Gear Guide – Top 10 Snowboards for The Australian Winter
Mountainwatch | Joey Stanco
Looking for a new snowboard for this season but not sure what board to buy? Well, Mountainwatch’s snowboard expert, Joey Sanco from Joey’s Footbeds and Joey’s Myoko is here to help. Here’s 10 of his favourite 2024 snowboards for our Australian winter.
NITRO ALTERNATOR, Men’s $949
Have you ever heard of a ‘one board quiver’? If you believe is such thing, the Alternator from Nitro, has you covered. Does it float in pow? YES. Can you ride it switch? YES. Medium 7/10 flex? YES. Can I ride it in the park? SURE. The Alternator is for someone who wants a normal snowboard like a Nitro Team, however wants it to work overseas as well. You must have watched Torgier Bergrem destroying Natural Selection, ‘Big Air Jare’ living up to his name, Griffin Siebert doing his thing on this bad boy, yup the Nitro Alternator.
NITRO DROP Women’s, $799
Do you do drops? No, that’s ok. Do you want a board you can ride all over the mountain? Do you want a board you can practice riding switch, maybe? Do you want a board to float in powder? Well, guess what? The Nitro Drop can do it all! On the hard pack this board rides like a twin and in powder it gives you float. This board is so easy to ride and if you want to push it, you can. Can you hit a drop? Don’t worry the Nitro Drop can handle it just in case you want to!
ROME RENE-GADE Men’s, $1049
Rene Rinnekangas is always having fun on his snowboard. If you are dedicated to the steal and having fun full time, check out the Rene-Gade from Rome. Are you a cool kid with a narrow stance? sorted. This true twin board will have you riding switch all day long. This is a high-end park board, designed to take a beating. If park is your thing and you treat the mountain like the park, Rene has you covered with the Rome Rene-Gade.
JONES RALLY CAT Men’s & Ladies, $749
This is a brand-new board for Jones. Believe it or not Jones sells more twins than any other type of board in their range. So, the Rally Cat makes sense being a directional twin, sinter based, fun board for all ages, and genders. This is the most cost-effective board in the range from Jones. If you’re sick of the stiff planks of wood with mountain graphics, then check out the new Jones Rally Cat for something fresh.
CAPITA BIRDS OF A FEATHER Women’s, $949
Are you a Yuki Bird? For all the ladies out there, who have watched Mia Brookes do her thing, yup, she rides a Birds of a Feather from Capita. This board is a true twin, medium flex, camber with flat spots at the contact points. Designed to be an all mountain freestyle board, and that’s exactly what it does.
CAPITA ULTRA FEAR Men’s, $949
Gentlemen this is the last year of the Ultra Fear. Are you an Ultra fear fan? This board contains all of the previous graphics of this iconic Capita classic. Don’t be sorry and miss out on the last one. FYI this one has Camber, because we all know Camber is better than flat. Pick up ones of these before it’s too late.
BURTON FAMILY TREE HIGH FIDELITY Unisex, $1099
Everyone loves the Family Tree Burton boards, right? This is where Burton has the opportunity to bring some new shapes and designs to the market. Have you heard of Ben Ferguson and Kimmy Fasani? Just two of the many legends of our sport. This board is their creation for big mountain riding like the Natural Selection Tour. Mr Dave Downing, another absolute legend of our sport, describes the High Fidelity board as a Custom and Hometown Hero combined.
RIDE PSYCHOCANDY Unisex, $949
The Pigs from Ride might be in the slaughter house. However, the ‘Psychocandy’ is an absolute sleeper and deservers a mention. This is a true Unisex board for all-mountain and powder riding. Sizes streaming in from 138 to 158. We have a directional camber, set back, wide and nimble power machine. Great for someone who is looking for an all-mountain and powder board. This is definitely one of our go-to demoed boards at Joeys Myoko in Japan, because it rides groomed runs well and floats in the soft stuff.
KORUA NOSE RIDER Men’s, $1299
Australia is known for its surf, not as much for its snow. If you’re a surfer and looking for a surfboard for the snow, well I think Korua nailed it. Besides this board looking like a true surf longboard you can actually move your stance on the fly. There is channel which runs the entire way through the board so you and slide all the way up to hang ten and all the way back. Korua is known for its white top sheets and red bases as well as their unique designs. This is defiantly one for the history books.
ARBOR SINGLE Men’s $999
If the Korua NoseRider sounds a little too extreme with the bindings being able to move around. But you still want a surf board for the snow, well Arbor has you sorted with the Single. This was one of my favourite boards I rode at the demos in Japan. I was able to do drawn out big carves down the groomers, turn really quick edge to edge, and enjoyed high speed park laps. I have yet to have the privilege of riding this one in pow, but I can assure you it will float. This would be a great board for riding both in Australia and overseas.
Joe Stanco has a passion for snow, snowboarding and everything that goes with it. Joey is an expert boot fitter, amateur snowboarder and product tester with “a passion for helping others find the right gear.”
He founded Joey’s Myoko in Myoko Kogen, Japan, a service/demo centre and retail store for locals and travellers. When he’s not fitting boots and giving expert advice to customers Joey is on the mountain doing a bit of “R&D” on the latest snowboards. Whether you are into pow, park or shredding the groomed, Joey can recommend the right board for you. Hit it up on his Facebook link below if you have any questions or are looking for advice.
