How do snowboards work

An example of variable sidecut is a sharper radius near the ends of the sidecut lengths for improved turn initiation and turn-finishing power, and a more mellow radius in the middle of the board for smooth, arcing turn midpoints. Camber: The bowing of a board in the center as it sits flat on the floor. Notice as you stand on the board that the camber flattens out so that the entire base is touching down.

Camber pre-loads the snowboard with potential energy, and this energy loads into the board every time the rider weighs down it with their body and flexes it out. This energy gives the board responsiveness, which helps many on-snow characteristics: tracking, turning, stability, and snappy energy.

Camber gives the board life-not enough camber makes it lack energy at the end of turns, lack edge grip, and track like a chunk of plywood. A board with too much camber will lack maneuverability, be extra catchy, and be very tiring to ride. In general, designers use more camber for carving, high-speed boards and less camber for freestyle, jib boards. Board Length: There are three critical length measurements to consider on a snowboard. Your weight and height, your experience, your riding styleand what terrain you like to ride all play into how long a board you should buy.

Bigger riders generally need larger boards because they need a larger platform and a bit longer running length. Also, big-mountain, steep-and-deep conditions warrant a longer board to give you force and stability. In these cases, more sidecut and edgegrip can be harnessed as you need it, as the board flexes out into these variable terrains. Contact length of a board is the length in which energy and pressure are distributed throughout the board while in riding contact with the snow.

Generally, a longer contact length means improved stability at higher speeds and more edge grip during carving. Shorter contact lengths mean quicker turn initiation and better maneuverability. Board Width: This is measured in three locations: the waist width at the narrowest point in the board-at or near the sidecut center-the nose width at the widest point near the tip, and the tail width at the widest point near the tail. The best width for you depends on three elements: rider foot size, riding style, and your stance angles.

Generally, a more narrow board has quicker edge-to-edge response; a wider board provides more stable landings and better flotation in powder. Most snowboards will have edge angles of 90 degrees but if you are looking to increase the grip you have on icy snow, taking the edges to 88 degrees can make a fair difference. Having edges sharper than 88 degrees is not advised unless you have an alpine board racing board though.

On a snowboard each edge can be referred to individually as either the toe edge, or heel edge. The toe edge is the edge on the board the same side as your toes and the heel edge is the edge the same side of the board as your heels. Often the heel edge will wear down more quickly than the toe edge as people spend more time sliding and stopping while looking down the slope with the heel edge in the snow.

If a board is changed from regular to goofy though, the heel edge will change to the toe edge and vice versa. Generally the stiffer a snowboard is the more responsive it will be, the better it will be able to hold an edge in hard packed snow, and the better the handling will be at higher speeds.

This all sounds very good, but also the stiffer a snowboard is the less forgiving it will be if you make any mistakes. Freestyle snowboards are generally quite soft as they need to be a bit forgiving, and the flex makes tricks easier to do. Snowboards intended for higher speeds and responsiveness will be stiffer. Heavier riders also need a slightly stiffer flex, with lighter riders needing a softer flex.

Snowboards are also made with different flex patterns, this is how the stiffness of the board changes along its length. Some boards will have the symmetrical flex along their length so that they are the same to ride in either direction, whereas others might have a directional flex, for example with a softer nose to help deal with bumps and a stiffer tail to increase the pop you get in an ollie.

The amount of camber a snowboard has is measured by the height the middle of the snowboard sits above a flat surface when there is no weight put on it. Snowboards are shaped like this so they push into the snow along their entire length. This shape means that when the rider is on the board the ends of the snowboard will always have a force pushing them into the snow, keeping the entire length of the edges in contact with the snow.

Stiffness also plays a large part here, the camber shape is what keeps the length of the snowboard pushing into the snow, but it is the stiffness that determines how hard the ends push. So although although camber is measured by the height the middle of the snowboard sits at, the liveliness and edge hold it creates is also very dependent on stiffness.

Many newer freestyle boards are coming out with negative camber a rocker shape , or other shape variations. This goes against the traditional snowboard design, but it does let the snowboard spin more easily without the edges catching. These new camber types are gaining popularity very quickly, the different shapes that are being used are covered in the Newer Snowboard Concepts page.

The width a snowboard should be for someone is generally decided by the size of their feet. Ideally the toe and heel of a snowboard boot should come about 1. This means that people with bigger feet need wider snowboards. Because of this many snowboards come in slightly different versions, having a normal version and a wide version. And what's with the rivalry between skiers and snowboarders? Find out in the next section. Sign up for our Newsletter!

Mobile Newsletter banner close. Mobile Newsletter chat close. Mobile Newsletter chat dots. The application of our typical wave riding skills. Then multiply those factors by about a hundred, along with superior balance, intuition, strength, etc.

I can at least start to wrap my head around that. But Laird Hamilton riding a foil board, on the other hand? What kind of magic is at play here? Seriously, how in the world do these things glide on top of the surface of the water? What kind of spells are being cast to make this possible? And as it moves through the water, that creates lift just like with an airplane. It even looks exactly like an airplane.