The Women's Snowboard Buying Guide (supplement)

THE WOMEN'S SUPPLEMENTAL SNOWBOARD BUYING GUIDE

Contents:
Step 1: Why do you even need a women's board?
Step 2: The Different Kinds of Board
Step 3: Conclusion and Board List

Understanding and using the supplement:



I'm a guy. I don't work in a shop. I've only been riding for 4 years. And in those four years, I've probably ridden, at most around 8 decks. Unsurprisingly, none of them have been women's decks.

In summary: I am no expert, don't take me for one. Realistically, how much information can I give a woman asking about her gear?

You might think "not a lot, ipps!" and you'd be quite right. I can't tell you how a board 'feels', nor can i tell you how it flexes or where its sweet spot is. That is something YOU are unfortunately burdened with finding out for yourself.

Instead, much like the intentions of the original guide, the aim is to give you a general idea about women's snowboards, throw out some recommendations, explain some things about the tech, and then send you off on your merry way.

This guide won't answer all your questions about board (x), indeed it will barely scratch the surface. But that isn't really the function. The aim of this guide instead is to start you off on your own little mission.

In addition it should be mentioned that this is a supplement to the main guide. So I'm afraid I won't be going over the things from the main guide: for example I won't be explaining the differences in cambers, or what an extruded base is, or how directional boards work. So if you are hoping that this is self contained, I'm afraid you might find this a bit overwhelming.

The aim of this guide isn't to tell you what everything is, (that was the aim of the other guide). The aim instead is to simply cover some of the glaring oversights, omissions, and assumptions I made in that guide pertaining to womens issues when buying a snowboard.

About this Guide:

Which of course leads me to the question: Is there even such a thing as a women's snowboard? Aren't all snowboards the same and aren't we just being sold a cosmetic repackaging of a mans snowboard just in a smaller size wand with 'girlier' graphics?

The answer is No. (qualified).

In Part 1: I will outline the two central reasons why women's snowboards even exist and why you should probably be buying them instead of a man's snowboard if given the choice. I will then add a third reason which has nothing at all to do with the ride you are looking at, and everything to do with assumptions in the industry.

In part 2: I will break down women's snowboards into three principal categories: Boards that work well in park; Boards that work well for the whole resort; and boards that are more for all terrain/conditions inside and outside the resort. In effect I've smashed categories 1 and 2 from the earlier guide together, as well as categories 4, 5 and 6.

Finally part 3 will offer a table of all the boards I decided to research. Want to know which boards have a sintered base? or a directional cut? Or are hybrid cambered? I've got your back.

The intention is to try and offer women something comprehensive to make up for the general lack of information out there :) Buying a snowboard is a pain in the ass. Manufacturers don't help (with the possible exception of Burton and Rome). Almost every major snowboarding site or review site focuses almost all of their attention towards male snowboarding and male snowboarders. Compared to men's snowboards (which often have peer reviews a mere google search away), researching women's snowboards often leads to sites simply repeating the company blurb.

The table in part three puts all the information in one place and standardizes the language so that you can see for yourself what kind of boards have the camber profile/shape/base you're interested in, (or the price point you're looking at (all MSRP, and hopefully correct)). This way you can also get a sense of some other boards that might fit a similar function or criteria to help you out with your own research.

In this instance, the supplement goes way beyond the mens guide specifically with the intention of correcting a little of the imbalance of access to information out there.

STEP 2: TYPES OF DECK

Introduction Summary:

