Mountain boarding.

if you want a decent board then go onto Kite-kit.co.uk i got one quite cheap and nothing has gone wrong in the 4 months i have had it and it has been badly treated.

give them an Email and i'm sure they will give you a price.

jord

As an alternative, have you heard about dirtsurfer - http://www.dirtsurfer.com/en/defaultds_int.asp

Much faster & more stable than a go-slo (aka MTB)

[/i]Awaits tirade of abuse

Uh - kind of, I always describe it as a cross between skateboard & bike

The straps are more like MTB straps (only go over front part of foot) than snowboard - it helps being able to get your feet out quickly if needed

I'm a mountainboarder..

First thing...as in mountainbiking - WEAR A HELMET!
It may look like soft ground but at 30mph it's not so soft..
Second thing..if you're learning - wear pads and body armour!

Wrist guards are mandatory in most MTB centres but opinion is divided on just how much good they actually do,as in they simply transfer the force of impact further up your arm so you get a compound fracture on your forearm instead of a shattered wrist.
(Compound fracture being that nice thing where the broken bone pierces the skin..).

Bindings...unless you're on a NoSnow or something,bindings are simply step in with adjustable tension.
I have mine 'kind of tight' but slack enough to step out of if needs be.A rotary crash with feet strapped in bindings can severely compromise your ankles ability to work.
Ever again.

A word about leashes if I may.
Although all centres insist on them being used,if you ever fall (and you will) and the board zooms away,the elasticity of the leash will let it go so far then pull it back toward you at warp speed.
Not good when the lead edge of the deck hits you in the mouth at 87 squillion mph.

When you get speed wobbles (and you will my friend),the only possible answer is to crouch low and grab the deck.Speed wobbles are caused by resonance which occurs at a certain speed dependant on deck/bearings/trucks etc,and if you dont grab that deck you will wobble until you crash.

Don't take on too much too soon.
Start simple and safe (and be prepared for eveyone who sees you to start asking bloody questions!). Learn how the board reacts to bumps and jumps,learn how to stop (the 'crumple into a ball' technique works well for me ),learn to 'pop' the board and unweight it,learn how to carve...basically,don't go down Ben Nevis on your first try ok?

Punctures are rarely an issue (yay!),and if you do get one,all I've seen so far is schraeder tubes.
You can even get disc brakes if you're a tart...Shimano brakes are fitted to more than a few boards..

There's plenty of boards out there for cheap prices.
I bought myself a cheap Mindless board for £130 when I took it up. I didn't want to spend too much incase I didn't like it,but 3 years on and the Mindless is still doing me proud.

It's nice to look at all these expensive boards and drool,but at the end of the day,you're on a plank with 4 wheels going downhill.
The way I ride,you could fit an ironing board with 4 wheels and it wouldn't make much of a diffence
Get good....then get a good board.

Re-reading this post,mountainboarding seems to come across as dangerous and suitable only for the loopy.
That's about right..

Ok, so I've gone and dug out this ancient thread because.... you guessed it, I want some advice on Mountainboarding.

Me and a lad from work are thinking about getting into this, but before we go splashing out on some nice shiny boards, I want to know what it's like.

I have been told that you need a surprising amount of space to turn. Is this correct or is the person who told me this talking complete bum gravy?

Plan is to start off using them on some fairly steep fire roads and grassy bits nearby, then hopefully progress to running them down the local DH Demo track. As it's only a demo track, used for the kiddies and such, it's nothing too extreme, some basic steps, and jumps is about as extreme as it gets.

I'm not talking about trying switchbacks or anything, it would be super if I could go round a corner without putting my face through a tree.

Anyone who knows about this stuff want to comment?

starting on fire oads is probably not the best idea as from what i could gather stopping basically equates to falling off. Also definately wear pads and padded shorts if you have them