What is the Best Snowboard Brand in the industry?
This article will help you find what snowboard brands are the best for all-mountain snowboarding, and what type might be the best for you! All snowboard brands presented will be unisex or have a female or male version unless otherwise noted. Check listings to see which type it is.
All the snowboards recommended would be great for anyone, but these are my top picks for what I deem important. In the industry, there are many reputable great brands, so in this article, I will talk about Burton, K2, Salomon snowboards, and Never Summer.
Best Snowboard brands for the Low Tier K2 Instrument Unisex Snowboard:
Best Snowboard brands for the Medium Tier Never Summer Swift:
Best Snowboard brands for the High Tier Burtons Custom X Flying V Snowboard:
This article will not be for complete beginners to snow sports, but some boards chosen would be the best snowboard for a beginner.
I will not be exploring split boards, because this is a snowboarding-specific article.
I am a skier by trade, but I have snowboarded on multiple occasions. I got my first snowboard from a ski swap, and it was a K2 snowboard.
All prices posted in this article are new snowboards unless otherwise posted. So if you are trying to save money, try buying an older version of it, or go to a local ski swap. If it is not bought on the site, warranties may vary.
All brands chosen are top snowboarding companies and are at the top of their game. This article will not talk about associated snowboarding gear. All snowboards will be all mountain brands.
Snowboarding is a different animal from skiing because they are both tailored to different people. I have heard the following statement many times ” snowboarding is harder to learn, but easier to master, and skiing is easier to learn, but harder to master”. If you want to do tricks and go on groomers snowboarding is right for you, this is from my perspective, which might be a terrible perspective.
I will be speaking to the groomer and speed crowd in this article about snowboards. The specific terrain park snowboard brands will be talked about in future articles. Your personal riding style will affect all purchasing choices.
There are so many brands to choose from I have chosen my top 4 brands I know from experience that do justice to snowboards and winter sports.
To figure out what brand is the best, we need to find out what properties make snowboards great in the first place. Many properties of snowboards like length and width will be based on your height and weight and what you plan to do with the board.
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directional or twin tip snowboards
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flexibility of materials
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the shape of the nose of the board
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camber or in other words the bumpiness of the board when looked at head on
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Base materials can be sintered or extruded, this will be explained later
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Board materials.
You can easily spend $1000’s on a snowboard, so this article will talk about 3 price points. Below 500, 500-650, and over 650. They will be in categories of low, medium, and high-tier.
Snowboard brand Burton:
The largest snowboard manufacturer in the U.S, Burton snowboards.
This is a top brand, it hits all your major price points. This is one of the top snowboard companies in the market, and everyone knows Burton. Burton is the largest snowboard company in the snowboarding market.
Manufacturing: This company started out in 1977 in Vermont, you always need to support homegrown companies. Unfortunately, they make most of their boards in China.
Pro snowboarders: The undeniable greatest professional snowboarders of all time reps this brand, I am talking about Shaun white, God’s gift to snowboarding.
Innovative: This ski brand is serious and has had inventive designs, since its inception. Their founder is known as one of the forefathers of modern snowboards, his name is Jake burton Carpenter.
Burton’s climate pledge involves investing in greener products by 2025, and from Burton, they say “Therefore, we rely on low-impact, responsibly sourced materials to reduce resource consumption and improve emissions from manufacturing”. Their goals are not as far reaching as K2.
Medium Price Point Skeleton Key Camber Snowboard:
price$579.99.
Skill level intermediate/advanced.
A great board with a superior brand. The board uses fiberglass and wood as the core. Burton snowboards are known for their flexibility and easy-going style.
For the price, this is one of the best boards in the snowboarding industry based on what it’s meant to do.
Flexibility: This board is in the middle for flexibility, and is less stiff than the average board.
Style: This board is mainly for all-mountain and powder.
3-year warranty.
Issues:
Unidirectional: With this board, it is meant to go in one direction, so many riding styles may not like it that it is inconvenient to switch sides. Many snowboards like to practice going switch, so it may behoove you to not choose this board.
Not a terrain park board: Tricks may be harder with the directional face.
Cheap material: People can use whatever language they want about fiberglass, but it’s not something that is superior. This board uses 2 layers of fiberglass, which I think is a cheaper way to build any board.
Weight: Has a normal weight which isn’t an issue, but I would want it to be heavier for more control when carving.
Advantages:
Great Design: This board is designed for carving up the slopes and maintaining speed. This board is a free-ride directional board which means it’s made for the way you ride.
Interesting tech: There is some interesting snowboard technology and engineering on these boards. For instance, these boards have directional flex for increased control when carving and less bounce in the back for added control, and they use special wax and coatings for increased durability. In my experience, a good edge is uber important for all skill levels and can help keep speed in many instances.
