The Complete Snowboard Buying Guide

This snowboard buying guide is designed to try to make it as easy as possible for you to find the best snowboard for you.

The "for you"  is an important distinction and you should keep this in mind for any snowboard gear you buy.

Why is this so important?

The best snowboard for your friend, brother, mother, sister, second cousin twice removed is not necessarily the best snowboard for you. The best snowboard for the pro riding big air at the X-Games, is also not necessarily the right board for you.

You get the picture right.

This is because everyone has different riding styles, abilities and physical characteristics, which all play a role in which snowboard is going to be better suited to you. And where you ride (i.e. which ski resort (s)) will also play a part in your buying decision.

Finally, getting the sizing right is really important in getting a snowboard that's going to be right for you and your best size isn't necessarily going to be the same as someone else's. 

So how do I choose the best snowboard for me?

We've already mentioned that the best snowboard for you should take into account:

1. your riding ability
2. your riding style
3. your physical characteristics; and
4. where you ride
5. sizing

OK, this sounds like a lot, but we're going to try to make the process as easy as possible for you.

Firstly, let's take a look at your riding ability. Once we have that established, then we can go from there.

SNOWBOARDING ABILITY

Snowboarding ability level (or skill level, whichever term you prefer) is the first thing you'll want to establish.

This is mostly relevant to a beginner level rider and to a lesser extent an intermediate level rider. If you are an advanced or expert rider, then your riding style is going to be much more illuminating when it comes to choosing your snowboard. So, if that's you, then you can quickly skip over this section and go onto riding style.

But if you're a beginner or intermediate, particularly beginners, it's very important to get a snowboard suitable to your skill level.

If you're not sure of your skill level, check out he post at the button link below:

Beginners

Unfortunately, too many people start out thinking that getting something low cost is all you need to think about when you're a beginner. Whilst budget is usually a consideration - as maybe you don't know that you're committed to snowboarding yet - it shouldn't be your foremost consideration.

Now, as luck would have it - or actually probably not luck as snowboard brands know that beginners are less likely to buy snowboards that are too costly - beginner suitable snowboards are typically cheaper.

Part of the reason for that is that softer flexing snowboards are typically cheaper and at the same time are better for beginners. The other part of the reason is that extruded bases are typically cheaper and this is a good way to save cost on more beginner friendly snowboards.

Should I choose a beginner snowboard?

OK, this sounds like a funny question. If you're a beginner, choose a beginner suitable snowboard right?

IMO, yes this is simple - and leave it at that.

However, a lot of people don't want to start with a beginner snowboard, because they want their snowboard to last them forever and don't want to have to upgrade down the line. Look, I get it, no one wants to have to spend more money than they have to - and some people don't want to have do the research more than once. But in the long run, it's going to be much better for your snowboarding progression to get a beginner snowboard now and upgrade later.

A snowboard that's not suitable for a beginner will be hard to learn on - and not fun to learn on.

The problem is that, when the board is too far above your skill level, you end up developing crude technique just to survive on your board. Not only that but your progression ends up being slower. And you could also end up loosing confidence altogether, or simply not have any fun and stop snowboarding altogether, thinking it's just not for you.

So, IMO, don't take short cuts - get the beginner suitable snowboard to start with. It will save a lot of heartache (and body ache!) in the long run.

How do I know if a board is beginner suitable?

There are a number of things to consider, but the two main things to consider are camber profile and flex.

I won't go into more detail here - as I have another post dedicated to choosing a beginner snowboard here.

And if you want to skip that, we do have our top beginner picks lists, which you can find at the links below.

Intermediates

If you're an intermediate rider (if you're not sure check out the button link near the top of this "riding ability" section), then you've likely established a style, at least to some extent. At the very least you will have some preferences on how you like to ride and/or what you want to be able to do in the future.

So riding style is going to be a better way of finding your board. However, you'll still not want to go too advanced with the board, so ability level should still be taken into account. So once you find your riding style, make sure you keep this in mind when making your decision.

