Freeride vs. All Mountain: Making Sense of Snowboard Categories

When researching snowboards, the classic quandary of “freeride vs. all mountain vs. freestyle vs. powder" can make the process feel confusing. Does buying a freeride snowboard mean it can’t be used for freestyle riding? Does buying a powder board mean it won’t be fun for resort riding? And we get it. No one wants the type of snowboard they have to limit what kind of terrain they can ride. So, while these labels can be helpful in determining some general characteristics of a specific snowboard, it’s important to remember that personal preference plays a much bigger role.

For example, just because a snowboard is designed for freeride use, that doesn’t mean it can’t tear up the groomers or perform well in the park. Case in point, the Burton Custom Camber Snowboard is labeled as an all mountain board, but has a storied history of freestyle performance (with podium medals to back it up).

Ultimately, “freeride” and “all mountain” and “freestyle” labels are primarily used by snowboard manufacturers like Burton to group snowboards with similar characteristics into categories. This helps riders know what to expect when strapping in or stepping on a new snowboard.

In practical terms, think of snowboard categories as a suggestion, not the final say regarding snowboard utility. To make more sense of the “freeride vs. all mountain vs. freestyle vs. powder" discussion, we sat down with Burton’s engineers for an overview of snowboard categories, and to outline the five traits that determine how a snowboard will behave in snow.

1. Back in the Day: Before Snowboarding Categories Existed
2. Freeride vs. All Mountain vs. Freestyle vs. Powder
3. Shape, Taper, Reference Stance, Bend, & Flex
4. Choosing the Right Tool for the Job

Back in the Day: Before Snowboarding Categories Existed

Photo: Bud Fawcett

In the early days of snowboarding, distinct categories like freeride, all mountain, freestyle, and powder didn’t exist. But design trends slowly began to emerge based on riders’ needs for specific qualities that excelled in their unique riding locations.

For example, in the Northeastern region of the United States, where conditions are often firm (some might say, icy) and slalom competitions were at the forefront of the sport, stiff snowboards with conventional camber helped riders hold their edge effectively while going fast. Alternatively, in the Western region of the United States, where freestyle snowboarding was being shaped by skate and surf culture, and softer, deeper snow was the norm, softer flex and rounded tails helped riders keep things playful and develop new tricks.

Regardless of where or how snowboarders were riding, with fewer unique production snowboard shapes available (compared to today), and no well-defined categories of snowboards, length was the primary characteristic that riders would experiment with, depending on if they wanted better stability at speed, quicker turning, of better floatation. They didn’t get hung up on labels like freeride or all mountain, so why should you?

The 4 Primary Snowboard Categories: Freeride vs. All Mountain vs. Freestyle vs. Powder

Fast forward to the present, most snowboard manufacturers offer a variety of boards across four primary categories of snowboard design, including all mountain, freeride, freestyle, and powder. But what do these terms really mean? Let’s establish some definitions.

Freestyle Snowboards: Freestyle snowboards are designed primarily for hitting natural features, terrain parks, jumps, and for jibbing. Freestyle snowboards are typically twin shaped, meaning they ride exactly the same in both directions. Note that the terms “freestyle” and “park” are often used interchangeably to describe this category of snowboard.

All Mountain Snowboards: All mountain snowboards are designed to be multipurpose, performing reliably on any terrain and variable conditions, anywhere on the mountain.

Freeride Snowboards: Freeride snowboards are designed primarily for riding big, steep, variable terrain, including alpine and backcountry. Freeride snowboards typically have directional shapes.

Powder Snowboards: Powder snowboards are designed primarily for riding deep, soft snow. Powder boards are typically directional and engineered to prioritize float and snow displacement to keep you moving through powder efficiently.

There’s a reason why manufacturers use these labels: snowboards within these categories generally share similar design and performance characteristics. Therefore, these categories can help you know what to expect in terms of performance.

• All mountain snowboards are usually a good bet if you are learning to ride or like to sample a little bit of everything the mountain has to offer.
• Freeride snowboards are generally best suited for experienced riders due to stiffer flex.
• Freestyle snowboards are almost always going to feel softer, with designs that facilitate easier execution of tricks and more forgiving landings.
• Powder snowboards often have significantly set back reference stances for floatation in deep snow and may also utilize 3D shaping.