The main board guide has 6 categories. They're pretty reasonable, but do stem more from my own assumptions than anything else. The thinking went something like this: Type 1: Noodles: urban, jibbing, struggles outside of park. Super soft. Type 2: Park: poppier, stable, but still super soft. Mainly park, but more versatile and built with small-medium features (jumps in particular) and cruising in mind. Type 3: All resort: Do it all boards. Bit of everything, can hold an edge in most conditions, but don't really achieve anything specific. Great intermediate all round boards for trying things out and finding one's preferences. Type 4: All mountain: Literally ALL mountain (resort and backcountry). These are technical freestyle boards for big hits and features. Will be solid and stable and can be taken into any terrain. Still, not freeride specific nor will they be great in conventional sense of 'park' riding. Freeride: Directional setback slackcountry style twisty turny, lightning edge to edge perfect carves, charging boards. Will bomb any line and will rip through anything nature throws at it. Powder:As above but with a taper. Super fast edge to edge, and can hold up on any line. But you will NEVER sink that nose in even if you go from light pow to wet crud. Its surfing it all! I kind of stand by that as a general way of breaking the boards down, but well, theres just not enough 5's and 6's out there for women to really justify 1 let alone 2 categories. In addition, types 1-3 are pretty confusing whilst 2, 3 and 4 often overlapped. In order to provide a clearer map, and also a larger margin of error, I've cut the categories from six to three (Park, resort, all mountain).    Ostensibly the criteria still exists, and if you look at the table in step 3, you will see that (where necessary), I have added one of the old categories to make it a bit more distinct (you may see boards listed as jib/park or all mtn/freeride or all mtn/pow if i felt it required a little extra emphasis, hell, i even have resort/all mtn when i can't honestly tell).

So what's changed? Well, now there are THREE categories.
They are: PARK - RESORT - ALL MOUNTAIN and I'm going to try and explain a bit about them:

Type 1: The All-Round Park Deck

General Specs:
Flex: super soft to soft-medium (very buttery to quite buttery)
Base: Extruded mainly.
Shape: True twin - almost exclusively.
Camber: Mainly reverse or zero, but some camber boards are still holding the line.
Best for: Jibs: rails and boxes; very mellow cruising; buttering the mountain and looking pro.
Worst for: Progressive riding outside the park; getting down your carving and pop; and hitting those double black diamonds or slashing pow in the slackcountry.


So this is a park board right? Well yes and no. The defining characteristic of these boards ISN'T that they are park boards, but that in the grand scheme of riding (and once you have a few years under your belt), this board will be used PRIMARILY in the park.

However, if you are a beginner, the term 'park' is not only useless, it's also rather unhelpful. These boards are soft, super forgiving, and easy as hell to learn on. For a first year wanting nothing more than hitting turns, cruising the groomers, popping a few ground spins, maybe sliding a box or two and hitting a couple of jumps, this board will not only do what every other board will do, but it's maybe going to do it better.

Park then is a misnomer to the beginner. It's also a massive misnomer in general given that these boards won't be landing 30 foot kickers, and they'll be folding up in the pipe (the park is after all a big place). These boards are built for pressing, buttering, jibbing, cruising, and all round doinking about. They aren't made for ripping all terrain, nor are they made to land massive airs. Of course, as you progress you will find that statement to be less and less true, but let's not confuse things more than they already are. :)

For Beginners: These boards are perfect for getting those first turns and really enjoying snowboarding. They are made for FUN. You may outgrow this board or consign it to a jib deck in your quiver in a year or two when you realise it's holding your progression back, then again, you might think charging blacks and trees suck. It's all personal. In the end they may hamper progression, but for greens/blues, park and those early days, no problem.

For intermediates: Great to cruise with, and perfect for anyone starting in park after neglecting it for that first year or two. Anyone used to harder charging boards may find it fun at first, but feel a little restricted by it as a go to board. It will probably end up an essential part of any quiver though and get pulled out on those days you just want a bit more of a mellow day of it or just want to show off a bit.   

