Snowboard

This is the primary article of equipment for snowboarding?. A board? designed to be attached beneath the rider's feet and ridden down [dry ski slopes]? or snow covered slopes. No [ski poles]? are used.

Most snowboards are constructed of a wood core, laminated with fiberglass. The front of the board (the "nose" in snowboarder parlance) is upturned to help the board glide over uneven snow; the back of the board may be equally upturned, less upturned, or pretty much flat, depending upon how much time the snowboarder plans to spend riding backwards. The base (the side of the board that touches the snow) is covered with a plastic called 'p-tex' which is typically sintered to help it absorb wax, which helps it slider faster. The edges of the base are wrapped with a steel edge, just a couple millimeters square, which helps the board 'grab' the snow when tipped up on edge. The top of the board typically sports graphics designed to offend adults and skiers.

Snowboard designs differ primarily as follows:

Length

Boards for kids run as short as 120 centimeters; board for racers (aka "alpine" riders) run as long as 215cm. Most people ride boards in the 140-165cm range.

Width

Width is typically measured at the waist of the board, since the nose and tail width varies with the sidecut and taper (which we will get to in a moment). Freestyle boards run up to 28cm in width, to make it easier to keep one's balance. Alpine boards are typically 18-21cm wide, though they get as narrow as 15cm. Most folks ride boards in the 24-25cm range.

Sidecut

The edge of the board, as viewed from above, is not straight but curved, so the tip and tail are wider than the center. This curve aids turning, and affects the boards handling in ways to complex to describe here. The curve has a radius that might be a little as 5 meters on a kid's board, or as large as 17 meters on a racer's board. Most boards use sidecut radii in the 8 to 9 meter range.

Flex

The flexibility of a snowboard affects its handling, again in ways too complex for this space, and typically varies with the rider's weight. There's no standard way to quantify snowboard stiffness, but novices tend to prefer softer flex, racers stiffer flex, and everyone else something in between.