When winter arrives and the holiday season takes over, most skateboarders face a common dilemma. Biting winds, early sunsets, and patches of ice often force local skateparks to close or become unrideable. However, the winter season is actually one of the most exciting times to rethink how and where you ride. Beyond the standard street sessions and indoor parks, December offers a unique backdrop for exploring styles of skateboarding that usually take a backseat during the summer months. If you want to keep your wheels rolling this Christmas, it is time to try some of the most underrated forms of skateboarding.
Carve the Slopes on a SurfskateSurfskating has exploded in popularity over recent years, but it remains highly underrated as a winter discipline. Designed with a highly loose, rotating front truck, a surfskate mimics the fluid pumping and carving motions of surfing on open water. During the Christmas holidays, suburban streets, empty school yards, and beachside boardwalks empty out completely. This quiet environment is perfect for surfskating. Because you generate speed entirely through body pumping rather than pushing off the ground with your foot, you can keep both feet securely on the grip tape. This constant motion keeps your body core warm in chilly weather, making it an excellent cardiovascular workout for cold December mornings. Finding a smooth, slightly sloped parking lot will allow you to simulate long, flowing alpine waves without ever needing to buy a lift ticket.
Master the Art of Freestyle SkateboardingWhen the weather outside is truly frightful, you do not need a massive concrete park to progress. Freestyle skateboarding, the discipline popularized by legends like Rodney Mullen, focuses on technical trick variations performed entirely on flat ground, often at slower speeds. The beauty of freestyle is its minimal space requirement. A dry garage, a covered patio, or even a spacious basement with a hard floor provides all the room necessary to practice. Christmas break is the ideal window to slow down and master stationary or low-speed balance tricks. You can spend hours perfecting rail stands, finger flips, casper stalls, and manuals. Because these tricks rely heavily on precise footwork and spatial awareness rather than raw speed and high impact, the risk of slipping on rogue winter debris is significantly lower.
Explore the Peace of Winter Longboard CruisingLongboarding is often associated with sun-drenched summer boardwalks, but cruising during the winter holidays offers a completely different, therapeutic experience. On Christmas Day and the surrounding holidays, major cities and suburban centers experience a rare, serene hush. Traffic drops to a minimum, leaving expansive asphalt roads wide open. Equipped with large, soft wheels, a drop-through longboard can easily roll over the small pebbles, salt grit, and minor cracks that would stop a traditional street skateboard dead. Bundling up in a warm jacket and gliding through a quiet, decorated neighborhood allows you to take in the holiday lights and crisp winter air at your own pace. It transforms skateboarding from an intense trick session into a meditative, scenic journey.
Build an Indoor Slappy CurbIf you miss the grinding and sliding of street skating but cannot tolerate the freezing outdoor elements, the DIY indoor slappy curb is the ultimate holiday project. Slappy grinds require riders to smash their trucks directly onto a curb without popping an ollie first. By sourcing a small, portable parking block made of concrete or polyurethane, you can set up a makeshift skate spot inside a garage or a covered warehouse space. Slappy curbs are incredibly addictive and highly underrated for building truck control and balance. Spending your Christmas break waxing up a low curb and learning how to lock into 50-50s and crooks keeps your reflexes sharp. It provides the satisfying metallic scrape of street skating while keeping you completely shielded from the winter snow.
Take It to the Snow with a SnowskateFor those who wake up to a completely white Christmas, traditional wheels become useless. This is where the snowskate comes in as the ultimate underrated winter hybrid. Merging the design of a skateboard deck with the slick bottom of a snowboard, a snowskate allows you to skate directly on top of packed snow. Single-deck snowskates feature a grooved plastic bottom that lets you pop ollies, attempt kickflips, and slide down backyard hills or snow-covered stairs. There are no trucks or wheels to get clogged with ice, and you do not need special bindings or boots. It opens up an entirely new playground right outside your front door, ensuring that a heavy snowfall amplifies your skating options instead of shutting them down.
The winter holidays do not have to mean putting your skateboard into storage until spring. By shifting your focus toward these overlooked disciplines, you can turn the coldest months of the year into a period of incredible progression and fun. Whether you are spinning freestyle tricks in a warm garage, carving empty holiday streets on a surfskate, or sliding down a snowy hill on a snowskate, trying these underrated styles will keep your passion for riding alive all through the festive season.
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