Question for you snowboarders out there.

I’m looking a buying a all Mountain board with a 257mm waist. However I have a sz 9 boot so strictly speaking I don’t need a mid wide board. I usually wide 250 width. Also I’m only 5’7″ so I wonder if I’ll have the leverage for decent edge to edge on piste.

Will I regret it?

Wouldn’t you adapt to the 2%?

Not sure you’ll notice 2%…

Stick with a standard width board. Wide boards only make sense for people with size 10 (uk) + boots. Even then, most boarders I know ride standard boards up to size 11 boot.

I tried a wide rental board a few years back thinking my boots were overhanging on a regular width to much, thats a with size 10 boot, I found it a struggle to turn and took it back 2 hours later. Both boards were the same model just different width. I think you will struggle unless you have 11+ boots. Im a lot heavier to at about 82kg and 6’1

Weight is normally more important than height in determining board length, and the use of wide boards is determined by intended use and the riders boot size [and angles & stance]

as devash commented, I’d be tempted to stick with a ‘standard’ width board – especially if you are buying it to ride on the pistes as you may find it harder to initiate turns on and the side-cut on a wider board may result in a bigger turning radius.

But perhaps most importantly, [depending on your angles and stance] it may be really hard for you to engage the edges and control the board in anything other than powder.

Thanks for the replies.

Its gonna be my only board so it will need to ride piste as well as off piste. Like most people, I’ll ride off piste pow if there is any around but I’m not always that lucky.

Boards have crept up in width over the years – I have a 2003 (ish) Custom in the loft. It has a width of 248. The 2017 custom equiv length has a 252 width. The freeride stuff especially has gotten wider.

The freeride stuff especially has gotten wider.

I think mainly due to the desire for freeride boards to have more float in powder and stable landings. Many freeride boards have also gotten shorter in recent years!

But there’s more to a board than it’s ‘width’ as I’m sure you appreciate.

Is there any chance you can demo the board before you buy it?

N+1…

Count yourself lucky you don’t have hooves like mine. 270mm for both my boards 😳

2 and 4mm wider…<1%…A trend?

Reminds me of stuff told to us about bikes, half a degree being life changing etc…

No chance to test unfortunately.

I’m sure over the years they have managed to make wide boards ride a little narrower. I was told they used to feel like doors. But the fundamentals will still be the same.

Its amazing that a mere +5mm takes a normal board into mid-wide territory and +10mm is wide.

What board and length are you looking at and where are you on the reccomended weight range for it.

There are a lot of shapes and flex profiles about.

I’m sure over the years they have managed to make wide boards ride a little narrower

This is true to a certain extent. I currently ride a 168W Split, a 164W Twin and a 163W Directional. They all ride better than the wide boards of 10 years ago. But then so do most boards …

The width of the narrowest part is only part of the picture but the chances are if it’s wider than you are used to in the ‘waist’ then it may well be have a sidecut/radius that makes it harder work to go from edge to edge.

In many respects it’s perhaps easier for a ‘bigfoot’ rider to ride a narrower board than it is for a smaller foot rider to ride a wide board – especially if you mainly want it for carving on the piste. Many modern boots have a smaller footprint these days and it also very much depends on your angles and stance and whether you can effectively pressure the four ‘corners’ of the board.

But yes … a few mm here and there and 3 degrees plus or minus can often make a real difference on a snowboard – more so than on a bike I reckon. For sure a good rider will be able to adapt to pretty much any board, but is it worth the risk spoiling an annual trip on the slopes by buying a board that isn’t fun for you to ride?

Shame you can’t demo the board

Normal width unless you’re wearing size 11+. Im size 10 and use normal.