Picking the Right Snowboard for Your Riding Style!

As the 2015-2016 Winter snow season is kicking off, many people are rushing out to go buy new boards. Now, this process isn't as simple as it once was. Up until just a few years ago, you could put a board down on the snow, look at it sideways and they would all look quite similar. Most board profiles had remained pretty much the same since the late eighties when camber was introduced. Prior to this, the early years of snowboarding were rife with experimentation and all kind of wacky designs. In more recent years, the experimental feel was revived. In 2007, Lib Tech brought out the Skate Banana and K2 introduced the Gyrator. These reverse camber, or rocker, sticks marked the start of a board shape revolution.

I have adapted the information below from an article on www.whitelines.com which breaks down the differences between the types of boards out there and inserted a video to further expound upon the differences and add to the visual understanding.

I have also grabbed information on the specific board I chose and explained why as well as given you some additional information on picking the right size board for your weight/height.

CAMBER

What does it look like?
When you look at a cambered boards sideways on, it has four contact points with the snow near the tip and the tail, and it arches up at the centre between the bindings.

What does it do?
Cambered boards have more flex for carving and bend allowing more of the effective edge to touch the snow. The extra springy resistance of the concave profile gives it that extra pop. These boards are built for charging hard, riding pipes or hitting big booters.

ROCKER

What does it look like?
These boards curve upwards towards the nose and tail in a kind of banana shape. The angle of the reverse camber and the point at which it starts varies from brand to brand.

What does it do?
The upturned tip and tail gives a more loose, playful ride and gives you extra float in powder. The downside is it isn’t as fast and doesn’t hold an edge like a cambered board. Jibbers and rail riders will often opt for a rockered board, as they’re more maneuverable and less likely to catch an edge.

FLAT BASE

What does it look like?
These boards sit completely flat on the snow, apart from a slight turn up at the nose and tail.

What does it do?
This keeps your effective edge in contact with the snow at all times. As your weight is more evenly spread along the edge, it actually makes it harder to catch an edge compared to a conventional camber board. However, flat boards do lack pop and springiness out of turns.

Camber-Rocker Combo

What does it look like?
They combines elements from camber and rocker boards, in the hope of creating an all-rounder. Different brands take a variety of approaches to this. The Burton Easy Living, for example, uses the Burton’s Flying V shape of rocker between the feet before transitioning into camber in the tail and nose.

What does it do?
These boards get the benefits of both profiles but obviously don’t have the same flex or solidity as either extreme.

As a final tip…
It can be confusing when you’re trying to decide what kind of profile you want your board to have. We’d recommend really thinking about what you want to use your board for. Are you going to be hitting big kickers or jibbing most of the time? Or do you just want something that’s an all-rounder? Once you’ve worked that out, then it should be easier to decide which kind of profile will suit your style of riding.

 

 For me, I personally hit boxes, rails, hard pack (mainly since it's California) and a little powder when I'm lucky enough. I went with the Burton Deja Vu Flying V Snowboard, Winter 2014 Collection when I picked my last "new board" which was a huge upgrade from my Burton Twin.

The Burton Deja Vu Flying V is an all mountain board and has a twin shape. A twin shaped (aka "twin tip") board is symmetrical and is designed to be able to be ridden just as easily in both directions. As this is an all mountain snowboard, it is designed to be able to perform adequately across the mountain. I chose this since I have no problem riding goofy or regular down the mountain and I like the versatility when I am riding park.

Profile Rocker-Camber-Rocker-Camber-Rocker

This snowboard has a rocker-camber-rocker-camber-rocker profile, with rocker in the tip and tail, camber underneath the bindings, and rocker between the bindings. This design takes the best from each profile: the camber profile provides great edge hold while the rocker increase float and decreases the chance an edge will catch.

Shape Twin

The Burton Deja Vu Flying V has a twin board shape, meaning that the tail and nose width measurements of the snowboard are exactly identical to each other. A twin tip board is great for normal or "switch" riding.

Skill Level Intermediate

The 2014 Burton Deja Vu Flying V is designed for an intermediate rider. An intermediate rider can be classified as someone who is comfortable with basic snowboarding skills, and is now exploring steeper and more challenging terrain such as blue square and black diamond slopes. This may even include occasionally venturing into the smaller terrain parks.

OK, now all of that is great and all, but what size do I buy now that I know what type of board I want to buy??

Length

How do you pick the correct snowboard length? The length of your snowboard will vary depending on your body weight and the type of riding you plan to do. Back in the day, traditional snowboard sizing meant you stand next to the snowboard and if the top hits your chin, great, it fits! While that may be a good place to start, weight is also very important factor in determining the appropriate board length. And another important consideration is the type of riding you plan on doing.

