If you are shopping for ski gear, snowboard gear or are just looking to learn more about snowboarding in general, you should have a good idea of the four basic snowboarding styles, and know what kind of riding you want to try or what kind of rider you are. Knowing this can help you whenever shopping for snowboard or ski gear and will help determine not only the right kind of snowboard boots, but also the right snowboard for the type of terrain that you will be riding on.
The first style of snowboarding is freestyle. This style is for those without bounds. If you want to be able to learn any kind of technique or maneuver and gain skills for virtually every type of terrain, then this style is for you. Either in the powder or on packed snow, or airborne or on the ground, a freestyle board will perform the best for you in a wide array of situations.
However, if you still enjoy all types of terrain, but prefer to stay on the ground most of the time, a freeriding board is a great snowboard to learn on, but isn’t built for a lot of aerial stuff.
If your goal is for speed, as opposed to a lot of tricks and jumps, then a freecarving or Alpine board is built both stiff and narrow to allow you not only a great deal of speed, but also the deepest cuts.
The final style of snowboard is the technical freestyle, which is built specifically for a lot of tricks and jumps, and is great if you intend on spending the majority of your time in the snowpark.
