Leashes - bring back the long leash?
In the past few days I’ve seen two runaway boards shooting down the busiest run at Hotham. It made me wonder whether we should still be using leashes. I’m not really sure what happened with leashes but back in the day ( 
) we used to have long leashes that attached to the binding and a band under the knee. You could take your board off and walk along with the leash still attached. Somewhere along the way we moved to the ultra-short leashes which as far as I can tell are completely useless and nobody uses. Thoughts?
Thoughts?
It’s all about education & knowing how to put your board down or off correctly. Knowing how to strap in correctly etc.
I personally don’t use a leash & I’ve never had my board run off on me.
I’ve also seen my fair share of skis running down the hill.
Thoughts?
It’s all about education & knowing how to put your board down or off correctly. Knowing how to strap in correctly etc.
I personally don’t use a leash & I’ve never had my board run off on me.
I’ve also seen my fair share of skis running down the hill.
^ this - in spades!
However I do think there is a place for a long leash (which are really hard to find!), the short leashes are useless, probably make things worse and are really just about resort rule compliance.
Beginners would benefit from a long leash while they learn to manage the snow and their board. I’ve seen people just chuck the board down on it’s base and be surprised it ran off…and I’ve seen them slip while walking and let the board go. It would be insurance.
One other time I really wished I had a long leash was hiking in strong winds…I was gripping that board so tight, and I actually removed my little key loop from my pocket to makeshift attach the bindings to my jacket just in case. A leash would handy there, as an insurance tether.
Leashes are pointless. The same thing would happen when they take the leash off. You would take the leash off as soon as you unstrap anyway! I agree with what Tobi said. Beginners should take lessons and learn how to look after their boards.
The ghost riders are out at Hotham! They take the more experienced runs through the scrub.
I don’t see a need for them at all but I always wondered what would happen if I slipped on a off-piste mountain and lost my board. There would be no way of getting down safely or retrieving the board.
Leashes are pointless. The same thing would happen when they take the leash off. You would take the leash off as soon as you unstrap anyway! I agree with what Tobi said. Beginners should take lessons and learn how to look after their boards.
Yep, I used to use a leash all the time, but when they no longer bothered askin at the lifts I just put a small one in my pocket in case I met a power tripper in the lines!!!!!
The only time I nearly lost a board was at. Whistler when we went to get a group photo atop the Whistler Gondola Station, when we stacked our boards a distance away from us, mine fell over and nearly went through the wire fence that faces a lengthy run that was sure to be named Hit Run from that day onward!!!!!
Luckily, skip’s mate was on the end of the Congo, and he grabbed it before it took off!!!!!
If I had a leash with me that day, it would’ve done no good at all!!!!!
First thing I tell anyone that’s new to snowboardin, is to flip their board over when leaving on the ground!!!!!
watching rouge snowboards ghost their way down the slopes is one of my favourite things to watch. On the same side of the coin, leashes are the stupidest looking things since….......well something really stupid!!!!
Pretty sure the dumbasses that lose their boards are the same ones that don’t take lessons. Bit hard to educate them?
Best treatment I saw was when one of the kids’ instructors told the whole class to ride up to the guy and ask for his autograph.
I personally don’t feel the need for a leash, but man I wish the beginners had them.
This:
Leashes are pointless. The same thing would happen when they take the leash off. You would take the leash off as soon as you unstrap anyway! I agree with what Tobi said. Beginners should take lessons and learn how to look after their boards.
+ this:
First thing I tell anyone that’s new to snowboardin, is to flip their board over when leaving on the ground!!!!!
^ These guys. =)
Pretty sure the dumbasses that lose their boards are the same ones that don’t take lessons. Bit hard to educate them?
Best treatment I saw was when one of the kids’ instructors told the whole class to ride up to the guy and ask for his autograph.
I personally don’t feel the need for a leash, but man I wish the beginners had them.
I prefer the loud hearty laugh yelling “run Forrest, RUN!”
Nothing puts people in line more than public embarrassment.
Rental boards in Sun Peaks had these and they were the most useless thing.
1. The rentals guys get smashed in the morning and don’t really have time to explain to every customer who rents
2. They do explain and the renter doesn’t give 2 flying f**ks
3. As a lifty, you try to explain, show them and then they still don’t give a crap.
4. They leave these long ass floppy leashes on the floor behind them / between their feet and then wonder why they get caught up under the board while they are trying to learn.
5. Even when used correctly, they are so far up your leg that the first thing you do when you remove the board is to instantly remove the strap.
TL:DR = Long leashes are worse than the shorter ones for most users.
Side note, to get my board “registered” I had to take it to one of the board tuning places with a leash on it and get a filled in form that said it was up to par for the mountain. So day by day we all took our boards in with the same leash…
They made ya Register your board?????
Is that common practice for resort workers everywhere, or just SP?????
WTF! Registering your board and it must have a leash - your kidding right? 
I haven’t used one since they stopped enforcing them. But I can see certain situations where it MIGHT help (mainly beginners)...but yes, nothing replaces decent instruction!
I have caught a few though…I’m getting quite good at it 
Best bit is then earning the right to make eye contact with the offender and tell them how dangerous it was and how to avoid it in future before giving them their board back.
Best runaway I ever saw was a ski WITH boot….
I can imagine the guy trying to get off the lift at the top with one ski and one besocked foot. 
Another very good reason NOT to ski under the lift line in an area accessible to n00bies!
Haha yep!! First thing we tell friends is always leave one foot bound in unless you plan to hold on when you unstrap and put it straight on its bindings or on a board rack…
The resorts should have instructional signs posted at the bottom.of lifts etc… - eg.” When you unbind and remove the board from your boots ensure to place it bindings down. So it doesn’t slip down the mountains nd cause injuries. Its your responsibility. Blah blah…”
They made ya Register your board?????
Is that common (and current) practice for resort workers everywhere, or just SP?????
Very common practice to have an equipment check at resort if you are required to Ski/board as part of your job.
So lifties, instructors, patrollers.
A leash used to be part of this not sure now… cause I don’t board for work.
But yeah people used to do what Tj did and all share a leash to get signed off.
Well I don’t know what the best answer is. I guess it’s no worse than some out of control idiot flying through the slow zones.
They made ya Register your board?????
Is that common (and current) practice for resort workers everywhere, or just SP?????
Very common practice to have an equipment check at resort if you are required to Ski/board as part of your job.
So lifties, instructors, patrollers.
A leash used to be part of this not sure now… cause I don’t board for work.
But yeah people used to do what Tj did and all share a leash to get signed off.
So they even do it here?????