All of our reviews will show what we think the ability level of the snowboard is, so pay attention to that as you search. It will look something like the below image.

If you consider yourself a beginner on the cusp of being intermediate and simply want a board that's going to help you progress and aren't too worried about your riding style yet, but want that little bit of step up from a beginner board but without going too far above your skill level, you can also check out:

SNOWBOARDING STYLE

If you've established you're intermediate or above and have a certain way you like to ride. Or at least have preferences as to how you like to ride, then riding style is going to be the biggest single factor for choosing the right snowboard for you.

What do you mean by snowboarding style?

To be clear here, I'm not talking about how you dress - or how you match the color of your bindings to your board. Or anything like that! You can figure out that kind of style on your own.

What I mean by riding style is essentially how you like to ride.

How you like to ride could be a number of different things, for example:

FREESTYLE

QUIVER OPTION: It might be that your riding style doesn’t fit this on any given day. Maybe some days you ride powder – others you bomb groomers, but when you do want to ride freestyle, you want a board that is optimal for it. So you would have a freestyle board in your quiver, in addition to at least one other board for other things.

A freestyle board can be a great addition to your quiver, if you want to optimize your freestyle riding when you do do it, but you don’t necessarily do it every day. A freestyle board is quite common to have as part of a quiver and less common as a one-board-quiver.

Freestyle Snowboard Characteristics

• Medium-Soft to Soft Flex: Is typical for this category. Though some may be more medium and those tend to be more jump dominant than jib dominant. Anywhere from 1/10 to 5/10 flex.
• Camber Profile: Could be anything from traditional camber, to hybrid camber, hybrid rocker, flat-to-rocker or continuous rocker. But the camber profile is always symmetrical and never directional. 

• True Twin Shape: Freestyle snowboards tend to be twins, so you can ride, take off and land in either direction easily and naturally. And buttering/presses feels equal off tip and tail. 
• Centered Stance: For the same reasons, the reference stance is almost always centered
• Shorter Tip and Tail: The tips and tails are usually shorter on a freestyle board, as there isn't the need to have too much going on past the contact points (because you're not buying it for powder), and that shorter tip and tail reduces swing weight. 
• Edge Bevel: Freestyle boards tend to have detuned edges at the tip and tail and the edge bevel throughout the rest of the edge tends to be at a less sharp angle than more freeride oriented boards - which is better for riding rails/boxes.

ALL-MOUNTAIN-FREESTYLE

QUIVER OPTION: An all-mountain-freestyle board is often used as a one-board-quiver for those that don’t ride a lot of powder or rarely see any deep powder. But it can also be a great addition to a quiver – particularly suited to a 2 board quiver. You would have this for your groomer/freestyle days and a separate board for powder days.

All-Mountain Freestyle Snowboard Characteristics

• Medium Flex: Medium Flex is typical for this category, though some more playful options could be a little softer. Typically 5/10 to 6/10 flex. 
• Camber Profile: Typically a hybrid camber or hybrid rocker profile and is always symmetrical rather than directional.

Is This Category for You? 

If you're looking for a board in this category, check out the appropriate list below for a selection of what we consider to be the best all-mountain-freestyle snowboards currently on the market (updated every year). 

AGGRESSIVE ALL-MOUNTAIN-FREESTYLE

QUIVER OPTION: Like an all-mountain-freestyle board, the aggressive all-mountain-freestyle board is often used as a one-board-quiver for those that don’t ride a lot of powder or rarely see any deep powder. And also pairs great with a more powder oriented board for a 2 board quiver. Or a 3 board quiver, if you were to add a more playful freestyle option for jibs.

