What you wish you knew before starting street skiing

rojo.grande

rojo.grande

Active member
This winter is gonna be a banger up in maine. Got some things lined up with north coast and looking forward to filming and editing a full season street cut with my current little crew. That being said, I’ve only been out in the streets a couple times. If you’re a street skier, what did you wish you knew before getting deeper involved?

obviously the things about spot selection, speed (bungee already acquired), making/ freezing lips, shoveling stairs off, bringing hi-viz while shoveling are known and apply. But does anyone have some slight (or major) things they do to make missions go as smoothly as possible?
 
if you’re the filmer expect to have to pester some of the skiers you’re gonna want to film constantly to go actually hit the spots. this isn’t always the case for everyone though.
 
14454410:Jems said:
if you’re the filmer expect to have to pester some of the skiers you’re gonna want to film constantly to go actually hit the spots. this isn’t always the case for everyone though.
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Hahahaha I got a feeling this is gonna be the hardest part. My rule is first round on me for whoever gets clips. Good ol alcohol for risking personal safety bargain
 
Started to hit some spots finally this winter.

good to have some kind of scraper or light sandpaper or even rub on wax to take care of bases when they start to get trashed by concrete. Was hitting this mini ledge spot and by the end of the sesh my skis would barely slide the snow cus they got so trashed from the concrete
 
14454414:weastcoat said:
Started to hit some spots finally this winter.

good to have some kind of scraper or light sandpaper or even rub on wax to take care of bases when they start to get trashed by concrete. Was hitting this mini ledge spot and by the end of the sesh my skis would barely slide the snow cus they got so trashed from the concrete
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I thought of wax but bringing a stone to help smooth ledges out is A1. Thanks voy10
 
14454415:rojo.grande said:
I thought of wax but bringing a stone to help smooth ledges out is A1. Thanks voy10
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That too. Definitely going to have to cop some kind of tool for smoothing them down. You see what Emmett posted in one of the threads? He mentioned some kind of sandpaper handheld tool that would make any concrete slidable.
 
14454421:weastcoat said:
That too. Definitely going to have to cop some kind of tool for smoothing them down. You see what Emmett posted in one of the threads? He mentioned some kind of sandpaper handheld tool that would make any concrete slidable.
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I saw exactly what u talkin ab but I don’t remember what it’s called. Sure a quick Home Depot run would have me set tho
 
14454421:weastcoat said:
That too. Definitely going to have to cop some kind of tool for smoothing them down. You see what Emmett posted in one of the threads? He mentioned some kind of sandpaper handheld tool that would make any concrete slidable.
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14454446:rojo.grande said:
I saw exactly what u talkin ab but I don’t remember what it’s called. Sure a quick Home Depot run would have me set tho
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1048192.jpeg

This is the thing emmet was talking about. [tag=238526]@rojo.grande[/tag] if you are in Maine, Gagne in belgrade is a masonry supply store and will always have these
 
First thing I wish I knew- it can be 100% fun and chill, doesn’t need to be some covert operation all the time.

Something I wish everyone knew- you don’t need artificial speed to ski street. Bungees, winches, wooden drop ins get a lot of shine because it’s something different and more noticeable when you watch a cut. Some of the best clips and all of my favorite spots only use natural speed. First find hills, then find spots.

then something I want people to keep in mind, be polite as long as possible and always clean up your spots.
 
14454462:-Dan said:
First thing I wish I knew- it can be 100% fun and chill, doesn’t need to be some covert operation all the time.

Something I wish everyone knew- you don’t need artificial speed to ski street. Bungees, winches, wooden drop ins get a lot of shine because it’s something different and more noticeable when you watch a cut. Some of the best clips and all of my favorite spots only use natural speed. First find hills, then find spots.

then something I want people to keep in mind, be polite as long as possible and always clean up your spots.
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Take nothing but clips, leave nothing but footprints. All about this.

a bunch of spots are in Bangor which has a ton of natty speed, excited to use the bungee but not banking on it by any means. Hopefully gonna have a nice mix of chill clips and some heaters, for sure gonna be skate full length inspired. As always, thanks Dan!
 
Make good plans and always have a couple of spots lined up, in case the first one, the second one or even the third one doesn't work. The best is the check out the spots you wanna hit beforehand, so that you don't have any surprises. Building the spot properly so that you have the right amount of speed is key too.

