How to choose the perfect snowboard

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Be sure to consider your style and level of skiing.

Decide on your riding style

When choosing a snowboard, first of all, you should decide where and how you will ride.

You can see the appointment of the snowboard on the label or ask the consultant. In online stores, as a rule, it is possible to set the desired parameter in the product filters.

Universal snowboards (All-mountain)

The name speaks for itself: such snowboards are suitable for riding on prepared tracks, and for light freeriding. Beginners should choose just such boards.

What to buy

• Snowboard Nidecker Angel, 23 260 rubles →
• Children's snowboard Burton After School Spe, 15 119 rubles →
• Snowboard Termit Chance, 6 399 rubles →

Freeride snowboards

These are boards for unprepared slopes, suitable for riding in deep snow. They are longer and wider than universal ones. The nose is often wider than the tail.

What to buy

• Snowboard Nidecker Mellow, 35 090 rubles →
• Snowboard Head The Day, 30 499 rubles →
• Women's snowboard Burton Day Trader, 41 499 rubles →

Freestyle snowboards (Freestyle, Park & Pipe)

Such boards are shorter and softer than universal boards, often have twin-tip geometry, that is, the same ends, due to which the rider, after jumping, can continue to ride both with his face and with his back forward.

What to buy

• Burton Descendant snowboard, 28 222 rubles →
• Snowboard Salomon Craft, 20 999 rubles →
• Women's Burton Talent Scout snowboard, 31 499 rubles →

Find the right length

The next important parameter is the length of the board. The snowboard is selected according to the height of the rider, taking into account the purpose.

If you buy hand-held, you can use the simplest method: place the board next to you. If the edge of your snowboard is from nose to chin, then the board is probably the right one for you.

If you buy a snowboard in a store or online, find a table showing the height and weight of the rider on the official website of the brand. Almost all well-known manufacturers publish such parameters. However, the boundaries are quite wide. For example, the same board can be suitable for a person weighing 60 and 97 kg.

To begin with, you can clarify the official data, and then look at the table that is not tied to the brand. For example, the Snowboard Size Chart by snowboard expert Adam Ryan.

Height (cm)	Weight, kg)	Snowboard length (cm)
152	45–59	139–145
155	45–64	139–147
157	50–68	142–150
160	50–68	143–151
163	50–73	144–154
165	54–77	146–155
168	54–77	147–156
170	54–82	148–157
173	59–82	151–158
175	59–86	151–159
178	59–86	152–160
180	64–91	155–162
183	64–95	156–163
185	68–95	158–164
188	68–100	159–165
191	72–100	162–166
193	72–100	163–168

When choosing a snowboard, weight matters more than height. If you are too heavy for the board, it will bend under you more than necessary, if too light, there will be insufficient deflection. Therefore, if your weight is outside the values indicated for your height, take a board from the next or previous category.

In addition to height and weight, when choosing a length, it is worth considering:

• Riding style … If you are going to ride off-piste in deep snow - take the longest one that suits you in height and weight, plan to ride on a well-groomed trail - choose something in between within acceptable limits, tuned in to tricks in a tube - take the shortest one that suits you.
• Level of preparation … A long board is more difficult to control, so beginners are advised to take a snowboard 3–5 cm shorter than the recommended length.

Decide on the width of your snowboard

If you buy a snowboard from a store, determine the ideal width by the length of your foot.

Take off your shoes and place your foot on the sliding surface of the board in the area of the bindings. Place your foot at the same angle as it will be while rolling. In this position, the toes should touch the front edge and the heel should touch the back. The foot can protrude a maximum of 5 mm on both sides.

When you put on the boot, your foot will protrude a maximum of 2 cm on each side. If the snowboard is wider, you will have less control during turns, and too much protruding boots can cling to the snow.

For those who buy a snowboard online and cannot measure it, there are width tables based on shoe size.

Mens

Waist Width (mm)	Size (Ru)	Foot length (mm)
240–245	37, 5–40	235–255
245–250	40–42	255–265
250–255	42–43	265–275
255–265	43–45	265–285
265+	45+	285+

Womens

Waist Width (mm)	Size (Ru)	Foot length (mm)
<235	<36	<235
235–240	36–38	235–245
240–245	38–39, 5	245–250
245+	>39, 5	>250

Consider the rigidity

One of the important characteristics of a snowboard is rigidity. It determines how stable your board will be on different tracks and how much effort you have to spend to control it.

Most manufacturers use a hardness rating from 1 to 10, with 1 being the softest and 10 being the hardest. However, the level of rigidity is not standardized and can vary greatly from brand to brand.

