8 Best Women’s Snowboards

Being a woman snowboarder myself, I know a thing or two about getting a good board to match abilities and riding style. You don’t always need to get a women’s specific board, but there are some excellent options to explore in the category. 

I’ve been snowboarding for decades and have been a certified instructor for the last ten years. I have ridden on many different women’s snowboards during that time and have talked to plenty of other riders using boards I haven’t been on myself. 

My current favorite women’s board is the Arbor Veda. It’s a versatile and fun board to ride that can be used all over the mountain.  

Women’s snowboarding has come a long way over the last few decades, and now many different snowboards are explicitly built for lady riders. It can be hard to find a good option that stands above the pack.  

I’ll show you a handful of the best women’s boards in the post so you can make an informed decision as to what’s the best choice for your riding style and preferences.

Let’s get after it!

Style and Ability Considerations

To make it easier for you to find a snowboard that suits you best, here’s a quick look at some considerations based on your style and ability.

Beginner to Intermediate Riders

• Length: A board with standard length (or shorter if you are a first-timer). Shorter boards are easier to control and turn.
• Flex: Medium soft to medium.
• Profile: A traditional camber would be good because it’s more stable.
• Shape: A directional twin is good.
• All-mountain focus is recommended.

Freestyle Riders (Ground Tricks, Jibbings, Rails and Boxes Lover)

• Length: A relatively shorter board is good because it’s easier to control and more flexible.
• Flex: Soft flex is better for tricks.
• Profile: A traditional rocker profile is easier to spin and land.
• Shape: Twin True is good, so it’s easier for you to balance and ride.

Freestyle Rider (Jumps or Half-Pipe riders)

• Length: relatively shorter to the medium is good, a shorter length helps maneuver, and it’s lighter too! This makes it easier to flip and spin. A normal length is good for maintaining stability when you are picking up the speed before your jumps.
• Flex: medium-stiff to stiff (you need a stronger grip and a board that’s more responsive for landing and take-off).
• Profile: Traditional camber will provide a better edge grip, and it’s going to be more poppy.
• Shape: Twin True or Directional True.

Powder Lovers

• Length: depending on the board type you are getting, I use a medium board, but my friends prefer to use a short and wide board.
• Width: a wider board is better since you will ride more open turns but not close turns.
• Profile, flex, and shape: preferable a specialist board.

Carving Lovers

• Length: a longer board is preferred so to provide more stability at high speed.
• Flex: stiff to very stiff, you need a strong and quick board.
• Profile and Shape: a traditional camber and directional are good.

Top Women’s Snowboards

All of the women’s snowboards you’ll find in this section come highly recommended. From all-mountain shredders to freestyle flow, these boards will give lady riders the tool they need to shred tough this season. 

1. Best Overall: Arbor Veda

• Best for: Overall
• Key features: High-end versatile performance, 
• Shape: Directional
• Flex: Medium
• Cost: $$$

The Arbor Veda is a great women’s snowboard. I think it is currently the best option, mainly because it gives you outstanding versatility and performance in just about any condition you want to conquer. 

It’s very capable as a freeride and all-mountain board without being limited by any one style. I love a board that won’t hold you back, and the Veda will let you push your limits and remain effective no matter what type of riding style you are exploring. 

It comes with a system camber profile that leads to a responsive and powerful performance on the snow. Edge-to-edge turning is outstanding, and you can generate pop when digging into carve turns or completing technical maneuvers. 

The Veda comes with unique uprise fenders that lift the sides at the tip and tail. This creates a very smooth ride that doesn’t limit what the cambered profile provides. It’s an exceptional design feature that experienced riders will appreciate. 

A Grip-Tech tri-radial sidecut increases edge control and allows you to maintain grip when conditionals are hard-packed or slippery. 360-degree fully wrapped sidewalls increase durability and add to edge grip as well. 

A sintered base allows the Veda to slide and flow over any type of snow. It’s also easy to maintain and durable, adding value and reducing the need for constant tune-ups.

A medium flex does reduce the top speed of the Veda just a bit. I don’t mind this for everything else the board provides, but you might experience some chatter if you live for speed.  

==> You can also get it on Evo or Curated.