Powder Capability: This board should do well in deep snow. With its directional nose that has good camber, you should be able to keep speed and if you focus on the backfoot you should be good.
High Tier Custom X Flying V Snowboard:
Price $839.95
Skill level advanced
One of the most well-known and greatest snowboard manufacturers, and this board makes me want to agree. This board is more expensive, but you get what you pay for. This board is stiffer than most and excels in all mountain environments and in the powder and is ok at best in the park.
One of the best snowboards I have reviewed. This board gives credence to the statement that Burton is one of the greatest snowboarding brands.
Camber: This board uses a flying v bend, which to the layperson means it has an increased angle upwards so less board touches the ground. So less friction, and more movement control, and is better for the powder.
Flex: This board uses a symmetric bend so either way it will bend the same, just the head and tail are shaped differently.
Issues:
Costly: with this board, boots, and bindings this could easily cost you $1500. Skill level is stated as an expert, so don’t get too overzealous unless you can afford it.
Not a terrain park board: With an equal side flex, you should be more than capable of doing any trick you want. I would stay with full rotational moves, not 180s because of the tail shape.
Advantages:
Top Speed: This board will let you haul butt, this snowboard will help you unleash your inner speed demon. They use high-quality products in the construction like special end grain wood for a lightweight design for speed and control.
High-Quality Materials: Uses more expensive materials to keep weight down with high durability for increased control of the board when carving and doing powder runs. It uses the same base that pro boards use, they put a lot of detail into this board, which I hope they do at this price.
Low Tier Instigator PurePop Camber:
Price $439.99
Skill level beginner/intermediate:
Over the course of looking at these three boards from Burton, you may have come to the conclusion the more money you spend the more your board can do.
Use Case: This board is the cheapest and does all mountain boarding well and that’s about it. It’s subpar in the other types of mountain environments.
Flexibility: This is described as a very lax board, that you can do what you want with it and is extremely flexible, which means it doesn’t hold its shape as well and won’t gyrate as much as a stiff board when riding on bumps.
Issues:
Too flexible and poor material: this board is too soft, over the years it will damage much earlier due to cheap materials. Flexibility is great for a beginner, but not for an advanced rider.
Weak Core: Uses two different types of wood to decrease weight, but comes at the expense of durability and stiffness. Imagine creating a board of one type of wood with one piece, and now make it two pieces it loses many advantages of control with this design. I think this is a cost-cutting technique, like putting shoddy materials with good material and saying it’s mostly the good one, but it actually isn’t. My experience with boards is that one solid core of quality wood material is best because it’s stable and is the same throughout.
Not for freestyle riding: Due to being an all-mountain directional and having a low camber it will not do tricks well, sorry.
Advantages:
Cheap: Board is 300$ cheaper than the more expensive board, and with some cheap snowboard boots you can have a full set for easily 800$ starting out.
Great starter Board: It will do groomers and speed runs easily because of its simple design that caters to flat surfaces with no powder.
Base: uses an extruded base for increased friction with the ground for more control when at high speeds, a nonporous base that is easier to repair due to an easier manufacturing process.
Very subtle camber: has a slight tail and head for easy riding on groomers.
All mountain directional: has the right style for groomer runs and moguls on steep faces.
Twin flex: Same bend radius on both sides of the board for symmetry and equal pressure.
Snowboard Brand K2:
I have personally used this brand’s affiliate Line for over 15 years, K2 owns Line and unfortunately manufactures all their equipment in China. Deglobalization has not hit the ski industry yet. I have used a k2 board many times in my career, its name was the k2 zero, a fine board for all-mountain, it’s quite old now, and I don’t use it much anymore. I have chosen the skier life, so to those reading it, I am sorry you are getting a mainly skiing perspective on boarding. This is one of the best snowboard brands.
An interesting environmental perspective for K2 is that their boots are made of 20% sustainable materials from recycling.
Regardless, K2 is a reputable brand and makes great snowboards, just ask anyone and look at what they’re riding. I see mostly Burton, k2, atomic, and Never Summer, but that is in Washington.
A neat thing that I support wholeheartedly about this company is that it is trying to be net zero carbon emission by 2050. Very Respectable and the company has already used minimal packaging when shipping products. This company has pledged more rigorous guidelines than Burton snowboards and we support K2 for doing so, gotta lead by example.
K2 is interesting because it’s a skiing company that makes high-quality products and got into the market of snowboarding by using cutting-edge technology it honed by making great skis. K2 skis have been a staple of the industry, but I see more Line skis nowadays.
Medium Tier K2 Excavator Unisex Snowboard:
Price $549.99
Skill level: intermediate/Advanced rider
This snowboard is meant for all mountains and all its qualities are geared toward that. This board is for groomers and powder but specifically carving.
