Top 10 snowboard brands

Not so long ago, snowboarding as a sport was alien and incomprehensible to the domestic consumer. As a phenomenon of a purely western trend, he caused some skepticism and did not inspire faith in what could go far. The first truly powerful popularization of inventory and discipline as a whole occurred in 1988 - it was then that the first World Snowboarding Championship took place. It would seem that there is nothing to rely on more, but already ten years later, in 1998, snowboarding entered the cycle of Olympic sports, having conquered the audience with its spectacularity, outlandishness and drive.

The times when the shortage of manufacturers of snowboards (as well as alpine skiing) was particularly acute were safely over. Today, more than three dozen well-known companies operate on the domestic market, whose products consistently diverge in large quantities. However, not all of them enjoy great love among consumers, which is clearly reflected in the comments and feedback. Therefore, after carefully analyzing the situation on the market, we selected for you the top ten best snowboarding manufacturers that have received recognition not only from Russian but also from world riders.

The following criteria were taken as the basis for the rating:

• the popularity of the company in Russia;
• the width of the product range;
• workmanship and the availability of complex technologies (for different styles and levels of skiing);
• compliance with the cost of snowboard performance.

TOP-10 manufacturers of snowboards

10 Salomon

The French company Salomon - this is the case when a multi-producer becomes hostage to one type of inventory. For many users (even in the Russian environment), this brand is associated exclusively with skis (cross-country and mountain skiing equally), although it has at its disposal a large and, in general, decent range of snowboards.

No joke, but a good part of the production technology of Salomon boards came from the ski category. The developers had a difficult task of adapting old and proven systems for a completely different type of product without loss of quality and efficiency of use. Thus, in one of the outstanding models of the 16/17 season, the Salomon Man's board, the universal (consider, tweaked) technology of the Deflection Cross Profile was used - smooth lifting of the tail and nose in rock with a pronounced camber between the mounts. Because of this, the snowboard felt great even in deep snow, not burrowing, but continuing to move at high speed. There are a lot of such examples, since the company does not stand still, but is always looking for improvements. But whether such a step is justified is a matter of another order.

9 Arbor

The team of craftsmen, who founded his own company in 1995, has always been famous for a very brave and non-trivial approach to the craft. While other manufacturers bent their line and gave out completely a standard product, Arbor relied on originality, which found a response in the hearts of millions of snowboarding fans.

Special attention is required not only (and not so much) of the technologies used, as the addiction of employees to the development of the geometry of the boards. All running snowboards of the company (Arbor Shreddy Krueger, Arbor Zygote Twin, Arbor Draft, etc.) have an asymmetrical shape of the bow and tail, thereby obtaining unique features during rental and make it easy to perform complex technical elements. It is worth noting all the sonorous names of the models - which is worth only the above-mentioned Shreddy Krueger. All this still or otherwise determines the high popularity of products among young people, including professional athletes of the younger age level.

8 GNU

Under the guise of the GNU brand, the Marvin Lab is operating, the production facility of which is hidden from the eyes of people far in the mountains. Needless to say that ML is practicing a purely research approach to the production of new boards and how no one else succeeds in this. In each new model, more than 30 years of observation of the actions of skill athletes are felt, careful calculations and work on ergonomics - product testing and search for optimum by trial and error.

Season 17/18 gave rise to discussions for millions of snowboarders, and GNU, and hidden behind the Marvin Lab brand, made it the most talked about company on the market. The reason for all was the asymmetric snowboard model GNU Asym zoid c2x, which showed surprising results in terms of stability and versatility. It meets all the requirements of professional sports, involves appropriate costs and is intended for advanced athletes (juniors, participants in continental championships and even world championships). It is possible that this step will give a new impetus to the development of snowboards, and therefore GNU simply cannot pass by the top ten.

7 Nitro

One of the oldest enterprises to create snowboards, enjoying the fame of the best manufacturer among its own kind at the turn of the 1990s and 2000s. From the very moment of its foundation to the present day, Nitro employees adhered to one strict rule: to use only high-quality and expensive materials in production in order to eliminate problems with long service life and malfunctions during aggressive skating. Actually, this was reflected in the cost of models, because of which the demand for them gradually began to decline (since competitors provided cheaper boards).

