Adding some new juice to the idea of an all-in-one quiver board, Colorado startup Seasons wants you to stop riding a different board every season – skateboard, snowboard, wakeboard – and start riding the same board. Its boards are built to erase boundaries and navigate all types of surfaces, helping you trim down your toy collection while still enjoying the sports you love.
"Why only wheels?" It's a simple question that served as the basis for Seasons' mission to create a line of longboards that could be used all year, in all types of conditions. From there, it set out to blend skateboarding with related sports like snowboarding and sand boarding.
In order to give its decks functionality with or without wheels, Seasons abandons the usual skateboard construction methods and adds in new materials like polymer and metal, giving its decks cross-sport characteristics.
So far, Seasons has come up with three skate/snow designs. The Alpine longboard measures 39 inches (99 cm) and includes snow-specific features such as metal edges, sidecut, and a wax-able base made entirely from ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMW), commonly referred to as P-tex. The Alpine also includes mounting inserts for those who want to use snowboard bindings and leashes. The camber-rocker profile and twin shape are designed to perform on both wheels and snow.
Both the Antelope and Explorer boards are shorter and include less traditional snowboard designs. Neither has sidecut or metal edges, and their bases are made from mixes of wood and UHMW instead of pure UHMW. The 38-in (97-cm) Explorer is designed for backcountry/powder cruising and freestyle, while the 32-in (81-cm) Antelope is a short, maneuverable skate/longboard hybrid that's more similar in spirit to a snow skate than a snowboard. The Explorer accepts bindings and leashes while the shorter Antelope works with straps and leashes.
Beyond its current skate/snow line, Seasons is also working on multipurpose designs for the sand and water. It has a skate/wake board in the works and is considering a surf model for the future. As for sand, it's narrowing down possible base constructions, including all-wood, all-metal and hybrid.
Seasons plans to stick with dual-surface boards for now, but it's also hoping it can find just the right blend to develop an "ultimate board" to ride all surfaces. That's a tough nut to crack, though, since traditionally, skateboards, snowboards, sandboards and watersport boards incorporate very different materials, geometries and characteristics.
The three Seasons skate/snow decks are available for order now, though at the time of writing the US$120 Antelope is listed as sold out on Seasons' website. The Explorer retails for $195, and the Alpine for $235. The boards are handmade upon order.
Source: Seasons