Snowboards generally fall into three categories.

Soft (1-2)

Suitable for beginners and light riders. These boards are easier to control and require less effort to make a turn or maneuver.

Soft snowboards are good for park riding and freestyle, but they are not stable enough on poorly groomed trails, vulnerable to vibration and uncomfortable at high speeds.

Medium (3-5)

Most all-purpose snowboards have this stiffness. They are quite stable, suitable for riding on a rolled track, on snow between trees, and in park conditions.

They should be taken by advanced riders and professionals.

Hard and very hard (<6)

These boards require a lot of energy to maneuver, so it's a bad idea to start with. On the plus side, they are very stable, behave well on uneven tracks and are suitable for high speeds.

Find the right deflection

An important parameter when choosing is the type of deflection. The ease of handling a snowboard directly depends on it.

• Camber (classic, or weight deflection). This snowboard has a raised central part. When the rider steps onto the board, the pressure is evenly distributed over the entire surface. Learning on snowboards with classic deflection is quite difficult: skiing requires good technique, mistakes are not forgiven. Therefore, for beginners, another type of deflection is better suited - a rocker.
• Rocker (rocker, banana). The center of the snowboard is touching the ground and the ends are curved. The arched shape makes learning easier: due to one point of support, the board is more obedient and easier to control, it turns behind you with any movement of the body. Snowboards with this curve are often chosen by freestylers: the rocker is good for big air (jumping from a springboard) and jibbing (sliding on railings and other surfaces). Also suitable for freeriding.
• Flat (zero deflection). The central part of this snowboard is completely flat, and the ends are raised off the ground. It is well suited for both relaxed beginner riding and freestyle tricks.
• Hybrid / Combo (combined deflections). There are many hybrid bends: camber ‑ rocker ‑ camber (as pictured above), rocker ‑ camber ‑ rocker, rocker ‑ flat ‑ rocker, and many others. Due to the combination of bends, certain characteristics of the snowboard are increased. For example, speed or ease of control.

Decide on geometry

It depends on the shape of the snowboard whether it will be comfortable for you to ride with the chosen style. There are three main types.

Directional

In directional snowboards, the radius of the side cutout and inserts - the holes for the mounts are shifted down towards the tail. Also, the nose of the snowboard is usually softer than the tail.

Such boards are very stable and stable, suitable for riding both on a rolled track, and on only snow that has fallen out. However, due to the displacement of the mortgages, it is possible to ride on such a board only in one direction; it will be uncomfortable in the reverse stance.

Twin ‑ tip

These are completely symmetrical boards that are often used for park riding. Since the nose and tail are the same in length and stiffness, it is convenient to ride them in any stance - both straight and reverse (switch).

Twin ‑ tip directional

The nose and tail of this board are just as symmetrical as in a regular twin-tip, but the inserts are offset to one side and the stiffness of the nose and tail is different. You can ride on such a board both in the park and on virgin soil.

See how the mortgages are located

The location of the embeds on the board affects the subsequent choice of fasteners.

The 4x4 and 2x4 options are two even rows of holes. The only difference is that in the first case, the distance between the mortgages in a row is 4 cm, and in the second - 2 cm. Both types can be used with universal discs.

If you choose between them, it is better to take a board with embedded 2 × 4. First, due to the larger number of holes, they allow you to adjust the position of the mount on the board more accurately. Secondly, they can be used with mini-discs, which give the snowboard more flexibility while riding.

The 3D Pattern is found only on Burton boards and is a diamond shaped hole. They need special discs with the same diamond-shaped holes.

Another option from Burton is the Infinite Channel System (ICS). Here the screws are inserted into a special groove on the board. This allows for a particularly precise adjustment of the position of the mountings.

For ICS boards there are special bindings - EST from Burton. They have "ears" on the sides, into which screws are inserted. These ears will bend along with the board, removing the "dead zone" of immobility in the area of the mounts.

Specify the type of construction and materials

These parameters will affect the lifespan of your snowboard and its price.

Design

There are two main snowboard designs and combinations.

• Cap (cap). The core of the snowboard is closed with a monolithic cover at the top, and a sliding surface at the bottom. Such boards are easier to manufacture (and repair, too), and therefore they are cheaper. But during the fall, the cap may split: the cap will move away from the sliding surface.
• Sandwich … The core, sliding surface and top decorative cover are pressure-extruded. The result is a robust construction with multiple layers. If you can break such a snowboard, it will be more difficult to repair it. Plus, sandwiches are more expensive.
• Combined designs … Both technologies are often used in the production of snowboards. The sandwiches are laminated to make the board more durable and the middle cap is lightweight.