For Advanced: you know what it is, you know what it's for, you know why you're looking at it. You don't really need me to egg the pudding here. This is your park ride. It's your urban ride, and its your cruising the resort or even your ripping up double diamonds just to spit in the faces of people like me that might suggest "you will struggle outside the park on a jib board!" ride. :)

A couple of recommendations with reviews to show the scope we're talking about here:

Capita Space Metal Fantasy: On the noodley side you have capita's SMF: The horrorscope for women. It comes with flatkick and a super soft jibcore which makes everything super buttery and playful. This board is ultra forgiving, maybe a hair too soft to be anything more than a jib deck, but Zoe loves it, it's also her go to ride just to spit in the face of what I wrote above about it being 'too soft to be anything more than a jib deck'
(a link to zoe's review: http://www.trusnow.com/Capita-Space-Metal-Fantasy-Womens-Snowboards.asp

Arbor Cadence: On the stiffer end of the range you have the Arbor Cadence. It comes with reverse camber (parabolic rocker, which just means rocker from the middle - with a smaller arc as you get to the tip and tail), along with grip tech (extra edge contact at the inserts) and a slight blunted shape. This board is made for some serious park shredding but also a great board for cruising. The park system puts it a little more in the park line though, but easily this board could end up your go-to shred stick:
Shay loves it and made it her park board: http://www.shayboarder.com/2010/05/snowboard-review-10-11-arbor-cadence.html

Other recommendations:
Nitro Runaway; Bataleon Distortia; Sierra Vspot; Burton feather or social; Flow Jewel; Gnu B-street; K2 Fling or vavavoom; Rome detail; smokin PYT.

Type 2: The All round RESORT deck

General Specs:
Flex: Soft-medium - medium flex.
Shape: Twin, directional twin (and the myriad of ideas directional twin encompass).
Base: Sintered and Extruded. Basically a price point issue.
Camber: Veering towards hybrid cambers with a camber option.
Best for: Tasting it all: cruising the whole mountain, messing around in the pow and pretty much hitting up everything the resort has to offer. Also stable and forgiving, so great for progressing through those first few years. It's the one board quiver killer.
Worst for: Specializing and fitting it into your quiver when you start building it. You'll probably outgrow it when you find your preferences, and you'll find your preferences by recognising where you're outgrowing it (which is kinda one of the best things about it too) :)



Usually on the medium-soft side of things, these boards are made (almost entirely so), to be one board quiver killers. Of course they aren't and never will be, but the nice thing is that for progressing riders you likely won't realise until the time comes when you need to make that next step forward. These boards then come with a beautiful double edged sword: On the one hand they are PERFECT for letting you try out everything, (and i mean EVERYTHING) the resort has to offer. This will really let you get a handle on your preferences and help with your progression. Yet on the other hand, if you do find yourself preferring certain things over others, you'll maybe end up realising that you need to be on a board more suited to that particular function.

This isn't of course an iron law of the universe. It's just as likely that you come to love this ride and are more than happy NOT specializing because you like just riding about the mountain and enjoying your vacation snowboarding. This isn't a job and we don't all have aspirations of being the greatest rider or getting our technique the best it's ever going to be. Some people just want to enjoy being on the mountains and doing it on a board that holds it's own pretty much anywhere you want to ride it. Well this board will do that and more. And who says you can't be pro riding one of these? Not me.

From grinding boxes all day, to riding every course the mountain has to offer and maybe even mucking about under the ropes or in the trees, this board will pretty much cover it all. Sure, it's going to be harder to get a full steezy press out of it like a park board, and maybe it'll slide out a bit or nose dive in deeper pow, and maybe it won't be all that quick with its turns and bounce you around a bit in chop.

But you bought this board NOT because it gives you the BEST performance in EVERYTHING, you bought it because it gives you the best ALL ROUND performance in a single board. It's going to grind boxes and rails better than an all mountain, it's going to slash pow, hit steep lines, and charge way better than a park board. You bought it because it's the most friendly and versatile board for everything you're likely to do at a resort and that's pretty much the bottom line.

For Beginners: Another great choice for beginners. In fact the ideal choice if you ask me. These boards not only allow you to start off your riding in a nice easy forgiving manner, but it will also have the stability and edge hold to push you into that next step. These boards also come in pretty much every camber conceivable allowing you to trade off a bit of stability at speed (camber) for early doors forgiveness (reverse), or even mix and match them both in hybrid. They also come in a variety of flexes from medium-soft through to medium-stiff.

