My girlfriend likes the Never Summer Infinity. She has the 2008 model. The main thing she loves about it is that it is very light. Before that she had a secondhand saloman which used to pull her off the lift it was so heavy. She also like the Infinity graphics. May or may not be a concern to your girlfriend.

 

If she never quite got used to turning, I would get her more of a freestyle board to start out with. I weigh the same as her and ride a 141 and a 143. If she has small feet, waist width may also be a concern.

Some boards to consider:
Ride Compact
Burton Troop
Never Summer Pandora
Arbor Cadence
Atomic Fallen Angel
Capita Space Metal Fantasy
K2 Luna
Rome Vinyl
Gnu B-street or B-nice
Roxy Eminence or Ollie Pop


The Infinity is an excellent board, but may be tad on the stiff side for a timid learner.

Unfortunately, a lot of the clearance boards will be sold out of her size at this point, so you may have to compromise somewhere.

 

I bought my gf an Arbor Push. She was on some POS foam core and was scared to turn when going down hills (i.e. falling leaf or snowplow). After this board she really took off and can keep up with everyone. I am not sure how often your gf will be snowboarding (mine skied before snowboarding and hasn't looked back) but if you can get one, it is an AMAZING board and she is very happy.
http://www.rei.com/product/790311

 

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to try to get her up there every weekend. Plus "sick days" if there's fresh snow. Season passes are pretty reasonable here.

I was looking at the Arbor Push and Cadence, mostly because I ride an Arbor Element. I've heard nothing but good things about their women's boards, so I figure that's a safe choice.

So no opinions on reverse camber boards? I've never been on one, but I've heard they're easier to learn. She's not timed, but she is a little clumsy. I'm worried if she doesn't pick it up fast enough, she'll go back to skis.

 

I have read that strictly RC boards make it hard to catch an edge in powder but give you less control while turning. I just purchased a NS Heritage because it seems to have the best of both worlds. That was kinda my take on the whole thing.

 

Harder to catch an edge in powder, eh? :laugh:

There is a debate about whether RC technology is good for beginners. Many people say it's nearly impossible to catch an edge on a reverse camber board, but in my experience, you can. Supposedly they are easier to ride, which may encourage bad habits.

If you want to make sure your girl has a good time, don't go too long and don't go too stiff. I think you'll find that Arbor boards don't come in her size and the Push in particularly is a very stiff freeride board. You can't go wrong with the NS Pandora, Capita Space Metal Fantasy, or the Gnu B-street, in my opinion.

 

Ya know, that's actually a good point about RC for beginners. You can definitely get away with a lot of stuff on an RC that would have you catching an edge and eating shit on camber. I'd never really thought about it, but it could see how that could potentially lead to bad habits. I learned on standard camber and getting on an RC board for the first time was just crazy. All of a sudden it opened up a world of possibilities as far as freestyle stuff goes. Both have their places. Now that you mention it, I'm not sure that an RC's place is under the feet of a beginner.

 

If you really want catch-free, TBT is absolutely the way to go. Nothing is as catchfree as a Bataleon, and I've ridden quite a few boards in various base shapes over the last few years. I got one for my gf last season and she loved it from day 1, being a beginner/intermediate. I've thought about getting her something else just to get something new, but she won't have it.

 

What's more important then getting her a nice board?


Having someone else teach her, that's what ( =

 

I absolutely agree... when my fiancee decided to switch from skiing which she was very good at to snowboarding 6years ago the first thing I did was make her rent and take 2 full day private lessons so she could learn the right way and so I wouldn't have a stroke trying to teach her and possibly end our relationship due to the frustration! I love her to death and can't wait to finally be married to her at the end of September but trying to teach her snowboarding while listening to her curse me and blame me for every time she fell would not have been a very good scene. Instead she took the lessons, came out able to link turns and the rest is history. Now she only needs to learn to be more comfortable at speed so she can keep up when it's charging time but she will do any run and any terrain I put in front of her.

 

yeah, i know better than to try to teach anyone. when i was learning, my friends said they would teach me. they didn't explain stuff very well. then ditched me after half an hour. i ended up taking private lessons to learn.

 

Lol, the first time I went my friends basically took me to the top of Stratton and said ok, now figure out how to get down. That was the longest run of my life! I never actually did take lessons though so I know I have super bad habbits that I've been riding with for 15 years at this point. I think this winter I'm going to take some advanced level private lessons to try and work out some of those tendencies and just help become an overall better rider.

 

if you ever come to mt snow just hit me up and ill give you some pointers on one of my days off.

