Hello and welcome to my GNU Ladies Choice review.
In this review, I will take a look at the Ladies Choice as an all-mountain-freestyle snowboard.
As per tradition here at SnowboardingProfiles.com I will give the Ladies Choice a score out of 100 (based on several factors) and see how it compares with other all-mountain-freestyle snowboards.
Overall Rating
Board: GNU Ladies Choice
Price: $629
Style: All-Mountain-Freestyle
Flex Rating: Medium (4/10 to 5.5/10 depending on size)
Flex Feel on Snow: Medium (5/10)
Rating Score: 91.0/100
Compared to other Women’s All-Mountain-Freestyle Boards
Of the 21 current model women's all-mountain snowboards that we tested:
❄️ The Ladies Choice ranked 1st out of 21
Overview of the Ladies Choice’s Specs
Check out the tables for the Ladies Choice’s specs and available sizes.
Specs
Style: | All-Mountain-Freestyle |
Price: | $629 - BUYING OPTIONS |
Ability Level: |  |
Flex: |  |
Feel: |  |
Turn Initiation: | Medium-Fast |
Edge-hold: |  |
Camber Profile: | Hybrid Rocker - GNU's "C2X" Profile |
Shape: | True Twin - Asymmetrical Twin |
Setback Stance: | Centered |
Base: | Sintered (GNU'S "Sintered Knife Cut") |
Weight: | Normal |
Sizing
LENGTH (cm) | Waist Width (mm) | Rec Rider Weight (lb) | Rec Rider Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
139.5 | 226 | 50-130 | 23-59 |
142.5 | 232 | 60-140 | 27-43 |
145.5 | 240 | 70-150 | 32-68 |
148.5 | 242 | 80-160 | 36-73 |
151.5 | 244 | 90-180 | 41-82 |
153.5 | 244 | 90-180 | 41-82 |
Who is the Ladies Choice Most Suited To?
The Ladies Choice is a really versatile board that is well suited to most riders looking for a one board quiver, particularly those looking for one with a slightly more freestyle feel to it.
Whilst it's not ace in powder, it's pretty good in powder for an all-mountain-freestyle board, making it a little more versatile.
Not for beginners, but great for intermediate and up.
The Ladies Choice in More Detail
O.k. let’s take a more detailed look at what the Ladies Choice is capable of.
Demo Info
Board: GNU Ladies Choice 2022, 148.5cm (242mm waist width)
Date: April 9, 2021
Conditions: Snowing! Visibility around 70%
Temperatute -4°C (25°F) - so quite cold for April!. -9°C (16°F) with wind chill.
15kph (10mph) winds.
24 hour snow: 15cm (6") (and more snow while we were testing)
7 day snow: 20cm (8")
On Groomer: Was a little crunchy and even icy in patches to start, which was really surprising given the snow. But it was good in other patches. Then as the day wore on, the snow got softer and softer.
Off Groomer: Pretty good but a little crunchy with some icy patches on steeper slopes to start. As the snow kept falling it got better and better though, until it felt like a proper pow day by the end.
Bindings angles: +15/-12
Stance width: 530mm (20.9″)
Stance Setback: Centered
Width at Inserts: 250mm (9.84")
Weight: 2660g (5lbs, 14oz)
Weight per cm: 17.91g/cm
Average Weight per cm: 17.12 grams/cm*
*based on a small sample size of around 20 women's boards that I've weighed in 2020, 2021 and 2022 models. The Ladies Choice is a little heavier than normal but Jade found it to feel normal weight on snow.
Tester: Jade
Rider Height: 5'7" (170cm)
Rider Weight: 145lbs (66kg)
Rider Boot Size: Women's US6.5 Thirty Two Exit
Bindings Used: Burton Lexa, Medium
Damp or Chattery?
Not overly chattery but also not overly damp. Pretty close to the middle of the scale.
Smooth or Snappy?
More snappy than smooth, but close to the middle of the scale.
Powder
Wasn't enough powder to be a perfect test, but some there to get a feel for it - and it performs pretty well.
It's never going to be the queen of powder, but for an all-mountain-freestyle board it ain't bad. And as far as twin's go it's really good. So for anyone who likes to ride switch a lot in powder, it's a great option.
It has a healthy portion of rocker in the profile which helps it to float.
Carving & Turning
Carving: Whilst not a carving machine, you can lay one over pretty well on the Ladies Choice. Nothing super aggressive/high speed/epic, but some nice carves can be had.
Turning: A breeze to turn on. It responded effortlessly and was all round just fun and easy to turn with. 4/5 for turning, 3/5 for carving.
Maneuverability at slow speeds: Nice and easy to maneuver at slow speeds.
