Top 15 Beginner Snowboards 2019-20 (Past Season)

Board: GNU Carbon Credit Asym

Price: $419

Beginner Board Rating Score: 89.5/100

Ability Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Style of Board: Freestyle

Flex: Soft (3/10)

  *HARD/ICY SNOW OPTION

GNU's Carbon Credit Asym is one of the easiest boards to turn going around, so if you're still trying to link your turns, this is one board that will make it easy to do. 

It's quite a loose feeling board - which can be a little tricky when it comes to getting off the lifts but otherwise a great board to learn on. 

And if you're looking at getting into riding freestyle/park, then this will be a great investment for that style of riding. 

Also a great option for those that encounter hard/icy conditions often.

Score Breakdown for the Carbon Credit Asym

Board: Capita Horrorscope

Price: $379

Beginner Board Rating Score: 89.5/100

Ability Level: Beginner-to-advanced (for jib/park riding)

Style of Board: Jib/Park

Flex: Medium-Soft (4/10)

Whilst being first and foremost designed as a park/jib/street board, the Horrorscope is also great as a beginner board.

If you think park riding is ultimately what you want to get into, including jibs, then this board would be a great investment – will be great to progress with as a beginner deck but then will serve you as a park board for years.

Even if you ride other styles too, you’ll always have a great park/jib board in your arsenal.

Score Breakdown for the Horrorscope

Board: Burton Ripcord

Price: $379

Beginner Board Rating Score: 90/100

Ability Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Style of Board: Freeride

Flex: Soft (2/10) 

  *FAST PROGRESSION

It's not often that a freeride board is also a beginner board, but this is the case for the Ripcord. 

So, if you're looking to get into powder in your early days riding, but don't want a super aggressive hard-to-ride freeride board, then this might be a good pick for you. 

Not something that will help if you want to learn to ride switch from the beginning or if you think you'll get into riding freestyle - but great for the budding freerider. 

Score Breakdown for the Ripcord

Board: Ride Agenda

Price: $359

Beginner Board Rating Score: 90.5/100

Ability Level: Beginner-to-intermediate

Style of Board: Freestyle

Flex: Medium-Soft (3/10)

  *FAST PROGRESSION

The only thing that really stopped this board from getting a perfect score was the versatility. It’s very much a freestyle snowboard – so if you were to go into something other than that once you progressed past the beginner phase, you would need to upgrade.

Otherwise it has an easy going hybrid rocker profile (new for the 2019 & 2020 models - was previously flat-to-rocker) with a camber section under the feet for stability and rocker sections towards the tip and tail for easier turn initiation plus a nice easy soft flex rating of 3 out of 10.

Note, confusingly Ride refer to it as a hybrid rocker profile, but by my definition it's hybrid camber (because the rocker is tip and tail, rather than between the feet). 

Ride Agenda Score Breakdown

Board: Salomon Pulse

Price: $299

Beginner Board Rating Score: 91/100

Ability Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Style of Board: All-Mountain

Flex: Soft (3/10)

The only downside to the Pulse as a beginner board is that there isn't any rocker to speak of in the camber profile. This would usually cause me to cross it off the list straight away, but the Pulse is easy enough to turn on in spite of that.  

And the Pulse scores so well outside of that, that it still makes this list. A great option if you want a versatile all-mountain ride and think that you might want to go for a traditional camber board down the line - an easier gateway to trad camber than going straight to trad camber. 

Score Breakdown for the Pulse

Board: YES Basic

Price: $399

Rating Score (as a beginner board): 91.5/100

Style of Board: Freestyle

Ability Level: Beginner-to-Advanced

Flex: Medium-Soft (4/10)

  *HARD/ICY SNOW OPTION

The YES Basic is a great little freestyle board that is also well suited to beginners.

It has a nice forgiving medium-soft flex, is easy to turn on but still feels very stable underfoot.

It’s a great option for those that often ride in harder or icy conditions, is very versatile and is a board that can take you beyond the beginner stage and even beyond the intermediate stage.

The Basic’s Score Breakdown

Board: Rossignol Sawblade

Price: $379

Beginner Board Rating Score: 92/100

Ability Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Style of Board: Jib/Park

Flex: Soft (3/10)

  *FAST PROGRESSION

The Sawblade was a new board in Rossignol's line for 2019 and continues with a 2020 model.

It offers a really easy going ride that, like the other Rossi boards in this list, features their "Auto-Turn" camber profile, which offers both ease of turn initiation but also enough stability. 

This is a park/jib oriented board. So, if you think that's something you'll get into later, then this is a great investment that you can keep even when you upgrade to something for riding the rest of the mountain. 

Score Breakdown for the Sawblade

Board: Rossignol District

Price: $319

Beginner Board Rating Score: 92/100

Ability Level: Beginner-to-Intermediate

Style of Board: Freestyle

Flex: Medium-Soft (4/10)

Basically perfect for the beginner, except for being slightly above the soft flexing range. But for most, this will still be a very easy board to learn on that should ensure fast progression.  