Aggressive All-Mountain Freestyle Snowboard Characteristics

• Medium-Stiff Flex: Medium-Stiff Flex is typical for this category. Typically 6.5/10 to 8/10 flex. These boards need that stiffness to handle speed and hard carves, as well as for stability on approaches to large jumps and for landing them. 
• Camber Profile: The most common profiles are traditional camber, hybrid camber and hybrid rocker. But in the case of hybrid camber and hybrid rocker profiles, they are usually camber dominant. That camber gives them a better ability for hard carves, holding an edge at high speeds and better pop.

Is This Category for You? 

If you're looking for a board in this category, check out the list below for a selection of what we consider to be the best aggressive all-mountain-freestyle snowboards currently on the market (updated every year). 

ALL-MOUNTAIN

QUIVER OPTION: An all-mountain board is typically bought as a one-board quiver. They’re the most versatile do-it-all option of all the categories. But you could still have it as part of a quiver. i.e. this might be your daily driver and you have a freestyle board for park days and/or a more specialized powder board for powder days.

All-Mountain Snowboard Characteristics

• Medium Flex: All-Mountain boards typically sit in the 5/10 to 6.5/10 flex range (stiffer options we typically categorize as aggressive all-mountain (see below)). Though more beginner friendly all-mountain boards could be as soft as 2/10 flex.   
• Camber Profile: Could be a number of options but hybrid camber and hybrid rocker are the most common as these are the most versatile profiles. Though flat-to-rocker and rocker is also common with more beginner all-mountain boards. Camber profiles can sometimes be a little bit directional (i.e. not completely symmetrical). 

Is This Category for You? 

If you're looking for a board in this category, check out the appropriate list below for a selection of what we consider to be the best all-mountain snowboards currently on the market (updated every year). 

AGGRESSIVE ALL-MOUNTAIN

QUIVER OPTION: Could be paired with a more playful freestyle option and/or a more powder oriented board but often used as a one-board-quiver. 

Aggressive All-Mountain Snowboard Characteristics

• Medium Stiff to Stiff Flex: Typically between 6.5/10 and 9/10 flex. 
• Camber Profile: The most common profiles are traditional camber, hybrid camber and hybrid rocker. But in the case of hybrid camber and hybrid rocker profiles, they are usually camber dominant. That camber gives them a better ability for hard carves and holding an edge at high speeds. Camber profiles can sometimes be a little bit directional (i.e. not completely symmetrical).

Is This Category for You? 

If you're looking for a board in this category, check out the list below for a selection of what we consider to be the best aggressive all-mountain snowboards currently on the market (updated every year). 

MELLOW FREERIDE

QUIVER OPTION: Could be paired with a number of different boards. This type of board would typically be included as part of a quiver and not often a one-board-quiver. Though that said, some people’s style may well agree with this as a one-board-quiver. Could be paired with a more aggressive board – be it an aggressive all-mountain or aggressive all-mountain freestyle – or even a more aggressive freeride board and/or a freestyle or all-mountain-freestyle board. Or even an all-mountain board.

Mellow Freeride Snowboard Characteristics

• Medium Flex: Typically between 5/10 and 6.5/10 flex. Even though these are mellow they don't typically come softer than 5/10 flex (though there certainly are exceptions). The reason for this is that too soft and you can over flex them in powder - and powder is very important for this category. Flex can often be directional as well (e.g. stiffer tail vs nose). 
• Camber Profile: Usually Directional Hybrid Camber, Directional Hybrid Rocker or Directional Flat-to-Rocker. Camber profiles are typically designed to optimize riding in one direction, so aren't typically symmetrical. 

Is This Category for You? 

If you're looking for a board in this category, check out the appropriate list below for a selection of what we consider to be the best mellow freeride snowboards currently on the market (updated every year). 

FREERIDE

QUIVER OPTION: Can be used as a one-board-quiver if your style fits. But is also a good addition to a quiver paired others - typically with a less aggressive and/or more freestyle oriented option.

