Christmas present

Posted: 25 November 2011 02:38 PM

I need a little help! 

My 16 year old son has just notified me that he wants snowboarding stuff for Christmas.  He has never boarded before, but has lots of friends that do.  He needs a board, bindings and boots and I would love to stay under 400 if possible.  I think it is something he may stick with but hate to spend a lot on something he may just do a time or two before hanging it up.  I have seen several specials on the internet for packages that fit my budget, but have no idea if they are worth it.  I don’t want to buy something that will break on his first trip out.  PLEASE help me!!!!!!!!

We live in Sevierville, TN.  He will do most his learning at Ober Gatlinburg which is mostly man made.  I don’t know if the icy slope will have a bearing on the type of equipment he would need.  He is 6” and weighs about 140.  Don’t know if will be of any use, but he was able to pick up wakeboarding very quickly.

Thanks to anyone that can give me some advice

Posted: 26 November 2011 05:10 PM

Sure thing,

Ok firstly, have you asked your son what kind of riding he wants to get into? If he plans to ride park with his buddies then there’s no point getting him a directional board… I’m guessing he’ll want to get into the freestyle side of snowboarding but it’s best to check.

Secondly, your son is tall and light… which makes choosing a length quite hard sometimes… it would also be useful to know what his shoe size is.

Lastly, yeah it does make a difference if he’s going to be riding lots of artificial / hard snow… but first it’d be useful to know what kind of terrain he wants to ride.

Setup for under $400… it might be hard, but we can try.

Rich