First off I’d like to introduce myself. My name is Austin Hrzic. I am 27 years old. I was born in raised in sunny south Florida until I was 21 years old. I grew up skateboarding, wakeboarding, skimboarding, windsurfing, kayak surfing. Basically anything to do with the water or a board and I’m there! Fast forward to March 2015 I moved out to the Washington State ( The great PNW – Pacific Northwest). I was stationed in the US Navy on Whidbey Island there for 5 ½ years. In those 5 ½ years I was sent to Japan which is where I learned how to snowboard! The minute I was on a snowboard I was hooked… and there was nothing else I wanted to do more than to be back out on the mountain riding. I rode almost everyday while working full time so that I could progress and get better at my newly found passion. I progressed fast due to my dedication and determination to ride hard, fast and as much as I could. In 2016/2017 I picked up my first sponsor! NOBADAY SNOWBOARDS! They have given me the ability to ride more, progress faster and give me the right tools necessary to succeed on and off the mountain. But more importantly follow my dreams and passions!
Now that you know a little bit about me and who I am. Lets get down to business! Now, It is very important that your shred stick is up to par before you hit the mountain! There’s nothing worse than getting on the mountain riding down and getting stuck on a flat spot, hiking out all because you didn’t take the time to get your board ready! I will give you 7 Easy steps to keep you fast and flowing smoothly on the mountain.
- Make sure you have the proper tools to wax your board!
- Waxing Iron (snowboard specific or regular iron)
- Wax ( the right wax for the right temperatures you will be riding) It should say on the box or bag of wax you are buying.
- Wax scraper
- Waxing brushes
- Find the right place to wax your board!
- Remember to make waxing fun. Just like riding waxing can be a good time too. Invite some friends over put on a snowboard movie and enjoy getting to know your snowboard a little bit better! But of course practice safe social distancing!
- It’s important to have the right place to wax your board because it can be messy while applying wax and scraping the wax off your board.
- You can lay your snowboard on the ground, bottom up or you can use saw horses or special mounting brackets made for waxing to apply wax to your shred stick.
- Clean your base the right way!
- Make sure you wipe down and clean the bottom of your snowboard before you apply wax.
- You can take rubbing alcohol and a clean rag or clothe to clean the bottom and remove old wax.
- The alcohol will also open up the pores of the snowboard to absorb the wax better. Which will essentially make you faster!
- Applying wax!
- First you take out your iron out and let it heat up. The perfect temperature for your iron is 120-140 degrees F. If you don’t have a snowboard iron. Heat up your iron so that the wax melts but does not smoke!
- If you heat up your wax too much it will be hard for your board to absorb it properly.
- Press and hold the wax onto your hot iron and let it drip down onto your board.
- Drip the wax evenly across the board from tip to tail.
- Then press your iron onto the base of the board and spread the wax evenly across your snowboard until its completely covered.
5. CHILING
- Now that you have applied your wax, Crack a cold one or a juice box and let your wax cool down and absorb into your snowboard!
- Leave your board at room temperature for about 30 minutes or until the base is cool to the touch until you start scraping.
- While we are here I will tell you that its good to wax your snowboard after 3 full days of riding. This also depends on how hard and how long you ride for. Wax should last you quite a while though!
6.SCRAPING
- Tip to Tail! Always scrape your wax off in the direction your board will be moving. So keep that in mind when you get into this step!
- Take your plastic scraper and hold it at a 45 degree angle. You will want to do long slow strokes down your board until all the excess wax is off!
- Don’t forget to scrape the wax of the metal edges of your snowboard as it can give you problems while riding.
- Once you have removed all the excess wax you will want to take your brush and run it yes! From Tip to tail. This will create lines down your board for snow/water to flow through. Making you faster and smoother on the mountain!
- GO SHRED YOUR LOCAL MOUNTAIN!
- Now that you have finished waxing, its time for you to enjoy all your hard work!
- Get on the mountain and see how fast your fresh new shred stick is!