How to choose your snowboard in 2024
The Complete Guide
Whether you are a beginner, intermediate or experienced rider, choosing your snowboard is an essential aspect to consider to improve your performance and have maximum fun. There are several benefits to be gained: optimize your performance by gaining in maneuverability and stability, ensure safety by being more confident on your board, gain comfort by not suffering any pain or discomfort, and improve your sliding experience by opting for a snowboard that meets your expectations and your very specific needs. The Stone Snowboards Canada team gives you its expert advice through this complete guide: how to choose your snowboard?
Explanations and illustrations in videos
Understand the basics of snowboarding
Let's start at the beginning: let's go over the basics of snowboarding. Before we consider the elements of how to choose your snowboard, it is essential that you know what a snowboard is made of. Each part has a specific role and will influence your performance on the slopes in its own way?
1 - The spatula (nose): this is the front part of the board, it influences flotation.
2 - The tail: this is the rear part of the board, which has an influence on its stability and maneuverability.
3 - The core: this is the central part of the board, it influences the flexibility, lightness and reactivity of the board.
4 - The edges: these are the metal edges located on each side of the board, they have an influence on the grip and control of turns.
5 - The sole: this is the lower part of the board in contact with the snow, which has a direct influence on the glide.
6 - Inserts: these are the holes in the board where the bindings are placed, to be chosen according to preferences, foot size and riding style practiced.
7 - The fields: these are the sides of the board, which, in addition to offering additional protection, influence shock absorption and energy transmission.
8 - Finally, the camber: we are talking here about the longitudinal curvature of the board (classic, reverse, flat or hybrid), which influences the stability, the rebound and the quality of taking turns.
By knowing the different parts of the board and their respective role in your riding experience, you already have the relevant information to know how to choose your snowboard.
How to choose your snowboard according to your riding style?
Another element to take into account when choosing your snowboard: there are different types of snowboards depending on your practice, namely freestyle, freeride and all-mountain.
First style: freestyle snowboards.
They are ideal for riders who like to do acrobatic tricks. This type of snowboard is generally shorter, lighter and more flexible, in order to facilitate your maneuvers and rotations. Freestyle snowboards are also often referred to as twintip shapes, which means that they are perfectly symmetrical between the front and the back, to allow you to ride switch.
Second style: freeride snowboards.
This is the type of snowboard you should choose if you plan to do off-piste routes in nature. Unlike freestyle boards, freeride snowboards are called directional shape, that is to say they have a longer front than the back. Freeride snowboards are to be favored to make more beautiful turns, benefit from a better grip on hard snow or to float better in powder. They allow to maintain greater stability at high speed and to obtain a better grip.
Third style: all-mountain snowboards.
This is a combo between the two types of boards. All-mountain snowboards adapt to all terrains: slopes, off-piste, snowpark. They combine maneuverability, stability and versatility.
What are the technical characteristics of a snowboard?
Let's now look at the question of how to choose your snowboard based on its technical characteristics, namely its length, width and flex.
For its length, remember that it is important to choose the board according to your height and weight. By making the right choice, you will gain in maneuverability and stability. To know how to choose your snowboard according to your height, do not hesitate to consult a size chart. Generally, it is recommended to choose a board that is 15 to 20 centimeters less than your own height. It should therefore arrive between the shoulders and the chin.
For the width of the snowboard to choose, you can quite simply base yourself on the size of your feet. This is a metric to take into account in particular to ensure better control of turns. Obviously, this is a notion to adapt to your personal situation, in particular to your riding style: if you mainly do freestyle, you can turn to a slightly narrower board in order to gain in maneuverability, while a rider evolving on powder or in freeride can choose a wider board which will offer him better stability.
Finally, when we talk about the flex of the snowboard, we mean its rigidity. For a beginner, we will favor flexible snowboards which are generally more forgiving. A rigid snowboard will offer better stability at high speed and a more precise response, and will therefore be preferred for slightly more experienced riders.
Take your level into account to choose the right snowboard for you
Choosing your program wisely is essential, because for more fun and riding efficiency, you rely on optimal equipment. This choice is directly linked to your level, because the more you practice, the more you have a precise idea of what you want to do, and the more keys you will have to know how to choose your snowboard.
Advanced and expert levels will have already ridden on slopes, in parks, off-piste and will have developed a particular sensitivity to a particular discipline. Very often, beginners will be more indecisive, interested in snowboarding as a whole and will dream of being able to do everything! In this specific case, we will generally direct you towards easy equipment that will allow you to progress quickly and thus refine your tastes in terms of riding. To help you make your choices, here are three general examples that will help you see things more clearly:
1 - I AM A BEGINNER
I love snowboarding. Whether it's freestyle, all-mountain or freeride, I love all these disciplines and I have a hard time deciding! As in all sports, some practices require experience and lucidity. I am aware that throwing myself straight into a park or from the top of a snowy mountain without thinking can be dangerous. I first need to progress, practice and better understand this sport to refine my tastes in terms of riding. In this case I will rather move towards a freestyle board with a twin tip shape and a flex that forgives -almost- everything. I could then experiment with the slopes and their edges, gradually attack powder passages by pushing hard on my back leg and why not try a few jumps and rails on suitable parks.
2 - I HAVE AN INTERMEDIATE LEVEL
I have already tried the slopes, a bit of park and a few freeride descents. I have not really developed any particular sensitivity, I like snowboarding as a whole and do not necessarily plan to acquire a board that is too specific. In this case I would go for an all-mountain board with a slight set-back (bindings set back on the board to relieve the back leg when freeriding). With a generally slightly stiffer flex, it will allow me to go everywhere without forcing. More stable, faster, less tiring and more precise in freeride, it easily becomes basic equipment when you have several boards specific to each practice (quiver).
3 - I HAVE AN ADVANCED LEVEL
I've looked into it. I've been riding a freestyle or all-mountain board for a few years now and I've been doing pretty well! But not that it's boring, but I'd still like to feel the taste of renewal, to be surprised by a shape, a precision in the curves, I want to vibrate again like during my first descent! I'm going to move towards more atypical, more distinctive boards. The time has come to take an interest in directional shapes, progressive rockers and boards so precise that I'll be able to reinvent my practice, on and off-piste. I'm aware that it will be more difficult to manage in freestyle, but once again, nothing is impossible! I don't want to give up my park skills, so I'm going to keep this beautiful board that has made me grow and evolve and build up a quiver. I'll thus be optimally equipped to deal with all my desires and situations!
Consider your budget
As we know, a snowboard is an investment. You will have to spend several hundred euros to get one, and a little more for all the additional equipment. This is why we advise you to make a sustainable choice: don't be afraid to invest in a reliable product.
At Stone Snowboards Canada, we also offer you the possibility of choosing boards from our Clearance page to benefit from discounted prices on second-hand or end-of-line snowboards and splitboards.
In conclusion, the question of how to choose your snowboard is essential if you want to fully enjoy your skiing experience. Several factors must be taken into account: your riding style, your skill level, your morphology or even your budget. Do not hesitate to consult professionals like Stone Snowboards who will be able to guide you and give you personalized advice. And to be sure not to make a mistake, buy a snowboard pack directly, including the board of your choice and the matching bindings. See you soon Stoners!
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