Not all snowboards are created equal – there are several different types of snowboards.
You could really say that every make and model of snowboard is unique but it’s more useful to look at some broader categories so that you know that type of snowboard you want to search for.
The different types of Snowboard
Some snowboard manufacturers and retailers have different names for different types and everyone have slightly different ideas of what certain terms mean.
In this post I’m going to outline how I classify the different snowboards.
Beginner
This isn’t really a snowboard type as such and manufacturers don’t call any of their snowboards “beginner snowboards”. However, there are some snowboards that are better suited for beginners than others.
Check out the link below to learn what specs to look out for in a beginner snowboard.
Typical Specs
Flex: Medium soft (3-4/10)
Shape: True Twin
Setback Stance: Centered
Camber Profile: Hybrid Camber, Flat to Rocker best
Base: Extruded
Freestyle/Park
Freestyle boards are made to do tricks, jumps and hit jibs. Freestyle is still a fairly broad category and some people prefer a freestyle deck that is more focused on different aspects.
For example if you are more into jibs than anything else then usually you’ll go for a softer flexing board – anything from a 1/10 (1 being the softest and 10 being the stiffest) and a 4/10. This is also a great flex for smaller jumps and flat land tricks.
If you prefer your jumps large and more extreme then a bit of a stiffer flex is often sought – a 5 or 6 out of 10. If you spend a lot of time in the pipe a flex more around that 5-6/10 is more preferable also, in general. A lot of all-mountain-freestyle boards (see below) are better in the pipe and for larger jumps.
If you like to do a bit of everything freestyle then a 4/10 is a good way to go, in my opinion.
Of course some of this comes down to personal preference too.
No matter what type of freestyle you prefer you’ll pretty much always have a centered stance and a true twin shape.
Typical Specs
Flex: Medium-soft, soft or medium (1-6/10)
Shape: True Twin
Setback Stance: Centered
Camber Profile: Various but usually some rocker in the profile
Base: Extruded more often but sintered common too
All-Mountain-Freestyle
The all-mountain-freestyle snowboard is like a hybrid between a freestyle snowboard and an all-mountain snowboard.
It allows you to ride the whole mountain and be able to ride freestyle on the whole mountain and is better in the park than an all-mountain board.
Typical Specs
Flex: Medium (sometimes medium-soft sometimes medium-stiff)
Shape: True Twin or Directional Twin
Setback Stance: Centered
Camber Profile: Various
Base: Extruded and Sintered but sintered preffered
All-Mountain
The all-mountain snowboard is designed to be able to do a bit of everything. There will always be some compromise in an all mountain snowboard.
For example to be ideal in riding powder you will want to have directional shape and a setback stance. However, for riding freestyle, you will want a true twin shape and a centered stance.
An all-mountain board finds the middle ground that allows you to do a bit of everything.
Typical Specs
Flex: Medium
Shape: Directional Twin (sometimes Directional)
Setback Stance: Usually between 5mm and 20mm (seldom cenetered and seldom greater than 20mm setback)
Camber Profile: Various
Base: Sintered (but cheaper all-mountain boards will have an extruded base)
- Learn more details about all-mountain snowboards here (plus aggressive all-mountain and all-mountain-freestyle)
Aggressive-All-Mountain
An aggressive all mountain snowboard is like an all mountain snowboard but it’s closer to a freeride board than a freestyle board.
So it’s really good for riding aggressive all over the mountain but isn’t really suited to riding the park or riding freestyle.
Typical Specs
Flex: Medium-Stiff
Shape: Directional & Directional Twin
Setback Stance: Between 5mm and 20mm mostly
Camber Profile: Predominantly Hybrid Camber and Traditional Camber
Base: Sintered
Freeride
A freeride board is an aggressive, directional, stiff board that is designed to ride fast, carve well and be able to explore the backcountry so needs to be good in powder – but also be good in hard snow conditions.
A freeride board won’t be very good in the park at all or for riding freestyle – though a lot of freeriders do like to be able to do some freestyle type riding in the backcountry – particularly when there is plenty of powder.
Typical Specs
Flex: Stiff
Shape: Directional or Tapered Directional
Setback Stance: 20mm or more
Camber Profile: Various but hybrid camber most common
Base: Sintered
Powder
A powder board is a specialized board for riding powder.
It will also have a tapered directional shape a majority of the time – you’ll usually find they have a nose that is wider and longer than the tail. There are always exceptions to the rule – you do have true twin powder boards but these are the exception to the rule.
And the setback is usually greater than 20mm – which is no surprise as a setback stance really helps with float in the powder. Again there are always exceptions and you can get powder boards with a centered stance.
Typical Specs
Flex: Medium or Medium-Stiff
Shape: Tapered Directional
Setback Stance: Usually more than 20mm
Camber Profile: Hybrid Camber and Flat-to-Rocker
Base: Sintered
Thanks for Reading
Thanks for reading and I hope you now know more about the different types of snowboards and the specs that the different types typically have. Check out the links above to learn more about each type of snowboard.
