# Do better snowboards make a difference?



## luke89 (Mar 12, 2010)

I guess it depends. Sometimes it makes a huge difference. Im not familiar with LTD so I dont know specifically how bad or good that board is. But like if your riding a all mountain board thats like 10 yrs old and your hitting rails if you got a park board youd notice a helluva a difference. But Id say overall yes a nice board rides better. Thats y u buy a nice board haha.


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## Extremo (Nov 6, 2008)

More importantly the right snowboard makes a difference. But yes better quality snowboards make a difference as well, especially when it comes to stiffness and stability.


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## B-Rad (Feb 18, 2010)

I could tell a difference between my LTD and the new Rome Crail I just bought. I noticed it does better at higher speeds. Holds the snow better and just turns nicer.:dunno:


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## Nitrogen (Feb 10, 2010)

if you're a newbie, i don't think it'll make much of a difference. Get the technique down first then contemplate on a new board. Extremo's right on the board type. Board type depends on the riding style you choose.


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## luke89 (Mar 12, 2010)

You can learn a little faster on a nicer board too but I dont think its worth the money. HTe best way to go is to use whatever you got for now and once you get good and find out how you like to ride ie bombing runs or hitting up the park and so on, you can get a good board that suits your style


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## chimdogger (Feb 7, 2010)

I am a first year rider. I started the year with renting, then got a Lamar Dragon used board to save money on renting. My last outing I took brand new Never Summer Legacy-R. It made a huge difference with speed, stability, sound, turning, and confidence. I ended the year hitting a couple jumps that I never would think about on my Lamar. I think it makes a big difference.


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## ippy (Mar 11, 2010)

Theres two stock answers to this as far as i know:

1. Its 90% rider/10% board, and 
2. Better at what?

I dont know how long youve been snowboarding, (ive only been around 40 days myself over 3 years so im not an authority), but i know from my personal experience that when youre learning, your choice of board can and does make a difference. 
I learned on a freeride board of all things. I figured i wanted to ride back-country asap, so when i bought my board (and i didnt even think places like this existed so just went with the very little info i could find) i thought i really needed a freeride deck, so grabbed an artec. Its a decision im still not 100% sure id replicate if i could go back. But at the same time, its kind of one im happy with.

You see, i could have got a nice soft 'beginners' deck, as many people would recommend for a beginner, because its more forgiving and thus has a bit of an easier learning curve. The deck i learned on, you couldnt press without seriously straining your quads  It also turned me off of park almost instantly because it just felt so unforgiving. 

BUT>>>>>>>>>>

I learned to ride speed early, i learned to throw out deep carves very quickly, and i learned to deal with natural terrain much more confidently than i think i would have if i just rocked up on blunt or something. Owning that board seriously encouraged me to flirt with off piste before i was really (if im honest), ready for it because thats what the board ultimately wanted to do. It game me a serious crash course in riding aggressively that is now almost the corner stone of the way i ride. If i had a soft board, id be a much more playful rider just because you tend to ride where the boards most fun when youre learning and exploring. However, with the qualifier of number 1 (90/10), you can do everything i did on my freeride on your park deck if you really wanted to, but at the end of the day youll probably feel a bit of a pull towards the area the board seems to like the best. 

You can learn on anything, its not a big deal because whatever you learn on, you will find that in a year or two, youll need to learn those skills anyway (or make up for the skills you didnt really focus on while you were learning). This year for example, i bought a sierrascope, and focussed much more on messing around on it. Naturally i did it out of park on natural terrain because thats what im happiest riding and thats where i enjoy riding. But whether thats because i learned on a freeride, or because i wanted to ride there anyway, is kind of chicken/egg. Still, i cant help but feel that it did have an impact of some kind. 

