Hello and welcome to my list of the top 5 women’s freestyle snowboard boots for the 2017/18 season.
This list is for boots with a 3/10, 4/10 or 5/10 flex and match best with freestyle and all-mountain-freestyle snowboards.
Comparison Stats
Of the 27 boots that I rated as women’s freestyle boots:
- The average score was 78.2/100
- The highest score was 90.2/100 (see #1 below)
- The lowest score was 63.2/100
- The average price was $232
O.k. let’s get into the top 5.
Women’s Freestyle Boots #5
Boot: Burton Ritual LTD
Price: View More Info and Current Price Here
Lacing System: Speed Lace
Flex: Medium (5/10)
Rating: 85.6/100
Coming in at # 5 are Burton’s Ritual LTD snowboard boots.
The Ritual LTD are the most pricey boots on this list – but they are also designed to last a long time, and retain their flex for longer, so might end up being a better financial investment in the long run. But if you are interested in these boots but don’t want to spend this much in one chunk, then the significantly cheaper Burton Ritual (non-LTD version) are almost as good and still scored 82.2/100 on this rating system.
Check out the video for more
Burton Ritual LTD Score Breakdown
| FACTOR | RATING (OUT OF 5) | CONTRIBUTION TO FINAL SCORE |
|---|---|---|
| Shock Absorption: | 3.5 | 14/20 |
| Board Feel:` | 3.0 | 9/15 |
| Response: | 3.5 | 10.5/15 |
| Heel Hold: | 3.5 | 10.5/15 |
| Comfort: | 5.0 | 15/15 |
| Adjustability: | 4.0 | 8/10 |
| Flex: | 4.5 | 4.5/5 |
| Traction: | 3.0 | 3/5 |
| TOTAL after normalizing | 85.6/100 |
Women’s Freestyle Boots #4
Boot: 32 Women’s Lashed Double Boa
Price: View More Info and Current Price Here
Lacing System: Double Boa
Flex: Medium-Soft
Rating: 85.6/100
Coming in at #4 are 32’s Women’s Lashed boots.
These boots are super comfortable, have great adjustability and offer really decent response for their flex.
They also have great shock absorption which adds to that comfort – but more importantly helps to absorb the shock on landings and absorb chatter.
This is the double boa version of the Lashed – you can also get a traditional lace version. The score for the traditional lacing version is included below.
Check out the video below to learn more
32 Women’s Lashed Double BOA Score Breakdown
| FACTOR | RATING (OUT OF 5) | CONTRIBUTION TO FINAL SCORE |
|---|---|---|
| Shock Absorption: | 4.0 | 16/20 |
| Board Feel:` | 3.0 | 9/15 |
| Response: | 3.0 | 9/15 |
| Heel Hold: | 4.0 | 12/15 |
| Comfort: | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
| Adjustability: | 4.0 | 8/10 |
| Flex: | 5.0 | 5/5 |
| Traction: | 2.0 | 2/5 |
| TOTAL after normalizing | 85.6/100 |
32 Women’s Lashed (Lace) Score Breakdown
| FACTOR | RATING (OUT OF 5) | CONTRIBUTION TO FINAL SCORE |
|---|---|---|
| Shock Absorption: | 4.0 | 16/20 |
| Board Feel:` | 3.0 | 9/15 |
| Response: | 3.0 | 9/15 |
| Heel Hold: | 3.0 | 9/15 |
| Comfort: | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
| Adjustability: | 4.5 | 9/10 |
| Flex: | 5.0 | 5/5 |
| Traction: | 2.0 | 2/5 |
| TOTAL after normalizing | 83.3/100 |
Women’s Freestyle Boots #3
Boot: Ride Hera
Price: View More Info and Current Price Here
Lacing System: Double Boa
Flex: Medium (5/10)
Rating: 86.2/100
Next up, at #3, we have the Ride Hera boots.
The Hera provide a great combination of feel, response and shock absorption – that and providing great heel hold and comfort, they are a great option for freestyle or all-mountain-freestyle riding and have virtually no weaknesses across the board (or should I say across the boot! – sorry bad joke 😉 )
More on the Hera in the video below
Score Breakdown for the Hera’s
| FACTOR | RATING (OUT OF 5) | CONTRIBUTION TO FINAL SCORE |
|---|---|---|
| Shock Absorption: | 3.5 | 14/20 |
| Board Feel:` | 3.5 | 10.5/15 |
| Response: | 3.5 | 10.5/15 |
| Heel Hold: | 4.0 | 12/15 |
| Comfort: | 4.0 | 12/15 |
| Adjustability: | 4.0 | 8/10 |
| Flex: | 4.5 | 4.5/5 |
| Traction: | 3.5 | 3.5/5 |
| TOTAL after normalizing | 86.2/100 |
Women’s Freestyle Boots #2
Boot: Thirty Two Session
Price: View More Info and Current Price Here
Lacing System: Traditional Lacing with internal Boa
Flex: Medium-Soft (4.5/10)
Rating: 86.8/100
In the #2 spot, we have Thirty Twos second offering in this list, the 32 Sessions (and they would have had more too if this was a top 10 – they’ve got a wide range of boots and a lot of them are freestyle oriented).
