Why do people say pow board is bad on hardpack?
Powder is great… but it’s easy anyway, and no one is judging me on it. “Extra float” is WAY down the bottom of my list of what I need a board to do. I would much prefer to have a board that slays everything.
My thinking is that, since pow is the best thing in snowboarding in my opinion. I would want the easiest and funnest way to ride pow without my back leg burning like crazy and cramping up towards the end of the day (which actually happened before). This means getting a powder board. But unfortunately I don’t have the cash to burn to have a pow board right now =(.
I’m neither Advanced or even a competent Intermediate, but I do know what I like!!!!!
And for me, Rocker Sucks!!!!!
It’s like drivin a car with no feedback and a lag on the power steering!!!!!
Powder is great… but it’s easy anyway, and no one is judging me on it. “Extra float” is WAY down the bottom of my list of what I need a board to do. I would much prefer to have a board that slays everything.
My thinking is that, since pow is the best thing in snowboarding in my opinion. I would want the easiest and funnest way to ride pow without my back leg burning like crazy and cramping up towards the end of the day (which actually happened before). This means getting a powder board. But unfortunately I don’t have the cash to burn to have a pow board right now =(.
It may be your Technique more than not havin a Pow Board, skip?????
I get to ride powder once every six years on average, for a week or two!!!!!
My Cambered HKD does the trick fine!!!!! No extra setback, no altered binding angles, I leave it setup no different as to when I’m here at home ridin Aussie Concrete!!!!! 
Powder is great… but it’s easy anyway, and no one is judging me on it. “Extra float” is WAY down the bottom of my list of what I need a board to do. I would much prefer to have a board that slays everything.
My thinking is that, since pow is the best thing in snowboarding in my opinion. I would want the easiest and funnest way to ride pow without my back leg burning like crazy and cramping up towards the end of the day (which actually happened before). This means getting a powder board. But unfortunately I don’t have the cash to burn to have a pow board right now =(.
Absolutely, that falls into the rules that I choose a board by. If powder is the most important thing for you in snowboarding, then you would want a powder board. But if it’s going to be your only board, you will probably want it to be a pow board that does all the other things you want to do reasonable well too. This is my recommendation for anyone who uses only one board.
Some type of boards (powder, alpine, boarder-cross) have boards within that class that are so specific they can be used only for that one thing, and so they’re only good in a quiver.
Which board are you riding currently?
In my last 2 season (Japan and Aus) I have been riding an Arbor Relapse 159 (pure camber).
In Whistler I have a new board waiting for me (on my trainers request to increase the length):
A Burton Custom 165 (Pure Camber).
Experimenting with lengths and finding the right one will be the final piece of the puzzle for me. After that I imagine I will probably ride a similar board for a long time after that. I find a lot of career snowboarders end up doing this. I know a trainer who likes Sapient Boards, so when they went out of business he bought 5 of the exact same board, and he’s still riding Sapient (Pure camber, right size for him, no BS).
I ride full camber 80% of the time. Overall, my favourite profile as well. Can’t beat the performance. I still ride my Burton Uninc 154 in Whistler. Even my Fish is full camber.
Yep, I find it hard to explain why I prefer a camber without saying “performance” hahaha. But it’s true.
I think if I bought a powder board it would be something like an S-Camber.
Cause it’s really just a camber with a big ass nose.
@Mizu: Yea might be, but when it’s 50+cm and you’re riding for the whole day your back leg will get tired. Not everyone can ride super fast in powder to keep the tip up. And you also won’t ride only steep stuff, once the steep runs are tracked out you’re stuck in mellower terrain where you need more effort to keep the tip up, in my opinion.
Maybe you’re tryin to keep the tip of the board up too much?????
If you force the board to be at an angle that’s too great, it will have an adverse effect on speed cause it’ll be like applyin the brakes!!!!!
True Dat!
We call it skateboard stopping. Like draging the kick of your skateboard on the ground to slow down, if you lift the nose of the board more than you need to you will also slow down.
I use it in the trees, when I need to wash off some speed or die, but it’s too tight to turn or do a speed check. It’s like doing a quick, really high tail butter.
With that said though, if he wants a powder board, let him have a powder board lol. No reason he can’t make it easier for himself if powder is his #1 thing.
I can feel the difference riding my T.Rice vs my Pick Your Line. The PYL rides the powder easier and I am less tired at the end of the day. I wanna get a Fish someday.
All this talk of camber is making me want a camber board!
For awhile now I’ve been thinking I would prefer a full camber or hybrid geared more towards camber. But it’s an expensive exercise and my current board is still in top nick and I still mostly like it. I want more “performance” though haha!
What board are you on now Dan?
I would say just stick with it until you destroy it. That’s what I always do. By then you will know it so well, you will have a better idea of what aspects you want to keep for your next board and what aspects you would like to change.
It’s all a learning experience but buying a board purely to learn the difference, like you said, can be a costly mistake. Wait till you need one bro. Unless you just won the lottery, in which case Dan is buying everyone a new board! Hooray! Thanks Dan 
I bought a board to learn about it once, and I sold the current board that I had just cause I was bored of it. Then I rode the new board for the first time…. school boy error…. never again 
My jeans money gets spent on snow gear.
I don’t own a pair of jeans that aren’t torn ripped or stained beyond being house pants.
I own 3 snowboards, 7 surfboards and 3 skateboards.
But I pretty much ride the same snowboard in all conditions and 1 of my surfboards 95% of the time.
I just set my stance back 2cm for Aussie pow (max we get is 30cm) it gets me through the day.
My stance changes through the season as my leg strength changes.
This post caught my attention. I’m 99% a surfer and am experienced at snowboarding, however snowboarding has always felt a little “awkward” to me due to foot placement of standard snowboards being over the center of the board. All I want to do is mimic surfing as much as possible on the slopes, as in dig hard into my tail and slash a bank into oblivion. I think a center of balance closer to the tail would be much more like surfing. The problem is I only get powder conditions about 25% of the time but would like to ride this style all the time. I’ve never ridden a powder board but it looks like it would be what I’m looking for if it can handle well in hard pack or groomed conditions. Is this just a pipe dream of mine or is there a board out there that would work well for my intended use? Sounds like I’d need a camber or s-camber to make it handle good in all conditions.