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"Advanced" Board for a Beginner?

4K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  rasmasyean 
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#1 ·
Hi. First thread. Please be gentle.

I'm 42 yrs old and just started snowboarding mainly because my kids are getting into it. I've been out twice on rentals and loved it. So I bought myself a new board, bindings, and boots... online.

Problem is, reviews say its an "advanced board" and me being a beginner, I'm wondering if I bought the wrong board now (I haven't used it yet).

Is there anything wrong with a beginner buying an "advanced" board? Will it be too squirrly/fast/aggressive or does the term "advanced" refer more to the quality/materials/price of the board?

Thanks for the help... looking forward to learning more from this forum.
 
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#5 · (Edited)
It's a 159cm Rossignol Premier (not sure the year). I'm 6'-0" & 210 lbs.
I'll be going to local 'hills' in Wisconsin. Mostly groomed, a lot of man-made snow, pretty icy.
Not really interested in speed per-se. Of the two times I've gone, I like spinning around, using all the hill, going side to side (Not sure the 'lingo'). I won't be going into the terrain park any time soon.
Thanks.
 
#4 ·
Its fine, just a diffent set of challenges. I started at 44, at 46 bought an expert level board, it took me for the ride for about 1.5 years...then figured out how to keep ahead of the thing and now at 51 can really take advantage of its performance. The thing about an expert level board is its designed to do something very well if you have the skills...if either you lack the skills or use the board for something it was not designed for, it can be punishing. The advantage, is that it forces you to develope some good skills.
 
#8 · (Edited)
From a quick investigation, that looks like a narrow stiff board. 2 features that are bad for beginners.
Stiff =harder to control at low speeds and not very forgiving. Easy to catch and slam.
narrow = quick edge to edge transition ability but requires precision. Easy to slam.
The Premier looks like a carving board meant for speed demons rounding turns with G’s that will burn your legs.

The Burton Hero mentioned is a very flexible and a forgiving board to learn on, but that’s about it. It’s really designed for park riding and unless you are planning to advanced to rails and stuff like that, the future life of the Hero is limited because it’s not very good elsewhere.

Look at this.
Skate Banana Lib Tech Snowboards

The reverse camber board is said to make it easy to learn one since you won’t catch an edge as easy. It also spins easy and is true twin (symetric). It’s relatively stiffer so it will work all mountain decent when you advance to the next stage so It has more future. And it has a magnetration (serrated edge) for icy slopes. Also, for a “new buyer”, it’s the most awarded snowboard ever so it might be a “safe bet”. Here’s a good description:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9in6ick3OE

A similar board for someone who is a little better…or if you are athletic and / or pick up boarding basics easily is the TRS.

TRS: Total Ripper Series Lib Tech Snowboards
That’s like a Skate Banana, but more directional an a bit stiffer and harder to use. Also good on icy slopes.
 
#12 · (Edited)
Not true. There are expensive "park" boards that are really easy to learn on. They have like expensive materials in them that make them "advanced freestyle", but they can also be classified under beginner / intermediate because of the flex pattern.

I had this friend who learned snowboarding on a similar board to this guy and she like always got tired and kept falling and stuff and ended her day after like a few runs. I always told her that that's too stiff for her level and told that to the friends that recomended it to her. This is like year after year. Then she finally got a flexxy board and she was linking turns much better and can last the better part of the day at least. I recon that if she had started off with a "beginner board", she would have gotten to this stage years earlier.

The way I look at it is that you only have so much energy. If you use it all up by getting beat, you just waste that energy instead of practicing. And you risk injury more if you fall more and if you are beaten. And a snowboard (especially one on sale) is realatively cheap compared to tickets, lodging, gas, vacation expenses, etc. ...not to mention a cast! :p

In this age, ebay is your friend! Get rid of equipment that is not right for you.
 
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