Selecting the Right Snowboarding Equipment
There are many factors that can contribute to a fun day at the slopes: The mountain you’re on, the people you’re with, and the conditions. However, one of the more underestimated factors is as simple as wearing the proper gear needed to not only be safe, but to make your boarding more enjoyable. You might be thinking that the recommended snowboard equipment - Snowboard, Bindings, Gloves, Goggles, Boots - is obvious. But what isn’t obvious is choosing the snowboard equipment that is right for you.
Without debate, the most important piece of snowboard equipment is obviously your snowboard. Unfortunately, it’s also the most expensive, so choosing the right one for you the first time is crucial. People come in all different sizes, fortunately snowboards do too. To choose the snowboard that best fits your snowboard style, stand the snowboard upright and measure where on your body it comes up to. For a beginner, it’s recommended to find a board who’s length comes between your chin and collar bone. This length of board makes turning easier, however at high speeds its stability decreasens. This, however, is generally not an issue with beginners since they won’t be snowboarding at high speeds just yet. If you’re looking for an all purpose board that can handle all conditions and even styles, from freeride to freestyle, choose a board of average size that is between your nose and chin. If you’re into snowboarding deep powder conditions, a longer board that stands higher than your nose is what you’re looking for. This is definitely not the recommended board for someone who is a beginner. This longer board disperses your weight over a larger surface area, and lets you glide easily over those powdery conditions. Before making the decision of what board you will be buying, make sure you put into heavy consideration your weight, your ability, and also the mountain conditions that you will normally be riding in.
When it comes to selecting the boots and bindings that work best for you, it’s usually just a matter of feel and comfortability than anything else. Unlike snowboards, there isn’t really a standard guideline to choosing the right boots or bindings based on the person. However, there are a few factors to decide on. Boots can be either stiff or soft. Stiff boots are good for hard turns, fast conditions, and deep chunky snow. Soft boots are designed more for freestyle riding because of the liberal movement in the boot. Although some new advances in binding technology are just being made, bindings are currently pretty standard. It’s recommended to choose the pair of bindings that fit you snugly and feel comfortable.
When it comes to the rest of your snowboard equipment, choosing the right gear is dependent mostly on what the weather conditions are on the mountain you’ll be doing most of your snowboarding. All mountains have different conditions, so choosing the right gear is important to having a good time. If you’re mountain’s snow is more on the wet side, than your gear should be more waterproof. Humid air conditions require gear that’s warmer, because the more you sweat, the colder you will get. When choosing the right goggles for you, take into consideration the amount of sunlight on your mountain. The brighter the sun, the darker the lens of your goggles should be. For a more elaborate discussion of goggles, read my article Choosing The Right Snowboarding Goggles.