Skidded Turns: Quite forgiving of skidded turns. Not beginner level forgiving, but really quite un-catchy and can get away with skidding turns most of the time.
Speed
It's not a bomber, but you can certainly ride it at decent speeds without feeling like it starts to loose a little stability.
Uneven Terrain
Crud: It gets a little bucked around in crud. It's not the most bucky going around, but does get a little bucked. However, it is easy to adjust and correct.
Bumps: Nice and easy to maneuver between bumps and hugged them pretty well too.
Let’s Break up this text with a Video
Jumps
Overall really nice board for jumps.
Pop: It certainly doesn't have oodles of pop. And that's the one thing that really stops this board from getting 5/5 for jumps. But what pop is there is easy to extract. But if you really try to wind it up, it doesn't give back much more than when you give it a more casual push.
Approach: Easy to speed check and find a good line to the takeoff - and make any adjustments as necessary. Decently stable for most approaches. Perhaps only really big jumps where you need more speed, it could get a little wobbly.
Landing: Really nice landings on this board. Felt like it has the perfect balance between being stable on landings but also forgiving of less-than-perfect landings. Also easy to adjust in the air.
Side-hits: Was easy to maneuver to control to get to the side-hits - and that easy pop was nice and forgiving landings for those less-than-perfect landing spots. Could have had a little more overall pop, but overall, really fun board for side-hits.
Small jumps/Big jumps: Medium is the sweet spot for this board but still really good for smaller jumps and bigger jumps.
Switch
Perfect! Switching into switch, riding in switch, landing switch, setting up switch. Everything about this board in the unnatural direction was really good.
Spins
As just mentioned, the Ladies Choice is great for setting up and taking off switch for those 1s and 5s. And feels natural to spin and get the spin around. It's not the lightest, but still felt fine getting the spin around. For bigger spins could use slightly more pop.
Jibbing
It's not a jib master, but for doing anything simple on boxes/rails, it's fine. If you're doing a lot of jibbing, then you might want to go for something more jib friendly, but if you're only hitting them now and then, it's perfectly capable for sure. And a more experienced jibber would have no problem's with more creative jib tricks too.
Butters
It's not super soft in the tip and tail, but it's also not that stiff. It's easy to butter without being ultra easy and gives some decent spring out of the press.
Score Breakdown and Final Verdict
Check out the breakdown of the score in the table below.
RATING | Contribution to Final Score | |
|---|---|---|
JUMPS | 4.5 | 18/20 |
CARVING | 3.5 | 7/10 |
TURNS/SLASHING | 4.0 | 8/10 |
SWITCH | 5.0 | 10/10 |
SPEED | 3.5 | 7/10 |
SPINS | 4.5 | 9/10 |
BUTTERS | 4.0 | 8/10 |
JIBBING | 3.0 | 3/5 |
CRUD/CHUNDER | 4.0 | 4/5 |
TREES/BUMPS | 4.0 | 4/5 |
POWDER | 3.0 | 3/5 |
TOTAL after normalizing | 91.0/100 |
Overall, the Ladies Choice is a really fun board to ride, can ride in every condition and do whatever you want to on it. It's especially good for jumps, switch and spins, but it doesn't have any major weaknesses in other areas.
It's a do-it-all, but a do-it-all that's more freestyle focused than freeride focused.
More Info, Current Prices and Where to Buy Online
If you want to learn more about the Ladies Choice, or if you are ready to buy, or if you just want to research prices and availability, check out the links below.
If you want to check out some other women's all-mountain-freestyle snowboard options, or if you want to compare the Ladies Choice to other all-mountain-freestyle snowboards, then check out the next link.
Hi Nate!
I’m trying to figure out what’s within the bounds of reasonable choices for me. I’m 167cm, about 78kg, US size 7. All-mountain freestyle with an emphasis on ground tricks, also keen on hitting blue slopes at pace on occasion, intermediate-advanced progressing. I mainly ride in Japan, so performance in pow is important to me. On a non-pow day I’ll usually be riding -12 12.
None of the men’s models quite seem to fit my needs exactly. For years, almost every rental board I’ve ever ridden has ended up with my legs wracked with pain by the end of each afternoon, and constant readjustment of bindings. Only when I started looking at buying my own board did it occur to me that my tiny feet might have been causing these issues.
Last year I rode my friend’s old Nitro Rewind, which I was pretty comfortable on but which was maybe a mite too playful for me. It struggled to lock in when I was bombing blue runs. It also sank like a stone in powder, but I think it was about a 147 so that’s probably no surprise.
