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Beginner, Intermiediate, Advanced... How to know?

3K views 8 replies 5 participants last post by  rendoggie 
#1 · (Edited)
Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced... How to know?

Hi all

I'll be doing a season in BC at the end of the year (2010-2011 season), and want to pick up a board between now and then. I'm having a hard time at the moment finding out what boards are suited to what level of rider.

With big ol' Burton it's easy using their board finder application on the website. You put in your height, wight, proficiency, snow type etc and it spits out half a dozen boards that best match your criteria. This is great.

I want to keep an open mind though and look at other brands as well, but their websites are either damn confusing or just don't present the info in any meaningful way. How am I meant to know what Lib-Tech board caters to advanced-beginners, or what GNU board will be best to progress on?

For the record, I am looking at the 2010 Burton Joystick purely because Burton 'tells' me it will be a great board for my needs. But I don't want to buy it simply because I am ignorant of the alternatives. So can anyone help me out, either by teaching me how to decipher the product specs to get meaningful info, or to even recommend a board for me. I am a beginner, but I picked it up relatively easily, and I will be doing a full 5 month season and boarding every day so I want something that I can really progress on. I'll be at Big White so groomers and powder predominantly, and I think I'll have a go in the park as well for shits and giggles.

Finally, can people tell me when the board season starts and ends? For instance, when will companies start to introduce 2011 boards? I am asking mainly because I want to know when the 2010 boards start to go on sale.

Thanks for your help!
 
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#3 ·
2010 Boards are already going on sale on sites like SierraSnowboard

You will want some sort of All Mountain board, without knowing your size i cant really recommend anything specific.

Goto all their websites
Rome, Lib-Tech, Never Summer, Capita, etc..they all have guides telling you what type of riding a particular board is like. Maybe not as hand holdy as Burton, but in reality a large portion of those questions they ask are irrelevant.

For example theres the Rome Agent(or whatever it is now), NS SL-R/Legacy-R, Lib Tech Dark Series or T. Rice...
 
#4 · (Edited)
I obsessed over what board to get for a long time, and the time would have been better spent trying on boots. Don't bother trying to decipher all the tech jargon. There's so much of it and you won't even notice it as a beginner. I sure didn't. Just pick up a quality all-around board with medium to soft flex from a reputable manufacturer and go shred. Suggestions include Burton Custom, Nitro Team, NeverSummer SL-R, K2 Believer, etc etc (there are many more). I think any of these are forgiving enough for a beginner but leave tons of room to grow and progress into any riding style you may fancy. Just know that if you go with Burton, you will probably have to get Burton bindings as well.
 
#5 ·
^Actually he waited 24 hours and 6 minutes. :laugh:

But any board that isn't too stiff or too soft should be fine. These guys just gave some good recommendations. I don't think you'll notice too much unless you go for something like a too big stiff mountain board or a park board that's way too small for you. If you're still confused after doing some research why not pick up a pair of used boards and see which type you really want?

How much riding have you done so far?
 
#6 ·
Thanks guys, now that I have a few board names I can do a little bit of research.

I live in Australia now, but I'm moving to Vancouver at the start of April and will be doing my shopping as soon as I get over there, hopefully there are still 2010 boards around then on discount!

I have only a few days snowboarding experience but I picked it up fairly easily (doing intermideiate runs), but I'll be doing a whole season so I want a board that I can really grow with.

I'm 5 foot 10 and around 160 but I'll probably go a 153-155 purely because my first day snowboarding the rental shop gave me a huge board, up to my forehead (so around 166 I guess), and I couldn't even turn it properly... so now I'm paranoid and want to get a much shorter board. For me, speed isn't such a huge priority but I want to be able to turn and manouvre easily.
 
G
#7 ·
Dont go lower than a 155 for an all-mountain board. You said you want to progress and going too small on a board can hurt your progression unless you're in the park :p

Anyways look at the ride Antic its a fun basic board, doesn't cost too much and its meant for your exact skill level :)

Or Never summer SL-R for the gnar rocker camber with vario grip, though the premier f1 could be a better match for you as you said you want to be mostly slaying mountain side.
 
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