2. Best All-Mountain: Ride Psychocandy

• Best for: All-Mountain
• Key features: Excellent all-mountain performance, tapered bi-radial sidecut, carbon slimewalls, sintered base, versatile, tapered directional rocker
• Shape: Directional
• Flex: Medium
• Cost: $$$

For an all-mountain ripper with a unique design and outstanding performance, take a look at the Ride Psychocandy. This is the women’s version of the Ride Warpig, one of the top boards in the brand’s lineup.

This is a directional all-mountain board built to handle anything and everything that comes your way on the mountain. Its versatile shape and profile allow you to dive into everything from deep powder to slick groomers to technical big-mountain terrain. 

A tapered bi-radial sidecut is intended to increase grip and edge control under variable conditions. This is a valuable design feature that remains effective at a range of speeds, making it beneficial to many ability levels. 

Carbon Slimewalls are a creative name for the sidewalls of the Psychocandy. These are tough and durable and designed to help increase stability and response. You can expect durable performance and constant control thanks to the ‘slime.’

The tapered directional profile of this board increases versatility and all-mountain performance. It blends powerful camber with enough rocker to keep you up on top of deep snow and allows for quick, responsive turning. 

Other fantastic features worth mentioning here are impact plates and carbon array laminates. The plates are built-in under each binding area and increase the strength of the board under impact. The carbon additions add torsional strength.

The Psychocandy is slightly shorter than other all-mountain options, meaning you’ll sacrifice a little bit of speed overall. It’s also challenging to ride switch on – still possible but challenging.  

==> You can also get it on Evo or Curated or Christy Sports.

3. Best Freeride: Jones Hovercraft 

• Best for: Freeride
• Key features: Versatile performance, big-mountain capabilities, Traction Tech 3.0, long sidecut, 3D Contour Base, spooned out nose and tail
• Shape: Directional
• Flex: Medium/Stiff
• Cost: $$$$

When you want to take on challenging terrain and tackle the mountain full-on, you need a board that can handle the task. The Jones Hovercraft is a women’s board that will live up to this demanding pursuit and is the best option for freeriding styles. 

The board has a directional rocker that allows for plenty of powerful versatility when you need to react quickly. It blends rocker and camber in the flex pattern with an upturned nose and tail to provide float and camber underfoot for pop and response. 

The shape of the board screams freeriding as well. It has a blunted nose that glides over all sorts of conditions with ease. You can tackle deep snow, crud, corn, and hard pack without blinking an eye. 

A 3D Contour Base is another freeride feature to note. This results in a spooned-out nose and tail that shovels through deeper snow and lets you turn and glide effortlessly and effectively. You get a bit more spoon bevel up front, which I love for big powder days. 

The Hovercraft also has an FSC classic core that uses poplar wood that provides a consistent flex across the entire shape and increases strength and durability. It’s a little softer in the center, which adds maneuverability as well. 

This is a relatively aggressive board and is best left in the hands of more experienced riders. Beginners and even some intermediates might struggle with the stiffness of the Hovercraft.   

==> You can also get it on Curated or Got Your Gear or Equipe Sports.

4. Best Powder: K2 Wildheart 

• Best for: Powder
• Key features: Carbon stringers, tapered directional shape, excellent powder performance, versatile, sintered base, stable at speeds
• Shape: Directional
• Flex: Medium/Stiff 
• Cost: $$$

Powder lovers will appreciate everything the K2 Wildheart has to offer. This is a fun and versatile powder seeker built for deeper days but can handle a variety of other conditions while you wait for the snow to fall. 

Key to the outstanding powder performance of the Wildheart is a Volume Shift design that moves the volume of the board from the ends and shifts it underfoot. This creates a board that is short and wide (great for powder) without compromising any stability. 

It also features a directional camber profile that will keep you in control and in charge of all turns and maneuvers. Plenty of rocker up front is essential for a powder board, but you also get enough camber to get pop and response when needed. 

The added rocker at the tip and tail of the Wildheart comes in handy when you want to press and carve your way through deep drifts. It has a large surface area to take advantage of, and you can press and float through it all. 

The board also has carbon stringers that run the entire length of the board. This adds stability and pop without adding much weight. It also adds quite a bit of strength that leads to lasting durability season after season.

Being a powder-focused board, it has some obvious limitations. You can expect some chatter at higher speeds, and there will be some sloppy carving performance on the hardpack.   

