What snowboard am I compatible with?

Question

My friends go to Tahoe almost every chance they get, and so I'm trying to buy snowboard gear. I've already found a snowboard I got my eyes set on, which is a Burton Chicklet. The longest its style comes in is 131cm because it's Juniors; I don't see why I wouldn't fit it since I'm pretty small. I did some research on the internet to find out if this board won't work for me.. I'm 19 years old, 4'10, 117lbs, size 3Y/3.5Y shoes. Some size charts said a 131cm snowboard would be fine for me, but some say I require longer. I found a calculation that tells you what length you need: (height in inches) x 2.54 x 0.88 = (snowboard length CM). My answer was actually less than 131cm. As a beginner I do prefer a short board, but all these charts got me confused! Can anyone familiar with the snowboarding field please help me?

Answer 1

Snowboards don't care how tall you are - your weight and riding style makes more difference than your height. At 4'10" and 120lbs you would need a 140 board. Besides, the kids board that you are looking at would be VERY soft and wouldn't be a good choice for you unless you were going to learn on it and then get a more advanced board. You will grow out of this board very quickly.

Try this calculator:

http://www.frostyrider.com/tips/size-gui...

Don't limit yourself to Burton boards. They are good, but not the only ride in town. Why don't you look into a women's board - like the Ride Vista (or if you are on a tight buget the Ride Grace which I have seen on clearance recently at Sports Authority for $150). You will enjoy this board.

Good Luck

Answer 2

Length isn't the only thing that matters when you're buying a board, weight matters too.  Kids boards are generally super soft and unless the weight chart for the board includes your weight it wouldn't be good for you much past the beginner stage.  If you look on board manufacturer sites they should tell you what weight range the board is good for you and go by that.  Try talking to some employees at board shops too, they can size you up pretty quickly and show you valid options.

Even though around here it might seem like it, Burton isn't the only company that makes boards.  There are a ton of other companies that make boards as good as if not better than Burtons and are often cheaper.