hoss

Looking for some guidance as to what board to buy for my first snowboard. Here's some background info...

Weight: 180
Boot size: 10
Riding style: Freeride
Age: 27
Budget: $200 - $350 (looking for a sale this time of year)
Primary Location: East Coast

I just got into snowboarding this year but I'm hooked. Catching on pretty quick I think. Riding greens and blues still but I want a board that I will be able to progress well with. Most of my riding will be out on the East Coast because I live out here, but if the board can handle powder out west that's a bonus. Don't plan to do many tricks...more interested in just riding all-mountain.

A good friend and avid snowboarder strongly recommended getting a Burton Custom. Although I know it is solid advice I want to stick with K2 (will take suggestions of all board manufacturers however). I found some really good deals lately and picked up some K2 boots/binding. I have K2 Darko BOA boots and K2 Auto Uprise bindings.

I basically want all the board I can handle right now so I have plenty of room for improvement. I like to have good gear. I've been looking into the K2 Podium as a good choice. I also found a good deal on the Turbo Dream, but I'm not sure the All Terrain Rocker camber is the right choice for me at this point.

I've done a lot of research reading reviews but I'm hoping for some specific advice. Thanks in advance for any help.

Leo

The K2 Turbo Dream is a great board for you actually. The rocker on that board is very mellow which will reduce edge catching and make powder riding a dream. Also due to the low profile rocker on that board, it kills groomers. This year was the first time I ever got on rockered boards. The freestyle oriented boards with jib rockers were too much for me. I found mellow rockers like K2's all-terrain, Burtons V-Rocker, and Ride's Low-Rise rockers to be excellent.

Another great K2 board is the Slayblade. This board has no camber which feels damn good under your feet. Between the two though, I found the Turbo Dream more fun to ride. Thing is, I like to freestyle all-mountain meaning I hit natural jumps, do ground tricks, and do wall hits. If you just want to bomb down the runs, the Slayblade might be a better choice.

Oh, and your size range is 155-160. I am also 180lbs and size 9.5-10 boots and I ride a 158 for all-mountain and a 156 for more freestyling.

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www.aGNARchy.com Reviews and David Z's rants

hoss

Hey Leo...thanks for the advice. Good to hear that I was pretty much on the right track!

Anyone else have an opinion for me? Thanks!

CoopersTroopers

I'll second the Turbo Dream. Having ridden the milder K2 catch-free rocker and the similar Ride LowRize rocker, the design is very stable and a easier transition into reverse camber than some of the more aggressive reverse camber designs out there. I also do like K2 and Ride quality. Very good product in my limited experience (owned their stuff for a season, still looks and rides great).

The Burton Custom is a solid board for most anything and has been for years, so it's an easy thing to recommend to an advancing rider before they move onto something more specific to what they want to ride (if they do want something more specific). If you're looking at a Custom and want it on the cheap, check out Sierra Snowboard's special collaboration decks. This year's Sierra Crew, Crew LTD, and Reverse Crew are all made at the Burton factory with very similar specs and construction to the Custom and Custom V-Rocker (Reverse Crew). The Crew LTD is $99 right now ($99!!!), the Crew is $149 (identical to the LTD, but with different graphics), and the Reverse Crew is $199 US. For the price of many boards, you can get the Crew LTD and good bindings. Food for thought! I just picked up the Crew LTD and found some rare Union P.O.W. Data bindings (from a different store) for what I was looking to spend on just a board.

I'm also hovering around the 180 lbs mark and ride 155-157. Was looking at getting a true freeride board for those long trips to a big mountain with real powder, and it would probably be in the 158-160 range. I'll probably just use one of my boards and set back slightly.

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CoopersTroopers
2009 Ride Society 157 + 2010 Ride Contraband
2010 Sierra Crew LTD Animal Hybrid 156 + 2010 Union P.O.W. Data
2010 Burton Ruler

bubbachubba340

What about the Believer? Flatline and mid-stiff flex.