5. Best Freestyle: Lib Tech Dynamiss

• Best for: Freestyle
• Key features: Aggressive, versatile, C3 camber profile, internal and sintered sidewalls, eco sublimated base, magne-traction edges
• Shape: Freestyle directional 
• Flex: Medium 
• Cost: $$$

The Lib Tech Dynamiss is a freestyle slayer. This board is a lot of fun to ride and has a playful yet powerful design that will shine from the park to powder runs. You can play all over the mountain in any way you choose with this board strapped on. 

It features a C3 hybrid camber that creates exceptional performance while also increasing versatility. It’s an aggressive style of profile that has plenty of camber for power so you can rip hard but enough rocker to land easily, butter, and press. 

The Dynamiss also comes with a quality core construction that uses a blend of Aspen and Paulownia wood. This keeps the board lightweight without compromising strength and also keeps environmental concerns in mind. 

Birch internal sidewalls are sintered to create lasting strength and durability. This is a board that can take a licking and keeps on ticking. The eco-sublimated base will keep you sliding fast and sure and requires very little maintenance over a season.

Magne-traction edges are another excellent feature that is built into all Lib Tech boards. This edge design uses serrations that increase control and edge-hold on otherwise slippery conditions. It’s effective and really works.   

This is another aggressive board that isn’t meant for beginners. And even though it has a freestyle focus, it’s not a dedicated park board. It doesn’t have a true twin shape which some freestyle riders might not like. 

==> You can also get it on Evo or Curated or Christy Sports.

6. Best Budget Option: Salomon Oh Yeah

• Best for: Budget Option
• Key features: Affordable, versatile performance, rock out camber, popster core, rubber block sidewalls, extruded EG base
• Shape: True Twin
• Flex: Soft
• Cost: $$

For a good budget women’s snowboard, check out the Salomon Oh Yeah. This is a good option for ladies looking to purchase their first board and don’t want to break the bank. 

The Oh Yeah has a true twin shape that is great for hitting the park or riding switch. It’s a freestyle shape that is a lot of fun to ride, and the tip and tail are identical in length with a symmetrical center profile. 

The board also has an EQ radial sidecut that makes it versatile outside of the board and increases balance. It’s a slide sidecut that adds grip without making the board too aggressive. I’d describe this sidecut as fun more than anything else. 

The Oh Yeah has a popster core profile that increases the natural feel of the wood. This is somewhat unique and keeps a thinner feel under your feet with getting thicker towards the tip and tail. You’ll get plenty of pop and response with this profile. 

Rubber blocks are included in the sidewalls, which is another cool design feature that helps reduce vibration from speed or impact. This is good for riders who are progressing in their abilities and want a balance and stable feel. 

The Oh Yeah does have a really soft flex. This can be fine for a beginner in the park but can be limiting if you want to pursue anything big in other areas of the mountain. 

==> You can also get it on Evo or Sporting Life or Buckman’s.

7. Best for Beginners: Burton Yeasayer

• Best for: Beginners
• Key features: Versatile, relaxed response, Super Fly 800G core, flat top rocker profile, twin flex, women’s specific Triax Flex
• Shape: Twin 
• Flex: Medium 
• Cost: $$$

If you are just getting a feel for snowboarding and want a good board that will help you progress to the next level, the Burton Yeasayer has a lot to offer. This board is versatile and approachable – two critical traits for those pushing through the basic levels of riding. 

This board is capable in many different on-snow situations. From your first steep run to a powder day, the Yeasayer will provide you with good company that you can rely on. It’s not aggressive by design, and I recommend it to many of my students. 

The board has a flat-top rocker profile that is easy to control and maneuver. You’ll get a fun, and approachable feel that’s intended to help you navigate whatever comes your way. The profile allows for easy turning as well. 

A twin flex throughout the board is great when you want to practice riding switch or hit a new feature in the park for the first time. It’s a balanced board that will respond equally well to toeside, heelside, and switch. 

It also comes with a women’s specific Triax fiberglass laminate. I’m not sure what makes it women’s specific exactly, but it’s a nice touch from Burton to attempt such a feature. A Super Fly core is light and responsive while having enough strength to get you by. 

The flat rockered profile does have some disadvantages when you want to go fast or carve heavily. But if you’re ready for those maneuvers, you might be ready for a more intermediate board.  

==> You can also get it on Evo or Fun-sport-vision.