Freeride Snowboard Characteristics

• Medium-Stiff to Stiff Flex: Typically between 6.5/10 and 9/10 flex. Flex can often be directional as well (e.g. stiffer tail vs nose). 
• Camber Profile: Usually Directional Hybrid Camber or Directional Hybrid Rocker. Camber profiles are typically designed to optimize riding in one direction, so aren't typically symmetrical.

Is This Category for You? 

If you're looking for a board in this category, check out the appropriate list below for a selection of what we consider to be the best freeride snowboards currently on the market (updated every year). 

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS

This is just going to be a quick note. The hard work has been done figuring out your style. 

Whilst physical characteristics play a greater role in sizing than it does in selecting the snowboard itself, it's still a good idea to take them into account for selecting the snowboard. 

Weight

Typically a smaller/lighter rider will find the same snowboard stiffer than a bigger/heavier rider. So if you are particularly light/small, then try to err a little softer flexing or at least try not to go too stiff. 

On the flip side, if you're bigger/heavier than normal, then erring a little stiffer is a good idea as you are more likely to over flex a softer board. 

Now, it should be mentioned again, that sizing accounts for most of this - but if you're particularly lighter or heavier than average, then you should take that into account for the flex of a board as well. 

Strength/Athleticism

This is a very similar thing, but it might be the case that your within an average range for weight, but you're particularly strong/athletic - or perhaps you're particularly unstrong/athletic. 

In which case the same applies. 

I.e. if you're particularly strong/athletic, then you can err a little stiffer and if you're particularly unathletic, then you can err a little softer, when it comes to flex. 

Again, this should be taken account when sizing, so for most, this won't dictate the particular board, but if you're a long way outside of the average, then this is worth taking into account. 

WHERE YOU RIDE

Like with weight/athleticism, where you ride isn't as crucial as your ability and riding style - and a lot of this is taken into account into your riding style. 

To be clear, when I talk about where you ride, in this instance, it's in reference to the particular resort or resorts that you ride as opposed to whether you ride off groomer, on groomer, park, trees, etc which is covered in your riding style. 

And since powder is covered in your riding style, this section is mostly referring to hard/icy conditions. 

Fresh Snow

I do want to cover powder briefly here. For the purpose of whether or not you'll likely get it or not. It's one thing to want to ride it. It's another as to whether you'll actually get it or not.

If you live in an area that doesn't see much fresh snow and you never travel to snowboard, then you don't need a board that's going to be epic in powder. Particularly if those characteristics that make the board great in powder will take away from other characteristics that will help your progression and make your riding more enjoyable. 

Further to that, maybe your area doesn't get much powder - or it's never deep enough to warrant a board that floats that well in powder, but you do occasionally travel and want a good board for powder, then having two boards is highly recommended. That way you can optimize your riding for different conditions. 

Even if you live in an area with an abundance of powder, it's often a good idea to have a multi-board quiver, as you're not likely to get powder all the time. Unless you're someone who only goes out on powder days, then of course you're good with that one powder oriented board. 

Hard/Icy Snow

This is where this section really helps to fine tune your snowboard buying decision. 

Some boards are just better in hard/icy snow than others. So it's pretty simple here - if you regularly ride somewhere where icy conditions happen often, then you want to get a board that has good edge-hold in hard/icy conditions. 

Thankfully there are boards in all of the categories that have options that are good in hard/icy conditions, so this doesn't dictate the type of board you go with. But it's a good idea to take this into account. For example, if you've decided you want an all-mountain-freestyle board, then you can narrow down your options by only considering those that are good in those conditions. 

All the reviews on Snowboarding Profiles give a hard/icy conditions rating, so you can tell which boards we've found to be particularly good in those conditions. 

Other things you can do

There are other things you can do that help to make a board better in hard/icy conditions. It's outside the scope of this article to go into those things in detail here but things like sharpening your edges and edge bevel, as well as widening your stance, can help with grip in icy conditions, should you need to improve that area after you've already purchased a board. But getting a board that's already good in those conditions to start with is the best bet. 

