The first installment of our top women’s snowboard picks, I bring you the break down for all-mountain snowboards, followed by park and big mountain. With so many technological advances of late, remember: don’t let the terrain determine your style, let your style drive how you ride the terrain.
These are the freeride boards for the girls who rip everywhere, everything, everyday. Don’t let your quiver of boards slow you down, limiting you to one style. Check out this selection of mid-flex, all mountain sticks that can float the pow, carve the groomers, shred the moguls and stomp the park.
Never Summer Infinity
Key take-aways:
- Directional twin
- Hybrid Rocker
- Set Back Stance
Made in Colorado, there is a reason the Infinity hasn’t changed much from year to year. Never Summer got it right on the first try. My motto for the Infinity is “Infinite possibilities” because it performs perfects in powder, groomers, trees, the park and steeps. Powder is suddenly effortless. The Infinity feels like it just wants to float make every face shot a joy. Though this board is a little stiff for a jib board, it has just enough pop to ollie my way through the steeps of the Highlands Bowl. And while it is a little heavier than most this is not necessarily a bad thing, sometimes you got to push the snow around, especially when there is a camera on location. And the kicker, Never Summer has a three-year warranty. This always tells you a lot about a company’s confidence in its own products. So I say bring on the slopes because I know this board will stand up to all conditions.
High Society Scarlet
Key take-aways:
- Directional freeride
- Hybrid-camber
- Set back stance
This Colorado-made board has a lightweight wood blend core making it fun and playful for everything the mountain throws at you. For the 13-14 season High Society bumped up the carbon, giving the board just enough pop to ollie off everything from top to bottom.
The Scarlet has no problem floating through some champagne pow and enough substance under foot to take down high speeds and uneven snow. This board wants to turn underfoot, making carving a joy and its just soft enough to respond in moguls. So bring it on, the Scarlet can handle it.
Burton Déjà Vu Restricted
Key take-aways:
- Twin
- Traditional Camber
- Set back stance
Remember camber? We all got a little caught up in the newness of rocker, but that doesn’t mean that camber isn’t still out there for the aggressive all mountain rider. And this board comes from a legacy of great camber boards. So don’t be surprised when jumps, carving and uneven terrain is no match for the Restricted Déjà Vu. The edge hold also brings superior skills in the pipe to this all mountain board. With a quick edge on the turn let this board have some fun on the open mountain
Capita Birds of a Feather
- True Twin
- Hybrid Camber
- Centered
The Capita Birds of a Feather has a slightly different take on hybrid camber—its camber is between the feet and flat on the tip/tail. This balance gives a camber board its great carving edge hold but also has a lot of pop for Ollie power. It is lightweight while still riding extremely technical and responsive. The camber also adds fast edge-to-edge transition, allowing you to fly down the mountain while holding high speeds and carving up the terrain.
Stay tuned for Park Top Picks.