One of the last outstanding representatives of the company was the Nitro Magnum model, designed for freeride. Developed with the use of a minimum of technologies (they are, but not in such quantity as that of the same Head), it shows stability in competitive areas of any profile. It is expensive, but generally adheres to the principles of the company and, judging by user feedback, is able to serve from 4-5 seasons.

6 Never summer

The American brand Never Summer is a product of a successful advertising campaign, which determined its popularity, first in the West (USA and Canada), and then in the rest of the world. The foundation of the future firm in 1991 was laid by two brothers - Tracy and Tim Caneday - who planned to make snowboards for themselves. Subsequently, the family craft went beyond carpentry in the home garage, and the brothers began to make boards, first for friends and acquaintances, and then work on orders from all over the state (and later the US).

Today, the Canaday brothers' enterprise has grown to an enormous scale, but it still maintains the brand of manual snowboard production. Never Summer has dozens of successful developments at its disposal, which are complemented from time to time by new technologies. The main focus of the company is on the excellent customization of snowboards, as well as on the opportunity to squeeze the maximum out of each rental on the slope.A striking representative of this approach is the Never Summer Chairman board, which the users love most of all for their appearance. Its cost fits into the framework of a serious premium, which only professionals can afford.

5 Atom

The Russian manufacturer, whose activity began in 2000 after the creation of the first branded bicycle. All the more surprising is the fact that in 2004 the bosses of the company decided to expand production ... and didn’t lose anything in their deed. The first board came off the assembly line in the same year, and was very warmly received by Russian snowboarding fans. In order to consolidate the success, manufacturers have scheduled the release of the updated line for each quarter, that is, four times a year, thanks to which over several years the Atom snowboard assortment has exceeded more eminent Western competitors.

It’s impossible to talk about adhering to the principles of one technology in this case, since both designers and developers sought to achieve maximum diversity. As a result, the company's products turned out to be multidimensional, unpredictable and very driving, which pleased most of the domestic users. Others sought consistency, and, having never found it in Atom products, preferred foreign snowboards. Today, the company continues to be healthy, but no longer engaged in the manufacture of boards for the descent from the mountain slopes.

4 Lib tech

The history of this American brand goes back to the beginnings of the birth of snowboard as an inventory for driving the conquest of the slopes. Located near the city of Seattle, the main factory of Lib Tech continues the glorious tradition of manually producing boards: according to the company's founder, Michael Olson, only such methods can achieve the highest quality of their products. It is worth noting that it is not far from the truth: Lib Tech's snowboards are unanimously recognized by experts as one of the best (and, sometimes, the best) for performing at prestigious world championships.

At an early stage of development, Lib Tech adhered to the developed Magne-Traction technology, thanks to which snowboards acquired curved sides with “jagged” edges for better transfer of effort, as well as unloaded bow and tail parts, ideally suited for freestyle. Today the company is developing a different technology, called Banana Technology. Bright representatives of this “production line” are the Lib Tech Skate Banana BTX boards (season 13/14) and the absolutely new Lib Tech Banana blaster btx, which crowned the new stage of modernization of old ideas.

3 HEAD

The Austrian company Head is one of the recognized leaders in the production of premium sports equipment for winter sports. Her story began in the distant fifties, when Howard Head (the ideological inspirer and founder of the company) created the world's first metal-based ski. In turn, the first truly integrated technology from Head, used in the creation of snowboards, was Intelligence Chip System, aimed at any increase in the stability and sustainability of equipment on the slopes of any slope. After this, the company's technological assortment began to grow rapidly, to form new complexes, as well as to modernize from year to year. The latest breakthrough system for improving the boards has become a technology called Intellifiber, which serves to compensate for the constant vibrations and vibrations arising in the snowboard.

It is very difficult to say which model is the flagship of the brand. All of them are distinguished by sharpened drive and aggressive descent, regardless of the type of discipline (halfpipe, parallel slalom, slopestyle, etc.). They are expensive, but they fully justify the costs with outstanding results.

