BEGINNER

From first time strapping in to mastering the initial act of riding, turning, stopping, and even some baby jumping. You want to make learning easy so these boards are softer and use less expensive construction to keep the price down so you’re not paying for performance you don’t need.

PRO

Such riders are comfortable blasting around wherever – from backcountry to terrain park – and know how to work a board to their advantage. You ride aggressively and with precision so the construction reflects this with materials to give ultimate response, pop and generally epic performance, though to get the most out you’ll have to put in the effort.

WHY HEIGHT IS IMPORTANT?

When it comes to sizing a board there is a bit more science to it than the oft quoted rule of thumb that it should be between chin and nose height. But generally it is an important value combined with the weight of the snowboarder in order to find the perfect match.

WHY WEIGHT IS IMPORTANT?

Snowboards are designed with a certain flex in mind. However that flex is also influenced by the weight of the rider. If you are too heavy or too light compared to the weight the board was designed for, the flex won’t behave in the way it was designed to – and the way you were told it should when you bought it.

FREERIDE

Designed for gunning it in one direction in powder, throwing house-sized roosters and handling manly pillows and drops. These are directional in shape and flex, more often with an oversized nose and shorter, stiffer tapered tail to enhance float and prevent you going over the handlebars.

ALL MOUNTAIN

If riding everything is what you’re after, focus your attention on this category of boards. These will tend to have a directional flex with either a directional or twin shape (though even if they have directional shapes they will be twin-looking) meaning that hauling forward should be your primary agenda but switch takeoffs or landings will be no problem either.

FREESTYLE

Stunt sticks of this variety are built for jumping, spinning, sliding and bonking, be it in the park or pow. It’s a broad category, this one, but the most common traits are a true twin shape and flex to make it ride the same regular or switch. If you’re more after mini-shredding or riding the park jib line look for a softer flex, while those wanting to send it deep or boost out the pipe should aim for a stiffer model, and with traditional camber. Blunt or pointy tips are currently popular but mostly cosmetic.

JIB

This division of boards is all about riding rails, boxes, walls, nipples… when you’re into hitting anything that’s not snow check out the jib sticks. Such boards will be true twin in shape so you can attack whatever way you want and softer in flex so pressing out is easier. They can sometimes come with reinforced edges, often have low-maintenance bases, shorter effective edges and not a great deal of sidecut to improve stability ‘cause, let’s face it, if you buy one of these you ain’t gonna be euro-carving.

TWIN

A twin board is called a “twin” because the bottom half (tail) and top half (nose) are mirror images of each other and the flex is exactly the same on both ends. The nose and tail are the same shape, flex and same camber profile. You can ride the same way with either your right (goofy) or left foot forward (regular). Twins have a centered stance, which means that the binding mounts are dead center in the board. So in summary everything about the board is symmetrical.

DIRECTIONAL TWIN

A directional twin looks like a Twin but there is usually one, some or multiple things about it that aren’t symmetrical. Here are some examples:

1. The tail could have a stiffer flex than the nose.

2. There could be a set back stance.

3. The camber profile could be different on the nose compared to the tail.

When you see “directional twin”, read the description very carefully in order to understand what makes it not a twin.

DIRECTIONAL

Directional boards have the same tail/nose width but there is usually a very noticeable difference in shape and length. The side cut is also different and favors directional riding much more than switch. You can ride switch but it’s noticeably different.

TAPERED

A tapered board is like a directional board but has a tail that is smaller in width than the nose. Almost everything about the tip and tail is different. The stance is usually set back, the nose is much bigger than the tail and it is usually more of a surf style one direction only kind of ride.