So whereas your mates who went for the soft boards will be busy getting bounced around and washing on the harder runs, you'll be holding your edge and learning to deal with the terrain. These boards offer a much longer progression curve for beginners whilst still allowing for a forgiving ride (though its all a game of trade off's :)).

For intermediates: You've done your first year or two and you want an upgrade. You're hit with questions like "what do you like doing?" and you honestly can't answer the question because you have no idea. You just kinda like snowboarding with your mates and hitting up whatever. Well say hello to your new board. :) These boards are built for you. They're soft enough to be mellow and forgiving, (but stiff enough that when you want a bit of pop it's not going to just fold out on you), they hold up in almost all terrain, they can hit up almost all of the park with no bother. More importantly they are FUN. They're the boards that let you doink about the mountain bouncing off bumps, charging up ice walls, hitting the trees, and buttering the flats. These boards are built for intermediates who either dont know or dont care what their preferences are. They just want to snowboard and want one board that lets them taste it all.     

For advanced: Obviously the main reason to get one of these is that not everyone likes the feel of stiff boards. Not everyone enjoys ripping with really aggressive rides. Not everyone is going to naturally veer towards the baddest, heaviest, nastiest, crud smashing, chop destroying, uber-stable, turn on a rail, bombing deck. Some people are a little more subtle and maybe refined in their tastes. These boards are just as likely to feature as an advanced riders go to deck as any other deck. In fact since they are all resort and FUN forgiving playful stable rides, they might even feature in MORE people's go-to collection than any other ride out there.

But for those of you who do love a bit of smashing things up on your tank board these boards give you two things to consider: 1. They make more aggressive small-medium feature park rides and 2. They make great cruising decks. they're still going to hold a line, and they're still going to pop, it might feel a bit more underwhelming than your main ride in both senses, but then your main ride probably feels a little too lively and aggressive when all you want to do is just muck about a bit and enjoy yourself.

A couple of reviews:

Rome Lofi and Lofi rockerThe rome lo-fi and the lo-fi rocker are great all round boards. Obviously the camber version is going to feel a lot more stable, and part of the reason for choosing the lo-fi is because there will be some big differences between the camber and reverse camber versions which indirectly also allows me to hype up camber as a VALID and LEGITIMATE tech in getting you to the ride you want to be on. Finally though, i put it up because people seem to pretty much love it. :)
http://blog.the-house.com/snowboarding/snowboard-demo-2011-rome-lo-fi/
http://www.snowboard-review.com/snowboard_reviews/review/lo-fi_rocker/
http://www.trusnow.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=32844&PID=991566#991566

Burton Feelgood, Burton feegood flying V and Burton Feelgood 2010 V-rocker:
Another fun experiment just to show your range of options. This years flying V is hybrid camber, has pretty much every tech that burton could jam into it and seems like a SOLID do it all board. The camber version on the other hand will have a bit more stability (due to the nature of camber) and power. However, the 2010 came with Burton's V-rocker which will make this board feel looser than either of the 2011s with some extra stability issues that the others won't really have. It's important to recognise that just a year of tech can change the feel of a ride, so if you want something that does it all but feels a bit more forgiving, you might want to look at the v-rocker 2010 model instead of the 2011. The point is that even in one line, and with one ride from one line you can tinker your experience in a myriad of ways to get just the style you want.

Heres shay's reviews of the 2010 and 2011 so you can see how she felt about those changes:
http://www.shayboarder.com/2009/12/snowboard-review-09-10-burton-feelgood-v-rocker.html
http://www.shayboarder.com/2010/05/snowboard-review-10-11-burton-feelgood-flying-v.html

Other boards to consider: Ride OMG; Ride Canvas; Bataleon Violenza (and feelbetter); Neversummer Infinity; Gnu BNice; Roxy Eminence; Roxy Olliepop; K2 Fling; K2 Luna/Lunatique; Nitro Cheryl Mass; Nitro Mystique; 2011 Burton Lipstick; Salomon Lark; Salomon Gypsy; Smokin Vixen.