 

ts can you please post pics of your gf

 

My first time out, I took a group lesson. Did fine on the bunny slop since I didn't have to turn. Then my friend drug me up tot the top of a 2-3 mile run. It was green. But that didn't really help when you don't know how to turn. I literally fell every single turn. It also didn't help that it was spring and icy as hell. That was easily the most miserable experience I've had on a snowboard.

 

ok, i've been searching for boards. and apparently her size is sold out in most models. here's what i found in her size (143 give or take). any experience (good or bad) with any of these?

Rossignol Zena
Roxy Sugar Bunnies
Roxy Sugar
Salomon Radiant
Rossignol Diva
Ride Canvas Tokidoki

also, does anyone know about how much the 2011 arbor eden will run new? i showed her that when i saw it and she fell in love. she's in grad school. so trying not to spend too much $$.

 

Eden will probably run $400-500 new... shouldn't have shown her that board bro... that is the sickest female board I've ever seen, no wonder she loves it. Good luck! My sister found a K2 Fling from REI for around $170, it's a nice board not sure if they'll have her size left.

 

Stay away from lower end Roxy boards.

The Ride Canvas is a good option.

Honestly know little about Rossi and Salomon.

The Eden has always been beautiful! :thumbsup: It'll probably run in the mid-$400 range.

 

lol... she doesn't want anything else now that she saw the new eden. she doesn't even like last year's eden. can't say i blame her. it's freaking sick. now she's thinking about buying a used board until the eden goes on clearance. i found a used burton feather on ebay for about $150 including boots and bindings. looks like it was a rental board.

 

The Feather should be fine for a few months and that's a pretty good price. What boots and bindings?

 

they don't say what brand on boots and bindings. they say to give them your size and they'll send whatever they have. which is why i'm pretty sure it's a resort unloading last year's rental gear. my guess is very basic.

it should get her through the season. i just don't know how good it'll be to learn on. i started on a crap board and it took me a long time to learn. once i got my element, i was night and day better.

at least this way she won't settle for a board she doesn't really want. plus, her bday is in march, which is around when they should go on clearance. so i could pick one up.

 

It'll be good for her to learn on and she'll want to replace it by March anyway. I would take the board, but plan on buying new boots. If they are rentals, they are probably stupid soft and she'll need to try them on to guarantee a good fit.

 

maybe i'll ask if they'll knock $20 off and not get the boots.

 

just found a used burton blender with molotov bindings. it's rc, so it might be easier to learn. and she could probably keep the bindings when she gets a new board. it's about $80 more than the feather.

 

Sounds like a decent setup. Are the bindings compatible with non-Burton boards?

 

Or... you could just make yourself the best boyfriend in the world and surprise her with the Eden right off the bat especially since your going to spend a couple hundred bucks on a board she's going to toss anyway and also run the risk of not being able to find that Eden in a 143 on super clearance anywehere. My girl better not see that board because if she does I'm out another $4-500 this season!

 

Sounds like a decent setup. Are the bindings compatible with non-Burton boards?

I'm not sure about the bindings, but I have burton CO2s on my element. So I assumed they're compatible. But I should probably double check.

Or... you could just make yourself the best boyfriend in the world and surprise her with the Eden right off the bat especially since your going to spend a couple hundred bucks on a board she's going to toss anyway and also run the risk of not being able to find that Eden in a 143 on super clearance anywehere. My girl better not see that board because if she does I'm out another $4-500 this season!

Part of the reasoning behind the used board is that she's fearless, but a little clumsy. She'll probably beat the hell out her first board trying to learn. If she's able to keep the molotov bindings, she can probably get at least $75-$100 for the blender on ebay. So it's not a complete loss.

Also, we've only been dating for a little over 3 months, so it would be a little weird to drop that kind of cash on a present just because. I'll keep an eye on the eden's stock this winter and snatch one up if they're selling out. I work above REI. They have a good return policy. If I buy one at full price and it goes on sale later, I could probably get the price difference refunded.

 

My wife has been rocken a ride kashmir for a few years and doing realyy well .. i.e. speed wise she can chase any guy and she does intermediate jums and general jib.

But this year she had a go of my Capita Ultrafear and she went nuts! ... I mean here riding was ridiculous. I didnt get the board back for 3 days and now its kinda her board until I buy her a space metal fantasy or other replacement.

Defs reverse camber, and defs softer freestlye board. FOrget all the "oh she will learn bad habits" talk .. reverse camber works well for beginers and pros? ... so unless you love cambers, or your gonna be super technical or some olympic ski speed nerd ... who cares about camber?

The Ultrafear go sick in Pow, Park and all mountain jib ... perhaps the only critiscism is epic booters (over 50ft) and super mach speesds it loses a little stablility ... but this is more from the size than the board or style.


GO the space metal fantasy or a more expensive capita, and get it in jib sized length ... so effortless. she will be stoked!





R