All Mountain vs Carve Specific
When trying to decide what board is best for your needs, the first decision is what kind of board you want - all mountain or carve specific. Keep in mind that most of the boards and gear that we sell is not marketed towards racers! In fact, a very small percentage of our customers are racers, most are recreational carvers such as yourself.
Please reference this page for examples of all mountain and carve specific boards, or see below.
All mountain boards are designed to go all over the mountain. They are soft in the nose and tail for ease of initiation of turns, but stiffer in the middle to accept the forces of hard boot riders. They tend to be wider with a turned up nose and tail for powder. These usually have a smaller sidecut (read: wants to make smaller turns).
Carve Specific boards tend to be stiff throughout the board, usually narrower, with a larger sidecut (read: Wants to make bigger turns). These are generally used for groomed terrain.
Also note that either board can do either function. In other words,
an all mountain board can still carve it up on the groomers, and a carve
specific board can still be taken in the park, trees, and in powder.
It's just that they are designed for more specific riding, so it will
take a bit more effort to take them out of their element. It's best
for you to decide which type of riding you do most - groomers or all
mountain. The all mountain boards tend to make an easier transition
from soft boots to hard boots, but you can also jump right in to a carve
specific board - customers do it all the time. Neither is right or wrong,
it just depends on what will work best for you.
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All Mountain |
Carve Specific |
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