I live in San Diego, but make at least two trips to real mountains each year. I'd just upgrade to a very good all mountain board appropriate for your size. Don't worry about Pow. After 6 trips I only hit pow once and that's 2 days after it snowed but it was CO so it stayed soft and it was Loveland, so surprisingly HUGE pockets of pow untouched by the masses (weird). Mid-thigh deep two days later and I wasn't out of bounds or anything. I was on a 150 NS Evo and centered which is about as bad is it would get for me, and I survived.I have been snowboarding for 3 seasons.
Age: 23
Height and Weight: 6'4", 240LBs (working on losing weight, hopefully down to 230 by snowboarding season).
Boot Size: 11
Budget: Lower the better but will invest money if it will make experience better.
Type of riding: Love Speed (gone over 50 mph down east at MT High) and currently working on jumps.
I have only snowboarded at MT High and Bear Mountain in CA. That is what I am used to. I am planning on making some trips this season to bigger better mountains in north Cal, Colorado, Oregon...
My current setup in a 163W Morrow Fury board with Large Lamar Bindings. Most sizing charts would say I need a longer board. Maybe a 169W. The thing is that riding those places, MT High/Bear, actually made me think of getting a shorter board. Easier to turn, take jumps and lighter.
The question is whether a shorter board, 156-159, would be too short even for those mountains and is my Morrow too short for heading up to the bigger mountains considering my size.
:dizzy:
Should I get a shorter board for use on park and use my Morrow for when I head up to pow mountains?
--OR-- :dunno:
Should I stick with my currently board for hard packed groomed mountains and get a longer board for pow?
--OR-- :dunno:
Do I need two new board, shorter for MT High/Bear and longer one for the other mountains?
Any advice helps, thanx!!!
Anyway I digress. An all-mtn board will handle any pow you encounter just fine. Get an All-Mtn board that is decent in pow, and just forget about a pow board until you start building a quiver.
My buddy is 215-220 and rides a 157 Rider's Choice. No problem hitting 45mph in Mammoth. I think you can downsize a little bit because your main mountain is Mt. High and Bear. Honestly you can ride a lunch tray and those two resorts and be fine. They're not hills but the fun in those resorts are hitting all of the features they throw in (esp. at bear vs summmit). 160-163 would be my suggestion.
I've hit pow days at Bear (little past knee-deep) and a Never Summer SL. Just fine. I'd recommend something along those lines from any of the good companies. Arbor Coda (extremely fun board and now better for pow according to BA), NS SL, Smokin Superpark etc. etc.
Check out the Nitro Uberspoon. Looks to be a board that's great on groomers, playful and yet great for pow too. I'm literally deciding between the Uberspoon and K2 Happy Hour for my all-mtn board.