The ladies’ choice looks intriguing. I was considering the Yes Standard – especially tempted by the slamback inserts – or possibly the Jones Mountain Twin, but feel like they’ll both be a little too wide for me. I notice that the LC 151 and 153 both have rider weights listed as 41-82kg. This is such a wide range, I actually wanted to check that that isn’t an error.
What advice could you give me? Thanks for the articles!
Hi Joseph
Thanks for your message. Yeah GNU give really wide ranges for weight recommendations. They’ve started just saying a minimum weight with a “+” after it, which is just as un-useful.
Quite likely that boards being too wide have been the cause for finding your rental boards hard on your legs. You’re having to work a lot harder, when your feet are way inside the edges of the board – just a lot more effort to get leverage on the edges.
Size-wise, I would put your “typical all-mountain length” at around 155/156, assuming the perfect width. As an all-mountain freestyle rider, and for this kind of board, I would size the length down a bit from that, so I think the 153.5 But if you’re used to shorter boards, you could size down from that again to the 151.5, but I’d be leaning 153.5 for your specs. Not surprising that you found a 147 sinky in pow and too playful (shorter boards, relatively, are always going to feel more playful/soft flexing).
Hope this helps
Thanks for the response! That’s good to know, especially as I had been leaning towards the 151.5. I hadn’t accounted for length itself affecting relative flex; if I’m going to be on a ladies’ board, I’d at least like to minimise the extra flex that brings. I think I’ll give the 153.5 a try.
Oh, one more question – I wonder if you could recommend bindings for this board? My feet are fairly wide so I’m thinking I’d need a small men’s binding.
Hi Joseph
I would be looking in that 5/10 to 6/10 flex range in terms of bindings to match your specs and the board. Some great options to look at here for that flex range.
Got it! Thanks again, you provide a fantastic resource.
You’re very welcome Joseph. Hope you have a great season! If you think of it at the time, let me know how you get on with your new setup, once you’ve had a chance to get it out on snow.
Hi Nate!
First of all, a big thank you for your in depth reviews! They’re a fantastic source of information.
I’m trying to get a new board and I could use some of your knowledge here:
I’m 158cm tall, 57kg weight and I consider myself a high end beginner. My current gear set up is the basic I bought when I first started a few seasons ago: Burton Yeasayer flat top 148cm, Burton Scribe bindings size L and Burton Limelight boots in size 9 women’s.
I feel after 3 full seasons on the snow I’m quite ready to try something new and more advanced that can take me on the next steps up.
I mainly ride resort groomers that sometimes have icy patches in areas. Occasionally some off-piste terrain if conditions allow, and I’m starting to do some jumps and park, along with buttering tricks.
The boards I am researching about are the GNU Ladies Choice and Capita Paradise, but the Bataleon Distortia also caught my eye.
I want a board that can help me get more confidence on my ride and is a good base to help me improve my skills.
Also, getting new boots and bindings is not out of the question 🙂
Could you please give me you thoughts on this?
Cheers,
Fabi
Hi Fabi
Thanks for your message.
I think something like the Ladies Choice would be a good step up. The Paradise would also work but not as good for icy conditions as the LC. The Distortia is more what I would consider a freestyle/park board. I think it would work for your freestyle progression, but not as well for the rest of the mountain as the LC, IMO. Not that you couldn’t use it for the rest of the mountain, but I would be leaning LC as a better all-rounder, IMO.
Size-wise, I would put your “standard all-mountain length” at around 144/145. And typically for someone on the more beginner end of the spectrum, I would say to size down from that. Given that you’re used to a 148, you probably don’t need to size down from that, but I’d still go smaller than what you’re currently riding.
So for the LC, I’d be leaning towards the 142.5. Width-wise for your boots it’s pushing it in terms of being too narrow but it would depend on your binding angles. I think you get away with it if you ride with something like
+15/-15 binding angles, but if you have different angles or wanted to experiment with angles, it could be pushing it, especially if you think you’d like to get into deeper carving. The 145.5 is doable, particularly as you’re used to a 148 – and the width on that should be all good for your boots, IMO.
You could change boots/bindings, but I think they would work with the LC and are a good flex match still. I don’t think it’s necessary to change them. But if you wanted to anyway, let me know and I can make some suggestions.
Hope this gives you more to go off for your decision
Hi Nate!
First of all, thank you for that in depth review.
My mistake, mi height is 168cm, I don’t know why i took 10cm off my height like that but I’m back to normal now hahahaha.
Do you still believe I should get something shorter than the 148.5 GNU LC?
And by the way, I’m definitely getting that board. I’m toked with this years graphics and can’t wait to hit the slopes on it!