SIZING

The last couple of things - physical characteristics and where you ride - should help you to fine tune your selection and narrow down your options within your particular category.

Once you've chosen the board that you want, you've got one more thing to do before you can confidently pull the trigger on buying it. And that's sizing. And this is a really important one to get right, IMO.

In a sense it's a fine tuning element, but it's one that can make a really big difference. Even 2-3cm can make quite a bit of difference. 

In some cases you might find a board that you want but there isn't a size that works for you. In this case don't be tempted to just go with the closest size. There is a very good chance that there's another board out there that will suit you just as well - but in a better size for you - and that will always be the better choice. 

I'm not going to take up too much time on this as there is a whole post here dedicated to length sizing here and to width sizing here that you should check out, but quickly: 

Physical Characteristics

This is the most important thing to consider when sizing. You want to get the size that is best suited to your height, weight and boot size.

Weight and boot size being the most important considerations. But I still consider it a good idea to take height into account - as it does have the function of leverage. But weight is the most important consideration for length. And, naturally boot size (and foot size) is the most important consideration for width. 

Style of Riding

Your style of riding not only comes into play when choosing the type of board, it also comes into play when sizing. 

E.g. if you're riding freestyle then you'll tend to err shorter. If you're riding freeride, then you tend to err longer. And this is built in to the style of board anyway in a lot of cases. A freestyle board tends to have less board outside the contact points, so a board of a similar effective edge, will be shorter overall compared to an all-mountain or freeride board. 

As opposed to a freeride board, which typically has a long nose (good for powder), so for the same effective edge, it's often longer overall. All-mountain styles typically come in between. Though note that freeride boards also tend to have shorter tails, so in some cases this can even out with all-mountain boards. 

Riding Ability

Like with style, your ability can also play a part in your sizing, in addition to your board choice. In this case it's typical that you would err shorter if you are a beginner and longer if you're more advanced - but again for a more advanced rider it will depend on your riding style as well. 

Strength/Athleticism

As we discussed earlier about your strength/athleticism coming into play when choosing your board, particularly in relation to flex - it also comes into play in sizing. 

A stronger rider will typically be better equipped to handle a longer board than a less strong/athletic rider can. So erring a little longer if you are strong/athletic can be a good idea - but this will also depend on your style of riding, of course. 

More on sizing

Again, sizing is a topic all on its own, and I encourage you to check out our  length sizing and width sizing posts to get a better idea on what a good size range is for you.

SUMMARY

Hopefully this guide has helped you to narrow in on the best snowboard for you. 

Ability and Riding Style

Finding the right style board for you is one of the fastest ways to narrow down your options. If you can find out if you're looking for a snowboard within a particular category, that's half the battle won. Your style could be: 

• Beginner
• Freestyle
• All-Mountain Freestyle
• Aggressive All-Mountain-Freestyle
• All-Mountain
• Aggressive All-Mountain
• Mellow Freeride 
• Freeride

Use the SNOWBOARDING ABILITY and SNOWBOARDING STYLE sections above to discover which you belong to and then use our lists for each category to narrow it down even further. 

Physical Characteristics and Where You Ride

To further tweak your selection it's also a good idea to consider your;

• physical characteristics (though these are taken into account in sizing as well, so use discretion here - see the PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS section above for more details); and
• WHERE YOU RIDE (e.g. maybe you experience icy conditions a lot, in which case getting a board that's good in icy conditions is a further tweak, once you've found your best category) 

Sizing

Finally, sizing is super important. You can go through and find what could be the perfect board for you but pick it in the wrong size and it could make it completely wrong, depending on how far off you are in terms of sizing. 

So make sure to get the right size as well as the right board and you give yourself a really good chance of finding a board that will be optimally suited to you. 

Final Thoughts

And let's finish on that very important note, with which we also started with, and this is:

you want to find the right snowboard "for you" - and that could be completely different to what's right for anyone else around you.

Using this guide should give you a high probability of getting it right.