Snowboard - Board Types

Board Types

A size and shape variance in the boards accommodates different people, skill levels, snow conditions, and riding styles. Shorter boards are typically considered youth size, designed for use by children, though some varieties of short boards are specifically designed for a special purpose, such as the performance of snowboarding tricks. Such tricks may take place in a snowpark alongside freestyle skiers.

The bottom or 'base' of the snowboard is generally made of UHMW. (and is surrounded by a thin strip of steel, known as the 'edge'. Artwork was primarily printed on PBT using a sublimation process in the 1990s, but poor color retention and fade after moderate use moved high-end producers to longer-lasting materials.

Snowboards come in several different styles, depending on the type of riding intended:

  • Freestyle: The most common type. Generally shorter with moderate to soft flex. Freestyle boards are typically twin-tip in shape (mirror image along the lateral axis) to enable riding both ways. Incorporates a deep sidecut for quick/tight turning. Used in the pipe and in the park on various jumps and terrain features including boxes, rails, and urban features
  • Park/Jib (rails): Flexible and short to medium length, twin-tip shape with a twin flex and an outward stance to allow easy switch riding, and easy spinning, a wider stance, with the edges filed dull is used for skateboard-park like snowboard parks.
  • Freeride: Longer than freestyle and park boards. Moderate to stiff in flex and typically directional (versus twin-tip). Used from all-mountain to off-piste and backcountry riding, to 'extreme' big-mountain descents - in various types of snow from groomed hard-packed snow to soft powdery snow.
  • Powder: Highly directional boards that typically have a rockered nose and tapered shape (wider tip than tail).
  • All-Mountain: Also very common. A mix between freeride and freestyle boards. The 'jack of all trades, master of none.' Commonly twin-ish in shape (sometimes described as "directional twin") with an even flex on both sides of the board
  • Racing/Alpine: Long, narrow, rigid, and directional shape. Used for slalom and giant slalom races, these boards are designed to excel on groomed slopes. Most often ridden with a "hard" plastic snowboard boot (similar to a ski boot), but also ridden recreationally with soft boots, particularly by riders in Europe.
  • Splitboard: A snowboard which splits in half lengthwise, and allows the bindings to be quickly connected to hinges aligning them longitudinally on the board, allowing the halves of the boards to function as cross country skis. Used with removable skins on the base of the board, which easily slide forward on snow but not backwards, they allow a snowboard to easily travel into the backcountry. Once the rider is ready to descend, the board halves can simply be joined back together.

Snowboards are generally constructed of a hardwood core which is sandwiched between multiple layers of fibreglass. Some snowboards incorporate the use of more exotic materials such as Carbon Fiber, Kevlar, Aluminium (as a honeycomb core structure), and have even incorporated Piezo dampers. The front (or "nose,") of the board is upturned to help the board glide over uneven snow. The back (or "tail") of the board is also upturned to enable backwards (or "switch") riding. The base (the side of the board which contacts the ground) is made of Polyethylene plastic. The two major types of base construction are Extruded and Sintered. An extruded base is a basic, low-maintenance design which basically consists of the plastic base material melted into its form. A sintered base uses the same material as an Extruded base, but first grinds the material into a powder, then, using heat and pressure, molds the material into its desired form. A sintered base is generally softer than its extruded counterpart, but has a porous structure which enables it to absorb wax. This wax absorption (along with a properly done 'hot wax'), greatly increases surface friction between the base and the snow, allowing the snowboard to travel on a thin layer of water. Snowboards with sintered bases are much faster, but require semi-regular maintenance and are easier to damage. The bottom-edges of the snowboard are fitted with a thin strip of steel, just a couple of millimeters wide. This steel edge allows the board to grab or 'dig in' to hard snow and ice (like the blade of an ice skate), and also protects the boards internal structure. The top of the board is typically a layer of acrylic with some form of graphic designed to attract attention, showcase artwork, or serve the purpose similar to that of any other form of printed media. Flite Snowboards, an early and often underquoted designer, pressed the first closed-molded boards from a garage in Newport, RI in the mid 1980s. Snowboard topsheet graphics can be a highly personal statement and many riders spend many hours customizing the look of their boards. The top of some boards may even include thin inlays with other materials, and some are made entirely of epoxy-impregnated wood. The base of the board may also feature graphics, often designed in a manner to make the board's manufacturer recognizable in photos.

See also: Board Construction

Snowboard designs differ primarily in:

  • Length – Boards for children are as short as 90 centimetres (35 in); boards for racers, or "alpine" riders, are as long as 215 centimetres (85 in). Most people ride boards in the 140–165 centimetres (55–65 in) range. It is a myth that the height of the rider solely dictates the length of the snowboard. Rather, the length of a snowboard corresponds mainly to the style, weight, and preference of the rider. A good rule of thumb is to stay within the recommended manufacturer weight range. The longer the board, the more stable it is at high speed, but it is also a bit tougher to manoeuvre. Another factor riders consider when selecting a snowboard is the type of riding it will be used for, freestyle boards being shorter than all-mountain boards.
  • Width – The width is typically measured at the waist of the board, since the nose and tail width varies with the sidecut and taper. Freestyle boards are up to 28 centimetres (11 in) wide, to assist with balance. Alpine boards are typically 18–21 centimetres (7.1–8.3 in) wide, although they can be as narrow as 15 centimetres (5.9 in). Most folks ride boards in the 24–25 centimetres (9.4–9.8 in) range. Riders with larger feet (US size 10+) may have problems with narrower boards, as the rider's toes and/or heels may extend over the edge of the board, and interfere with the board's ability to make turns once it is set on edge, or 'get hung up on the snow.' This is called toe/heel-drag, and can be cured by either choosing a wider board (26 centimetres (10 in) or more), adjusting the stance angle, or a combination of the two.
  • Sidecut – The edges of the board are symmetrically curved concavely, so that the width at the tip and tail is greater than the center. This curve aids turning and affects the board's handling. The curve has a radius that might be a short as 5 metres (16 ft) on a child's board or as large as 17 metres (56 ft) on a racer's board. Most boards use a sidecut radius between 8–9 metres (26–30 ft). Shorter sidecut radii (tighter turns) are generally used for halfpipe riding while longer sidecut radii (wider turns) are used for freeride/alpine/racing riding. One new development in sidecuts was the introduction of Magne-Traction by Mervin, which manufactures: Lib Tech, GNU, and Roxy snowboards. Magne-Traction incorporates seven bumps on each side of the board which LibTech speculates will improve edge holding.
  • Flex – The flexibility of a snowboard affects its handling and typically varies with the rider's weight. Usually a harder flex makes turning harder while a softer flex makes the board less stable at high speed. There is no standard way to quantify snowboard stiffness, but novices and boarders who mostly do rails tend to prefer softer flex, racers stiffer flex, and everyone else something in between. Park riders that enjoy jumps the most tend to ride stiffer twin boards.
  • Tail/nose width – Many freestyle boards have equal nose/tail specs for equal performance either direction. Freeride and alpine boards, however, have a directional shape with a wider and longer nose. Boards designed for powder conditions exaggerate the differences even more for more flotation on the powder.
  • Camber* – The curvature of the base of the snowboard effects handling and carving. Typical modern snowboards have an upward curvature of a few degrees along the effective edges. Experimentation has led to boards with rocker, or upward curvature, which makes for a more buttery board and can improve float in deep powder.

Read more about this topic:  Snowboard

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