Snowboards - All mountain (Freeride):

There's loads of boards to choose from. The most important thing to remember is size. FInd a board you like and check the size. The nose of the board should come roughly to your chin, but all depends on your style of riding. Check out the sizing guide below!

All Freeride snowboards come in a variety of flexibility. The stiffer the board the faster you'll travel. However, the stiffer it is, the harder it is to ride; especially if you are a novice. A lot of companies have come to learn this now, and as such design the boards to 'give' when you ride, and absorb some of the tougher, bumpier terrain to help your riding experience. You'll lose a bit of speed to this, but if you're new to riding, your balance and confidence if far more important than tanking it down the slope!

From past experience, check the size out and buy the board that not only is within your budget, but actually looks and feels right for you. Check weight, flex and width. I've put quite a few useful links on my site recently, so take a look for boards and accessories there.

Snowboards - All mountain (Freestyle):

Freestyle boards are really responsive and manoeuvrable. A freestyle board is mainly aimed for the rider who is going to hit rails, and jib in the parks. It can also be used to have a really good ride on the piste too.
The downside is that they have limited edge grip so can become unstable at high speed or when carving hard turns.
A freestyle board is ideal if you're looking for a bit of all-round performance. Check out my links page if you want to start shopping.

Snowboards - Womens:

A lot of manufacturers have started to design snowboars for women. After all, we need to look after our ladies don't we!?

Apart from the obvious, being that the graphics are more femanine, the designers have changed the widths of the womens boards, and are slightly lighter. If you're not sure what you're really after, then pop into your local snowboard store for further advice.

Snowboards - Length... What is best? What should I go for?:

The question I've heard so many times, is what size board do I buy? Is it important. I'd say the size of the board is dependant on your style of riding. If you're wanting to ride off-piste and hit powder 5 days out of 7, then I'd personally go for a longer board. If your riding style is park based, or general tearing down the slopes; then perhaps a shorter board would be more suitable.

When I started, I was advised that my board board should come up to my chin. This was the rule of thumb I adopted, and still use it, some 9 years on.

BargainBoards.co.uk produced this very useful table as a general guide, which we have reproduced here with their permission. Checkout the BargainBoards Advice Centre which is packed with very useful advice on everything to do with snowboarding.

Your snowboard sizing guide
Rider's Height		Board length - cm
Feet & Inches	cm	shoulder	chin	eyeline
4'	122	106	109	112
4' 2"	127	110	114	117
4' 4"	132	115	118	122
4' 6"	137	119	123	126
4' 8"	142	124	127	131
4' 10"	147	128	132	136
5'	152	133	136	140
5' 2"	157	137	141	145
5' 4"	163	141	145	150
5' 6"	168	146	150	154
5' 8"	173	150	155	159
5' 10"	178	155	159	164
6'	183	159	164	168
6' 2"	188	164	168	173
6' 4"	193	168	173	178
6' 6"	198	172	177	182

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Boots:

Buying your boots is the most important part of your kit to get right. If you're a first time buyer looking for a set up make sure you invest your budget in decent boots, even if it means spending less on your board and/or bindings.

Forget about brand names and whether you like the colour or design. We all want pretty, shiny things but if they don't fit you'll end having a bad experience when riding. Poor fit leads to be uncomfortable especially if you're stuck with them on a mountain for 2 weeks. Poor fit can also contribute to injury. So get the brand names and steezy designs out of your head before you enter the shop.

Before you get to the shop make sure you're in a normal pair of socks. Boots loosen up over time and you want as snug a fit as possible from the out-set. If you're wearing snowboarding, thick or extra pairs of socks you will not be able to find a snug fit and your boot will loosen up even more quickly. A normal pair of thin/sports socks are all you need for a fitting. If the assistant in the shop asks you to try boots on with ski/board socks, or in my case once, asked me to try an extra pair of socks on...be like Zammo...just say NO.

Once you're in the shop tell the assistant your size, that you want to try on a pair of each brand they have in your size. Make sure you compare and contrast each boot. This can be made a lot easier by trying on your 1st pair, taking one off and trying one of the next brand. So you'll have one brand on one foot and another brand on the other. When you're trying lots on in pairs it's easy to forget the difference between them. So, trying your boots on in this manner helps the process of elimination. You will be able to see which one is better by contrast. Keep the one that fits best on, try the next brand on the other foot until you find one that fits better.

Make sure you're lacing the boots correctly. There are so many brands and styles available but a generally, get your foot in. Make sure the tongue of the inner boot liner is tucked in behind the boot liner, then lace up your inner boot so that it's snug but not so tight it hurts. Then start with the lacing of the outer boot. Some may have quick lacing systems or boa systems, if you're not sure get the assistant to show you how.

Once the boot is on stand up. Your toes, when stood up should just brush the inside edge of the boot. Remember that snowboarding boots aren't made for walking around in, they're designed to be ridden in. They may feel awkward, bulky and uncomfortable to walk around in, this is not a sign they do not fit. You need to flex your legs into a riding stance. So flex down with your feet at similar angles and width apart, as they would be on your board. When you do this you should no longer feel the inside edge of your boot up against your toes when you wiggle them. Every good store should have a boot test area which will have a large pad of thick foam for you to stand on and get into your riding stance, use it. It helps you to feel what the boot will feel like when in your riding position.

If when you stand straight up your toes are rammed up against the inside edge of the boot, the boot is too small. If you can not feel the inside edge of the boot at all with your toes the boot is too big. Whilst in your flexed snowboarding stance you can still feel the inside edge of the boot then, again the boot is too small.

A snug fit is important, it's what you need, but boots should not feel tight in particular point. They of course will feel unusual to you if you've not worn them before or have only been in rental boots. You should not have any pressure points when in the boots. A point that squeezes or causes discomfort is only going to get worse when riding. So snug feel all over but not sore anywhere.

You need to check for heel lift in your boot. Your heel will lift in all boots but this lift, how much your heels come away from the inside sole of the boot should not be excessive. So roll forward in your, snowboarding, flexed stance, onto the balls of your toes. If your heel lifts more then a centimetre or two you may have too much lift. You may need to roll forward and back several times to find how much your heel lifts.

Your ankle area should also be snug, but again not so tight to cause pain. If your ankle is freely rolling about inside the boot it is too wide a boot for you.

Each brand has its own quirks as do each pair of feet that walk into a shop for new boots. Just because you love the look of the Danny Kass one white one red or funky boa systems or want the K2's to match your binding and handbag, it doesn't mean you can have them. If the boots you want are the best fit for you then result but make sure you get the fit correct first. Sometimes you'll find the first pair you tried on all those hours ago are the cheapest and best fit sometimes you may need to be flexible in your budget and buy more expensive to get it right. But once you have got that fit right you're setting yourself up really well for progression.

So now you've conquered the mountain of boots available, you've got the perfect fit...get out and shred the real mountain and don't forget to send your experiences in to www.snowinfo.co.uk
Boots Info kindy provided by Maddie

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Tricks & Tips - coming soon!

Here's where you'll be able to read up on a few of the basics, and maybe a bit more!

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