The Sessions offer the best of both worlds from Traditional Lacing and Boa – with an internal harness controlled by a boa coil to hold your heel down and traditional lacing for the outer-boot for the ultimate adjustability.
That and having a nice cush sole and with great board feel and a nice flex for freestyle riding, the Sessions fit the bill and earn spot #2.
Score Breakdown for the Sessions
| FACTOR | RATING (OUT OF 5) | CONTRIBUTION TO FINAL SCORE |
|---|---|---|
| Shock Absorption: | 3.5 | 14/20 |
| Board Feel:` | 3.5 | 10.5/15 |
| Response: | 3.0 | 9/15 |
| Heel Hold: | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
| Comfort: | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
| Adjustability: | 3.5 | 7/10 |
| Flex: | 5.0 | 5/5 |
| Traction: | 3.0 | 3/5 |
| TOTAL after normalizing | 86.8/100 |
Women’s Freestyle Boots #1
Boot: Vans Women’s Aura
Price (US): View More Info and Current Price Here
Price (Canada): View More Info and Current Prices Here
Lacing System: Double Boa
Flex: Medium-Soft (4.5 out of 10)
Rating: 90.2/100
Grabbing the #1 spot are the Vans Aura Women’s boots.
These boots are super comfortable and have great shock absorption so that you can land those tricks all day.
They also benefit from some great heel hold and have enough traction to let you the hike the park, and stay upright in an icy car park.
They also provide great board feel and are highly adjustable. The side boa adjusts the lower section of the boot and the tongue boa adjusts the upper section. This allows you to get a customized fit.
Check out the video below for more on the Auras
This video is for the 2017 model – but the 2017 and 2018 models are very similar.
Check out the score breakdown for the Auras in the table below
| FACTOR | RATING (OUT OF 5) | CONTRIBUTION TO FINAL SCORE |
|---|---|---|
| Shock Absorption: | 4.0 | 16/20 |
| Board Feel:` | 4.0 | 12/15 |
| Response: | 3.0 | 9/15 |
| Heel Hold: | 4.0 | 12/15 |
| Comfort: | 4.5 | 13.5/15 |
| Adjustability: | 4.0 | 8/10 |
| Flex: | 5.0 | 5/5 |
| Traction: | 3.0 | 3/5 |
| TOTAL after normalizing | 90.2/100 |
Over to You….
Thanks for reading and I hope this post has helped you to choose the right boots for you.
Check out the links for each boot for more info and for current prices.
How’s it going. So my friend is really getting into snowboarding now. This would be her second season and she’s very adventurous following me into many different terrain parks, trying all the small features, small jumps, and enjoys some speed on the rest of the mountain as well. I would say her skill level is between beginner/intermediate. She’s 5’3 and weighs 115. I would like to surprise her with a new board, bindings, and boots. The setup I had in mind would be a GNU Ladies Choice for the magne-traction edges for better carves, especially dealing with east coast conditions and being a medium flexing board for her riding style either the 142.5 size for her height and weight or the next size up being 145.5 (I was wondering what you would rather reccomend) Bent Metal Upshot Bindings or something better, and Van’s Women’s Aura Boots or something better?
Hi Ted
Thanks for your message.
I think that sounds like a sweet setup (and what an awesome surprise!). For the Ladies Choice, the 142.5 would be my recommendation for sure. I think the 145.5 would be too long for her specs and ability level. Even the 142.5 is longer than what I would normally recommend for her specs and being a beginner/intermediate level, but it sounds like she is progressing well, so should be fine on it. Do you know what length she’s riding currently?
The Auras will be a good match for the Ladies Choice, in my opinion – and as long as they fit her well are great boots in general.
The only question mark would be the Upshots and the only reason I question those really is that they’re a 4/10 flex and the Ladies Choice is a little stiffer than that. I usually try to go as least as stiff with bindings as board, or if I have to a little stiffer. I prefer to go slightly stiffer bindings-wise than slightly softer, in comparison to the board. So that would be my only thing there. They’re certainly not way off and would work, but if you wanted to look at some other options, check out the following:
>>Top Women’s All-Mountain Bindings
The Burton Scribe and Union Milan would also work.
Hope this helps
P.S. You’re a good friend!