[ETA: I'm real torn on some of those, for instance the OMG and the lipstick (both for opposite reasons). And i also left out some that I wasn't entirely sure if I understand the board well enough. Understand though, these are after all only general ideas to help you out for further research and ultimately categorising is STUPID and arbitary. I did make up the criteria and I did decide to group the boards based on that made up criteria! This isn't science here :)]   

Type 3: The AGGRESSIVE FREERIDE/FREESTYLE ALL MOUNTAIN + POW sticks.

General Specs:
Flex: Stiff. Super poppy.
Base: Sintered
Shape: Directional, or directional twin
Camber: Camber and Hybrid.
Best for: Ripping, charging, bombing, dropping, launching, nuking, murdering, slashing, wasting, and killing the whole mountain. These boards are poppy, fast, aggressive and won't ride anything less than the most technical ridiculous lines just to make sure your worthy of standing on it.
Worst for: Hangover days, learning to ride, and seducing intermediates into thinking they really want the stiffest board because everyone knows that the stiffer a board is the more advanced a rider you are! (cue: bored intermediate wishing she bought the lofi rocker instead).



When you have aggressive freestyle rides sitting in the same group as powder boards it gets a little squirly trying to come up with an expression that encapsulates or sums up an inherent quality in common with all of these boards. Why I shouldn't just let the spaces, subtleties and distinctions breath a little is a fair question. I mean other than the fact they're all on the stiffer side, tend towards a directional or directional twin shape, and are packed with enough pop to launch any good rider that knows how to load it into outerspace is all by the by! Well maybe... :)

There are three boards out there though, that sum this category up for me and can help illustrate what it's all about. They are: The K2 GBpop; The Burton Fortress; and The Ride Promise. I really could add in the malolo and the venture boards, but they sit at a slightly more extreme side of things and honestly deserve their own category. (But they're not getting one :))

That I mention these three doesn't mean I personally endorse or recommend them, but rather that they each stood out as defining rides for each of the areas this category encompasses.

In the first case you have the K2 GBpop, an incredibly lively and aggressive directional twin freeride big feature destroyer. This board is BUILT for launching off every hit you might want to have a go at. No matter the conditions or the terrain, or where the hell you are on the mountain, this board will storm through it. what else can you add? This is your standard all mountain (whether hitting the resort or backcountry kickers) freestyle ripper. These are very much the stiffer brothers and sisters of the boards in the previous category.

Secondly you have the ride promise. While i was happy browsing boards it stuck out. The reason being that it's of course a nice stiff freeride board, BUT whether intentionally or otherwise, it looks like it has real potential for a powder kid starving for options out there. This year they added the lowpro which means you get rocker in the nose and flat camber in the tail. You also get a solid core freeride board on top of that that with a setback. If they only threw in a taper...

Obviously ride wanted it to be versatile and still be that aggressive all mountain ride, so if you're looking for a pure powder ripper, then maybe it's not going to be that, but if you're after an alternative to the malolo or a freeride charger with a bit more powder orientatation (and a tail that you can stomp (like my charlie slasher which (sans taper) this board sounds a bit like)), then this rig definitely fits the bill.

Finally you have the fortress. I was looking for something to add about the fortress in the bells and whistles section and struggling to find anything specific that people might be pulled in with (like say a camber profile or a sidecut gimmick), but then something magical happened, the pieces all mashed together in my head and I realised this board had absolutely EVERYTHING going in one direction. This board is an uncompromising freeride destroyer! Lightning fast, super damp, and super lightweight, this board is going to crash through anything put in front of it. This board seems to have one function and it's to tear up whatever line you want to ride. Whether its bombing the blacks on the resort or hitting 60 degree chutes this board is going to hold up on everything. It's honestly one of the boards that had my jaw on the floor.

So that's the three types of rides I wanted to cover in this section. Hopefully the three boards I mentioned give you a general idea of the other rides in this category. These boards are stiff, aggressive, and meant to really show their stuff on either bigger features in the park or completely outside the resort boundaries.