I made tutorials about street skiing for an internship I did with NS 2 years ago, they're up on their youtube under "How to Ski Street". They're more basic but they might be helpful.

In the end i'd say the key with street is to not get discouraged. It can be pretty hard sometimes and you might have a couple of spots in a row that won't work, but if you keep doing it and ask yourself why that spot didn't work, it will lead somewhere

**This post was edited on Aug 10th 2022 at 6:50:00am

**This post was edited on Aug 10th 2022 at 6:50:24am
 
Every spot is always going to be more difficult than you think. Speed might be difficult to get, the build takes longer than you think, getting a trick you do regularly in the park takes way more tries. I found that every aspect of street skiing was more difficult than I thought it was lol, but the reward is so worth it. Scout spots ahead of time and come in with a plan. Snacks are helpful, and post-spot pizza is a necessity with my crew.
 
14454504:fredyferl said:
Make good plans and always have a couple of spots lined up, in case the first one, the second one or even the third one doesn't work. The best is the check out the spots you wanna hit beforehand, so that you don't have any surprises. Building the spot properly so that you have the right amount of speed is key too.

I made tutorials about street skiing for an internship I did with NS 2 years ago, they're up on their youtube under "How to Ski Street". They're more basic but they might be helpful.

In the end i'd say the key with street is to not get discouraged. It can be pretty hard sometimes and you might have a couple of spots in a row that won't work, but if you keep doing it and ask yourself why that spot didn't work, it will lead somewhere

**This post was edited on Aug 10th 2022 at 6:50:00am

**This post was edited on Aug 10th 2022 at 6:50:24am
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14454531:Dlonetti said:
Every spot is always going to be more difficult than you think. Speed might be difficult to get, the build takes longer than you think, getting a trick you do regularly in the park takes way more tries. I found that every aspect of street skiing was more difficult than I thought it was lol, but the reward is so worth it. Scout spots ahead of time and come in with a plan. Snacks are helpful, and post-spot pizza is a necessity with my crew.
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Thanks goin to both of you!! We been scoping since last semester last year, it’s interesting bc some of the homies have their own list of spots / not all of us have seen each spot so I’m excited for the depth of choices we’ve got rollin at the moment. Bottom line is someone has laid eyes on each potential spot in person, for sure crucial.

to the second point, a few of us have hit more legit spots n all of us have been out in the streets before, and I think we’ve all come to terms w the difficulty factor going in. Preciate the feedback!!
 
14454535:rojo.grande said:
Thanks goin to both of you!! We been scoping since last semester last year, it’s interesting bc some of the homies have their own list of spots / not all of us have seen each spot so I’m excited for the depth of choices we’ve got rollin at the moment. Bottom line is someone has laid eyes on each potential spot in person, for sure crucial.

to the second point, a few of us have hit more legit spots n all of us have been out in the streets before, and I think we’ve all come to terms w the difficulty factor going in. Preciate the feedback!!
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Sounds like its gonna be a good season, looking forward to see the results!
 
14454610:Farmville420 said:
You need way more speed than you think if you don’t have a bungee or winch. Pam works well as rail grease.
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We’ve got a bungee thankfully, natty speed spots will be saved for anything with a big enough incline. like in this clip of my homie Teddy from BONK[video]https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/1048236/trim-CD7D2134-7704-4D84-8A9D-2E96914FE4F0-MOV[/video]
 
Bang 'er? I hardly know her

14454463:rojo.grande said:
Take nothing but clips, leave nothing but footprints. All about this.

a bunch of spots are in Bangor which has a ton of natty speed, excited to use the bungee but not banking on it by any means. Hopefully gonna have a nice mix of chill clips and some heaters, for sure gonna be skate full length inspired. As always, thanks Dan!
Click to expand...
 
14454614:rojo.grande said:
We’ve got a bungee thankfully, natty speed spots will be saved for anything with a big enough incline. like in this clip of my homie Teddy from BONK[video]https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/1048236/trim-CD7D2134-7704-4D84-8A9D-2E96914FE4F0-MOV[/video]
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I fux with this clip
 
Everything will take longer than you expect. Be prepared to spend a whole day at a spot.

You won't always get a clip at a sesh, even filming all day. Don't let it discourage you.

Know where the nearest hospital is.