Cheers,
Fabi
Hey Fabi
Thanks for the clarification. Glad you your back to normal now! 😉
I think the 145.5 would be spot on. I would now put your “standard all-mountain size” at more like 146. Given your used to a 148, you could ride the 148.5, but I would go 145.5. And width-wise should be all good on that, IMO.
Hi Nate,
I really appreciate your reviews and I have used them in selecting boards for myself and my daughter. With that said, I am looking at this board to add to my quiver.
I’m an advanced rider, 5’7”, 140 lbs. size 8 Burton Felix, Burton Escapade Bindings. Depending on who I’m riding with, my style is more surfy or more hard charging bomber. I’d like to work more on riding switch and getting more creative with my riding.
Would this be a good choice? I’m also looking at the Proto Slinger. I have a Jones Hovercraft and a Burton Feel Good Camber. Thank you!
Hi Joanne
Thanks for your message.
I think this would work well for what you’re describing and would be a good compliment to your existing quiver. And would work well with your boots/bindings too (assuming you have the Escapade Re:Flex and not EST, which I assume is the case, given you have the Hovercraft). I would size appropriately to your quiver too – I would err smaller for this board, given how you want to use it and given what you already have.
The Proto Slinger would also be a good option and, whilst the Ladies Choice is still very different from the rest of your setup, it would be a bigger contrast. If you still want something that can generally ride the rest of the mountain well, whilst being still freestyle oriented and more playful than what you already have, then I’d be leaning Ladies Choice. But if you want the biggest contrast, the most freestyle focused and want to go more playful and more freestyle specific, then I’d look more at the Proto Slinger.
Hope this helps with your decision
Would the Union Legacy bindings be recommended for this board, or too stiff? Thanks for your help these days!
Hi Maria
I think the Legacy would be a really good match for the Ladies Choice. Flex-wise, the ideal range, IMO, for the Ladies Choice is 5/10 to 6/10, so not too stiff, IMO.
Hi Nate,
Thanks for the review! First of all, sorry for my english, this isn’t my native language. I have a question similar to Rosie’s.
I am a short guy : 171cm, 62kg (5’7”, 135 lbs). Men’s boot size around 8. I have been riding for a while and I’m looking for a board that I can enjoy on the groomers (fun carving capabilities, good hold on hard/icy snow, but not necessarily super fast), but that I can also use for small freestyles tricks on the slopes (180s/360s, butters, press, etc). Mostly on natural features, side hits, etc. Maybe good as well for small/mid jumps in the park (but nothing too big).
Because I’m rather short, I figured that women’s board offer more possibilities to me. I currently own a 2021 Rossignol Diva 152cm, which is great for carving, and have a great edge hold. But I found it a bit hard to spin (but this might only be related to my ability, or is the size a bit too big?).
The point is : My girlfriend would like to use the Diva so that’s an occasion for me to find a new board for myself. Goal : more pop/ollie/butter abilities while keeping the good carving feeling and edge hold)
I was considering to either simply go for the Diva 2022 (maybe 148cm instead?), or buy another woman’s allmountain/freestyle board. As Rosie, I was hesitating between the ProtoSynthesis and the Lady’s Choice.
I was also looking at the GNU RCC3 which interested me, but the shortest size is 154.5, which I feel is much too big for me.
How do you think those different choices compare with the Diva? Or do you have another model to suggest (men or women’s) ? Which size should I pick (I’m afraid getting a shorter board than the 152 I own will lead to reduced carving/hold capabilities?)
Sorry about the long message 🙂 Thanks a lot for your help!
Hi Matthieu
Thanks for your message.
Firstly, in terms of size, I think you could size down a little bit, but not far off with that 152 size. I would say your “standard all-mountain” size would be around 151. Sizing down a little from that isn’t a bad idea if you wanted to focus a little more on freestyle stuff, but I think it’s a pretty good all-round size for you.
Compared to the Diva, you’d probably lose a little in terms of carves on the Ladies Choice, size-for-size but not that much. i.e. if you went 151.5cm in the Ladies Choice. The 148.5 would allow you to do the Freestyle stuff better though – but then you do lose a little more in terms of carving. The Proto Synthesis is a better carver, IMO, so if you went with that one, you could size down to the 148 without loosing too much in terms of carving. The 151 would also work in that one. The biggest question mark with the women’s proto Synthesis is whether it’s bordering on being too narrow in the 148 (238mm waist). I think you’d be OK if you were riding with binding angles like +15/-15 or similar and had low profile boots, but otherwise it could be pushing it. The 151 should be fine, but might still want some angle on those bindings and/or low profile boots.