Inside the resort they may feel a little one dimensional or a bit repetitive (given that they'll pretty much nuke every groomer out there). But outside the resort boundaries or in natural terrain they really come into their own and start returning that investment.

A couple of last boards I really should mention though are the Burton Malolo and the Venture storm. Both boards sit a little in the pow category unto themselves. I've honestly been underwhelmed by the pow board options out there but at least these two are flying the flag. Sure an 8mm taper isn't massive, but it beats the crap out of no taper at all and the malolo sits on a 20mm taper which is AWESOME. Coupled with the S-rocker, you'll never sink that nose!
The reason the Venture really stands out though is that they offer a splitboard version which brings to the table something utterly unique for women. If you want nothing but back country lines and a deck that's going to give you that, you definitely want to look at either of these boards.

Anyway, to summarise:

For Beginners:Just don't do it. I'm not kidding, really stay away from these boards until you're absolutely sure you really want one to push your riding up a notch. This won't be for a couple of years at least. Until you're cruising the double blacks bored out of your mind and feeling penned in by the resort then there's nothing this ride is going to bring to you that you can't get on a softer more forgiving board out there. Nothing!

For intermediate riders: The same applies. These boards sing to you a song of freedom and waist deep fluffy fields of pow! But its the sirens call. Buy one of these before you really need one (and it's pretty likely you will know when you need one), and they'll feel pedestrian, one dimensional, boring... and on top of that, they'll probably knock you about a bit. These boards are somewhat uncompromising and really only suit the people that know they need them.

For advanced riders: Yeah these boards are meant for you. BUT WITH THE PROVISO that you actually want to do the stuff they are made for. Don't assume this is some natural step on the progression ladder. It's not. If you want to hit the backside of the mountain or get a bit more kick to your pipe riding then you probably want one of these boards, but there's nothing in the world that stops you improving your riding on any board you have. If you want to rip pow on an Infinity instead of a Lotus then that's entirely up to you. You won't stop progressing.

Your progression, (and I feel like I'm stating the blindingly obvious here), isn't related to how stiff your board is at the end of the day. So a massive note of caution to people thinking I'm building some kind of beginner, intermediate, and advanced scale and mapping it onto these three categories. You can be an advanced rider and be happy just cruising the groomers all day for all it matters. And if that's what you want to do, you probably don't need this board to do it.

Just because these boards are almost exclusively for advanced riders, it doesn't follow that they are advanced boards or that the people riding them are ipso facto advanced. All boards have a function that they specialise in. Save yourself the agro and buy the board that does what you want it to do, not the board you think you should be on because you're 'advanced'.

A final rejoinder then: If you don't find what I just wrote was blindingly obvious and labouring the point, you maybe aren't quite as advanced as you think you are :)

With apologies to shayboarder: A few reviews: (honestly, i'd love to not burden shay with propping up this guide, but she's one of the only women out there offering serious opinions on these rides and her reviews are somewhat fantastic):
Roxy Envi 2012: http://www.shayboarder.com/2011/03/snowboard-review-11-12-roxy-envi-c2-btx.html
The Neversummer Lotus: http://www.shayboarder.com/2010/03/snowboard-review-10-11-never-summer-lotus.html
Rome Blue:http://www.snowboard-review.com/snowboard_reviews/review/blue1

Other recommendations:Arbor Push; Capita Midnight; Flow Myriad; Nitro Carrara; Burton Feelgood ES; Venture Zephyr; Salomon Ivy; Palmer Liberty (I also want to throw out the Rossignol Diva Magtek but I'm honestly not 100% sure about where to put it. it sounds just a little too all round :))


Conclusion:

Beginners: Just because youre a girl doesn't mean I've changed my opinion. If you want to learn snowboarding and are looking to buy a board that will carry you throughout your progression chain (and last you a couple of years at least), you still need to be on a stable soft-medium flexing board. If however its just something fun to do in winter and you're not all that bothered, then the only harm in learning on something soft and playful is that you might have to shell out next year on a more aggressive ride when you realise you're hooked. Happens to us all :) Intermediates: Ignore the sirens call! for there lies only damnation! Don't start looking for a technical ride before you really know you want it. Just enjoy the moment, get a taste of it all, and then the day you get sick of washing or feel your board isn't buttery enough, then start looking at boards to supplement or replace that all resort ride.     Advanced: I aint telling you squat. You know your preferences, you know what you want to do, you probably know all the tech available so er, hhy the hell are you even reading this? Shouldn't you be WRITING this instead of me? :?

