Snowboard Size - How much do we really weigh and how tall are we?

Posted: 24 December 2011 09:58 AM

Hello Snowboard-Review,

I am legitimately 145 lbs and little over 5 ft 9 in tall. So calculating my all mountain board size puts me on a board around 154 cm. My first season not knowing any better I chose a very stiff 154 and took the beating of a lifetime. Last year I chose a 154 that was medium flexing and took way less of a beating but still caught some edges and had some horrific tumbles. By the way, I am only an intermediate. I manage to charge blues, goof around off piste, and do a few jumps. So I started thinking,“Do I really suck this bad or could I possibly be on the wrong size board?” Well the other night I put on all my gear: base layers, hoodie, snow pants and jacket, boots, wrist guards, gloves, neck gaiter, helmet, goggles and a couple of condoms in my pocket, you know “just in case.” Then I stepped onto my sclales (these are doctors sclales that are accurate). The first thing I found out is that it is quite warm in my house with all those clothes on. The second thing I learned is that my gear weighs 14.5 lbs (instead of 145 lbs I suddenly weighed 159.5). If you figure that bindings weigh .5 lbs, we can say that a normal amount of gear weighs an even 15 lbs. I’m not done. My boots boost me up about .5 inches + another .25 inches that my bindings will lift me up. So…instead of 5’9ish 145 lbs, I am suddenly 5’10 160 lbs. That puts me at about 157 cm board. Now one might argue that 3 cm isn’t that much of a difference but when you are talking about where your effective edge ends and begins, it could actually make a difference. My question: Do the people that make snowboards account for the extra weight and height that gear adds? I look forward to a response.

Posted: 25 December 2011 12:57 AM

Hey ian,

to put it simple: no I don’t. And I don’t think many ppl do, although I already read some similar threads to this one on the internet some time ago.

Let’s begin with the height: height doesn’t really matter when checking for the size of a board. Of course you don’t want a 150 deck when your just 150 tall but it’s really mainly about the weight and how you can handle the flex of the board. If you bring the mass to flex that deck like crazy, it doesn’t really matter if the board is 5cm taller or shorter.

Of course you are right with the weight thing, although, again, I am pretty sure board manufacturers always specify weight as your regular body weight without any clothes (or maybe just your regular clothes, not that much of a difference if you ask me).
And when looking at those specifications you will notice that sometimes the weight-ranges are around 10-20kg which means, no matter with or withour your clothes, you will be in that range or you won’t.

That’s how I see the situation, but that’s probably a thing that can be seen differently :)

Posted: 03 January 2012 01:05 PM

Yeah, don’t over analysis it too much.  Weigh yourself normally and use that.  I use weight as a reference point to selecting the baseline size of a board that I’m looking at and potentially move up or down depending on what I want to do with the board.

If I wanted a noodle jib board I wouldn’t be afraid to size down and if I wanted a stiff double black rocket I might size up…  again it depends on the board and the main type of riding you want to do with it.