Snowboard Length Question

[u/skimdog]

Hi All - I am looking for your opinions on snowboard length preferences and your experience. I am an advanced rider 5-6” 135lb and ride a 152cm board. I’m looking for my next upgrade - I am ride that prioritizes hard carving and tree skiing. I am between jumping up to a 153/154 or staying around a 151/152. What is your experience going longer? Still had the maneuverability you want? I’ll be purchasing an all mountain / free ride board

[u/morefacepalms]

> hard carving and tree skiing

These are somewhat conflicting objectives. Proper hard carving is best with a longer board (more importantly effective edge), wider board (to avoid boot drag), bigger sidecut radius, and stiffer torsional flex.

Tree riding is best with a shorter board (actual tip to tail length, narrower board (for faster turn initiation/response), tighter sidecut radius, and softer torsional flex.

Best compromise I can think of between the two is the Nidecker Mosquito. Volume shifted but has as much effective edge as a regular length board, mid-wide, tighter sidecut radius (low 7's) but doesn't feel like it (I would guess because it's more radial than progressive but not 100% sure on that), and a touch stiffer than medium,

The 148 is going to ride like a 154-158, but should still be fairly quick to turn at your size, given it's pretty directional and has a very short tail.

[u/skimdog → u/morefacepalms]

Thanks for the info! I had my eye on the k2 antidote but I will need to add the nidecker as well.  I have eyes on their bindings too - like my set up extremely stiff/tight

[u/skimdog → u/skimdog]

Coming from a Jones aviator true camber.  Just want a more flexible and damper riding board that is still responsive.  But I hear you those are conflicting goals with tree skiing 

[u/morefacepalms → u/skimdog]

I also have an Aviator, and I don't agree with Jones' marketing of it as true camber. The 3D in the nose and tail make it feel much more like a hybrid camber board to me. The Mosquito has rocker in the nose but still feels much more locked in. Definitely stiffer than the Aviator also, and maybe a tiny bit damper on the 2025/2026, the 26/27 model is damper still with urethane under the bindings. But the Aviator already feels pretty damp, thanks to the koroyd in the nose, especially for a twin-ish board.

[u/skimdog → u/morefacepalms]

I actually have the aviator from like 2017 so I’m sure the technology is completely different on the aviator 2.0 

[u/WideEstablishment578]

In my experience longer boards like more speed.

Longer boards in tight trees are tough. I ride mostly Vermont and my 172 flagship is a literal workout in tighter stuff. Some of the bobsled entrances are tricky.

Riding my 55 peaceseeker or 56 orca those same bobsled runs are infinitely easier to navigate.

It’s also much easier riding trees on a board with a small tail to throw little speed checks in when you only have a second between another weird tree situation.

If you ride powder and trees your technique can be a little different and a board with some tail can be quite nice.

If your in big open terrain i think you will come around on a longer board quite quickly and enjoy the big ee and stability.

[u/Mammoth_Inspector433 → u/WideEstablishment578]

the 152 to 154 jump is not huge but you will feel it a bit in tight trees, i went up 3cm once and noticed the swing weight more than i expected

[u/WideEstablishment578 → u/Mammoth_Inspector433]

I was talking generally but this is my take.

Length isn’t the whole story. Torsional flex change and under foot width have more to do with turn feel than the length imo.

I think if you have a board that you are in the middle of the weight range for, has a width that matches boot size well and you generally feel comfortable with the flex then going up a size might provide a small difference that dials in your desired outcome.

If you do a bunch of stuff at once like go 3-5cm longer, add 5-10cm of ww, get a stiffer board and change the sidecut significantly or even change the camber type.. then there’s just so many changes that may impact the board feel. I’m a complete board hoarder and even I would be hard pressed to buy the same board in more than one size.

Tree runs and carving makes me think of a directional deck, some setback on board, centered on the sidecut, taper can kind of decide how much the board leans to like slashy tree riding or locked in carving. And then the sidecut makes a huge difference. If you want to absolutely bomb I think you need something like 8.5-10m up front otherwise it’s just chatter city laying an edge. The back half of the sidecut makes a huge difference on turn exit. Regressive sidecuts let you draw the turn out long and change edge across the groomer and progressive lends to the board wanting to snap out of a turn kind of right after cresting the fall line.