So, for example, if you are going to be mostly free riding consider getting a slightly longer board for more stability and speed. If it's a freestyle tool you are looking for, consider smaller sizes that will be easier to spin and maneuver in the terrain park or half-pipe.  *see chart below for help and visual!*

Snowboard Size Chart

Rider Height (in)	Rider Height (cm)	Rider Weight (lb)	Snowboard Size (cm)
4'10"	147	110 - 120	128 - 136
5'	152	115-130	133 - 141
5'2"	158	125-135	139 - 147
5'4"	163	135-145	144 -152
5'6"	168	140-155	149 -157
5'8"	173	150-165	154 -162
5'10"	178	160-175	159 -167
6'	183	170-185	160+
6'2"	188	180-195	160+
6'4"	193	190-205	160+

Choosing the right size board is a combination of a rider’s height and weight. Most riders will want the height of their board to be from the chin to the bridge of the nose. The weight range is a recommendation and fairly open, riders will fall on the heavier side and on the lighter side. If you are on the heavier side, know that the board will feel softer, and if you are on the lighter side, know that the board will feel stiffer.

If you stray outside of the weight range don’t worry, just know the feel of the board might be a little different than advertised. Getting the right length board will only help to add to the fun you will have while riding. For those riders that want to check the board out in person before buying, here are some tips for hand flexing boards: Place hand/forearm across the contact points on nose or tail, apply pressure in the middle, and at binding area, you can angle the board slightly. DO not hold the tip of the board and then bend it in the middle. This is not a good judge of the flex since most of what is flexing in the tip.


Hope this was all very helpful in your new board selection! Remember, buy smart! Last years editions come with a much cheaper price tag and have really neat features as well. Shop around, ask advice from fellow boarders, shop staff and check out all options. Being female, the more feminine board designs are only really made by a few brands. So check out the male designs as well (it's all pretty much the same tech) and feel. You can also demo boards at most mountains before committing to a purchase. Best of luck your shopping!

Snow here to stay or warming up to melt away?

With the recent weather dipping cooler in the Southlands here in California, many of the higher altitude weather areas are fearing an increase in temperature again to melt away the snowfall that they have gotten. Although it snowed in Mammoth last week and even is snowing today, the extended weather forecast is predicting bright and sunny days til close to Thanksgiving. Of course, weather is highly unpredictable and anything can chance, but I fear, like many other years we may be opening the lifts too early in joy of an early snow and may end up closing down for a few weeks.

Picture from 11/9/15

With the recent purchase of Bear Mountain and Snow Valley by Mammoth, came along with it the addition of snow blowing machines and technology in Mammoth. For decades, Mammoth has primarily relied upon good winters to bring snow faring travelers to its destination, but as the years have grown warmer and winters have become drier, alternative snow making methods have been adopted. Most of California's resorts rely entirely if not mostly on this technology to create the snow we enjoy. Mammoth and Tahoe have been hesitant to implement this type of technology.  With the recent purchase of Bear's top snow resorts, they have begun to add this process to their trails.

Snow making at Big Bear

This has allowed us to create better coverage, throughout the season to battle our lack of rain. Will this be enough to bring us through the warm weather that's expected? Guess we will have to wait and see!! Bear Mountain has set opening day for Friday the 13th. Hope that's not an unlucky opening day!

El Nino is upon us... or is it? What does this mean for the snowbord season?

Good morning Californianites!

As the south lands of Cali have been pummeled with rain today, many people are speculating about the upcoming snow season ahead. Many believe this year could be the rainfall we need to help us recover a little from the drought we have been having, others believe it wont even make a dent in our needs. The truth is, until we see for sure if El Nino will be here to stay for the winter, we won't really know!

What does this mean for the upcoming 2015-2016 snow season? Well ideally, with El Nino coming in with a cold front, this could be a winter for the record books. Over the past few decades we see trends of seasons coming in with record breaking numbers just following years with record lows preceding. The last four years of drought have depleted our water reserves to such an extreme point that there may not be enough rain in the forecast this year to really make a difference in the deficit.

This image shows snowfall for Mammoth Mountain from 1969 -2010 years. In the past 5 years, we have had many depressing and record low seasons. Will 2015 be the year of redemption?

Pacific Ocean temperatures are predicted to be so warm that although we will get rain, we may not get the snow we desperately need. Why is snow so important? Well other than the obvious, my passion for snowboarding, we really need the cold snow pack in the mountains since our reservoirs are kept full by the trickled down after seasons of melt. Over the past few years we have gotten less and less snow in the mountains which has changed a lot for many snow towns in Cali.

Big Bear Mountain and Snow Summit were purchased last season by Mammoth Mountain after many record low years. The lake in Big Bear has also reached a record low which has a severely affected the community which has largely been driven by tourists both in the summer season and winter season. The snow blowing procedure which Big Bear heavily relies on due to their low snow fall annually, is costly, ridiculously hard to upkeep and drove the mountain to sell to the highest bidder.


Mammoth Mountain did win big time with this move by capitalizing on the largest season pass sale season of all time by marketing their new Cali4nia pass. Now California skiiers and riders can buy one season pass to hit both Bear mountains and both Mammoth mountains for one low cost. Who suffered in this purchase? The residents of Big Bear who lost many of their perks and discounts to the new owners revamped rules.

4 Mountains - One price!

The only way to truly know how this season will turn out is to wait and see if we get the long awaited snowfall we truly need to refill our reservoirs and restore the balance of our systems once more.What I do know is that it will surely take more than one year for us to bounce back from the dry and dismal drought we have been in over the last few years.