Snowboards

[Vatoreus]

So, I'm looking to buy a board and was wondering what would be a good board to get a hold of. I'm decent at the sport and live about 15 minutes from the nearest mountain and about an hour from a glacier, so I'd be able to put a lot of wear on the thing.

Any advice would be awesome of some good boards, bindings, boots, etc.

Also, I'm about 5' 11" and around 180-185 and goofy stance

[prescient63]

It really depends on what type of riding your going to be doing. Seriously just go to a reputable shop and they will hook you up. I've been riding Burton gear for years, but it definitely isn't on the inexpensive side. For the love of god buy some gortex pants. You'll thank me later.

[JeydaX]

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I got a lot of good advice from this forum when I got my board last year.

Ended up getting a Ride Society 151 and had it custom painted by a friend.

[Vatoreus]

Originally Posted by prescient63

It really depends on what type of riding your going to be doing. Seriously just go to a reputable shop and they will hook you up. I've been riding Burton gear for years, but it definitely isn't on the inexpensive side. For the love of god buy some gortex pants. You'll thank me later.

I would, but I don't know of any shops in this area. I'll probably mostly be doing just downhill mountain runs, with maybe a few jumps and shit and some rails, but probably not a lot of park/vert style stuff.

[prescient63]

I'm riding on Burton P1 bindings which i think are pretty comfy. My board is a couple years old though. I would probably just pick up an all mountain board if i was you. If you really aren't going to hit the park at all you could just ride a freeride board. I'm probably switching to a freeride board for my next one. I can't take botching a landing anymore. My shoulder always seems to semi-dislocate because of all the damage I've done to it.

[Kindnugs]

Burton Customs are awesome free ride boards.

[EmpireF4i]

Quite honestly to me the things that matter most with snowboarding is gloves, pants and boots. Nothing is worse than having frozen hands, wet pants and blisters on your feet from shitty boots.

After that unless your pro or doing some crazy jumps/rails, the board doesnt matter a whole lot. Id say go with a free style board about 152-158 sized for your height and weight.

I ride a Burton Rippey but want to get a Burton Love next. The Rippey is nice, but I want a smaller board thats easier to use in the parks.

[Eomer]

Don't worry about buying Goretex outer wear. There's plenty of other materials out there that are as good as Goretex. As long as you're buying a quality jacket or pants, you'll be good to go.

Also, you shouldn't be looking for a snowboard. You should be looking for skis! Snowboarding is so 90's, skiing is back in a big way. There's nothing that can't be done on a pair of skis that a snowboard can do, but there's plenty that snowboards can't do (back country touring, traversing, etc etc etc).

Most of the people I know that are excellent snowboarders are all learning how to ski, because once you get to a certain point in your ability, you start to go outside the resorts or to very difficult to reach spots, and it's a goddamn nightmare doing it on a board. Most of them had grown up skiing but then switched to boarding in their teens in the 90's cause it was what all the cool kids were doing, and now they're kicking themselves for it.

[Blumpster]

Skiing is bad for your knees!!!

[Darkko]

You can't go wrong with a Burton, but if i had to offer advice i'd say get a Never Summer, I have one and its amazing. I've never heard anyone complain about Never Summer boards. But really it just depends on what you want to use your board for.

[Solariss]

Just started skiing this winter for the first time and I fucking love it. Anybody have advice on ski gear? I'll be buying some this year for sure.

[Vatoreus]

So, for money purposes, I think I'm gonna snag a Burton Clash 155. Anyone ever rode one of these? Any thoughts? Site says it's like a bargain Custom, just a bit stiffer/heavier than it.

[Eomer]

Just started skiing this winter for the first time and I fucking love it. Anybody have advice on ski gear? I'll be buying some this year for sure.

It's incredibly, incredibly dependent on what you want to do. Skis are much more specialized than snowboards. If you're just learning and probably only going a couple times a year, I'd say just rent the skis and poles. If you're going half a dozen times a year, then it becomes worthwhile. If you're just sticking to groomers with the occasional mogul run, get a set of good carving skis. I've been skiing on twin-tipped all mountain skis (Salomon Foils and Guns) and was blown away by how well a pair of Volkl AC40's edged on ice compared to what I was used to. If you're getting more advanced and spending more time on non-groomed terrain and/or the terrain park, then look into a pair of twin tips. If you're doing lots of side/back country, hiking in bounds, or whatever then it might be worthwhile getting a pair of fatties. My Guns float quite well even in extremely deep powder, I heli-ski'd with them even, and they're fantastic pretty much everywhere but on groomers. But groomers suck anyway.

Obviously the most important thing is getting boots that fit you properly, as ski boots can be hell on earth if not fitted properly. Go to a place that knows what they're doing, and will customize them for you if they don't fit right by punching them out etc.

For poles, just buy a cheap piece of shit pair, even a used pair is fine. I made the mistake of buying an $70 set that had flasks in them, and some asshole stole them the second day.

[Kargon]

Just me but I hate stiff/heavy boards. I like the feel of a really flexible board so I can do manuals and other fun stuff. Stiff/heavy boards just feel clunky when doing jumps and just riding in general.