Charge your batteries, transfer and back up your footage every time you have a chance.

Avoid watching clips at the spot. The more you play footage directly from your card, the more chances for weird shit happening to the card (corrupted files etc.) Plus it kills your battery.

Invest in some good lights, you can even get small battery operated ones if you don't have a genny in your budget.

Carry a first aid kit, file, screwdriver for bindings, drinking water, snacks, duct tape and zip ties. A battery operated grinder can really come in handy too.
 
14454715:skiP.E.I. said:
Everything will take longer than you expect. Be prepared to spend a whole day at a spot.

You won't always get a clip at a sesh, even filming all day. Don't let it discourage you.

Know where the nearest hospital is.

Charge your batteries, transfer and back up your footage every time you have a chance.

Avoid watching clips at the spot. The more you play footage directly from your card, the more chances for weird shit happening to the card (corrupted files etc.) Plus it kills your battery.

Invest in some good lights, you can even get small battery operated ones if you don't have a genny in your budget.

Carry a first aid kit, file, screwdriver for bindings, drinking water, snacks, duct tape and zip ties. A battery operated grinder can really come in handy too.
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Insane. This right here. Massive ups for this
 
14454614:rojo.grande said:
We’ve got a bungee thankfully, natty speed spots will be saved for anything with a big enough incline. like in this clip of my homie Teddy from BONK[video]https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/1048236/trim-CD7D2134-7704-4D84-8A9D-2E96914FE4F0-MOV[/video]
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Fire clip
 
14454531:Dlonetti said:
Snacks are helpful, and post-spot pizza is a necessity with my crew.
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OP is from CT so this won’t work. Number one rule of being from Connecticut is that you don’t eat pizza outside of CT.

Rule number 2 is when the homies will go out to pizza and you either don’t order anything and tell them they’re tasteless maggots or you break rule 1, eat the pizza, and bitch about it being trash the whole time.
 
14454722:Farmville420 said:
OP is from CT so this won’t work. Number one rule of being from Connecticut is that you don’t eat pizza outside of CT.

Rule number 2 is when the homies will go out to pizza and you either don’t order anything and tell them they’re tasteless maggots or you break rule 1, eat the pizza, and bitch about it being trash the whole time.
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Deep dish guy?
 
For rails a battery powered angle grinder can be clutch to quickly smooth and remove rust. Property owners may go ape shit though.
 
Further tips: as the filmer you have to know when the riders need encouragement and props to push through, but you also have to know when to shut up and stay out of the way. Always depends on the person.

Also if you're going to be in Maine, you should come up to Canada!
 
14454722:Farmville420 said:
OP is from CT so this won’t work. Number one rule of being from Connecticut is that you don’t eat pizza outside of CT.

Rule number 2 is when the homies will go out to pizza and you either don’t order anything and tell them they’re tasteless maggots or you break rule 1, eat the pizza, and bitch about it being trash the whole time.
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There's just something about inhaling a mediocre pizza after hours of hiking a rail in the cold.
 
14454754:Dlonetti said:
There's just something about inhaling a mediocre pizza after hours of hiking a rail in the cold.
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Sitting in the McDonald’s with the XXXXL snow pants and tall t on is a pristine experience so I imagine it’s just as good at some place called “Angelo’s pizza” ran by a guy named Nathan Richardson
 
14454781:Farmville420 said:
Sitting in the McDonald’s with the XXXXL snow pants and tall t on is a pristine experience so I imagine it’s just as good at some place called “Angelo’s pizza” ran by a guy named Nathan Richardson
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Damn you really hate CT pizza huh

pepes, Sally’s, modern, bar, zuppardi’s etc are all so bomb and the majority have been there longer than we’ve been alive. There’s a reason why it was coined the pizza capitol. I’m no snob I’ll enjoy me a slice anywhere, but a lotta the time coming from new haven pie to something else you can tell how processed other shit is comparatively
 
14454782:rojo.grande said:
Damn you really hate CT pizza huh

pepes, Sally’s, modern, bar, zuppardi’s etc are all so bomb and the majority have been there longer than we’ve been alive. There’s a reason why it was coined the pizza capitol. I’m no snob I’ll enjoy me a slice anywhere, but a lotta the time coming from new haven pie to something else you can tell how processed other shit is comparatively
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i had pepes two weeks ago
 
