Louif Paradis' top 5 tips to get ready for the snow season
It’s officially here! Snow season that is… We’ve all seen the glorious images of big fat flakes hitting us from Tahoe to Tirol and now it’s time to get our heads, bodies, and equipment into the game. You know what they say: a little preparation goes a long way, and never a truer word was said than when it comes to prepping for the mountains. We checked in with our man, Canadian pro-snowboarder Louis-Felix Paradis, to see how he approaches the snowy months ahead and what we can all learn from his seasoned ways.
photo: Oli Gagnon
EQUIPMENT
When the leaves start falling here and I see the first flakes coming down, I get all excited and I go put my gear together. I'll wax my board, make sure the bindings are still in shape, try my boots on, etc. You can basically pretend like you're going snowboarding, that way, if you're missing a piece, you can go get it without being stressed. One time, I was with a bunch of friends and it was our first day riding Whistler peak, and I got to the top and I realized I had put my bindings on totally wrong. I had to make my friends wait and change it all up while freezing my fingers off!! You want to avoid those situations.
photo: Oli Gagnon
BODY
In the fall I try to reactivate my legs and body. I go biking and skating quite a bit. This year, my friend had to rehab his leg after a femur fracture and I decided to go with him. We went to see a trainer 5 days a week for a month straight and it was the best thing I could have done. Our knees take a lot of impact and they start to get loose at some point, so you want to make sure the muscles around them are strong and can hold strong. The same goes for the back and shoulders.
photo: Oli Gagnon
MENTALITY
In the summer my mind is somewhere else. It's warm and it's time for all the other activities. But then, with the cold temp, the focus comes back naturally. I start daydreaming about snow days and start visualizing old and new tricks that I'd like to do during the season. I also watch the new videos that are coming out on Itunes and get inspired by my favorite riders.
photo: Oli Gagnon
LOGISTICS
In order to find good riding locations, I usually start with the weather forecast websites: wunderground.com is a good one, snowforecast.com too. Then I also google search for live webcams (often traffic webcams) for the location, to see how it already looks over there. For example, sometimes we can see that it's gonna snow a foot in Helsinki, but if there isn't anything on the ground yet, we might need more for it to be worth flying out there. One other thing I use is Google map and Google Earth to see how the terrain looks out there. Is it hilly or is it flat? This is especially important for places I've never been to before.
photo: Oli Gagnon
LOGISTICS
In order to find good riding locations, I usually start with the weather forecast websites: wunderground.com is a good one, snowforecast.com too. Then I also google search for live webcams (often traffic webcams) for the location, to see how it already looks over there. For example, sometimes we can see that it's gonna snow a foot in Helsinki, but if there isn't anything on the ground yet, we might need more for it to be worth flying out there. One other thing I use is Google map and Google Earth to see how the terrain looks out there. Is it hilly or is it flat? This is especially important for places I've never been to before.
Follow Louif at @whatelze