Buying Equipment?

Question

I'm looking to buy my first board after two winters of renting, but don't know what to get. I'm a 5 foot 3 ish, about 120 pounds, 16 year old girl. I've been snowboarding for two years, and mostly snowboard in Wisconsin (like Wilmot, Alpine) and Illinios (Chesnut). Possibly going to Colorado once or twice during the winter. I'd say I'm better then beginner level, I can't stand those little bunny hills but some blues are still a little tough for me. Best brand to buy? And sizing stuff too. Thanks for any help!

Answer 1

I like all the Burton boards I've tried, they have a good online guide to help you pick which boards are good for your area, try looking at the Troop.  www.burton.com  They are very knowledgeable about picking the right equipment.  Thats for brand, but my biggest suggestion is call up the places that you rent from and ask them about local retail shops where you could go in and get fitted for a board, bindings and boots.  Its and excellent learning experience.  EMS has some great boards but I don't know what else is in your area.  Before you go into the shops know what you would like to do with the board, do you want to learn tricks and terrain park stuff or are you more into trail riding and lots of fresh powder.

Answer 2

The board should be about the height of your nose they say. I own 3 boards though, and the longest  is only to my chin. I l love a shorter board, as it makes it easy to control, and gets plenty fast for me! Even when I go straight down a blue square. I like it easy to handle when I'm carving up a black or double black. I'm pretty tall though (6'1)

I think between chin and nose should work be fine for you, and not make much of a difference. I have had no bad experience with cheaper boards I've used.

I was about your weight when I first started boarding. That doesn't effect what you're looking for in a board in my opinion. Only if you were a huge person or had humongous feet that hung over the side, then you would want to look for a wider board. A normal width board will work just fine for you though. you don't need anything specialty.

Do: Try to get one that has an edge around the whole board though, tail and nose, instead of just on the sides. You can get a much nicer board for cheap if you check out pawnshops though and I think that goes with everything gear-wise. They usually have alot of snowboard stuff right now. infact, I was just at a pawnshop and saw about 10 board setups there.

I bought my first board setup in 6th grade. Now I'm 22 and still use the same K-2 strap in bindings I got back then. I can't say if other brands hold up as good as mine have, but I'd say they probably do. I love the support of binding with straps! Those K-2's have been so great for me!

Other than that, I have some click in boots and bindings. They can be great for snowboarding around your house on short hills, because of the quickness you can just step into them, but you ahve to watch out for some types. When they fill up with snow and get iced over it makes it very time consuming to get back into your bindings!

I wouldn't ever use my step in clickers at the mountain. I just like the support of a strapped binding. Not to mention, sometimes you think the step in bindings are attached, but as soon as you start going down a hill you realize your foot is still not clicked in! That's no fun!!!

Boots, make sure you get a good brand. I have used cheap ones when I first started, and they have just added unwanted stress onto my feet and legs. They were a no name brand I got from Gart Sports (which has since changed its name to sports authority). My feet got cold in them too.

Now that I use Burton boots, I have never been more comfortable. I could never go back. Being so comfortable in a boot makes skiiers jealous. ha ha But that's just how it should be. If you're going to spend more money on anything, I'd make sure it's the boots! Then the bindings, then the board. Again, try to find it used, because you will get better quality brands for same price as brand new lesser quality stuff.

Tip: a good boot with an inner shell is so much better insulated! You should only need one pair of thick socks, so size accordingly! My Burton boots ARE a little big, but another benefit of strap in bindings is that everything feels realy supported. You could still buy something a little big if you think your foot size might still grow a half to a full size. you're 16 though. i think it's probably as big as it's gonna get right? :)

if you want more advice, feel free to get ahold of me!

Answer 3

Wow this guy wrote you a book.  lol

You want a deck that is going to go up to your chin. THis will maximise manuverability and make it easier to progress. Here are some brands that have good womens gear

Roxy

K2 ( they have really awesome stuff and sick chicks on there team)

Burton(<-- they probally have the biggest womens selection)

Salomon

GNU