14454782:rojo.grande said:
Damn you really hate CT pizza huh

pepes, Sally’s, modern, bar, zuppardi’s etc are all so bomb and the majority have been there longer than we’ve been alive. There’s a reason why it was coined the pizza capitol. I’m no snob I’ll enjoy me a slice anywhere, but a lotta the time coming from new haven pie to something else you can tell how processed other shit is comparatively
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Wait what, I love CT pizza I used to eat Sally’s weekly lol. I wasn’t being sarcastic about the not eating pizza outside CT thing, I had “the best pie on Mission Hill” in Boston and gagged on site, non CT pizza is unbearable
 
Right near there there's a spot that was in harvest. Kinda between two parts of the old fort thing there. They used it as a halfpipe, stalling the concrete. There's also a gap to down rail that runs out into Willard Beach which could make for a cool clip.

14454614:rojo.grande said:
We’ve got a bungee thankfully, natty speed spots will be saved for anything with a big enough incline. like in this clip of my homie Teddy from BONK[video]https://www.newschoolers.com/videos/watch/1048236/trim-CD7D2134-7704-4D84-8A9D-2E96914FE4F0-MOV[/video]
Click to expand...
 
14454788:Farmville420 said:
Wait what, I love CT pizza I used to eat Sally’s weekly lol. I wasn’t being sarcastic about the not eating pizza outside CT thing, I had “the best pie on Mission Hill” in Boston and gagged on site, non CT pizza is unbearable
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Oh bro I interpreted that the exact opposite way lmfao you a real one
 
14454795:Celery said:
Right near there there's a spot that was in harvest. Kinda between two parts of the old fort thing there. They used it as a halfpipe, stalling the concrete. There's also a gap to down rail that runs out into Willard Beach which could make for a cool clip.
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YEA YO LFG
 
If you’re using a Banshee or any other type of bungee make sure to stay out of the bungees path of destruction. Seen too many dudes get their legs swept out, hit in the nuts or just bodied by rogue bungees at the spot.

not like a groundbreaking tip or anything but getting bodied by a bungee that took 2-3 dudes to pull back is never chill.
 
Bungees low-key scare the hell outta me. Don't even mention old lift cables

14454817:Young_patty said:
If you’re using a Banshee or any other type of bungee make sure to stay out of the bungees path of destruction. Seen too many dudes get their legs swept out, hit in the nuts or just bodied by rogue bungees at the spot.

not like a groundbreaking tip or anything but getting bodied by a bungee that took 2-3 dudes to pull back is never chill.
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Filmer gloves. Have some smaller gloves to put under your mints that u can still work a camera with. Absolute lifesaver when you’re stuck at a spot for 5 hours
 
14454903:ryanbrueninghaus said:
Filmer gloves. Have some smaller gloves to put under your mints that u can still work a camera with. Absolute lifesaver when you’re stuck at a spot for 5 hours
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Secured. Ready to freeze my ass off and clip you up when the time comes
 
14454906:rojo.grande said:
Secured. Ready to freeze my ass off and clip you up when the time comes
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You’ll have to send me some pics of Bangor spots. Scoped a couple rails up there but that city has a lot of potential
 
14454910:ryanbrueninghaus said:
You’ll have to send me some pics of Bangor spots. Scoped a couple rails up there but that city has a lot of potential
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Gotchu covered. Got a few under my sleeve, w the city being a lot of natty speed I think ted and I are gonna be able to find a bunch of non rail spots too to spice up the mix. Grab some boys and swing by my place let’s have some brews and go scope some spots!
 
BTW if you're interested in more people joining the crew sometimes, I am in Maine a few times a year. Might be cool to do an 'exchange' where some folks from your crew come to the maritimes and some folks from here go to Maine.
 
14454921:skiP.E.I. said:
BTW if you're interested in more people joining the crew sometimes, I am in Maine a few times a year. Might be cool to do an 'exchange' where some folks from your crew come to the maritimes and some folks from here go to Maine.
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Could be game, my little crew will be pretty mobile on some trips this season. Where are the Maritimes? You talkin like maine maritime academy?
 
14454934:rojo.grande said:
Could be game, my little crew will be pretty mobile on some trips this season. Where are the Maritimes? You talkin like maine maritime academy?
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New Brunswick, PEI, Nova Scotia
 
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