If you're a lighter rider or not that strong, then maybe going softer flexing for your very first board, but otherwise, this is a great board for most absolute beginners and for those who have a little bit of experience under their belts but are still looking for their confidence. 

It's gone up slightly in price for 2020, but it's still a really reasonably priced deck. 

The Districts Score Breakdown

Board: Arbor Formula Rocker

Price: $359

Beginner Board Rating Score: 92/100

Ability Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Style of Board: All-Mountain-Freestyle

Flex: Medium-Soft (4/10)

The Formula Rocker offers an easy going rocker profile that is catch-free and easy to initiate turns on. But Arbor do their rocker in such a way (called their System Rocker) that it's not as loose feeling as most all-rocker boards tend to feel. 

It's still on the looser side (something that makes it easier to turn on but can be tricky one-footing it off the lift) but not as loose as other continuous rocker boards. 

It's also a little stiffer than some boards on this list - which can make it more difficult but will also mean that it can be ridden further into the intermediate phase - and certainly within in the real of most beginners, in terms of flex.

Score Breakdown for the Formula Rocker

Board: Nitro Prime

Price: $299

Beginner Board Rating Score: 94/100

Ability Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Style of Board: All-Mountain

Flex: Medium-Soft (4/10) 

At #6 we have the Nitro Prime. The Prime is an easy to ride and progress on entry level board, that is nice and versatile for those starting out not knowing how they want to ride yet. 

It's the equal cheapest board on this list, so if you're a beginner snowboarder on a budget, this is definitely worth considering. 

Score Breakdown for the Prime Screen

Board: Burton Instigator

Price: $399

Beginner Board Rating Score: 94.5/100

Ability Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Style of Board: All-Mountain

Flex: Soft (2/10)

  *FAST PROGRESSION

The Instigator is a great board to get your snowboard learning underway and whilst you’ll probably want to upgrade once you’ve surpassed the intermediate phase, it can take you into any type of riding you would want to go.

It's not the cheapest on this list - but you could argue that it's the most beginner friendly. 

Score Breakdown for the Instigator

Board: K2 Standard

Price: $359

Beginner Board Rating Score: 95/100

Ability Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Style of Board: All-Mountain

Flex: Soft (2/10) 

  *FAST PROGRESSION

This is a great option to start your snowboarding journey out on.

Like most here, it’s an up-to-intermediate level ride but it’s definitely a do-it-all kind of board – so you won’t have to worry about knowing the type of riding that you think you'll like.

More importantly, it’s a board designed to be very easy to ride and to build confidence on.

The price went up a little for the 2020 model, but still a really reasonably priced snowboard.

Score Breakdown for the K2 Standard

Board: Arbor Foundation

Price: $319

Beginner Board Rating Score: 95/100

Ability Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Style of Board: All-Mountain-Freestyle

Flex: Soft (3/10)

  *FAST PROGRESSION

The Foundation is about the ideal beginner board. 

The only thing is that it's a little on the looser side, which can make it more difficult to one-foot off the lift. But it's certainly not super-loose. Not as loose as other continuous rocker boards tend to be, due to Arbor's System Rocker approach.

All-round it's a super easy going, catch-free, easy to turn ride that is confidence inspiring.  

Score Breakdown for the Foundation

Board: Rossignol Circuit

Price: $319

Beginner Board Rating Score: 96/100

Ability Level: Beginner to Intermediate

Style of Board: All-Mountain

Flex: Soft (3/10) 

  *FAST PROGRESSION

This freestyle oriented all-mountain board is a great starter board. It’s nice and forgiving, with easy turn initiations but also with a stable enough feel, when riding at slower speeds.

Whilst, it would need to be upgraded once you graduated from an intermediate level – it’s versatile enough to take you in the direction you wanted to go, up until that time. 

Score Breakdown for the Circuit

Board: Salomon Sight

Price: $349

Beginner Board Rating Score: 96/100

Ability Level: Beginner-to-Intermediate

Style of Board: All-Mountain

Flex: Soft (3/10) 

  *FAST PROGRESSION

And the #1 beginner boards this year - the Salomon Sight. 

It's one of the easiest boards out there to progress on – it’s nice and forgiving, catch-free, easy to initiate turns on and nice and stable underfoot at slow speeds. 

Whilst there is a reasonable amount of camber there - it's still really forgiving - and gives you a great introduction into more camber dominant boards, if that's where you're headed to.  

It’s also a very versatile board being an all-mountain board – so no matter which style of riding you get into as you progress, you’ll have a board that can take you there.

The only thing that drags down the versatility score (and overall score) and stops it from being a completely perfect score, is that that you’ll probably want to upgrade once you progress beyond an intermediate level. But it will be one of those boards that you can use to progress to beyond that intermediate level faster than most boards out there. 

On top of all of that, it’s a really reasonably priced board – helping to make it Snowboarding Profiles’ all-round #1 beginner snowboard.

Score Breakdown for the Sight