Wider profile: This board gives you an extra 5 cm of width for making harder turns, this is where the skill level is advanced because this feature hurts you if you aren’t ready for these types of turns. The company tells you to shorten the board because its wide, longer board are easier to control for beginner riders.
Base: Uses a porous base which is more expensive and helps increase acceleration when bombing hills.
Board is directional and boasts a more flexible ride than a more rigid one.
Issues:
Terrain park: It’s directional so landing backward won’t play well, but it is shorter and wider for toe grabs, so choose tricks carefully before going all out.
Easy camber: Board is fairly flat, so it’s not the springiest, but carving should not be an issue with great materials and other engineering features such as extra width. With an increased platform for turning the edge should be just fine, but the camber is still an issue even though it’s corrected elsewhere.
Advantages
Perfect for groomers and powder: The tail is v-shaped for more cutting of the snow in the back so their is less reduction in speed.
High-quality materials: Uses a single core of high-quality wood and wax for the laminate of the board.
Wider and shorter: I normally use a longer board because I am a noob. However, if I was as good at skiing as I am at snowboarding, I would like to have a wider base cause it gives you more room to maneuver your body for carving. Plus being a shorter board helps with the terrain park and doing cool toe grabs.
This board is no joke for groomers and powder.
High Tier K2 Manifest Snowboard:
Price $839.99
Skill Level advanced:
This is a board that is super versatile for freeride snowboarders and all mountain people.
This board is a directional twin for its head and tail, which means both sides are the same which is good for freeride boarders. This is a board for freestyle fans.
A stiff board for more advanced riders and increased control makes carving easier because the board will keep its shape on an edge.
Even camber: the camber or curviness is more than usual but not too much to hurt its all-mountain capabilities.
Advantages
One of the more versatile boards in the snowboard industry, this board should treat you well not just at all-mountain riding, but give you all you need for a great time in the terrain park.
Tame camber profile: for easy riding, but should hold an edge well.
Flexibility: the board is quite flexible which means it’s going to be more floppy and give you that pop you may need for powder and the terrain park.
Sintered: if the board is sintered it is higher quality than an extruded board so you know the manufacturer is giving you a quality board.
Issues:
Standard length and width: I prefer wider and shorter boards because it still gives you great performance in powder and groomers, but gives you an advantage in the park.
Fiberglass laminate: If you read my articles so far I am not a fan of fiberglass, this company uses made-up words to make fiberglass sound like diamonds or rubies. It’s not something amazing cause it’s the ultra pro carbon fiberglass 4000 technology. Fiberglass is just a cheap, but albeit flexible material that can do many things.
Low Tier K2 Instrument Unisex Snowboard:
Price $429.99
Skill level beginner:
A directional snowboard that has a sintered base, which has a design where the longer you’re board is, the wider they make it to correct loss capabilities. K2 snowboards are just high quality is what I have learned by researching them.
Good taper for powder: has a 10mm taper for better gliding through powder.
Flexibility: Board is quite flexible and should give you the pop you need for speed runs
This snowboard uses an s1 core, which means it has multiple types of wood in it, which makes it easier to make because larger single pieces of wood are more expensive. The engineering makes sense though because they use bamboo under your feet for more pop. Still not a fan of multiple wood cores.
Issues:
Terrain park problems: being a directional snowboard and running in longer sizes makes it a bit harder to control your edge and head of the board.
Uses fiberglass: as you can see less expensive boards use fiberglass, and fiberglass is quite dangerous because the fibers from it and small particles are bad for your health in the manufacturing process. I feel like I have made my point on fiberglass, it’s just versatile.
Advantages:
Uses volume shift technology which is fancy language for moving the weight around to your feet so you can spin around and move your edges more easily.
Cheaper board: with all the snowboard equipment you need you can pay under $1000 for an all-mountain setup.
Good price for all-mountain riding: if you are looking for groomers and powder you found the right board.
Snowboard Brand Never Summer:
A company coming from colorado that makes handcrafted snowboards and snowboard production is in the U.S, I did not know this, but very respectable. Never Summer started in 1991 and is a smaller brand than others.
From what I have seen they have not made any pledges to be carbon neutral like K2, but this a smaller company. However, they do recycle and produce durable boards because they are handmade, and the only trash they make is sawdust. With a pledge like K2, this company is well ahead of its peers in sustainability.
The board discussed is a male board, they don’t do unisex boards like k2 or Burton snowboards.
Unfortunately, the professional riders for this brand are not very well known like Shaun White but are nonetheless in the Olympics without medaling.
These guys came up with the patent on hybrid camber technology, which is another interesting fact. Hybrid camber is having a camber from the tail to your front foot and a rocker in the head and tail. Most boards are hybrid camber for all-mountain boarding.
