A week or so ago, Jeff Boliba from Burton came to visit and he brought a truck load of toys. Most of these “toys” were for 3-7 year olds. We geared them up with special mini boots, boards, and bindings and set them loose on the Burton kids park which had been set up the night before.
The park had a flat ground loop/track for towing kids around, a mini-pipe, a bordercross type feature with a roller, a berm, and even a box. It was pretty sweet seeing these kids learning how
to snowboard by hitting features (Burton calls this terrain based learning). No rope tows or lifts, just grommets shredding it up.
Most of the boards had a special new technology called a riglet. Basically, its a retractable tow line so you can pull the kids around while they get a feel for sliding over the snow.
Check out this short promo vid and keep your eyes peeled for a longer more detailed version coming out in the near future.
If you want to get your hands on some of this “mini-shred” gear click here for the boys collection and here for the girls stuff.
catch ya,
Nev and the Snowboard Addiction team
This is so sick. I have to say that Burton are doing such a good job with developing the way that snowboarding is taught.
I worked a season at the Burton Academy at Northstar, it’s definitely the boost that the sport needs. Teaching 3-7 year olds to snowboard using traditional methods is impossible, especially with groups. Anything that makes learning easier has to be a good thing.