As i say though, if i had to go back, im not 100% sure id make the same decision. That board was pretty aggressive, and REALLY unforgiving. If i wasnt so hell bent on enjoying the sport it may have dissuaded me. Luckily i was already hooked from my 8 or so days i mucked around in my first season, so i picked myself up after every edge catch and tried not to do it again. Face planting and pain is a pretty good teacher at the end of the day  

I guess the point really is this though, (if youre wondering): you can learn on anything. And what you learn on will really only give you a fraction of the skills you really need to become good at this game, so dont think too hard on it. If you get a nice soft and forgiving ride, you might not trip up so much, but youll ride pretty loose because you dont need to ride tight. You may also find switch a doddle compared to someone on a directional. Finally, youll get to muck around a lot more practicing spins and stuff, while i would be flying down the mountain practicing my carving or popping into every massive flat powder dumps because my setback means im not getting stuck in it like you probably are  Well, i wouldnt be if you didnt have rocker and wasnt burning past me  But again, learn on a rocker and your rides way more playful, which brings us back to looser riding and not really dealing with aggressive nastier terrain as well as someone who has a more forgiving ride in THOSE conditions. 

Pick your board and you pick where youre going to have the most forgiving and fun ride probably, but then you might just flip the script and decide you really like park, and are going to learn it on your freeride because you aint dropping another 300 notes on a deck just for park. Good on you! 

I mean, you lose out on experiencing different types of ride, or different flexes and the like, but dang, youll be an all mountain demon on one deck. Choices choices. No matter what you do, you sacrifice something to gain something else. The only issue really is how much time you have at the end of the day. 

And that kids, is a heideggerian inspired lecture on skilling up in snowboarding. You dont have infinite time, hence you always inadvertently give up something for something else, so in your first few years, my advice is do it all and then youll see what youre willing to sacrifice.  Of course, this means your first few years will be spent getting a generic skill set instead of being a champion in the park, or in natural terrain, or in the pipe, or charging trees, or burning the groms, or... or... or... and it might even mean you really just want to enjoy doing whatever you want each day anyway, which theres absolutely no law against. 

TLDR: whatever you learn on will impact you in some way, but you wont be curtailed by it because you ride what you want. If you HAVE to choose one, just buy a nice medium flexxer and cover your bases until you realise where you want to ride. Then end up buying another medium flexxer with improved 2012 technology because snowboardings like that and youll probably want to ride what youre happiest riding anyway  
Its not for nothing that as much as i loved my scope, im pinning for something a little more feisty under my feet


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## fredericp64 (Jan 4, 2010)

^^^^ Woa


10char


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## Bones (Feb 24, 2008)

If you're a never ever, then it really doesn't matter what you're riding. Go with cheap and disposable because you don't know what your future riding preferences will be.

If you're linking skidded turns, starting a few carves and torsional steering, then yeah, you're going to notice and appreciate the differences in flex, dampening, response, etc. 

If you're at that point, then you've got to hit some demos and take some notes. Not that you have to be brand or model specific, but try a soft board, a stiff board, a twin tip, a powder board, different side cuts, etc. See what they do differently.

I started on rentals and then bought a cheap LTD. Having your own board is a huge step up, everything is the same every time (stance, angles, flex, etc.) so the only variable is you. Like buying your first beater of a car. Then I got a nice board and that step up was awesome! Like going from a used car to brand new. 

Of course, the never-ending last step up is buying your dream car. Except there's so many and different ones every year. And new tech and new designs.....


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## ATOTony76 (May 26, 2009)

i believe confidence is a huge factor. When you are on a nice new board that you like to show off and looks good while you carry it down the halls of a resort, sometimes thats all you need to push your self and get "better." But for the most part i think having the correct  board is what makes you better.


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## extra0 (Jan 16, 2010)

depends on the rentals you rode and, well, obviously the LTD isn't working great for you. I went through several boards that I din't like very much before I found some that worked for the type of riding I wanted to do. 

The first board that really turned me on was the omatic awesome because it was the first I rode that had the right spring in the tail for me to do good high ollies. It was also lighter and smaller than previous boards, so that helped a lot with control...it was just a lot of fun I hadn't experienced before. 

My latest freestyle board is a bataleon riot and it's very similar to the awesome, but has TBT tip/tail edges  and is slightly stiffer (probably because it's built much stronger). The flipped up edges really help with switch riding and make the board much faster than anything previous.


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