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Tips for Choosing the Perfect Snowboard

Choosing the perfect snowboard can be a frustrating task. But, it doesn’t have to be frustrating if you know what you are looking for. The more you know before you go shopping the easier it will be to find that perfect board.

These articles will help guide you in selecting your new snowboard. This guide is divided into five parts:

Types of Snowboards
Snowboard Lengths
Width, Sidecut Radius, and Stance Options
Snowboard Construction
Other Helpful Tips For Choosing a Snowboard

If you are a beginning snowboarder start with Types of Snowboards to learn about the different types of snowboards. You can move forward or backward through the articles at any time.

Types of Snowboards

Before you head out to buy a snowboard you should know that there are basically three different types of snowboards: Freestyle boards, freeride boards, and alpine or carving boards. The type of board you ride should correspond to the type of riding that you like to do.

Drawing Courtesy Dan Graf

Freestyle boards are typically used for riding the pipe or in the terrain park. Most freestyle boards are either twin tip boards or directional-twin boards. Twin tip boards have a centered stance with a tip and tail that are exact copies of each other. Directional-twin boards look like a regular twin tip board, but with a tail that is stiffer than the nose. Most freestyle boards tend to have a softer flex than freeride or alpine boards, which makes them handle better in the bumps and easier to turn. Freestyle boards are good beginner boards because they are easy to turn and their twin tip design makes it easy to ride both forward and fakie (backward).



Directional / Freeride Boards
Freeride boards are good all-mountain boards that are designed to float well in powder. They have a directional shape, which means that the tip is different from the tail (the tail is usually more narrow, flatter, and shorter than the tip of the board). Freeride boards can also be ridden fakie, despite their directional shape. Also, the stance on freeride boards is usually offset toward the tail of the board. The flex of freeride boards is still fairly soft, yet stiffer than a freestyle board. Freeride boards are also a good board choice for a beginning snowboarder.

Alpine or carving boards are typically used by snowboard racers. Alpine boards have a very narrow waist with a flat tail, and a stiff flex. Alpine boards are quick turning, and almost look like an enlarged ski. An alpine or carving board is not a board for a beginning snowboarder

Freestyle boards, freeride boards, and alpine or carving boards are the three basic types of snowboards.

Remember, the type of board you ride should correspond to the type of riding that you like to do. So, when choosing a snowboard decide what type of riding you want to do. Do you like to freeride, or ride the pipe or the park, or maybe a cross between both? If you don’t know, rent or demo different types of snowboards until you find what style of riding suits you. Choosing a riding style will greatly narrow your choice of boards.

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