8. Best Backcountry: Salomon HPS Annie Boulanger

• Best for: Backcountry 
• Key features: Excellent powder performance, floaty, great carving abilities, radial sidecut, ghost green core, ABC wrapper laminate, bamboo/cork rails
• Shape: Directional 
• Flex: Stiff
• Cost: $$$$

If your snowboarding pursuits take you far outside the resort’s boundaries, the Salomon HPS Annie Boulanger is an excellent board for the backcountry. 

This is a powder-focused board that can handle the variable conditions you can expect when you take to big lines and fresh tracks that occur out of bounds and off-piste. The tapered directional shape has a slight cutout that excels in powder. 

The board comes with a powder profile that utilizes both rocker and camber elements to provide you with consistent and powerful control in deep snow, crud, corn, and other backcountry conditions. 

A radial sidecut gives you good edge control on more hard-packed snow and results in reliable grip and turning ability. It’s not too much of a cutout to limit float and is more of a classic feel. 

The HPS also has a ghost green core that has been created to increase pop without adding weight. Salomon uses eco-friendly practices to source their wood, with Paulownia being the main component of this one. 

I also like the bamboo and cork rails. It gives you a good feel for the snow but also helps to limit vibration and absorb impact. A sintered EG base makes the board fast on variable conditions and requires little upkeep. 

This isn’t a board for beginners and can be too much to handle if you don’t get decent snow at least every once in a while. It can be used at the resort, but it’s better left to the backcountry.

==> You can get it on Salomon or Snow And Rock.

Best Women’s Snowboard: What to Consider

When you are shopping for a women’s board, take some of the following considerations into mind. These apply to any kind of board, not just those designed for women. 

Riding Style

Depending on what type of riding you like to do, you will want to get a board that will meet those needs. I like an all-mountain board most of the time and then a powder board for when the snow really starts to fall. 

If you like the terrain park, you will want a freestyle board that is better suited for hitting rails and big features. Freeride boards are the other main type of board that is good for big mountain lines and challenging terrains.

If you are just going to get one board for all-season use, I would recommend an all-mountain option.  

Stiffness

The stiffness of a board is critical to keep in mind both for your riding style and your ability level. Generally, beginners will want a softer board that has less flex because it is more forgiving and easy to control. 

All-mountain boards that are versatile and can go just about anywhere will have a medium to medium-stiff flex. This is a sweet spot that most ability levels can handle and a good starting point. 

If you are an experienced rider who wants the best performance possible and the ability to go really fast, a stiff flex is recommended. 

Length/Width

The length and width of your board are other crucial factors. This is also related to preferences and riding style but comes down to your weight and height at a more basic level. There’s no single length or width that will work for everyone.  

You always want to get a board size that fits the size of your body. If you are unsure about this, ask a salesperson or snowboard tech for their advice. You might want different lengths and widths for different styles of riding as well. 

Profile

Profile relates to the board’s shape when you look at it from the side. Rocker and camber are the two main profile shapes. A versatile board will have elements of both profile shapes, while a style-focused option will have one over the other. 

Camber allows you to generate pop and response. It’s good for big-mountain, freeriding, and racing styles. Rocker increases float and makes it easier to turn. It’s good for powder and in the park. 

Useful Tips

Getting a good snowboard is an exciting and essential first step to becoming a good rider. You’ll also want to know how to maintain your board to protect it for the long run. Here are some tips with that in mind: 

• Once you get your new board, always wax it before your first ride. A factory wax job is typically not ideal. 
• From time to time, you need to wax your board and polish the edge of your snowboard so you can enjoy a smooth run. You’ll need to do this once or twice a season. 
• Different weather requires different types of wax. For example, on a hot and warm day, you need different wax than a powder day.
• Always dry your board before packing it into a travel bag.
• Always air your board for 1 to 2 days to make sure it’s all dry out before you store it. You should wax your board before taking it to storage as well.
• Placing your snowboard in a snowboard cover when you travel or for storage is always a good idea.

Final Verdict

There are many different women’s specific snowboards to choose from, and the Arbor Veda is one of the best. This is my current favorite women’s snowboard because of how versatile it is while being a ton of fun to ride in just about any conditions. 

Any of the boards you see on this list come highly recommended. I have ridden many of them and think that they all stand out ahead of the rest of the competition for women’s boards. Be sure to read my reviews and see which one picks your style and ability level the best. 

Also, remember that you don’t need to get a women’s snowboard if you don’t like any of the options you see here. A snowboard for men will work just fine for any lady who wants one. Find the board you like the best and get out there and rip!

About Lorraine