Snowboard core

Snowboard cores are made from different materials:

• Wood beech, ash, poplar, oak, spruce, pine. The wood core resists shock and vibration well. Some Mervin snowboards come with a Genetically Modified Wood core without rings. This is believed to have a good effect on elasticity and strength.
• Wood and foam … The foam makes snowboards lighter and cheaper. However, this reduces their elasticity and vibration resistance.
• Combinations of different materials … The combination of wood, carbon fiber and aluminum gives the snowboard a stiffness and lightness. There are many combinations, new developments are constantly emerging.

Sliding surface

There are two options for the sliding surface:

• Extruded polyethylene surface (extruded). It is cheaper, does not require special care, and if damaged, expensive repairs.
• Sintered polyethylene surface (sintered). Polyethylene powder is sintered under high temperature and high pressure. Such a surface has a porous structure that absorbs ointment well and glides better. In addition, she is not afraid of scratches and small ice chips. However, it will be more difficult to repair it.

Choose your snowboard boots

They differ in the type of lacing and stiffness. It is also equally important to choose the right size.

Lacing system

Classic lacing

This is the most common lacing that needs to be tightened by hand. Takes more time to tie than other options, but if laces break, they can be easily replaced.

Tightening

This system has special cables. To tie your shoes, just pull on them.

Boa system

It is a wheel system that automatically tightens the laces as you turn them. They are very easy to put on and take off, easy to adjust to fit your foot. There are options with one and two wheels.

Rigidity

Hardness is defined on a scale of 1 to 10, where 1–2 is soft, 3–5 is medium, and above 5 is hard.

The stiffer boots provide good handling, but they are quite uncomfortable in them, especially if you are a beginner rider.

If you are going to ride on the trail, take boots with a medium stiffness. For freestyle, soft and medium boots are chosen so that it is more convenient to do tricks, and for freeriding, medium and hard boots are chosen to ensure good stability of the foot on aggressive surfaces.

In any case, hard boots are only suitable for advanced snowboarders, so if this is your first time out on the trail, buy a medium or soft one.

The size

To find the perfect boots, head to the store in the socks you want to ride in and do four tests.

1. Take out the insole and place your foot on it. The foot should not hang over the edges of the insole or, conversely, far away from them.

2. Put the insole back in place, put on the boot and tighten it well. The big toe should lightly touch the toe of the shoe.

3. Bend the knee so that the lower leg goes forward, and transfer the weight of the body to the toes.

In this position, your heel should be firmly pressed against the heel of the boot, and the toe should move back a little.

4. Move from heel to toe and vice versa - the way you will move on the board when going from edge to edge.

If this pulls your heel off the insole too much, try a smaller shoe size.

Choose your snowboard bindings

When buying, it is important to follow exactly this order: first the boots, then the fasteners. The heel and toe of the boot should protrude the same distance from the mount. If your heel and toe are out of balance, your weight on the board will be uneven and you will push more on one edge. As a result, the quality of riding will suffer.

Therefore, go for bindings with your boots and be sure to try them on before buying.

Snowboard bindings are categorized by construction type. This parameter determines how quickly you can fasten them on the slope.

With two straps (Strap-in)

These are the most common mounts. To put them on, you need to unfasten the two straps, insert your leg and tighten them.

With folding highback (Rear ‑ entry)

In such bindings, the straps are interconnected for better fixing of the boot. To put them on, you need to flip the highback, insert your leg, and then put it back in place. They are easier and faster to fasten than Strap-in fasteners.

There are also combo models in which there are both straps and a folding highback.

Step-in and Step-on Mounts

These are bindings without straps. As the name implies, to put on a snowboard, you just need to step on the bindings with your boot and they will snap into place. It's much faster and easier than fiddling with straps or highbacks.

Step-in models do not have a highback, so they can only be used with very stiff boots, which is not very comfortable and definitely not suitable for beginners. In addition, snow is stuffed into such mounts and prevents the boots from snapping into place.

Burton recently introduced a new model - the Step-on. These bindings have a highback, and they fix the boot at three points: on the heel and on both sides of the foot. To snap in such attachments, you first need to insert the heel and lower it until it clicks, and then transfer the body weight to the toe and snap it.

Step-on works only with Burton special boots. These models have a Boa lacing with two wheels, which locks the front of the leg as well as straps.

If you want to choose the mounts most accurately, watch the video below - there are different types, their pros and cons, in great detail.

UPD. The text was updated on December 12, 2019 with more up-to-date data.