All-Mountain Board for beginner-intermediate - Snowboarding Forum

Nott · 10-12-2010, 11:17 AM

Height= 5'11"
Weight= 205
Boot size= 10 or 11
Riding style= All mountain - mostly groomers with some powder thrown in.
Age= 24
Your location of riding= Vail, Colorado

So I'm planning to start riding again at least 2-3 times a year. I have little to no interest in jumps or anything freestyle oriented. I just want to ride blacks and powder with my friends. I'd say "charging steeps" sounds fun although I'm not 100% sure what that is. Anyway, I'm going to go up and rent a board for a couple days before buying, so I'm wondering what specs I should be looking for. I get that directional is probably good since I have no desire to switch at all. Should I be looking for camber or rocker? I've googled those terms, read everything availible on these forums, and I still have no clue how big the differences really are. A lot of the boards on the christysports.com site (where I plan on renting) don't even indicate whether they are camber or rocker.

The short version is I need an all-mountain board for tackling the back bowls and off trail on Vail Mountain. Any advice is appreciated.

linvillegorge · 10-12-2010, 11:21 AM

2-3 times a year?

Whatever you can find for a good deal on CL. If you live here in CO, CL is always full of some buys if you know what you're looking for and some ripoffs if you don't.

Pretty much anything but park noodle would fit your needs.

Christy's actually has some decent rentals. If you only plan on riding 2-3 times a year, that may actually be the way to go. I'd still mine CL occasionally for a deal.

Leo · 10-12-2010, 11:27 AM

Sounds like you do a lot of powder riding. With that said, a rocker or rocker hybrid is going to be your ideal type of board.

Based on your measurements, you want to look for a board in the 158-164 range. Make sure the waist width is at least 25.3cm (253mm). This will generally accommodate your boot size at the inserts.

As for the flex issue, it doesn't sound like you are an advanced rider. You should stick with medium/mid-stiff flex boards. Stiff boards are going to be too aggressive for you.

Boards I recommend for you to look into:

Ride DH2

K2 Turbo Dream or Raygun

Rome Agent Rocker

Burton Custom Flying V

Lib Tech TRS

Puggy · 10-12-2010, 11:27 AM

Well for shape I've rocker is the way to go for pow to help keep your nose up above the snow, you should also look for a firmer board that doesn't have any angled edges to make sure it's responsive. You can also look into hybrid camber boards, great all around shape it seems.
Good luck!

10-12-2010, 11:17 AM	#1 (permalink)
Nott Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Posts: 7	All-Mountain Board for beginner-intermediate Height= 5'11" Weight= 205 Boot size= 10 or 11 Riding style= All mountain - mostly groomers with some powder thrown in. Age= 24 Your location of riding= Vail, Colorado So I'm planning to start riding again at least 2-3 times a year. I have little to no interest in jumps or anything freestyle oriented. I just want to ride blacks and powder with my friends. I'd say "charging steeps" sounds fun although I'm not 100% sure what that is. Anyway, I'm going to go up and rent a board for a couple days before buying, so I'm wondering what specs I should be looking for. I get that directional is probably good since I have no desire to switch at all. Should I be looking for camber or rocker? I've googled those terms, read everything availible on these forums, and I still have no clue how big the differences really are. A lot of the boards on the christysports.com site (where I plan on renting) don't even indicate whether they are camber or rocker. The short version is I need an all-mountain board for tackling the back bowls and off trail on Vail Mountain. Any advice is appreciated.

10-12-2010, 11:27 AM	#3 (permalink)
Leo -LIFETIME MEMBER- Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Detroit Area Posts: 6,200	Sounds like you do a lot of powder riding. With that said, a rocker or rocker hybrid is going to be your ideal type of board. Based on your measurements, you want to look for a board in the 158-164 range. Make sure the waist width is at least 25.3cm (253mm). This will generally accommodate your boot size at the inserts. As for the flex issue, it doesn't sound like you are an advanced rider. You should stick with medium/mid-stiff flex boards. Stiff boards are going to be too aggressive for you. Boards I recommend for you to look into: Ride DH2 K2 Turbo Dream or Raygun Rome Agent Rocker Burton Custom Flying V Lib Tech TRS __________________ www.aGNARchy.com Reviews and David Z's rants

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10-12-2010, 11:21 AM	#2 (permalink)
linvillegorge Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Evergreen, CO Posts: 4,490	2-3 times a year? Whatever you can find for a good deal on CL. If you live here in CO, CL is always full of some buys if you know what you're looking for and some ripoffs if you don't. Pretty much anything but park noodle would fit your needs. Christy's actually has some decent rentals. If you only plan on riding 2-3 times a year, that may actually be the way to go. I'd still mine CL occasionally for a deal.

10-12-2010, 11:27 AM	#4 (permalink)
Puggy Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 204	Well for shape I've rocker is the way to go for pow to help keep your nose up above the snow, you should also look for a firmer board that doesn't have any angled edges to make sure it's responsive. You can also look into hybrid camber boards, great all around shape it seems. Good luck!