To start I thought we should publish a beginners guide, to help explain all the jargon associated with buying a snowboard.
This post will focus on the Camber. Up until a few years ago most if not all snowboards have what is now called regular camber. This is when the snowboard is placed flat on the ground and the center of the board does not touch as it rests on the nose and the tail. This meant when the rider stood on the board there would be more pressure on the nose and the tail giving more consistent pressure.
Rocker or reverse camber boards are shaped in the exact opposite way to regular camber. When place on a flat surface only the section that would be between the riders feet touches the ground. The first reverse camber board was release not by Lib-tech as many people think but by Sims in 1985. In 2008 Lib-tech released the skate banana and started a whole new wave of snowboards with reverse camber. Reverse camber boards are less catchy when the board has a flat base as the nose and tail have less pressure on them. They also float better in powder due to their shape. The reverse camber makes them easier to press and butter because the board is already bent and less force is required.
However reverse camber does have its drawbacks. They have less pop compared to regular camber because there is less pressure on the tail. When riding in choppy conditions the back can “wash out” as again there is less pressure on the tail.
To combat these issues above a number of companies now produce boards with mixed camber. And like reverse camber it was release years ago but is becoming more popular now ( in 1996 by the now dead Inca Snowboards check out their site here ). These boards try to counteract the issues with camber by adding more pressure to the nose and tail to give more pop and better edge hold while keeping the other benefits of rocker.
Like many things these come down to rider preference, one rider will swear by rocker or mixed camber, the next will tell you its just a passing fad and that real riders will always ride a regular camber board.
Now you know the basic lingo, I suggest you go to the next demo day at your local hill and try out the lastest tech before laying down your hard earned cash