2 Burton

The company, the founder of which is the legendary Jake Burton - a man who is considered the creator of snowboarding as an inventory and snowboarding as a sport. Although Burton denies any involvement in such a significant event, the statement that has settled in the minds of consumers makes us treat his company with respect and trepidation. The history of the formation of Burton began in 1977, and since then the company has endured quite a few difficult and enchanting stages, the crown of which has become widespread popularity and unconditional worship. The main topic of conversation among experts and admirers of Burton is not how successful this or that seasonal series came out, but the company's hard way and success in the financial field simply because each model in each series has an amazing consistency and outstanding quality.

One of the representatives of the season 17/18 is the Burton Process snowboard. It has medium hardness and is suitable for semi-professional and progressive athletes. It has a high degree of versatility and is sharpened for All mountain, freestyle, and also pipe. Combines 14 different technologies that are responsible for aspects of stability, balance, controllability and maneuverability on a slope. Like the rest of the season snowboards, the Burton Process is expensive (from 35 thousand rubles), but it fully justifies its price on mountain slopes.

1 Flow

Flow is a model of the most purposeful manufacturer who has gained worldwide recognition in less than 20 years of existence. In the early 2000s, nobody knew about this brand: craftsmen were focused on creating components and shoes, and just started to master the craft of making professional snowboards. Years passed, and by 2014, Flow became the title partner of a huge number of snowboarders who won prestigious tournaments and flashed at the Olympics.

In terms of technology, Flow is a trendsetter and quite justifiably outperforms almost all of its competitors in the trade. Every year, employees of the company develop and modernize dozens of new systems, testing and introducing them into a fresh lineup. So, in the 16/17 season, a whole series of amazing snowboards appeared on the horizon of progressive snowboarders, the crown of which was the Flow Viper board (with a twin-tip geometry and a stiffness index of 2). Due to its shape and softness, it forgivingly forgives mistakes to beginners and rewards them with unforgettable impressions of hire with impeccable actions.

How to choose a good snowboard?

Since the snowboard is a specific inventory, not every citizen of Russia is familiar with, beginner athletes (or amateurs) have certain difficulties with his choice. The editorial staff of qualitytop.techinfus.com/en/ recommends you to pay attention to the following parameters:

View snowboard. There are four fundamentally different types of snowboards:

• carving - designed for descent on a solid track;
• for freeride - high-speed and maneuverable boards designed for virgin lands congresses using jump elements;
• for freestyle - maneuverable and perfectly balanced snowboards, used for performing special jumps and various tricks;
• universal - boards capable of performing the functions of all three types described above.

Universal models are ideal for amateurs, but if sports interests are in priority, then specialized boards should be preferred.

Core material. This is a very versatile and important aspect on which the strength and performance of snowboards depend. When used as a core of pure wood, resistance to shock and vibration is improved. The combination of foam and wood lightens the weight of the board, reduces its cost, but impairs vibration stability and elasticity. Wood with carbon and aluminum gives the inventory stiffness and elasticity while maintaining lightness.

The material of the sliding part. It characterizes the degree of stability of the board on the track and the development of maximum speed.The use of extruded polyethylene as a surface impairs speed performance, but reduces the cost and the need for repairs and special care. Sintered polyethylene causes good glide, scratch tolerance, but requires periodic renewal of paraffin lubricant. The graphite outsole is the most expensive and delicate, but at the same time it has high rigidity and the best speed characteristics.

Type of deflection. There are four types of snowboard deflection:

• rocker - lowered center and raised fore and aft parts provide light rental, ideal for beginners;
• Classic - raised center with curved ends. Too heavy to learn and suitable for professional snowboarders;
• zero - has a relaxed style of driving, condescendingly reacts to mistakes. Suitable for freestylers as well as beginners;
• Combined - a type designed exclusively for professionals who know what they want from a particular model.

Choose your type depending on the level of riding.

Length and width. Parameters that require maximum care when choosing and are multidimensional. There is a single standard table of dependencies of these parameters, based on which you can choose the optimal model. However, some manufacturers have their own system, from which it is necessary to make a start.

Popular vote - who is the best snowboard maker?
We vote!

Lib tech

Atom

HEAD

Flow

Burton

Nitro

Salomon

Arbor

Never summer

GNU

Total votes: 383

Vote results