snowboarders roll call

[dieselstation]

i just went snowboarding this weekend and it was sooooo fun. anyone know a guide on how to buy my own snowboard? what brands are good? how do i get the right size.. etc.

anyone else here snowboard? and for how long?

 

[MustangSVT]

ur first day and it was soooo fuN?

hmm let me ask u this, how is your behind? doesnt it hurt?

my first few days were very very painful.. hehe
but i guess it depends on where u board..

here in midwest, we rarely have a powder... its mostly packed ICE....

but i do ok now..

hmmm i got my boards thru HOUSE catalog.. maybe they have a website.

 

[telstar1]

Find yourself a good sports store that you trust, and speak with somebody that sounds like they know what they're talking about.
Make sure you pick a VERY comfortable pair of boots, because if they hurt, you'll be in hell.

Also, you can usually get great prices on last-year's gear, though now that the season has started, it may not be as easy.
My advice to you is unless you think you'll be snowboarding more than 5 or 6 more times this season, and there is an easily accessible rental place where you plan to snowboard, I'd say rent this season. You'll be able to try out a couple different size boards and find what's right for you.

I rented all last season and loved it, and I bought new gear in July at a huge discount.

With that said, I've got the following:

Burton Fusion 159" snowboard
Custom bindings
Vans boots

They all feel and ride great even though I'm stuck with North-East riding.
Love the sport though... Enjoy and good luck.

 

[BeauJangles]

I went last friday... Spent 90% of my time jumping over rocks... Godamn Waterville Valley what a piece of crap. I am never going their again. But yes, go to your local sports shop and talk to the guys. Don't buy anything the first, or second time you go. Just talk to someone who seems to know what they are talking about. Also if you are new into the sport and strapped for cash, buy used. It will serve you fine until you get good enough, then you will want something new. That's what I did.

 

[StrangeRanger]

Dude, if you are just starting out ridding don't run out and just buy a board. You MUST try a board at LEAST once before you buy it. I don't know where you live, and you may not be in a big skiing/ridding area like I am, but round these parts every shop will let you try and ride the boards they sell. It's kind of a cool deal, you kinda pay a "rental" fee for the board you try, but that rental price goes towards the purchase of a board when you buy it. So, say you try like 3 different boards at $25/day, well, they knock that $75 off your cost. Cool eh. Also, like someone said, do NOT under any circumstance skimp on boots. They are about the most important thing to you having fun on the mountain all day. I'm biased, so check out Burton for a lot of good info on boards, boots and other gear. And even if you don't buy Burton, you will get some very good info to help you decide. Also check the local mountains around you, i'm sure they will have demo days where you can ride all kinds of gear. Look into buying last year's gear, demo boards etc. etc. until you are sure you wanna take the full plunge (pronounced CHA-CHINGGGG$$). Glad to see another person ridding...
j

 

[Redwingsguy]

Just find a sport that has a wide variety of choices, IE not SAMS club or places where all they have are Ride and Liquid boards, and be sure you find a pair of boots and bindings that work for you.

Forum Devun Walsh 153"
Liquid Bindings
Lamar Boots

 

[Masas]

i just bought a snowboard this year after about 3 seasons of renting
here's what i found out
get a teeny bit smaller board, not too small, but try to keep it near/under ur chin height...i got a bigger board, no REAL problems, but still a bit harder to control and won't fit in my trunk
for the bindings just get nice stable ones that won't break or loosen easily...apparently most recomment you rather get a cheap board and high end bindings
they are that important i guess
and for boots, don't get anything too big (obviously)...i got ones that are a bit big for me, and it feels like my foot is gonna slip out when carving...and make sure the boots are nice and thick and weatherproofed so your feet stay dry but not so thick that you can't walk at all

i just found these out, it's what the people at the ski dazzle ski/snowboard convention told me, i'm no expert.

 

[Atlantean]

Salomon snowboards are good. K2 also makes good boards and burton used to make better boards than the ones they make now, but they still make decent boards.

 

[FrontlineWarrior]

stores usually have sales of about 40% off during march. good time to buy gear for the next season.

this is what I have:

Burton Custom 152 '00 (sweeeeeeeeeeeet board)
Drake f50 bindings (solid as a rock)
Thirtytwo Vantage (good comfy shoe but lately it's been hurting my calf... might need a new boot)

 

[jbod]

Dude, this is not a flame so don't take it that way......but, snowboarding takes less skill than skiing. Seriously think about it. It took me about two years of skiing to eventually get good enough to do helicoptors. I've never snowboarded, but I have skateboarded alot and I think it would be comparable to at least the agility and balance aspect of it. I bet I could learn to snowboard and pull tricks in a week!