Get the picture? We specifically use words like almost, often, and usually because these categories are generalizations. There will always be exceptions.

Shape, Taper, Reference Stance, Bend & Flex

It’s true that snowboard categories help us generalize performance, but as a rider, you should understand the five specific attributes of a snowboard that determine its performance.

• Shape
• Taper
• Reference Stance
• Bend
• Flex

Snowboard Shape

When looking at a snowboard from the top down, the shape is the overall silhouette of the board. There are an almost limitless number of unique shapes out there, with round and square noses, swallow tails, and more. Shape also includes twin or directional configurations; twin snowboards are perfectly symmetrical and directional snowboards have a longer nose than tail.

Snowboard Taper

Taper refers to the difference in width between the nose and tail contact points of a snowboard. While these differences might appear subtle to the naked eye, they can have a big impact on the character of a snowboard, allowing it to float on snow or turn on a dime. Additionally, the existence of taper may affect how a snowboard rides switch (for example, no taper twin snowboards ride exactly the same in both regular and switch orientations).

Snowboard Reference Stance

The reference stance of a snowboard is the manufacturer’s recommended location that riders should begin with when installing snowboard bindings. The reference stance is a suggestion from the engineers based on the intended use of the snowboard. Note that reference stances are just a suggestion, and ultimately the rider can install their snowboard bindings in whichever configuration they desire.

Snowboard Bend

When looking at a snowboard from the side, you can see the board’s bend profile. For example, Burton builds snowboards in eight different bend profiles, with each one designed to excel in specific conditions and for specific purposes. Bend is another attribute that contributes significantly to the final character of a snowboard and how it will perform. Some traits that define a snowboard’s bend are:

• Camber
• Rocker (Reverse Camber)
• Flat
• Early Rise

Snowboard Flex

Finally, snowboard flex, or flexibility, refers to how soft or stiff a snowboard is. Snowboard flexibility is a result of the snowboard building process, the number of layers, material choices, and their orientation within the snowboard deck. Stiffer snowboards are generally valued for their stability and flexible decks offer advantages for freestyle riding.

Pro tip: At Burton, we refer to a snowboard’s flex as its “personality,” since each one is unique and distinct.

How to Choose the Right Tool for the Job

Now that you have a basic understanding of the five traits that make up a snowboard’s design, let's revisit the four primary categories (all mountain, freeride, freestyle, and powder) to see how those traits fit into the bigger picture.

• All Mountain Snowboards: medium flex, twin and directional shapes
• Freeride Snowboards: stiffer flex, directional shape, camber
• Freestyle Snowboards: softer flex, twin shape, centered reference stance
• Powder Snowboards: varying flex, directional, significant taper, set back reference stance

Now consider how riding a particular shape, bend, length, taper, or flex makes you feel. Does it inspire confidence? Do you feel in control? Does it compliment your riding style? Is it fun to ride? These are some of the questions you can start asking yourself.

Demo, Rent, or Borrow

Now it’s time to ride a variety of snowboards so that you can start to understand how all of the traits we’ve discussed contribute to the character of a snowboard. There are lots of ways to test out snowboards, including renting from a reputable shop, borrowing from friends, or demoing.

If you ask us, Burton Test Ride Centers are one of the best resources out there for riders who want to try riding a variety of snowboards. And the best part is that your demo fees can be applied directly towards the cost of purchasing a new snowboard once you’ve decided what you like.

No matter how you get ahold of snowboards to test, you can hone in on your favorite qualities by using Burton’s check list to help you document your experience with different shapes, tapers, stances, bends, and flex profiles. The more snowboards you ride, the more you’ll start to see trends emerge. Then you can look for a snowboard that has all of the qualities that you’ve enjoyed the most.

Download the Burton Snowboard Demo Notes checklist.

Freeride vs. All Mountain vs. Freestyle vs. Powder Snowboards: Look Beyond the Labels

While labels and categories can help you generalize snowboard performance, look beyond “freeride vs. all mountain vs. freestyle vs. powder" to identify the specific attributes you enjoy about the snowboards you prefer to ride.

When you take this approach to selecting a snowboard, you’ll quickly realize that a freeride directional snowboard is not the only option for backcountry riding, or that a freestyle twin snowboard isn't a pre-requisite for park laps. Instead, you’ll see that you, the rider, have the power and the choice to figure out which snowboard fits your riding style best.