When browsing their site I see their not many choices for boards in different price points or styles, so my list will be different, for this brand.
I will be doing just the best board from this company which all boards are pretty much 550 to 700 dollars.
Best Snowboard from Never Summer the Swift:
Cost: $684.99
Skill level: All
From my research, all boards are extruded top sheets and sintered bottoms, which seems like a happy medium for performance and cost.
Not the best snowboard ever or one of the best snowboard brands, but for the mid-tier, this takes the cake. I respect the handmade and attention to detail the creators are going for.
For the boards, Never summer is probably one of the best brands in their price range, which happens to be mid-tier according to general pricing practices in the industry.
All boards pretty much use the same laminate of carbon or fiberglass or just fiberglass, which is not an issue, but it seems they use the same tech features for each board, just change up the style. Not a problem though, but sucks for having different choices.
All the boards have at most a size choice of 156 to 166 cm long, some boards are even less, which is another feature of their American manufacturing. The price you pay for American, compared to k2 snowboards which are made in China.
I chose this board because it has a great flexibility profile and an all-wood core, with dampening from the materials to decrease vibration. The board is a directional free ride board, which I prefer because most snowboards give up some ability to be twin directional mostly in camber or dampening.
Advantages:
Great flexibility and dampening using a fusion rocker design that helps decrease friction on the ground and gives you pop at the end of the board for powder. Flexible enough to give you a superior edge when carving.
Directional Board: if you are looking for just all-mountain or powder, directional is what you want.
High taper: the board gets skinnier at the face for preserving speed in powder.
Versatility: besides having full capabilities in the terrain it does everything remarkably well.
Issues:
Only two sizes are available, so for very tall people, I guess this board may not be for you.
Directional: if you are looking for a board that does it all, this one might be ok, but a directional board has some challenges that may need to be corrected by the boarder himself. Forgetting its directional may cause some issues for people new to directional boards.
Snowboard Brand Salomon snowboards
Salomon snowboards make their snowboarding equipment in China, unfortunately. The company is a U.S company and is one of the larger companies to make snowboards. The Salomon group is owned by a Chinese company that owns Wilson, Atomic, and Arcteryx.
In the saturated snowboard market, I think Salomon Snowboard is superfluous, I could not tell you what distinguishes this brand from the other big snowboard brands. I think K2 makes better boards, and if you want handmade go for Never Summer.
Medium Tier Dancehaul Pro Snowboard 2022:
Price 549.99.99 with bindings
Skill Level advanced/expert:
For this board, I could not get the Salomon website to work, so this is from evo.com, in the future, I will correct this.
A directional all-mountain snowboard for freestyle.
An extra wide board that you can shorten for better control and terrain park abilities.
Rock-out camber profile means flat in the middle for stability in your stance, and rockers at the end for pop when carving and doing jumps. As a freestyle board, the even camber profile of this board will help you keep balance in hard turns and more piste-style runs.
Very stiff board, stiffer than the Never Summer board, the more stiff the more skill you need to keep control and to execute more impressive moves.
Has a sintered base, which most quality boards do nowadays as per all the boards we’ve looked at in this price range.
Tapered ends and one piece of wood as the core is a good construction for a snowboard.
I would describe this board as a jack of all, master of none type board, if that is your fancy then this is a great board to own.
2-year warranty.
Advantages:
Wider and shorter: increases control and help with balance especially at a high skill level you will see the difference.
Great camber profile: As stated above the profile is even and is very versatile for a board that should do well in all situations
Stiffness: As long as you are not a beginner I think you will like the pop and stiffness of the board, edge retention and control should be great for groomers.
Issues:
Directional: not great for moguls or landing backward.
Uses fiberglass only as the laminate, just a way for Salomon to go cheap
Only comes in at 1 size, 152 cm.
Not made for the terrain park.
Best Low Tier Salomon Sight 2022:
Cost $379.95:
Skill beginner to intermediate:
Is stated as just an all-mountain board, which is not good because most companies embellish their standards so the fact powder was not thrown in there is a bit offputting.
A more flexible board for beginners.
Camber is the cross profile style, which is even and gives you some pop for carving on groomers or piste runs.
A tapered directional board like many others is explained on the board above this one.
Wood core with a taper at the head and tail.
All fiberglass laminate.
2-year limited warranty
Advantages:
Fairly cheap for what you get. Good design, but has nothing too crazy spec-wise.
For groomers and piste runs should be fine, don’t expect a great performance, but this is for intermediate boarders so it should be a great fit until your all advanced riders.
Many sizes to choose from.
Good flexibility for beginners.
Issues:
Not versatile due to being directional and doesn’t have the camber profile to do well in the powder, but you can get an extra wide board if you please.
Cheaper materials, but it’s a fairly cheaper board than the rest at 380.
Written 8/25/22