackets in particular tear easily due to the high-quality but delicate material. This is why we've put together a guide for you here about how you can patch a down jacket.

Once everything is checked, it's time to wash it because even your Gore-Tex clothing should definitely be cleaned again before storing it. This will not only help it to smell nice, but will also improve the water-repellent capabilities of your clothing. However, there are a few things to consider:

• Be sure to use a detergent suitable for Gore-Tex clothing and follow the washing instructions on your clothing's tag
• Close all zippers and buttons before putting them in the washing machine
• You can then give your Gore-Tex clothing the finishing touch with a waterproofing spray before you tumble dry it at a low temperature

You will find detailed instructions on how to properly care for your Gore-Tex clothing here.

If you have leather gloves, it is extremely important that you take good care of the leather. Care not only extends the life of your leather equipment, it also makes the leather more supple and comfortable to wear. In general, leather products should be washed as little as possible as this damages the leather, and only hand washed if necessary:

• Put on a glove and hold it under lukewarm water to remove minor soiling
• Rinse the inside lightly, but be careful not to squeeze or twist the gloves
• Dry the gloves gently with a towel and then hang them upside down in a warm room away from direct sunlight and heat. It is best to put the gloves on a bottle or stick (better ventilation) so that the rest of the water can evaporate even better
• Once your gloves are dry, it's time to wax them to avoid brittle cracks and to restore the natural suppleness to the leather

Our tip: We prefer Nikwax wax on our leather gloves.

To make sure that you are ready to go next season, you should take a close look at your freeride backpack, remove any forgotten granola bars and enjoy any cash you find tucked away.

• Remove the batteries in your avalanche safety device
• Check the rest of your equipment to make sure there isn't any damage to the backpack, shovel or the probe since you have the whole summer to repair equipment
• Especially for avalanche backpacks, you should make sure that no tears or other damage occurred during the season and carefully check the trigger, airbag and cartridge system. Before the start of the new season, we advise you to perform a dry release to ensure that everything works correctly.

Now we've come to one of the most important points: Your snowboard.

• Remove the binding from your board and check all movable parts: Screws, straps, buckles
  Tip: You can mark the settings of your binding with a pen so that you don't forget them over the summer
• We use tape to affix the screws to the binding so they don't get lost

• For all splitboard owners: Dry your skins and never just stick them together. Otherwise they will lose their adhesive power. Use mesh or film for this. You should also check your crampons and poles once more for any damage.
• Then it's time to clean your board to remove dirt, grease or old wax
• Check your edges and touch up any minor defects with a file. To all splitboarders: Be sure to take the board apart and check all 4 edges.
• Apply plenty of wax to the entire base and edges. Don't be stingy, because this is the most important part of your board. The wax stays on your board all summer to protect it from damage
• Store your board in a dry place that is not exposed to direct sunlight. It's best to put it in a snowboard bag. This way it is protected and ready for the next season!

You can read through all the steps for the proper care and storage of your board in detail here.

Now that you have everything perfectly stowed away, you can relax and prepare for the next season since you are probably just like us and can't wait to wake your snowboard from its summer sleep. Just take a look at our winter sale and grab one or two of your favorite items and start planning your next adventure in the snow. Here is some inspiration to pass the time: