How to choose a snowboard?
Choosing a snowboard and mountain skis (especially for those who have just started to master them) is quite a difficult task. Difficulties can also arise when choosing ski equipment for a child. Knowing the main selection criteria, it is much easier to do this. To begin with, let’s consider the main parameters.
Features of snowboards
The pitch is, simply put, the length of the board. It mainly depends on your height.
Sag – static bending of a board applied to a flat surface with a slide, it can be seen simply by looking along the edge of the board. The classic and more common is the Camber type deflection – the arc of the deflection is directed towards the fasteners. In the Rocker board, the bend will be directed towards the sliding surface. There is also an exotic type, when the geometry of the board changes along the entire length – it is suitable only for experienced riders and does not forgive mistakes for beginners.
The shape is the size of the snowboard in width in combination with the location of the fasteners relative to the center.
Stiffness is the board’s resistance to bending. There are 10 degrees of stiffness – the higher the number, the stiffer the snowboard.
Selection of a board for a beginner snowboarder
The height of the snowboard is selected simply – its length should be slightly higher than your chin, if you put the board vertically next to you. The deflection of a snowboard for beginners should be classic (Camber) as the most versatile, which is suitable for most styles of skiing.
Form selection is made based on the conditions of skiing. Wide snowboards are suitable for “virgin” and soft slopes with loose snow. It is better to use narrow boards on prepared tracks. The stiffness of the board should be minimal, a soft board, or simply “linoleum”, behaves predictably on the slope and forgives most mistakes of the beginner. In the same way, mountain skis for beginners choose soft ones.
When you already feel confident on the slope and skiing becomes boring, you need to switch to harder boards, they will give you more adrenaline and speed on the slope. Take into account the fact that a rigid snowboard does not behave well at low speeds.
On different figures and jumps, it is more convenient to use boards with a different shape of deflection than that of a track snowboard. To perform all kinds of tricks, the Rocker type deflection is more often used, its geometry allows you not to cling to the edges on the figures, to land softly on springboards and easily perform rotations. Park snowboards are capricious when moving on a flat surface of the slope, it is quite difficult to edge and turn poorly.
General questions and additional advice on choosing a snowboard
If you like to just roll down the slope, make long turns at high speed – you should pay attention to boards with offset placement of fasteners relative to the center. They are just created for this style of riding and compared to the symmetrical “twin type” they will give you more freedom. There are also symmetrical mountain skis with noses bent on both sides.
You should not 100% trust your choice to the tables for selecting snowboards by weight and height, as the values in them are quite conditional. Each snowboarder is unique and cannot completely fit the templates of different companies that manufacture ski equipment. Selection tables can only help to narrow down the scope of selection within small limits.
There is also a very simple and banal way of selection: find a suitable board in the rental shop, try it on the track, and if everything suits you, buy a snowboard with the same parameters. In this way, you can also pick up mountain skis. For selection and subsequent purchase, you need to contact only large stores that have proven themselves well. There are more chances to get help from a qualified seller.
For a child, it is better to take a snowboard a little “for height”, but do not abuse this rule too much, as your child will be uncomfortable on a large snowboard. More attention should be paid to the protective equipment of children. Young snowboarders and mountain skiers often fall, and health is always more expensive.
And even after watching many videos, studying a lot of material about choosing a snowboard and mountain skis, trust your intuition and logical thinking. They should not let you down and will help you make the right choice.
Don’t forget to regularly service your snowboards and mountain skis. It is necessary to apply paraffin and straighten edges almost every time you go on a slope. If you follow this rule, skating will always bring a lot of homore feelings and confidence.