Split boards new at Brighton

The guys in Brighton’s repair shop hunker together over a pattern on which they’re tediously making precise marks. On the counter, there’s a two-part snowboard. The board had been split down the middle making it look somewhat like a pair of skis.

“What is it?” I asked.

“It’s a split-board,” they said, and we’ve gotten approval from the resort to start splitting riders’ boards. The boards are then mounted with a special binding that can be positioned for climbing and then repositioned for riding. One board with one binding does it all.

Going into the untamed backcountry has been possible for skiers for eons. They put climbing skins on their skis and go. But riders are locked into place on one board making it impossible to walk that way. Sometimes riders snowshoe uphill, switch gear, and ride down. But lugging the board uphill is just as annoying as riding down with snowshoes strapped to their backs.

Split boards are becoming popular with hard core backcountry users, but buying a split board is quite pricey, the Brighton shop team said. What’s more, those brands of manufactured split boards probably won’t have the flex and flow of a rider’s own board.

The result: Some shops are now splitting riders’ boards. Brighton is one of them.

To start, the calculations must be precise. The boards are meticulously split. The raw edges are sealed. Then the combination climbing/riding binding is mounted according to each rider’s stance and preference.

The Brighton shop team agreed it’s a bit like brain surgery. You’d better know what you’re doing, and once you start cutting there’s no turning back. It has to be done exactly right.

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Photo credit: Harriet Wallis

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