(please don't flame me too hard, just my opinion)

Someone should poll this question: More skill to ski or snowboard?

 

[angrymaxx]

I agree with jbod. Even though I am a snowboarder, I think that snowboarding requires less skill than skiing. Basically you are balancing on one large surface with your legs fixed instead of 2 smaller surfaces. I think thats part of the appeal though. Most people can pick up snowboarding in less than a season while I have heard that skiiing can take a couple seasons to get the hang of.

I would go with telstar's advice. Just rent for the rest of this season and buy new gear at the end of the season or during the summer (usually 40-50% off gear) or at Skidazzle (if you are in SoCal). If you go to skidazzle (next december), make sure you go on Friday because last years stuff sells out really fast.

this is what I walked away from SkiDazzle this year with:
Burton Balance 157.5
Burton Mission Bindings
32 Prions (super light but still rigid)

also if you need clothes and there is a Beach Access store around, they marked down all their snowboarding clothes 50% off after Christmas. There is still stuff there but most is sold out.

 

[ZeroBurn]

jbod - i'm not even going to approach the argument since it wouldn't help the topic of this thread, but i'd like to point out that maybe you should TRY the sport before you dish on it.

as for snowboarding gear. there's not a definite guide since it depends on what your style and personal preference of riding will be. learn to differentiate boards and their traits, and then try them out to see what you'll like. since you're new you'll probably be doing a lot more freeriding than freestyling, so you won't want a very short board. you may want to consider a directional board that will let you just go down the mountain.

short boards are easier to manuever, long boards are more stable free-riding and will provide a better ride down the mountain. you'd take a short board over a longer one for busting tricks on the halfpipe, etc. the sidecut will also determine manueverbility vs. stable ride. that's the angle of the curve that cuts into the side of your board, a really shallow one will let you bust a much tighter turn, a shallow one will be better going down a large flat area.

as for renting, the major plus i think is that you get to try out different sizes, and get to abuse the f out of them. you don't get to rent too many boards that are really good since they either rent out crappier boards and don't carry the top brands, or won't have any of the top models. also it's a _major_ hassle. it may be worth it to consider a bargain board after trying out what size you feel comfortable with.

anyone that know what they're talking about will tell you boots are the ultimate concern and should be bought in consideration before anything else. you could have a $4000 snowboard and crap boots and will get to know the couch in that lodge _very_ intimately. if you're gonna skimp for a budget, get the best boots you can afford, and skimp on the board itself. my personal reccommendation here if you can afford them is the salomon dialogues, i just got the new 2002 models and they're the most comfortable and supportive boots i've ever used. they have autofit foam that conforms to your feet, incredible support and a unique lacing system that makes them infinitely easier to tighten than any other snowboard boots.

i ride a burton motion 152, burton custom bindings, and salomon dialogues. good luck, and have an awesome seaon

 

[SWScorch]

I snowboard every once in a while. I dont go regularly enough to warrant buying my own board so I just rent wherever I go. I dont suck, but I'm certainly not good enough to do tricks or anything. I think I've only landed a jump once in my life.

BTW, have you ever faceplanted and had your back bend so far that your board hit the back of your head? Not fun at all.

 

[jbod]

You're right I apologize.

I'm sure there are many reviews of snow equipment to be found online. If snowboarding is anything like skiing, boots would probably be the most important thing to look for first. Get you some good boots and rent boards for a while. Find one that is adequate for your ability. In a year. That way you can grow into it.

Didn't mean to dish you...

 

[VTrider]

dieselstation: Hey welcome to the sport, i've noticed there are a bunch of members here who ride - always glad to help out w/info. Feel free to e-mail me if you want, I'm an instructor from Vermont - been riding religiously since 89'.
Strangeranger: nuther Vermonter, cool, where do ya ride/location?

