sgtadamdee

Stats:
Age: 32
Height: 5 6'
Weight: 172
Location: East Coast, NJ, NY, PA, VR, CT
Purposes: Cruise Mountain, small jumps.
Need help picking a beginner/intermediate board. I basically like cruising the mountain, will handle some small jumps and stuff. Don't really know my full potential yet but I went snowboarding for the first time yesterday and loved it. I did pretty good considering, people actually didn't believe it was my first time. Quite possibly hooked for life now.

Anyone have any advice on what equipment I should be seeking? Something that will help this Noobie come along in the sport.

THanks for any responses.

-D

Ghost_Rider_X

there are countless boards out there that fit your needs. check out sierrasnowboard.com they're having some really good sales right now. at your height/weight i'd be looking at the 154 - 159 range depending on what you want out of the board. the capita sierrascope gets awesome reviews and you could pick up the 156 for about 250 bucks right now. that's the route i'd be going.

you won't be able to buy boots online. go to as many shops as you can and try on every pair of boots in your price range until you find something that fits perfect.

ps. VT

sgtadamdee

Can you please explain this a little bit? I thought I explained what purposes of what I wanted to use the board for?

Also, can you explain the number range thing?

Thanks for helping out dude.

Sorry for the type before.lol VT

iKimshi

The range he gave was the size range based on your weight and riding style. He's saying you can choose any of those sizes.

csf

The 154-159 is the material board length in centimeters. It used to be back in the day a good rule of thumb for board length was for the tip to fall between your nose and chin. Now it seems a riders weight is more a controlling factor in sizing the right board. There are a lot of online board sizers out there, and snowwolf has a rough sizing chart stickied at the top of this forum.

When it came time to get our own gear my wife and I went to a knowledgeable local snowboard and ski shop to get fitted up. They were able to recommend the right board for us size wise and ability. Generally a good board, imho, for a beginner is going to be more forgiving and at the same time allow you to progress as a rider, i.e. you won't outgrow the new board after several trips as your skills develop. The board I have now is the original one I bought back then. It's been a great board and it's still allowing me to learn and progress on it. Though I think I'm finally starting to see some of it's limitations.

Do your research online (check the tutorials on this site) and then go into a boardshop and see what they have to recommend and possibly demo some boards before purchasing if that's possible. I have thoroughly enjoyed my '00 Gnu Carbon High Beam 150 over the years. I've used it all over the mountain from greens to blacks, powder, and trees fast and slow, it's been a solid all 'round performer, which is what they told me it was built for. Since that's what I know I'd recommend looking at the current generation which is the Gnu Carbon Credit. It's a different design shape than mine, but I'd think it would be a solid beginner/intermediate board.

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Good luck and hope that helped some.

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kquan

If you are just starting, you will get better.

Look at a more playful board, one that is less flexible. Look at the Hero, 156. If you are trying to get better, dont get to highend of a board, and not to lowend. If you start with a Clash or a Bullet, when you progress, those boards will hold you down

stichotik

The hero is one of the most flexible boards that Burton makes. It doesnt make sense to spend hundreds of dollars on gear for intermediate/expert riders just because in 3 years you'll be good. You have to progress. I dont know your price range, but there are many options. Use the search and look around. You will find plenty of info within minutes.

If all youre going to be doing is cruising around and small jumps, than an all-mountain board will be more than sufficient. Boards like the Hero are built for Park riding and have technology that wouldnt be suitable for what you are trying to do right now.

Backcountry.com and SierraSnowboard.com are great sites and are having great sales right now. Go on those sites and look around, theres information about each board.

For your size and weight and style of riding I'd recommend 155-158. Anything smaller and you'll start to lose high-speed stability; anything larger and you'll start to lose mid-speed turning ability.