First pass done. Will probably have another look at it later on in the week or something, particularly that conclusion which i havent even proof read and probably sounds a teensy bit ranty :) Still, i think im done looking at it for the time being.

And huzzah! i avoided the dreaded combo breaker even with the site telling me to stop spamming! in your face haters! :p

i made it im afraid. And there isnt one for men unless someone else does it :)

its probably better if you make a thread about it dude :) Id feel a bit of an ass answering a dudes thread hijacking in a space that im trying to specifically keep for women... plus im slightly trollied and playing rift :p

Still heres an attempt at an answer:

The science is still the same - if you donwsize you lose stability, you lose pop, and in turn you gain a bit more manoeuvrability and twisty turny spinny roundy feelings as well as make the board feel a teensy bit softer. You pays your money and takes your chance :) Its a decision you need to make for yourself based on what you want to do.

This is pretty much amazing, it took a couple passes to get thought it but I respect your willingness to be thorough and having the tenacity to take it on. 

The Brits have it all wrong, triple is certainly the better alternative. 

and this'll be bump 3/x :)

Shameless bump here - Great summary. My brother and his girlfriend are learning how to board this coming season and want to buy. This came in very useful tonight trying to explain to them why my brother with size 13 feet and his girlfriend shouldn't use the same board.

cheers dude, it was getting embarrassing. :)

this is great. and turns out i bought the right board for what i want to do even without reading this :)

wow can't get over how thorough this is! I'm only just starting to look at a board and this has been very helpful! big thankyou

yeah its a great thread ippollite. based on your descriptioni or what not, l picked up the flow jewel. never got to test it out yet but l hope l like it :P

Originally posted by dougfagel Ippo, I will make this a Sticky so that you don't have to Spam Bump this great thread that you have created.

Originally posted by EpicFAIL Originally posted by dougfagel Ippo, I will make this a Sticky so that you don't have to Spam Bump this great thread that you have created. Doug, where do Sticky's get located?  I would like to be able to find this thread later. Thanks

its called book marking. all browser has it. use it

^^^^ ahhh, Bagelzzz, welcome back bud

Just double checked - it's closer to $3500. What a way to treat such a repeat customer - eh??

Yes. The whole point of that was to let newby's who don't have a lot of money should try women's boards. They're cheaper (especially used ones) and easier to learn on.
I found my true love - a 158 custom flying v with squeezebox and cartels.
That's for good condition days.
For bad conditions I have my burton troop 146 and escapade bindings.
Save money on a nug and get some elevators and a tiny board. I've been riding 146 boards for ten years (as my crappy conditions board)
I'm 6"5'

cant really help you on bindings, but have a look at section 2 (types of deck) for some ideas. I really like the LOOK (what else can i say?) of the lofi and lofi rocker. I also think the fling sounds like a nice mellow fun board, and zoe <3 the smf. Finally theres always the vspot, (but id definitely run the graphics/name past her first - it seems to er, divide opinion a bit. :)

Thanks for all the info.  I've only been boarding a couple of years and my brother's given me some advice, but this breaks everything down nicely.  

as with the other one i figured if youre after an alpine board then you likely know way more than this guides going to help you with :) 

Are there any women out there that can give a specific suggestion for a board for a beginner?  My husband is a snowboarding fanatic and I keep telling myself that my first time on a board (which ended in a concussion) shouldn't be my last.  I like your guide but I'd like someone to tell me--hey get *this* board. 

I just came across this post and found it very helpful. Thank you.