Another option is the GNU Pro Choice (the women’s equivalent of the RC C3), which will give you a bit more carvability and would probably be a better bet, if you were looking to size down to something like the 148.5. The 154.5 RC C3 would be too big for you, IMO. But the 148.5 or 151.5 Pro Choice could certainly work.
Hope this helps with your decision
Thanks a lot for your answer!
That’s a lot of really interesting insights. I’ll definitively look for a shorter board than 152, now! I’m riding with a -15/+15 angle, but my current boots (nitro venture pro) aren’t low profile, so I’ll be careful with the waist size.
Maybe a last question : I just saw your review of the Yes Greats Uninc. which now has a 149cm model. So this might fit, no? How does it compare to the Pro Choice or the PS?
(but in the end, it might all depend on the model and size availability at the retailers anyway… 🙁 )
PS : your website is great, and getting personalized advices from you is amazing! is there a way to support you (like patreon donation or stuff like that) ?
(I only found the yes greats in 151cm until now… Would this be too big? Specially considering that it’s pretty wide, from what I understood)
Hi Matthieu
Yeah, too big overall, IMO, given the width (see previous reply above)
Hi Matthieu
The Greats is a little stiffer and a little more of a stable feel (which is typical of hybrid camber versus hybrid rocker) but it’s the same style of board – that all-mountain-freestyle feel – and one of the better carvers for a twin that I’ve ridden. And it’s certainly not hugely stiffer (5/10 PC, 5.5/10 PS, 6/10 Greats). Definitely an option. Note though that it’s a wider board. Even though the waist of the 149 is 245mm which is only 1mm more than the 151.5 PC, for example, it’s quite a bit wider overall. It’s around 257mm at the inserts and 297mm at the tip and tail (versus the PC 151.5, for example, which is 252mm at inserts and 285mm at the tip and tail – or the 148.5 which is 250mm at inserts and 280mm at tip and tail).
So, it’s going to be on the wide side for your boots, even in the 149, but it’s still doable in that size, just note the width. I wouldn’t ride the Greats any longer than 149 for your specs though, because of that width.
We do have a way you can support the site, through paypal here. Definitely not expected but always appreciated.
Thanks a lot for all the details! The PC seems indeed the most interesting option then! Is there a difference between the 2020 and 2022 models? I found some older ones with a discount.
I’ll see which size I can find online. Whatever board I end up buying, I’ll make sure to come back and drop a comment 🙂
Thanks again for all the help! 🙂
Hi Matthieu
Apart from getting new sizes, the PC hasn’t changed significantly from the 2020 model, so if you can get 2020 at a discount, I say go for it.
Look forward to hearing what you go with and how you get on, once you get it out on snow. Happy riding!
Hi, I am debating between the GNU Ladies Choice and the Never Summer Womens Proto Synthesis. I am 5’6″, 130lbs, women’s size 8 boots. I’m an intermediate rider, normally ride groomers and often in hard conditions with ice present (but almost never all ice), and I lean more towards the freestyle side of all-mountain.
I am mostly conflicted because the Ladies Choice seems to be the better board for ice conditions, but reading reviews of the Proto Synthesis and its predecessors, people talk about how much fun they have carving, and I don’t see that as much with the Ladies Choice. I am not strong in my carving turns but I would like to learn to be.
I am worried that if I pick the Ladies Choice, I will miss out on fun carving, but if I pick the Proto Synthesis, I don’t get as good of edge hold for icy conditions. Any advice? Thanks.k
Hi Rosie
Thanks for your message.
I agree that the Proto Synthesis (PS) is better for carving and the Ladies Choice (LC) is better in icy conditions. So, I think it does depend on which of those you want to maximize. The PS isn’t bad in icy conditions or anything like that, so it’s not like you’d be getting a board that would be awful in those icy patches. And the LC isn’t atrocious at carving or anything either.
My instinct says PS, because it sounds like you really want to get your carving going and it’s not going to suck in ice or anything. The other thing you could do is look at the GNU Pro Choice – which is a more camber dominant version of the LC essentially and would give you better carving than the LC – close to the level of the PS, IMO.
Hope this helps and let me know if you’d like any sizing help
Yeah, sizing advice would be appreciated. I’ve seen that LC rides shorter than other boards. Currently I’m on a Burton Rewind 149, and it stands out to me that the PS is a bit narrower than what I currently have, and narrower than the LC. I imagine I’d be somewhere around a 145 for either? Possibly 148 for the PS. Does that sound right to you?
Hi Rosie
Yeah, that sounds right to me. For these boards, I would say look at the 145.5 for the LC and 145 for the PS. They are boards you can ride a little shorter. The 148 and 148.5 aren’t out of your range, but I would be leaning 145.5/145.