Here are my Winter toys:

Burton Powers 58
Burton Balance 57.5
Burton Supermodel 63

 

[dieselstation]

wow.. thanks for all the info guys. totally helped me decide that i don't NEED equipment yet. i just need more practice. as for the boots.. i noticed that the ones i rented.. it felt like my heels were gonna fall out of the boot whenever i did a "toe turn"??? i dunno if that makes sense.. but.. yeah.. i guess i'm gonna talk to some of the shops around here. i'm in southern california and the mountains we have here are basically Mountain High about an hour away and Snow Valley/Bear Mountain about 3 hours away.

also i was checking out boards online... and i came across Monson Snowboards. are they decent? they have some wicked designs that people submitted in their design contest.

http://www.monsonboards.com/

 

[Anghang]

i'm just getting into snowboarding this season, and its nothing like skateboarding at all...i used to skate street a lot back in the day, navigation and balancing are soooo different between the two...one of the first mistakes i did was approach the snowboard like a skateboard..and man did i bite it hard!!...haha....damn that packed snow hurts!!...hehe...but it was hella fun...can't wait to hit the slopes again...

what i hear from a lot of people that have tried both is that snowboarding is harder to pick up than skiing when your beginning, but once you pick it up the learning curve for freestyle is a lot easier than it is for freestyle in skiing....

 

[duragezic]

Yah go to the shop and sometimes they'll even have a good sale or get you a good deal. If you're just a beginner, just about any non Walmart board will suit you fine for a few years.

Stupid ass mother nature though! Theres not even an inch of snow where I live, definitely a record. Normally there is at least a foot and its suppose to get up to 30 or 35 in a couple days. :| And its my first year that I get a season pass, and I haven't even used it yet since the place I got it to is finally up to like 7 runs cause they have like no snow either and they'll prob close in early March and I won't get my moneys worth. :| Bah I love snowboarding but this year is pissing me off. Kinda sucks too, my brothers board got STOLEN a week ago or so when he went and sometimes me and him would go if none of my friends wanted to/could.

 

[kt]

<< i just bought a snowboard this year after about 3 seasons of renting
here's what i found out
get a teeny bit smaller board, not too small, but try to keep it near/under ur chin height...i got a bigger board, no REAL problems, but still a bit harder to control and won't fit in my trunk
for the bindings just get nice stable ones that won't break or loosen easily...apparently most recomment you rather get a cheap board and high end bindings
they are that important i guess
and for boots, don't get anything too big (obviously)...i got ones that are a bit big for me, and it feels like my foot is gonna slip out when carving...and make sure the boots are nice and thick and weatherproofed so your feet stay dry but not so thick that you can't walk at all

i just found these out, it's what the people at the ski dazzle ski/snowboard convention told me, i'm no expert. >>


dude, the myth where the length of your board should be under your chin is way off. the length of your board should depend on your weight.

 

[GagBag]

i just snowboarded for the second time today, i just need to learn to carve.

 

[dirtboy]

I've snowboarded once, does that count? My rear was in pain too... Next time I'll go when the snow is softer instead of icy!

 

[TallBill]

i ski kinda often.. would like to try a board tho some day

 

[Rallispec]

i ski, so i cant really offer that much snowboarding advice... however i have snowboarded before- and this is what i can say. Boots are real important- make sure they are comfortable and fit well...
and to me at least, more important than getting a good board is getting a good pair of bindings- becuase you are constantly taking your boots in and out.
and one last note- while snowboarding- you spend a lot of time on your a$$... (no way to prevent that- everytime you stop, everytime you sit down to take your boots in or out of the bindings.. and when you fall) So get some good waterproof and warm snowboarding pants.. or you will be cold wet and miserable.

and finally- snowboarding is weak... only people who fail at skiing try snowboarding..

 

[StrangeRanger]

VTrider...I'm near B-town. Ride stowe, smuggs, 'bush and jay all the time. Headed to jay tomorrow actually. Wicked psyched. Hey noticed the Phish in your profile, sweet! How bad you jones'in with now shows? How bad does that suck eh?
Also, not to change this thread but:


<< snowboarding is weak... only people who fail at skiing try snowboar >>


Dood, don't even try to start this lame as$ argument. I've been skiing since before you were probably even a wet dream. I got into boarding for something to mix things up a bit. Don't bring that lame old stereotypical skiing vs. boarding argument up. You either don't have a clue, or, tried boarding and couldn't do it so now you crap on it.
j

 

[MaxDepth]

diesel: if you want to own, then get used. REI, Second Hand Sports, Just Say Sports, etc. carry good used equipment. I have two used boards and one "snob" Burton. I board in WVa when I get the chance, at Telluride when my friends are there. Although I just got 8 inches of snow here in Durham last night. The roads here shoulde be interesting.


SWScorch: I did better than faceplant. I hit a hidden tree stump and flew about 15 yards into another tree (luckily it was the branches and not the trunk). meebee I should try our for the USA ski jump team?